This one is dedicated to Brian and Jim, hi guys!
It's raining in Wakefield and nowt much is doing. So, I thought I'd listen to a little background music and update this thread. I don't post very much stuff nowadays as I'm pretty happy and content with the gear I've collected. The "REAL SOUND" experiment started out as a copy-cat experience which was inspired by Jeff Day over on his webpage and to this day I've maintained a "REAL SOUND" system , manly just for fun, but of late, I've started to collect and experiment with older recordings after realising that their is a wealth of music which can be bought very cheaply and in some instances sound amazing. My REAL SOUND experiment has morphed over the years from using solid state Quad 405 amplification, through to Radford pre and power amplification with NIOS MULLARD ECC83's and EL34's. The system now compromises of a Radford SC25 Renaissance pre-amp fitted with NOS Mullard 8317's, power amp duties now belong to a no-name Italian 300b amplifier bought on AudioAddicts forum. The 300b amp, you will see some photos of this to the end of the post.
Vinyl spinning duties have gone to a NOS Thorens TD160 Super. I have made very small tweaks to the deck. Firstly, it now sits in a more massive Oak plinth and I have made a 25mm base board. Intrinsically it's the same as a normal TD160 super and retails all the tweaks the Thorens added and indeed many of which Thorens owners add to normal 160's. This deck came with a orginal SME metal tonearm board made. My SME 3009 needs a few spare parts (which have been ordered), namely so new mounting washers and isolation grommets. I'll be using a Shure V15 mk 3 with a new JICO https://www.jico-stylus.com/product/vn35he-sas-r/ at the moment it houses a NOS VN35HE which sounds lovely.
I've kept the original tinned copper tonearm cable and even the original SME made RCA connectors. As you can see from the picture we have a few treats install for the 160 Super. I have a NOS Thorens belt and I have ordered a new belt from a new seller on ebay which seems to be getting rave reviews, it's blue colour and promises are manner of improvements, we shall see! You can also see from the picture we have a new set of isolation grommets and springs for the suspension. I already have good pistonic bounce but we can always experiment and see if we can get things to sound better. I have also made a set of 3 platter isolation dots which suposedly decouple the platter and improve things, again, we shall see.
The deck has the heavily damped Thorens TD160 platter mat which no other 160 recieved. The platter bearing was the largest in the 160's, and the 160 Super had slightly improved figures over the 160 in bearing noise and rumble.
Those interested in Thorens deck can learn a lot more from this excellent German site.
http://thorens-info.de/html/thorens_..._145_-_14.html
The Radford is an amp that I've owned for quite sometime, recently fettled and slightly upgraded it's got the best ever ECC83 made, the 8137, some would argue Telefunken are better but I love these English valves.
Finally, and itch, scratched. An amp with 300b valves. The 300b valve is probably the most expensive bottle you can buy for an amp, prices in some instances reaching 5 figures, simply stupid. I've always liked Gold Lion valves and these are no exception, they have some hours on them and sound very nice indeed. One day, I may buy a pair of Elrog's, or even the new Western Electric remakes. Owing a 300b valve is also something I wanted to try out with my large Tannoy speakers. The amp has 4 & 8 ohm speaker taps at the back so offers a little chance for experimentation.
The whole system is cabled together with Duelund cabling and IC's. The whole system sits on a Quadrapsire mish/mash which was made from parts found in the garage and loft. We are nearly spinning, just got to wait for the SME parts to arrive for the 3009. Stay tuned..