Jimbos Audio ramblings

[Pigmy Pony]

Saw a little bit of some bird called Raye, who looked to me a bit like a chubby Amy Winehouse. Sounded pretty good, and Anita's ordered her CD already. I'll be looking on the iPlayer for Goldfrapp because I like her, not sure what else is on it, haven't looked yet.

[Jimbo]

Did anyone see Elton John being interviewed at his home before the gig at Glastonbury ? He was in a large room with wall to wall vinyl and I think he had a pair of PMC floor stander speakers. In the middle of the room he had a turntable and low and behold it was a classic Technics SL1200. He even mentioned how he really enjoyed listening to vinyl.....

[Barry]

Tried to watch a fair bit of Glastonbury and I must say the BBC have done a fantastic production job. Sound and Pictures are absolutely first class, probably better than any previous year although I am watching most of it via player on an OLED TV and some of the content is HDR 4K. This quality is outstanding. Sound seems way better than some of the BBC broadcasts of other stuff they have done this year so they have got this right too.

Not sure I would agree.

I have not watched as much of Glastonbury as I had intended - in fact I only watched Tinariawen, Yusef Islam (Cat Stevens), and Elton John. Even so I can't say the sound relayed by the BBC was any better than at other times. My TV is a Sony with the audio fed into a Quad 520f power amplifier and thence into a pair of B&W DM2a speakers.

I assume the sound feed is taken from the mixing desk, which I assume is not under BBC control, so what you hear is down to the whim of the mixer. For both the Tinariwen and Yusef Islam sets the sound was reasonably balanced, but I found the balance throughout Elton John's performance annoying. The emphasis seemed to be solely on piano, voice (understandably) and percussion; the latter of which I found particularly irritating.

[Jimbo]

Not sure I would agree.

I have not watched as much of Glastonbury as I had intended - in fact I only watched Tinariawen, Yusef Islam (Cat Stevens), and Elton John. Even so I can't say the sound relayed by the BBC was any better than at other times. My TV is a Sony with the audio fed into a Quad 520f power amplifier and thence into a pair of B&W DM2a speakers.

I assume the sound feed is taken from the mixing desk, which I assume is not under BBC control, so what you hear is down to the whim of the mixer. For both the Tinariwen and Yusef Islam sets the sound was reasonably balanced, but I found the balance throughout Elton John's performance annoying. The emphasis seemed to be solely on piano, voice (understandably) and percussion; the latter of which I found particularly irritating.

Compared to their Coronation concert broadcast Glastonbury was way better!

[Barry]

I was out of the country during the coronation, so can't comment.

[Jimbo]

Back to listening to the system last night after the disruption of watching a lot of Glastonbury which left me feeling generally very underwhelmed. Nice to choose some decent music and play it back at an infinitely higher quality level than the TV!

I had noticed that after spending two weeks away from the system on holidays, on my return the system had sounded better and this was the case again last night. When it reached the golden hour ( 9pm) it sounded substantially more open and transparent than I can ever remember. Listening to a few records and the space in the soundstage and ambient information was very apparent. I would say it was quite euphonic which maybe would suggest my valves are adding in bit of their special distortion

Then I remember I had fitted a new stylus that had now hit 50 plus hours which probably means it is operating at its optimal level. So I am betting the improved sound quality I am getting is mainly down to this?

[Pigmy Pony]

Watched about four hours of Glastonbury on iPlayer tonight. I wouldn't say the sound was generally bad, just with some acts. I found the Foo Fighters and G 'n' R coverage (what's happened to Axel Rose? He looks and sounds knackered) to be a piss-poor mash on my set up, but Third World I liked, also Generation Sex!

I thought Alison Goldfrapp was great, easily my favourite - good sound, that got the 5.1 working, while she and her two dancers were a visual treat. (she's fifty bloody seven!) And quite trippy too, which is my taste

[Jimbo]

Watched about four hours of Glastonbury on iPlayer tonight. I wouldn't say the sound was generally bad, just with some acts. I found the Foo Fighters and G 'n' R coverage (what's happened to Axel Rose? He looks and sounds knackered) to be a piss-poor mash on my set up, but Third World I liked, also Generation Sex!

I thought Alison Goldfrapp was great, easily my favourite - good sound, that got the 5.1 working, while she and her two dancers were a visual treat. (she's fifty bloody seven!) And quite trippy too, which is my taste

The Foos turned everything up to 11 so it sounded a bit OTT. Guns and Roses Ok on quieter numbers where you could actually here axels voice.

I agree Goldfrapp quite good. Seen her live and very decent show.

[Jimbo]

This was the only cartridge that I felt came close to my 2M Black. The M55e with Nico SAS Boron Micro ridge stylus. One of my big regrets selling it but I may find a different route with another Shure cartridge and Jico SAS stylus?

64CA8797-724E-4F47-A882-28F5803F560E by y, on Flickr

[brian2957]

Thought Jico didn't do that stylus any more mate.