Mini meet in Lancashire

[MCRU]

Here's one get your bids in now.

Goldring G800

[Marco]

Well after hearing it I want one. So my advice to anyone wanting a top bollox cartridge for beer money is buy one and send it to Dominic for his up-grade.

The sound improvement was simply startling.

Marco I expect you to get to the post office tomorrow a.m to post the cartridge please to the main man.

Lol - aye, nae bother!

Marco.

[Dominic Harper]

Hi everyone, it's Natalie. Firstly, thank you to everyone that attended the meet. Thank you for the kind words, Dom and I are very happy to have hosted the evening. I enjoyed the night and the chance to put names to faces. I'm glad you all had a good time and enjoyed the food, and yes Dave I will happily make some soup for your meet in December. The only disappointment I have is that my pics were not exactly brilliant, but to be fair' I was being rushed by the guys. I would like to thank Carl for his wonderful acoustics, Dave B for his goodies, Marco for bringing his gorgeous Technics, Greg for his great looking speakers, Peter for the lovely Northwest Analogue plaque he made in slate for us, Dave (Snapper) for the kind words regarding his cart repair and Steve and Alf for all their help with getting things in order for the meet.

Now for the P--S taking, Marco my dressing gown was green not pink, you must be colour blind. Please don't say you are Snapper, going to Blackburn is not the best idea, I think you should invest in a satnav, please don't say you were using a satnav, because that is worse, Carl, how did you end up in the middle of Preston is beyond me, but at least I managed to find you, Steve and Alf, if you two come to our house any earlier, you will be meeting yourselves going home, and Greg if you leave our house any later you will be meeting yourself arriving Dave B, I have never seen anyone eat soup as quick as did, it isn't called leek and potato anymore, we have decided to call it the Dave special

Thanks again for the kind words and for taking the time to come to our humble abode and for taking the time to post a response. Dom and I are planning to do this again early next year, and we are looking forward to seeing you guys again and maybe some new faces. It was a really good experience and very enjoyable

Cheers
Natalie

[Gerard124]

Sounds like a grand day out, how did you all get on with the Tsakiridis Devices mono blocks?

What is the mat made of on the 401 Dominic?

[snapper]

Of course the real star of the show on Saturday was Natalie's home-made leek and potato soup!!

Yum yum, mam, top scran!!

Marco.

I have to agree, I managed a bowl and a half. It didn't take very long for us to demolish that huge pot of it.

As for the G800, my goodness, what a stunning performance it put in, when fitted with your superb elliptical stylus.

I thought it was the best sounding on the day, with my Troika just behind it, but not by much. The Troika sounded a tad bright on your T/T, but listening to it now, on my system,all Linn, it sounds sublime.

Thanks again Dominic.

Snapper's re-tipped Troika was also rather special, and a real credit to your professional skills. More on that later....

Marco.

Hi everyone, it's Natalie. Firstly, thank you to everyone that attended the meet. Peter for the lovely Northwest Analogue plaque he made in slate for us,

That was a beautiful plaque and very original present. Maybe you could put up a picture of it Natalie.

Snapper, going to Blackburn is not the best idea, I think you should invest in a satnav, please don't say you were using a satnav, because that is worse,

Nah, no satnav. I ended up back in Preston about 1am. It was a slow journey back home though, down to 30mph at some parts due to the wind and rain. Could barely keep the car on the road due to poor visibility near Shap.


Greg, I hope you managed to get your DAC fixed. Re. the Beresford, mine is the TC-7510.

Steve, my Starcastle album has an orange label and was pressed in Canada.

Dave (MCRU) I hope you weren't too late for you night out. Very nice gesture handing out the freebies and thanks for the mat.

Once again, BIG thanks to Natalie and Dominic for hosting such a great event.

[MCRU]

Dave (MCRU) I hope you weren't too late for you night out. Very nice gesture handing out the freebies and thanks for the mat.

the M62 was shut on the way back, nuff said!

[Darren]

Dave (MCRU) I hope you weren't too late for you night out. Very nice gesture handing out the freebies and thanks for the mat.

the M62 was shut on the way back, nuff said!

I got stuck in that as well. Took me three and a half hours to get from Preston to Sheffield.... Not very happy. Always something doing on the M62.

[snapper]

the M62 was shut on the way back, nuff said!

Oh dear, sorry to hear that.



















Did your wife give you a good spanking for being late?

[Marco]

Hi David,

I thought it (the G800) was the best sounding on the day, with my Troika just behind it, but not by much. The Troika sounded a tad bright on your T/T, but listening to it now, on my system,all Linn, it sounds sublime.

I agree. I do think that the all-Linn part is significant, as no doubt the Troika would've been voiced for use in a Linn system, particularly on an LP12 with an Ittok (now Ekos), or an Aro. However, it is testament to how good the G800 is, when fitted with Dom's nickel cantilever-equipped elliptical stylus, when it's competing favourably with MC cartridges, such as Troikas, re-tipped or otherwise!

On that subject, even though, as you've observed, I don't think it was the best sonic match for my T/T (and perhaps Dom's system), your re-tipped Troika sounded very impressive, having greater clarity and lower levels of subjectively audible distortion than I've heard before from any other Troika, together with an ability to tease out inner musical detail in recordings and present it in a way that allowed great insight into all genres of music, certainly all those we listened to that day.

The 'bouncy', rhythmic, extended bass and addictive musicality, renowned of the Supex-based Linn cartridges, which I love, still remained present and correct, and indeed was heightened to new levels, allowing tunes to be swept along at pace and with an infectious 'flamboyance'. Therefore, Dom's mods to the Troika have not only improved it, in terms of neutrality and accuracy, but retained and further increased its recognised 'fun factor'.

I have no doubt whatsoever that in your all-Linn system the re-tipped Troika will sound excellent, and I look forward to hearing it when I next pop up to Scotland, which hopefully may be before Christmas

Dom deserves great credit for his excellent cartridge re-tipping service, which is both cost-effective and offers a quick turnaround, and as such it receives my highest recommendation. The end results speak for themselves, and I would therefore urge people to give him a try, particularly if you're unwilling to wait in ESCo's ever-increasing queue for cartridge re-tipping....

Those also looking for high-end MC performance, on the cheap, should find a tired old Troika and send it to Northwest Analogue for re-tipping. Trust me, you will be amazed at the results! Excellent stuff, Dom

Marco.

[alfie2902]

Looks & sounds like a great day was had by all!

http://i990.photobucket.com/albums/a...r/DSC02305.jpg

That 401 looks very nice indeed, loving the slate plinth! The rack looks rather tasty too!

The Funk platter is still on the Techy too. Have I missed the comparison with the Mike New platter?