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Avondale Audio

I've owned and used quite a few bits of Avondale kit and even visited the base to chat, listen and pick up an order.

The 821A boards in a stripped down (i.e. reduced board count) 72 were rather nice. Added a TPX2 to that and later moved on to a Grad 1. Aesthetically the T¨PX2 + Grad 1 looked a bit incongruous in the same rack :) LW built me a stereo power amp (Avondale boards) in a Naim sleeve which looked like the photos posted earlier in this thread except it had a single transformer. The Avondale combo was more to my liking than the 72+HC+250 I had previously been using.

I sold the pre amp and power supply stuff to other enthusiasts and gave the power amp to a friend who still uses it daily about twenty years down the line.
 
Like most people, I’ve made many upgrades, large and small, over the years and in every case where there is an improvement it becomes the norm after a week or so.

Then I fitted SE200 modules in my humble NAP140 in Nov 2022 (I was originally going to get the Qudos modules but bit the bullet and got the SE200’s instead).

I listen to music for a couple of hours most evenings and honestly, every time is a wow experience. I know that is an overused cliché but it still sums up the feeling. Everything just sounds so nice, very detailed, warm and natural sounding with no hint of hardness or tiring whatsoever, unlike the Naim NAP A’s.

I should also add that a couple of months before fitting the SE200’s I replaced the regulators in the HiCap with Dragon Newts (Sorry Les). The NAP needs the best source signal fed to it to get the most out of the SE200’s. And just a couple of weeks ago replaced the rectifiers in the HiCap with AA Schottky full wave bridge modules. That's another step up, but maybe got used to it now.

I’m still waiting for the SE200's to become the norm after 14 months though!
 
I’m a bit of a fan, 3 pairs of Revelation speakers, mono110’s with ncc200’s, Voyagers with BUV 20’s. Naim 72 and 12 sounded so much better with 821’s. A fully modded 102 was the heart of the system for a decade till Grad 1 popped up…

Did I say I was a fan 🤣
 
Well I only have just the Genesis two motor turntable with it's PSU which Les is rather proud of ! He didn't make many though.

He keeps telling me that whenever Guy Adams brought his latest version of the Voyd to Avondale for a comparison listen, his two motor job always gave it a clean pair of heals.
 
I’ve been using the Grad 1 / TPX2 since I think 2014 faultless. I use them with Witch Hat moonlight mono amplifiers.

Regards,

Martin
 
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chris@panteg said:
Well I only have just the Genesis two motor turntable with it's PSU which Les is rather proud of ! He didn't make many though.

He keeps telling me that whenever Guy Adams brought his latest version of the Voyd to Avondale for a comparison listen, his two motor job always gave it a clean pair of heals.
Click to expand...
That must have been a few years ago when Guy Adams was still making Voyd turntables, I suspect a later 3 motor Voyd with the larger power supply might be a different beast to compare. I still do like the 2 motor Voyd Valdi, thinking of fitting a reference bearing & platter etc to see what difference it makes.
 
Jag Audio said:
That must have been a few years ago when Guy Adams was still making Voyd turntables, I suspect a later 3 motor Voyd with the larger power supply might be a different beast to compare. I still do like the 2 motor Voyd Valdi, thinking of fitting a reference bearing & platter etc to see what difference it makes.
Click to expand...
Can you still get the reference bearing? I have the lexan platter but standard bearing.
 
GordonM said:
Like most people, I’ve made many upgrades, large and small, over the years and in every case where there is an improvement it becomes the norm after a week or so.

Then I fitted SE200 modules in my humble NAP140 in Nov 2022 (I was originally going to get the Qudos modules but bit the bullet and got the SE200’s instead).

I listen to music for a couple of hours most evenings and honestly, every time is a wow experience. I know that is an overused cliché but it still sums up the feeling. Everything just sounds so nice, very detailed, warm and natural sounding with no hint of hardness or tiring whatsoever, unlike the Naim NAP A’s.

I should also add that a couple of months before fitting the SE200’s I replaced the regulators in the HiCap with Dragon Newts (Sorry Les). The NAP needs the best source signal fed to it to get the most out of the SE200’s. And just a couple of weeks ago replaced the rectifiers in the HiCap with AA Schottky full wave bridge modules. That's another step up, but maybe got used to it now.

I’m still waiting for the SE200's to become the norm after 14 months though!
Click to expand...
I did the same thing in the summer. I visited Les's new office and had a good chinwag and had my nap 140 upgraded to se200 boards and use the TPX2. Lovely sounds coming out even with a single transformer. It's a keeper. He kindly refurbished my 32.5 pre amp with new switches as well. Cracking service from the great man!
 
I ran the Qudos boards in a chrome 250 for years. In fact the longest I’ve ever owned a piece of kit without felling the need to upgrade. Throughly recommend Avondale wether it’s stand alone or the drop in boards.
 
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