MY System

[DSJR]

Lovely to see some wonderful old "legacy" gear being loved and enjoyed still. That Luxman amp brought tears to my eyes with nostalgia - very creamy and smooth with a kick in the velvet glove as I remember.

The original AR "The" turntable in the UK had a wobbly main bearing which smeared the sound up no end (the later XB77 did too, so I suspect that some of the tooling may be shared perhaps?). A year or two after, a client bought in a deck with improved main bearing (this may be the "Legend" version) with absolutely no slop at all and once set up it sounded superb, the light platter with heavier sub-chassis working very well and rather in a PT mold - light, bright and breezy sounding, which I rather like in LP playback as long as it's clean and clear as well.

The EB101 is, in my opinion, an absolute bargain, as it hasn't yet got the "cachet" of other budget decks like Rega's and Systemdek IIx's. This latter deck came with a Linn LVX standard Jelco made arm IIRC and a reasonable cheap cartridge. Whether any EB101 owners have replaced the cartridge and possibly the arm too I don't know.

The MC2 speakers were a Martin Colloms concoction as I recall. At the time, he was inclined to boost the treble in an attempt to mask midrange colourations (Dean Mini Monitor and Monitor Audio MA3 and 10 come to mind). I think he did much better with speakers like the Tannoy Mercury's and a Sony speaker or two, which were good budget products.

[kcc123]

Some wonderful kit there i see you have CA640p 'how do you like it ' i use one of these ' seems to be great VFM , although i will at some look for something better 'buts its fine for now.

Hi Chris,

I love my 640P and I rate it highly against some of the phono stages I have compared, including a Salience LP2.0SE, a Tom Evans Micro Groove, a Yaqin MS-12B, a FM Acoustic FM122, an Era Gold V & ESP combination, an Edwards Audio MC1 and my trusty Pioneer C21 preamp.
It has been modified by me extensively with some boutique parts which cost me a lot more than the 640P itself. I must be crazy but I am not alone. We live in a mad, mad world, don’t we?

Best regards!
King

[kcc123]

Awesome stuff! I'd happily use any of it, except perhaps for the LP12 (although yours seems like a nice 'classic' one)

It's just the kind of system I like to see, as it shows that you're not a slave to 'flavour of the month' equipment, are able to think outside of the box and get away from the usual run-of-the-mill mainstream nonsense!

Btw, what's your first name and where do you come from? We like to know a little about each other here

Marco.

Hi Marco,

It seems that you are not keen on the Linn, any reasons? It may not be the best sounding or looking turntable in the world but is decent enough for me to keep it in my collection.
My Linn is powered by a MOSS / Hercules external power supply at the moment and in the past I have also experienced an Origin Live DC motor plus Advance Speed Box and Lingo mk1.
I come from Hong Kong but have been here for donkey’s years.

King

[Marco]

Hi King,

The LP12 thing is slightly tongue-in-cheek. In the UK we have what are called "fanbois" (fanboys - diehard followers) of the LP12, to such an extent that they refuse to rate almost anything else through some blinkered notion there is no better turntable in the whole world!

These people also tend to be 'anti-Technics', for reasons that don't make any sense, so being a modified SL-1210 user I can't resist having a pop at them now and then

However, more seriously, I'm sure your LP12 sounds fine and is a valid addition to your collection. I have a good friend who would use nothing else, but he's first and foremost a music lover and blissfully free from the blinkered dogma which afflicts the fanbois

So are you living in the UK now; if so, where abouts?

Marco.

[kcc123]

Hi King,

The LP12 thing is slightly tongue-in-cheek. In the UK we have what are called "fanbois" (fanboys - diehard followers) of the LP12, to such an extent that they refuse to rate almost anything else through some blinkered notion there is no better turntable in the whole world!

These people also tend to be 'anti-Technics', for reasons that don't make any sense, so being a modified SL-1210 user I can't resist having a pop at them now and then

However, more seriously, I'm sure your LP12 sounds fine and is a valid addition to your collection. I have a good friend who would use nothing else, but he's first and foremost a music lover and blissfully free from the blinkered dogma which afflicts the fanbois

So are you living in the UK now; if so, where abouts?

Marco.

Hi Marco,

To be honest, although I have been a LP12 owner for years, unlike some, I still have not become a devotional fanatic who blindingly believes that LP12 is the best and only turntable I should rely on and disapprove of or simply ignore the others’ existence. We always have a different perception or believing that we cannot agree with each other so sometimes it is best not to provoke any altercations unnecessarily in case one may hurt the others’ feelings.
I am living in W-S-M, Somerset.

Best regards!
King

[kcc123]

Lovely to see some wonderful old "legacy" gear being loved and enjoyed still. That Luxman amp brought tears to my eyes with nostalgia - very creamy and smooth with a kick in the velvet glove as I remember.

The original AR "The" turntable in the UK had a wobbly main bearing which smeared the sound up no end (the later XB77 did too, so I suspect that some of the tooling may be shared perhaps?). A year or two after, a client bought in a deck with improved main bearing (this may be the "Legend" version) with absolutely no slop at all and once set up it sounded superb, the light platter with heavier sub-chassis working very well and rather in a PT mold - light, bright and breezy sounding, which I rather like in LP playback as long as it's clean and clear as well.

The EB101 is, in my opinion, an absolute bargain, as it hasn't yet got the "cachet" of other budget decks like Rega's and Systemdek IIx's. This latter deck came with a Linn LVX standard Jelco made arm IIRC and a reasonable cheap cartridge. Whether any EB101 owners have replaced the cartridge and possibly the arm too I don't know.

The MC2 speakers were a Martin Colloms concoction as I recall. At the time, he was inclined to boost the treble in an attempt to mask midrange colourations (Dean Mini Monitor and Monitor Audio MA3 and 10 come to mind). I think he did much better with speakers like the Tannoy Mercury's and a Sony speaker or two, which were good budget products.

Hi Dave,

I also had an EB 101 for a short period and I concur with you that it sounded beautifully and was up to my expectations, but on the other hand, it was ugly in terms of aesthetics. I think AR could have done much better than that.
Before I bought the MC2s I‘d been listening to a pair of Sony APM22 ES speakers which, I remember, had a more transparent and clean sound. But I am human so I make mistakes now and then.
I was not satisfied with the MC2s eventually, so I built a pair of floor standers based on The Hi-Fi-World design, the KLS9. They were with me for quite a while and then I got the itch and built another pair of speakers which have been using until now.

[chris@panteg]

Hi Chris,

I love my 640P and I rate it highly against some of the phono stages I have compared, including a Salience LP2.0SE, a Tom Evans Micro Groove, a Yaqin MS-12B, a FM Acoustic FM122, an Era Gold V & ESP combination, an Edwards Audio MC1 and my trusty Pioneer C21 preamp.
It has been modified by me extensively with some boutique parts which cost me a lot more than the 640P itself. I must be crazy but I am not alone. We live in a mad, mad world, don’t we?

Best regards!
King

Thats cool 'very interested in perhaps modding my 640p ' any tips ideas ' is it fairly easy to do.

[Primalsea]

King,

That's a lovely collection you have there and its good to see you have a real world perspective of what really makes the performance of equipment. I hate it when people get caught on this idea that just because it costs more it must be better.

I was told I was mad for owning 3 TT's at the same time!!

[Beechwoods]

They told Carl Craig he was mad for using 3 turntables at the same time

[kcc123]

Thats cool 'very interested in perhaps modding my 640p ' any tips ideas ' is it fairly easy to do.

Is it easy? Certainly not.
It took me tens of hours plus hard labour to accomplish the mission, but I am glad that it was worth all the efforts and time that I spent as a result. I think it is best for me to redirect you to a link below and you will find some information that you want to know and how.

http://www.vinylengine.com/phpBB2/vi...=asc&start=135