My bits and pieces

[Effem]

As I recall I drove the Maggies first with an Alchemist Forsetti power amp then a Hafler, which sounded better to my ears

[hoopsontoast]

The Quad doing its thing....


Quad Elite Stereo by RSdesignUK, on Flickr

[hoopsontoast]

Restek Challenger has arrived at Hoops Manor


System by RSdesignUK, on Flickr


Restek Challenger by RSdesignUK, on Flickr


Restek Challenger by RSdesignUK, on Flickr

[hoopsontoast]

First impressions are that it seems to have a bit more power/punch over the Icon/Quad combo maybe at the expense of some mid-range.
Still have the LA3 on loan so might try that as pre going into the Main-In on the Restek for fun at some point.
Certainly getting there, and the MMG's are still only around 20 hours old or so.

[hoopsontoast]

Better pics (less yellow )


Restek Challenger and Sony DVP-S9000ES by RSdesignUK, on Flickr


System by RSdesignUK, on Flickr

[jandl100]

Ooo - Wow

A Restek integrated. 130wpc - hmm, yep, that should do!

I'm really enjoying my new Restek pre, so I certainly fancy trying a power amp.

You don't seem totally convinced by it, though. Need a bit more midrange bloom?

Where did you get it?

[hoopsontoast]

Its just early days Jerry, not going to make any rash judgements
Also the speakers are still only about 30 hours old now so not at all run it yet either.
Was sounding great last night though.

It was offered to me from a wanted ad over on the wam.

[jandl100]

Damn, I just tried to send you a PM, Rob, but you seem to have disallowed them!
-- if you do decide to move the Restek on sometime --

[hoopsontoast]

Damn, I just tried to send you a PM, Rob, but you seem to have disallowed them!
-- if you do decide to move the Restek on sometime --

Jerry, you are first on the list
Hmmmm not sure about the PM's, was receiving them fine a few weeks back

[hoopsontoast]

System by RSdesignUK, on Flickr

Well a month and a half in with the Maggies and a week and a bit with the Restek things are coming together.
I decided to move a few bits around, makes it look a lot neater with just the Amp and CDP, and I swear it sounds a little better defined in the soundstage since I put the Restek on the Marble chopping board, with sorbathane feet under that on top of the Sony . I was listening into the late hours last night and even at low volumes it seems to hold together a lot better than before.
I was a bit under the weather in the week and spent a day at home, looking forward to some good music to cheer me up but it just sounded crap, no dyamics, lifeless and was starting to think I had gone down the wrong road.
But alas feeling much better on Friday and it all seemed to come together.

Some standout tracks from last night were Dire Straits-Six Blade Knife and Private Investigations basically the whole XX - Coexist album.
They are still not so good IMO on rock, just sounds a bit flat and overall dynamics are not the best (compared to the Silver Iris OB's or FF225K Jerichos) but macro dynamics are brilliant, little delicate drums/percussion you can hear real variation in them for example which is something I really go for.

I think I would rate the Restek up there with the Sony 770ES/Denon PMA-2000Ae but a little more lively.

I was saying to Paul (sodders) when he poped in last week that I really dont know why, if you were in the US that you would buy anything else for £370 ($599) especially if you have a normal or medium room.
Their biggest problem is that they are not very sociable speakers, as if you stand up, the midrange and treble just dissapears, same if you go more than a few feet off centre but this is not a worry for me.

I decided to give the LA3 a go running as pre into the power section of the Restek and to be honest, I did not notice as big a difference as I was expecting. A lot of people had commented on the Challenger being a bit weak in the pre but decent in the power section. Apart from maybe a little more mid-range expression at the expense of bass definition I dont think it made any worthwile improvement. Which is a supprise as I found it made a massive improvement with the Audion Sterling with regards to soundstage and bass depth/definition amongst other areas.

I think I am getting there to be honest, although listening to music so much is distracting me from some other bits and bobs I should be doing.


System by RSdesignUK, on Flickr