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System pics 2014

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Gromit,
not sure on the XV, but the Sony surely has a tape out.
Why not try and use them as phono-pres to the naim, just for a play?

Puzzled over amps and speakers myself here. Two very different worlds collide.
(Lavardin IS & Steiner vs Exposure & Epos)
 
Gromit said:
OK Lefty - seeing as it's you. :)

These are purely using vinyl and into the Sapphires:

1st. Exposure XV - it's ballsy, plenty of colour-differentiation (kit cymbals especially) and with bags of drive. The best of the 3.

2nd. Sony 770ES (lower impedence tap on the MC stage's SUT) - remarkably similar to the Exposure, and a big/full sound. More bite perhaps than the XV - think the extra power is helping here. Very close to the XV in drive and direction.

3rd. 42.5/Hi/110 - some way behind the above. Sounds thinner, hard to differentiate between cymbal colours. Hi-hat/rim shot patterns get lumped into one sound. Good fun though, and quick with it, but in a blind test you'd pick this amp out within the first bar of music. Just doesn't have the same commitment as the other 2 amps. Still, it's a darn sight nicer than my old 72/Hi/180 and fun to listen to. MC stage is very quiet too - impressively so. :)
Click to expand...

Now that is a surprise!

Right, that's that settled - the next amp I buy will be a Farlowe era Exposure :D

Lefty
 
Lefty said:
Now that is a surprise!

Right, that's that settled - the next amp I buy will be a Farlowe era Exposure :D

Lefty
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You owe it to yourself, Lefty. :)

Knowing how we seem to agree so often on what constitutes a good sound, I think you'd like them. Certainly worth a go anyway - shame you're not more local otherwise I'd pop the XV down to you. :)

Through its line inputs the Naim rig is lovely - properly nice and I'm enjoying it immensely, easily as much as the other amps. However, the silver bullet (and apologies for sounding like a busted record) that really makes the XV is its phonostage. The thought that keeps occuring to me is that the 42.5's phono section needs the colour, that warmth of an early LP12 to make it gel - the Sony 6750's too honest for it and what you end up with with is slightly bleached, monotone even. All the detail's there, and the dynamics, it's just - without wishing to sound unkind - a bit bland.

There's going to be a serious amplifier bake-off this weekend, and I'll try to make some notes and start another, separate thread so as not to pollute this one.
 
Gromit said:
You owe it to yourself, Lefty. :)

Knowing how we seem to agree so often on what constitutes a good sound, I think you'd like them. Certainly worth a go anyway - shame you're not more local otherwise I'd pop the XV down to you. :)
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Yes - this is exactly what I was thinking :) The only Exposure amps I have ever owned were the New Classics (XXII / XVIII) and I remember being mightilly impressed by them. Probably helped by the fact that they were faithful to the original Farlowe design philosopies.

Looking forward to hearing the results of your weekend amplifier bake-off. If you've got the time, it would be interesting to use the Exposure's phono into the other amplifiers via the tape outs just to isolate the performance of the amplifers from the phono stages.

I'm having my own amplifier bake-off at the weekend. Puresound A30 vs Audion Silver Night 300b MKII :D

Lefty
 
A few pictures of some of my stereo equipment.

System001.jpg


System002.jpg


System004.jpg


I've just finished restoring a Quad QC 22.

FinishedQuad22_01.jpg


FinishedQuad22_02.jpg


QuadIIAmps05.jpg


QuadIIAmps04.jpg


It's been thirty years since I've used a QC 22 preamp with my Quad II's.
The mods that I've done to the QC 22 have transformed it to a very natural revealing sounding preamp.

Sharif.
 
A few changes since last year…

gi.mpl


Decided to try my first Naim product and grabbed a recently serviced Nait 2. Quite a shock how so much good sound & music can flow from such a small box. Using the onboard phono stage too. Not as detailed or as powerful as my tube amps, but a nice little solid state alternative.

gi.mpl


I've got the new VPI 3D printed armwand and it's also quite surprising how a light and seemingly flimsy plastic tonearm wand can sound so solid and quiet. It's a keeper. Matches up very well with the Dyna Karat.

gi.mpl


Speakers are still the ProAc Studio 140. I've had quite a few other speakers come and go but the ProAcs are best suited to my system and musical tastes and I have no plans on getting rid of them. My current second set of speakers (one must have at least two sets of speakers, maybe three? ;)) is a set of JBL 4311. The JBL is NOT a neutral speaker but one that is tons o' fun especially with Rock and Electronic music. Works well with the little Nait 2 but they are even more fun with my Audiomat Prelude.

gi.mpl


gi.mpl


Digital is now played at home through an Astell & Kern AK120 portable and I couldn't be happier with it…although I am a bit of a portable nut job! Analog is still my primary source however. Other than the new 3D armwand, the only othe change to my analog front end has been the addition of a Bob's Devices Cinemag 1131 step-up transformer. Bob designed a version of this SUT to replace the junction box on VPI tonearms.

gi.mpl



Turntable is still the VPI Aries II along with the VPI Classic 3 tonearm. Cartridges are a Koetsu Urushi Platinum, 47 Labs MC Bee, Dynavector 17DII Mk.2 and an Audio Technica AT33-ev.
 
boegelund said:
I'd remove those spikes seen under the Nait
Click to expand...

I appreciate your concern but I've listened both ways. The cones 'n cups are Ebony wood and I prefer the sound with them in place. I realize that this is not a very flat-earth approach but I prefer my ears to dogma.;)

I'm also NOT using Naim speaker cable and have 30 foot runs of solid core…GASP! Sounds great and no signs of stressing the little Nait. Might it sound even better with NACA 5? Maybe. But for 30 foot runs the cable would cost me more than the amp.
 
John said:
Great pics! And nice turntable interface to what looks like a Svelte platform.
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It is indeed. It's actually a Svelte+ which is the thicker (less svelte?) version. I did have the whole thing floating on Symposium bearings but now it rests on Stillpoints.

Thanks!
 
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