I must admit, I enjoyed writing the review of my own system and a few other members enjoyed it too, so I though that I wouyld do a write up of my second/office system upstairs; hope you forgive my self-indulgence!
It had gotten to the point where I was sitting out in the kitchen in the evening, listening to music on the laptop, so when our son left home, the now vacant small bedroom offered an opportunity to install a hi-fi system!
I had some bits leftover from the main system downstairs:
· Linn LP12
· Norton psu
· Audiomods Classic tonearm
· Metal bodied Denon DL103
· Naim Hi-Cap
· Linn Kans Mk1
· Linn K20 loudspeaker cable
· Naim NAP120 amplifier case, empty apart from the transformer
· Maplin DAC
· Nakamichi 600 cassette deck.
· Logitech Squeezebox Touch
A nice Naim NAC 42.5 came up for sale on pfm, so I purchased that, to go with the Hi-Cap that I already had. The NAP120 had been converted into a PSU before I bought it, so I picked up a pair of NAP250 boards and one of Les W’s NAP110 upgrade modules and built a new amplifier that I christened the ZAP120!
Being a small room, space was at a premium, so I looked out for a pair of Sound Organisation Kan wall brackets, which again, I eventually found on pfm! An old Ikea unit was pressed into service to house the equipment.
A Mana wall shelf was the obvious choice for placement of the LP12 on; another pfm find! The Denon DL103 was purchased from pfm too!
It was the slight dissatisfaction with the LP12 that lead me to investigate other turntables in the main system. I was quite keen to get the LP12 back to Linn spec, that way at least I could hopefully narrow down the cause of my dissatisfaction. So, I bought a used Lingo 1 and got it serviced by Class A, a used Linn Keel (from pfm) and a solid base. The Audiomods arm was spare because I had bought a Zeta for the Lenco 88.
The Linn was sounding good at this point at this point, though I did think that the top end whilst great on some material, like Jimi Hendrix – smash hits, for example, could sound a bit over the top on other records. So, I bought the Norton back into play and although I had used this for many years, I was surprised at the improvements it gave; now, the top end was somehow smoother and less notchy is the best way I can describe it. I wanted to retain the 45rpm capability, but the two are pin to pin compatible, so it’s only a matter of swapping PSU’s if I want to play such records. I ended up removing the base too, replacing it with 3m bump-on feet, because I have always found the LP12 to work better this way, especially when it’s on a Mana stand.
I had planned a visit to Les W, to get my NAP 250 serviced, so it was a good opportunity to get the Hi-Cap serviced too and get the TPR4 regulators fitted too.
As I said at the time:
I pressed the Maplin DAC into service, along with an Mtech HiFace Two, so that I could play internet radio through the Toshiba laptop, which, tbh, is what I mostly do with this system.
Downstairs, I had bought an Auralic Aries Mini for streaming, which meant that the Squeezebox Touch was spare too, I installed Squeezepad for control, sourcing the music files on the Auralic SSD via the home network.
I love Nakamichi cassette decks, and I have been lucky enough to get two at exceptionally low price! When I bought the 670ZX for the main system, the 600 (that I bought on pfm) became spare. It’s a lovely machine and sounds superb, though they are not easy to service these days, because of the lack of spare parts, but this one is working fine at the moment.
The only missing thing was CD capability, so, after giving it a lit of thought, I opted for a Cambridge CXC, using the other input on the Maplin DAC.
You will see a reoccurring theme, with the amount of equipment that I have bought from the pfm classifieds!
One idea that I had with this system, was to rotate other equipment through it. I have a NAC12 with NJ cards and a NAP120. The latter is a good working example, though it could probably do with a service; I bet it would sound superb through this system!
LP12/Kore/Lingo 1 or Norton AirPower/Audiomods Classic (built from kit)/Metal bodied Denon 103
Nakamichi 600 cassette deck
Cambridge CXC CD Transport/Maplin DAC
Squeezebox Touch / Best of Two Worlds Booster Linear PSU
Naim NAC42.5/HiCap-TPR4
ZAP120 – homebuilt amplifier in Naim NAP120 case + frame transformer/Avondale NAP110 PSU/NAP250 boards
Linn Mk I Kans/LK20/Sound Organisation brackets.
I spend hours listening to this system, It’s clean and bouncy, with no listening fatigue and sounds good across a wide range of material and it it meets the demands of my flat Earth credentials very well!
