Gromit's music centre...

[StanleyB]

The thing is that once you start using a PC and DAC, a CDP is easily sidelined. I haven' used mine for ages.

[pjdowns]

Paul,

If you've had the mech replaced not too long ago and the puck has been sorted (we had this discussion elsewhere some months back), I'd almost be inclined to recommend having the thing repaired, whether you get the Sony in addition or not. I mean, £350 total is going to get you two CD players of which either would be better than a new Rotel or Cambridge at that price, surely?

I also thought the CD-I was a great sounding player and I personally thought it better than the CD2 and CDX which replaced it, much to the disgust of other posters on a different forum, who don't like my views of some of this brand's products (I should love everything they've ever made I suppose........ )

Hi DSJR,

Long time no speak, hope you are well....

You are right that I had the mech replaced relativly recently, well 5 years ago and the Nextel ring is in perfect working order so I doubt it would just fail. Also I got a new puck so it is unlikely to be anything to do with that which is why my local Naim dealer has suggested that the fault is likely to be with the DAC. When playing a CD after the CDI has warmed up, it sounds as though you are traveling over train tracks LOL .... Not good

Reference the Sony, I am tempted, but I think I'm more likely to stump up the cash for the Beresford DAC as my entire CD collection is on the my Apple Mac now and able to be used with the Squeezebox.

Still tempeted to get the Naim repaired though, as you say, it is an excellent machine, and I'd agree that, certainly to my ears it was better than either the CD2 or CDX, although I think the CDX2 just stumps it but not my a lot....

The thing is that once you start using a PC and DAC, a CDP is easily sidelined. I haven' used mine for ages.

Thanks for that info Stensimila, I think you are totally right. Are you Mr Beresford by any chance ? ... I am getting a little confused LOL ....

Paul.

[Ali Tait]

Yes,Stan's the Beresford man!

[DSJR]

Hi DSJR,

Still tempeted to get the Naim repaired though, as you say, it is an excellent machine, and I'd agree that, certainly to my ears it was better than either the CD2 or CDX, although I think the CDX2 just stumps it but not my a lot....

Paul.

I know where you are on this one, having once had to spend £450 on a car repair to get £1100 when I sold it to a mate. The same thing would happen if you spent £150 to get a £300 - £400 return.

Who are you getting to look at it? Darren at "Class A" is an(the?) authorised naim service agent outside of the factory in the UK and he's cheaper than Naim themselves, once their dealers have added their margin to the service charge. You may know about Darren already, but I thought I'd mention him anyway (not sure if Avondale's Les can help with this machine, but you never know).

What this discourse has to do with Gromit's music centre I have no idea

You know, all this direct drive turntable rubbish needs to be replaced with a nice vintage Thorens springy belt drive with "organic" pitch accuracy. You all know how much sense it makes. I'll do a swap, a TD125 for that clapped out old rubbish PL71. You know it makes sense

[Gromit]

You know, all this direct drive turntable rubbish needs to be replaced with a nice vintage Thorens springy belt drive with "organic" pitch accuracy. You all know how much sense it makes. I'll do a swap, a TD125 for that clapped out old rubbish PL71. You know it makes sense

'Organic pitch accuracy' - I like that!!

As to my clapped out old Japanese fruit box...it's staying right were 'tis.

And based on the first couple of hours with the Technics this is going to be a very long journey to get it sounding as good as the Pioneer. No joke. In fact I'm wondering if the money might be better spent elsewhere to be honest - stuff like getting J7 to service and re-wire the arm etc etc.

[Gromit]

A Tecchy pic with the Orotofon MC15 - the Isolator is one of those really annoying things which shouldn't work...but does, extraordinarily well in this set-up:



The OA RB251 should be here in the next week or so.

[Arlequen]

Hello Gromit ,

I'm curious about the Isolator .. where does it improve the sound?

[Gromit]

Hello Gromit ,

I'm curious about the Isolator .. where does it improve the sound?

Hi - where to start?

I bought this Isolator a couple of years ago from Walrus in London. Les was very much of the 'give it a try - I'm not going to say what I think of it, but let us know how you get on' sort of opinion. At that time I had my Spacedeck/Spacearm and a DL103R. The Isolator is very easy to fit but obviously needs a lot of vta adjustment in the arm to work. In the Spacearm its effect was subtle - I didn't detect any downsides really - and seemed to add a little more tonal colour to the sound. I didn't leave it fitted for long as I changed to a Lyra Dorian which didn't allow the Iso to be fitted due to its closed threads.

Fast forward to a couple of months ago and the PL71. This time the Isolator made a much larger difference (DL103 this time). Sibilance was much less, a couple of recordings which were 'shouty' became more playable yet the sound didn't lose any snap, punch or dynamism. I'd say it actually gained in those areas to be honest. Small things like lyrics are easier to follow, instruments gain in timbre and colour, bass is firmed up and hits harder. I cannot for the life of me think of a downside, but also cannot think why this thing works so well because in so many ways it shouldn't!

Putting it into the 1210 with the Ortofon MC15 Super has brought an even more marked improvement than it did in the Pioneer's arm. Again the dynamics have improved, bass is less laggy (it wasn't bad to start with!) and the colour has improved. Top end is clearer and more detailed.

The only way I can think that the Isolator works is by damping the cartridge very slightly, yet still allowing the stylus/cantilever to do its job and pass less unwanted energy into the arm. The soft/spongey material that the Isolator is made of is perhaps acting as an unwanted energy 'sink' yet still able to let the stylus do its job with less interference.

Only downside is that the sticky material to which the cartridge is bonded will only withstand a couple of mountings before it loses strength. The MC15 is a difference size & shape to the 103 so sticks to a different (still fully sticky) area of the Isolator than the 103.

If you Google it there are a couple of good reviews of the Isolator - they come to similar conclusions as I have.

[Gromit]

To add to the growing Royd collection I got myself a pair of these little babies the other day...



Typical Royds - not overly subtle, but they are just so addictive and hurl great big lumps of music at the listener. They get more right, imho, than many speakers do at many times their price.

I love 'em.

[Gromit]

I really should have dusted it first...





This made me smile...



...apart from my shitty old tripod isn't keen on keeping things still for 30sec exposures...