Arkless Electronics-Engineered to be better. Tel. 01670 530674 (after 1pm)
Modded Thorens TD150, Audio Technica AT-1005 MkII, Technics EPC-300MC, Arkless Hybrid MC phono stage, Arkless passive pre, Arkless 50WPC Class A SS power amp, (or) Arkless modded Leak Stereo 20, Modded Kef Reference 105/3's
ReVox PR99, Studer B62, Ferrograph Series 7, Tandberg TCD440, Hitachi FT-5500MkI, also FT-5500MkII
Digital: Yamaha CDR-HD1500 (Digital Swiss army knife-CD recorder, player, hard drive, DAC and ADC in one), PC files via 24/96 sound card and SPDIF, modded Philips CD850, modded Philips CD104, modded DPA Little Bit DAC. Sennheiser HD580 cans with Arkless Headphone amp.
Cables- free interconnects that come with CD players, mains leads from B&Q, dead kettles etc, extension leads from Tesco
Location: East Riding of Yorkshire these days
Posts: 4,779
I'm Shaun.
Not imagination, just a load of weird stuff in the interconnects. Get the distortion up, enhance those leading edges, everything you play now sounds 'live'.
This benefits some recordings, kills others. Shit that was what the whole 'flat earth' thing was all about, now they are doing it with cables. All that R&D they do isn't to improve the transparency of their cables. it is to give them their own sound. You won't sell cables at that price if they are just transparent, as no-one would hear the difference between them and some 20 quid efforts.
Current Lash Up:
TEAC VRDS 701T > Sony TAE1000ESD > Krell KSA50S > JM Labs Focal Electra 926.
Arkless Electronics-Engineered to be better. Tel. 01670 530674 (after 1pm)
Modded Thorens TD150, Audio Technica AT-1005 MkII, Technics EPC-300MC, Arkless Hybrid MC phono stage, Arkless passive pre, Arkless 50WPC Class A SS power amp, (or) Arkless modded Leak Stereo 20, Modded Kef Reference 105/3's
ReVox PR99, Studer B62, Ferrograph Series 7, Tandberg TCD440, Hitachi FT-5500MkI, also FT-5500MkII
Digital: Yamaha CDR-HD1500 (Digital Swiss army knife-CD recorder, player, hard drive, DAC and ADC in one), PC files via 24/96 sound card and SPDIF, modded Philips CD850, modded Philips CD104, modded DPA Little Bit DAC. Sennheiser HD580 cans with Arkless Headphone amp.
Cables- free interconnects that come with CD players, mains leads from B&Q, dead kettles etc, extension leads from Tesco
oh yes there is!
My System
John Wood KT88 Amp.
Paradise Phono Stage
Sony TTS-8000 Turntable.
PMAT-1010 MK6 Tonearm.
Ortofon Cadenza Bronze
Sony X555ES Cd Player
Yamaha NS1000m Speakers
Arkless Electronics-Engineered to be better. Tel. 01670 530674 (after 1pm)
Modded Thorens TD150, Audio Technica AT-1005 MkII, Technics EPC-300MC, Arkless Hybrid MC phono stage, Arkless passive pre, Arkless 50WPC Class A SS power amp, (or) Arkless modded Leak Stereo 20, Modded Kef Reference 105/3's
ReVox PR99, Studer B62, Ferrograph Series 7, Tandberg TCD440, Hitachi FT-5500MkI, also FT-5500MkII
Digital: Yamaha CDR-HD1500 (Digital Swiss army knife-CD recorder, player, hard drive, DAC and ADC in one), PC files via 24/96 sound card and SPDIF, modded Philips CD850, modded Philips CD104, modded DPA Little Bit DAC. Sennheiser HD580 cans with Arkless Headphone amp.
Cables- free interconnects that come with CD players, mains leads from B&Q, dead kettles etc, extension leads from Tesco
Back in February this year my wife asked me what do I want for my birthday. A nice Fender Telecaster immediately came to mind, but then I thought "I already have several beautiful guitars, why pollute the household with yet another exorbitantly expensive guitar that probably won't get much playtime anyway?"
So my second thought was "turntable?" But I immediately said "nah!"; turntables are such hassle, plus they are antiquated tech, and sound inferior to good digital hi fi.
But the little worm kept burrowing in my head, so I started slowly eyeing some turntables. Entry level Rega was selling for cheap at my local furniture store, so my first thought was "let's get Rega." But then I started reading some 'opinions' online, and started hearing a lot of praise for a moving coil cartridge Denon DL-103. So I decided to build my analogue front-end starting with DL-103, and work my way backwards. So I ordered the cartridge.
The first thing I learned once I started reading about DL-103 was that entry level turntables, the likes of Rega and Project (their entry level models), just won't cut it for DL-103. I then moved on to considering Technics SL1200; however, those beasts were rare, and if they came on the market for sale, were in a battered shape and the asking price was around $1,000.
One day, at the local record store, I saw the paper ad for Thorens 165. Called the guy and explained that I have DL-103; turned out he was running a turntable shop, and knew a boatload about all things analogue. He told me that this Thorens model is not precise enough for DL-103. He also told me to forget about Technics, as these are not nearly as good for such precise cartridge.
So I asked him to suggest me an appropriate turntable, and he said he had a pretty good match in mind. I went to his store, and he showed me the modded Systemdek IIX, with acrylic platter, fitted with modded Rega RB300 tonearm (rewired, plus some other mods). He fitted my DL-103, and supplied me with his hand made SUT into MM phono stage.
I took the turntable home, and installed it. To tell the truth, I was expecting it to sound way inferior to my digital front end. But lo and behold, it just blew the digital out of the water! Compared to digital, my analogue front end breathes fire!
The next thing I did on my 'born again analogue' journey is get me a nice RCM. After washing my records, vacuuming them, rinsing with distilled water and vacuuming again, the whole new world of shiny music opened for me. Now when I switch back to digital, I'm missing the ferocity, the 'molten lava' sound that my vinyl playback is giving me.
But for me, the most critical part of enjoying the vinyl playback is careful, thorough washing and vacuuming the LPs. Without that step, vinyl can sound pale and lifeless compared to good digital.
Don't you just hate it when you cannot detect where the post ends and a signature line begins?
Alex.
Depends. I know my way around Linux, so I can spend days faffing about the thread priorities and many other configuration details of my digital transport. Many of those changes modify the way my digital front end sounds, so there is much more faffing in the digital realm. Think of it as similar to how you can spend days messing with Photoshop effects and applying them to your photos. It's basically going down the rabbit hole.
Much less opportunity for such hard core faffing in the land of turntables.
Don't you just hate it when you cannot detect where the post ends and a signature line begins?
Alex.
Bakoon 13r Denon DP80 Stax UA-70 Shure Ultra 500 in a Martin Bastin body with jico stylus, project ds2 digital Rullit aero 8 field coils in tqwt speakers
Office system, DIY CSS fullrange speakers with aurum cantus G2 ribbons yulong dac Sony STR6055 receiver Jvc QL-A51 direct drive turntable, Leema sub. JVC Z4S cart is in the house
Garage system another Sony receiver, cassette deck
System components are subject to change without warning and at the discretion of the owner.