Okay, go get yourself a coffee, cause I’ve been at this for over three weeks now and there’s a lot to get through…..(for those who may be pre-opinionated about the Houdini, or have no interest in the first place, now is the time to move thread!) . . . .
Been using the Houdini with my London Reference for a couple of weeks now (fitted to Jelco 750L and Garrard 401 to start with), complete with one of Arthur’s lightweight headshells. And I have to say that I’m pretty impressed; more so than ever with the London previously. As always, the London can be a little unforgiving if the record is dirty in any way (even slightly), or is worn due to age. Otherwise everything is absolutely ‘spot on’ with a wide convincing sound stage, excellent separation between the instruments / performers and a fantastic deep and accurate bass which is so easy to follow on most records. A definite overall improvement!
I spent a good while ensuring that the geometry was all perfect, not an easy exercise with a London / Decca (!), but with everything set up as accurate as I can using a Dr Feickert protractor, a set of digital scales and a mirror for azimuth, I can only comment that I’m completely delighted with the results. Some pretty old records have suddenly ‘come to life’ and have become very enjoyable to listen to again producing the old chestnut of rediscovering the collection!
To be continued.......
Technics SL1000R, DynavectorXV1t, Garrard 401, Jelco SA750LB, Decca Reference, ATVM750SH, AT33Mono, Hana Umami Red, Reimyo CDP777, EarYoshino 912, Ear Yoshino 509s, JBLK2 SL5800s, ART Dram interconnects / speaker cables.