advertisement


what was the last piece of hifi you bought

10k DACT SMD 21 Stepped Attenuator in a little black box to go with the ALPS 16 one I already have. £48 delivered.

PXL-20220613-135456485.jpg
 
ATC SCM100ASL in piano black(2016, Recapped/serviced mk2 amp packs, Bass and Mid drivers upgraded/replaced to SL spec, Vifa HF replaced with Seas units), taken a while to dial them into my listening room(Tannoys are so much easier to position ....)
Enjoying them immensely. Ended up driving them via a Benchmark DAC2 in dac mode into a Mark Levinson 380S pre amp. The simpler and theoretically purer route via the BM as pre/dac was just a shade too clinical/sharp edged, the ML380S is just too good to part with, adding a smoother sweeter analogue sound and rounding things off nicely within the soundstage/mix.
Corrected.
 
A Teac PD-H500C CD player, on eBay for €170, to match my A-H500i integrated, €200. I was sincerely stupefied at the quality of the pair. As of today, I would never ever go back to 4-figures audio. These vintage electronics (the amp is a full dual mono circuit with a large toroidal transformer in a mid-size case) drive my Klipsch Heresy IIIs wonderfully. HiFi from before Naim & Linn should be seriously reconsidered. My opinion only, but a 55 years experience from my first stereo gramophone.

l have the TEAC PD-H600 CD player and that sounds blooming brilliant for how little it cost- built like a brick outhouse and looks cool too- as does most TEAC stuff.
 
Last edited:
An Avid Volvere. TT number 3 :eek:. Spent an afternoon setting it up, mounting an SME V and fitting an AT Art-9xa. Then discovered I didn’t have an arm cable to hand. Next task is to take the vdH arm cable off an lp12 and put another on.
 
Some pics of getting the Volvere assembled, armed and cartridge fitted.
Had to swap out the arm cable from another deck and replace that with a balanced XLR terminated one
3sRtTx6.jpg

Always been fascinated by Avid’s beautiful 3D sub chassis concept
usXQr0h.jpg


SmgpH0D.jpg


just waiting for arm cable and final suspension levelling in situ-

6qNLGlD.jpg


Cartridge set up looks good-
IQyFYCr.jpg


Running in then final check but sounding good. This is a peach of a cart-


wD7zj9v.jpg
 
Lovely, I prefer that finish to the polished (more) expensive models. I bet it sounds great?

Cheers BB
Its more nimble and pacey sounding than an Orbe, a good platform for the ART-9xa which itself is airy and very well resolved. I’m keen to swap the cart to see how much of the character is down to the TT rather than the cartridge. A very nicely conceived deck both in engineering terms and aesthetically. I like the sintered finish as well.
 
And I have just received and fitted an AT-VM95EN :)

Should have replaced the knackered old K9 yonks ago: the difference is striking.
The VM95ML is to replace the AT100e. I've enjoyed this cartridge & was considering replacing the stylus with the VM nude elliptical equivalent (forget its designation). However, the VM95EN is cheaper than the EN stylus for the 100e, & I nearly went with it; but for a bit more the 95ML should have better performance & last twice as long - such is my understanding - for less than twice the price of the 95EN.

Meanwhile I'm running my previously unused spare cartridge: an AT3600L at 2.5g. This unassuming thing has turned out to make enthusiastic, enjoyable music at the expense of a little hi-fi, & I've been surprised to find IGD not as objectionable as I expected, using Rega alignment.
 
Latest purchases were HRS Nimbus assemblies (i.e. clever rubber feet) and their damping plates for my pre-amp, phono stage and CD player. Heretically, I also bought their record puck and use it on my LP12. It all looks a bit silly to me, but it definitely improves the sound.

Before that, I bought a complete system to go around my old Naim pre-amp and be be shipped to foreign parts - eBay is useful! Naim ND5 XS2 plus 82 plus Hicap plus 250 plus Uniti Core plus Neat Xplorers. Total cost was under £7K, so it's a lot of music for the money and I am feeling unattractively smug about the whole business.
 
Custom Designs Q104 open frame stands for my Stirling V3s arrived on Friday. They look correct sat underneath LS3/5As in a way that my previous Atacama Moseco 6s didn't.
TS
 


advertisement


Back
Top