Gromit's music centre...

[Gromit]

Your rig is looking amazing Rich.
I'm just settling in with the Sony TA-F530ES, which is quite an amazing little (?) thing for what it cost TBH.
Doing a fantastic job with the Minskies; they've never sounded better

Thanks Mike.

Chuffed you're liking the Sony - one day folk in the this country will 'get' these and their prices will go up accordingly. All I'd say is get 'em bought whilst they're cheap. Fortunately (for buyers) there are a lot of badge snobs out there so in the same way with stuff like the SL1200/10 etc even really good ones are always superb vfm.

My 670ES could well be up for sale soon as it's now working pretty much perfectly (apart from the input selector knob which just needs a couple of tweaks to get it to settle) and sounding fabulous. The 770ES is just a beast.

[Idlewithnodrive]

Thanks Mike.

Chuffed you're liking the Sony - one day folk in the this country will 'get' these and their prices will go up accordingly. All I'd say is get 'em bought whilst they're cheap. Fortunately (for buyers) there are a lot of badge snobs out there so in the same way with stuff like the SL1200/10 etc even really good ones are always superb vfm.

My 670ES could well be up for sale soon as it's now working pretty much perfectly (apart from the input selector knob which just needs a couple of tweaks to get it to settle) and sounding fabulous. The 770ES is just a beast.

Let me know if / when you decide to sell the 670ES. Could very well be interested

[Gromit]

Let me know if / when you decide to sell the 670ES. Could very well be interested

Will do Mike - it won't be expensive put it that way as it's not absolutely perfect. Cosmetically it's virtually unmarked.

Just spent some of this afternoon waxing the plinth on the Pioneer using Urad wax - this stuff is designed for horse tack and motorcycle leathers but works beautifully on wood (it's recommended for teak decking on boats too). Great thing is that unlike Renapur it doesn't leave an oily residue behind (which attracts dust). Brings up the plinth just lovely...

[Gromit]

Home-baked amp bake-off...

[hoopsontoast]

Nice, I never had the 670ES and 770ES side by side to compare, but thought they were pretty much identical apart from bass control/depth at medium/higher levels. Maybe the 770ES had a little extra warmth/body on vocals.

[southall-1998]

Gromit,

Good to see that you still have those Grado SR80s. May I ask what amp are you using for the Grados?

[Gromit]

Nice, I never had the 670ES and 770ES side by side to compare, but thought they were pretty much identical apart from bass control/depth at medium/higher levels. Maybe the 770ES had a little extra warmth/body on vocals.

It's quite interesting Rob - the 770ES has a lot more clout and more clarity/separation, but with that feeling of rock-solid security you get from an amp with huge amounts of dynamic headroom. That's through its line inputs...

Through their respective phonostages the gap is narrower with the smaller amp being smoother, more organic and flowing. Listening to vinyl with the ProAcs hooked up, I actually prefer the 670ES by a short nose.

Will be taking both amps to Scalford and will swap them round at various times for those who may be interested in hearing the differences.

With the tiny (hardly bigger than JBL Control Ones) Q2010i's the 770ES, with CD, is a total riot. Hard to believe the scale these little speakers can portray with a big amp up their chuffs - they just sing on the end of lots of clean power.

[julesd68]

Richard, I think you want those Minstrels which are an absolute steal at £250 as you know!

[Gromit]

Gromit,

Good to see that you still have those Grado SR80s. May I ask what amp are you using for the Grados?

Any socket that's available Shane.

Just the Sony amp, plus the Teac dac has its own headphone out (which is actually very good indeed).

Great fun headphones, had them for years now.

[Gromit]

Richard, I think you want those Minstrels which are an absolute steal at £250 as you know!

You mean the Merlins on PFM?

They were sold this morning sadly, just when I was clearing the financial decks to pay for them. The seller was after a pair of Tablettes too.

Ah well...thank heavens no one's at home at the moment to see me cry.