System edited: Bought a new source component , reel to reel , good stuff

andromedaaudio March 06, 2013 16:46

System edited: New system pic, Had a good deal on the krells and traded them in after having had them for over 2 year , fantastic amplifiers . Haven t had much expirience with Boulder ,... 1060.

andromedaaudio June 26, 2012 19:10

The nagra is long sold , i have a cat now .
It doesnt give a sound when plugged straight into the zanden 7000 , gain issue probably , it does need a MM stage.

andromedaaudio June 25, 2012 17:28

Thanks , i m gonna look into that , i cannot say they will be my final destination, who knows
But it does a lot of things superbly well .
Making music is one of them and that cannot be said by all of the " high end " claimers these days

andromedaaudio June 25, 2012 15:13

Thanks i read a great deal of it already .
Well whenever the sophia RP runs out of steam , i might buy the takatsuki although its 1800 retail here in europe .
Are there other cheaper places to buy it ???

andromedaaudio June 24, 2012 21:20

I want to add that i am in the proces of making a "flagship" model.
A modular construction with 11 and 13 inch high efficiency very stiff woofers in the bassmodule
And a MTM module placed on top .
The papercomposite mids which will have a combined efficiency of around 93 /94 dB altogether .
This will be no more in high density MDF but will consist of modern stiff /high density industrial materials ( or 6000/7000 series aluminium).
This will all be done in CAD drawings and then CNC machined , so it will take quit some time and require a substantial investment
But i hope to have it ready before the end of the year.
I intend to sell the MTM seperately

Greetings henk jan

andromedaaudio June 24, 2012 14:49

The speakers driven by the zanden are of 90,5 db efficiency , with a maximum impedance drop of around 10 Ohms , very easy to drive with any amp .
I also design a 3 way which has 91 db efficiency as i changed to a paper mid which sounds more natural than the accuton to me , it did bring the efficiency down 1 db in contrast to the stated 92,5 db claim by the unitmanufacturer, its also possible with accuton mid off course
It can have both a accuton tweeter or a very high quality soft dome if people want that

In what way the presentation will improve more with the takatsuki , although i am extremely pleased at the moment .

greetings henk jan

andromedaaudio June 24, 2012 14:01

Well its time for a zanden review , the review is based on the zanden alone not with the cat driving it, it is used with the sophia electric royal princess tube 1000 euro pair considered one off the best , the takatsuki possibly bettering it at 1800 euro retail :

I was a bit afraid how well it would drive the speakers , but the zanden SET 300 B came along for a reasonable price from a person who lived in amsterdam , so i thought i give it a try .
Plus :
most obvious is more transparency and detail , it is said SET s are detailchamps and that is very true compared to the cat /krell/hawk amp .
Bass , believe it or not bass has improved , it has more weight /aplomb it is fuller and more defined , it fills the room with low freq more so than the krell, especially with organ or orchestra music , most movies as well , although gunshots(heat ) sound a bit more fierce/snappy with krell.
Voices and music on cd and musicaldetailsoveral are on another level , the feeling of reality has much improved
sense of space has improved and the soundstage became bigger
I think its been a logical upgrade and a good learningexperience .
I probably would state from now on that tubebass is better than SS
Headroom is enough but that is all , i usually listen to cd s at vol 12 or 1 oclock and movies at 3 oclock so i have some headroom left although its not that much but no problem there .
There is absolutely no sign of compression when driven with volume fully open , no smearing or harshness just pure clear sound.
Able to portray the dynamics of a trumpet with incredible dynamics , completely floating free in space
The person whom i bought it from said he never heard the zanden better , he heard it on tannoy and audio note speakers
He himself listened usually with AKG K1000 headphones

neg :
I am afraid i will have to buy the zanden 1200 phono as well in the future , the cat phono is now to noisy at listening volume and i think the zanden will deliver much more detail and transparency and overal sound quality .
I do know the legend is much more quit and has a step up transformer built inside for up to 58 db gain
The zanden 1200 has 2 gain outputs 1(high) is 68 db (probably more dynamic sounding then compared to the legend )
I do suspect a problem though , using my beloved decca carts on the zanden as it has a fixed loading of 4 ohm on the high gain output and a fixed 40 ohms loading on the low gain output , deccas need the 47 kohm loading to sound good and going lower reduces the soundlevel and doesnt sound nice , on the cat that is
The krells do sound a bit better with electronic music / house

andromedaaudio June 24, 2012 08:34

System edited: Update/pics : i bought another power amp (with vol control), to see what 8 watts can do as i dont really need the power . The krells are fantastic especially with the cat , but zanden is zanden , magic stuff the krells are for sale

andromedaaudio June 14, 2012 17:01

Yes it became quit an obsession over the years , but i got it right in the end
Time to let go and enjoy .
I am sitting front row with not even that large amount of $$$ spent .

andromedaaudio April 08, 2012 08:57

Well ,i have been playing now for 3 or 4 weeks with a 3 mm layer of natural woolfelt around the tweeter and midrange covering the whole top 1 / 3 of the speaker .
Impressions: it robbes the music of some chaotic livelyness .
you could call it a little dull sounding.
The speakerdissapearing act gets in higher gear , now virtually completely non locatable as a sound source .
More stressfree listening .
it invites you more to just sit between the speakers and focus on the performance .
Further i am very curious as how the new big 13 inch stiff/ hexacone woofers will sound like in the new model , i am curious as to how they will exite the low frequencies compared to 2 8 inch or a 10 inch woofer .
The bigger woofer having more membrane weight to move air with , so it could sound slower as a downside

andromedaaudio March 04, 2012 08:44

well i have some nice pics to show , but i cant get into my system page , i ll post them sometime later on the " other forum "
I bought a new stand alone audio analyzer from kirchner electronic
Which does :
• Electric and acoustic amplitude frequency response
• SPL Electric and acoustic phase frequency response
• Impedance measurement
• Step response
• Distortion THD
• Distortion IMD
• RMS (sound) level meter
. waterfall diagphrams

I got the new woofers and tweeters in .
13 and 11 inch hexacone and soft domes .

andromedaaudio February 11, 2012 09:44

Funny thing was that we listened to the new nagra 300 B amp as well on the blumenhofers.
When we changed to the 250 watt octave monos we could hear a improvement of sound and authority /control .
The speakers are probably round 99 dB or something so i thought it woulnt matter but it did .

andromedaaudio January 28, 2012 06:47

I listened today to Hornspeakers .
Blumenhofer speakers (50000)
driven by the top zanden dac , zanden pre and octave jubilee monos .
And also a expensive analogue front .
Nice sound , i still like zanden for sure , and the jubilee as well .
different from conventinal box designs , nice mid highs but i like a bit more raw impact in the lows, its sounded friendly

andromedaaudio January 26, 2012 20:07

Me too i cannot get into my systempage .
Audiogon has put an end to the reckless gearchanging business, its over. (lol)

andromedaaudio January 15, 2012 08:30

oh oh thats bad , but hey its still saved somewhere cause i can read it today .
Well i got into my threads but only after i changed the pass word .
Halcro nice system by the way , have you got any idea what i would gain(or lose ) if i would swap the krells for a pair of DM 68 or 88.
They are on my try list just as :
levinson 33 or 33h
convergent jl3 sign
the big Chord monos.
Audio research top ref monos .
and some more i forgot just now
I swapped the 20 mm diamond cones for the 25 mm ceramic ones today, and i must say very nice sound , i think the plp brought a kind of hardness to the high freq which is gone with the convergent pre.
I might move away from the 20 diagphram the impact is to low combined with a 7 inch mid .
I was in a shop today and i was listening to the dynaudio C 2 and mc intosh.
A nice and romantic sound , completely different from mine , which is ultra high resolution /super controlled and sounds more like see through glass.
I am very happy with the paper composite mid , which will be used in the future model

andromedaaudio January 14, 2012 18:57

OK thanks peter , i will just wait and see what happens.

andromedaaudio January 14, 2012 00:09

no i tried it , thats not it , thanks anyway.
Actually it says that i am logged in , but when i try to go to my virtual system , or my threads , it asks for my pass word again and when i enter that, it asks for it again and again .
i send a mail already to audiogon

andromedaaudio January 13, 2012 23:47

What the f@#$k is wrong with the (new ) audiogon site , i cant even log into my own page anymore , i send them a mail days ago , but no reply and no improvement , anybody else with problems ???

andromedaaudio January 13, 2012 15:49

I just made a trade in offer on Mark levinson 33 mono amplifiers i dont know if i get them ,...450 kg shippingweight!!!!!
I hope the beasts arrive .
Convergent power amps would also do .
I dont know if they are better , but changing is interesting.
My favourite woofermaterial is definetively eton hexacone material , not paper, paper is to soft in my opinion , it will do in mids though.
Although I do like the wilson (focal) bass also but the ones i can buy dont have the efficiency i am looking for .

andromedaaudio January 08, 2012 20:58

Merry christmas fellow audio enthousiasts.

I added a picture from my latest purchase .
A 47 inch lcd led television 400 hz full HD and a 9000 series plilips blu ray player with " dedicated" audio output meaning bigger transformers as i understood .

Well fantastic imaging if there is such thing as high end viewing this would be it but i am sure there is bigger out there .
Leaving only one desire: meaning building bigger speakers with ultra stiff materials .

andromedaaudio December 24, 2011 20:50

System edited: Picture of the new mid in use in system pics , has the same working surface as the thiel , so works the same internal volume. mid efficiency increased by 1 dB

andromedaaudio September 24, 2011 11:06

hey there ,
Have been very busy trading the volatility on the stockmarket lately ,and i expect another big leg down in sept okt (put options)
Have been very happy afterall with the cat pre .
Plans for a new loudspeaker system have evolved
Its gonna be a modular system .
Bass unit consisting of a 11 and inch 13 inch woofer.
I have grown a little bit tired of the of the ultra clean/smooth sound with thiel units .
I am looking for something clean but more friendly/forgiving .
D appolito high / mid with papercomposite mid and softdome highs
Housing will be ultra rigid .
The drawings are made it just has to go to the cnc shop

andromedaaudio September 17, 2011 07:58

Game changing pre amp .

I started listening to cds s as well and find them quite involving , unbelievebale i never thought it could happen .
It changed my opinion about ceramic materials as well , ceramic drivers dont have a hint of hardness anymore not even the tweeters .
It not only controls and reproduces sound it makes it come alive again, the sound is full of control and nuances and more detail .
I think i m gonna buy a legend and a jl2 or 3 and call it a , although i like to have big transistors hanging around , the legend pre will be in the system anyway , at some time .
A 6550 tube amp with power and triode sound , i cant wait .

My second system will be ML 32 /33

andromedaaudio June 20, 2011 19:27

it has been a very good deal , the hardness is now completely removed from the system , this pre reminds me of the zanden .
Strong points :
quit , both phono but certainly the line stage
triode magic , meaning natural flow and hearing deeper into the music /movies .
Improved bassextension.
bigger soundstage with sharper images .
superb phonostage although i have not tested a low output mc (it has 57 db of gain as far as i know ).
it makes listening simply more involving.
I wish i could use some of the cat caps in a speakerfilter.

andromedaaudio June 12, 2011 16:27

System edited: New toy !!! Traded my plp in for the ultimate mk2 , serial no 10307 , it has a legend frontpanel , first impression its heavy compared to the nagra. I ll ad some comments later

andromedaaudio June 11, 2011 13:01

No , someone who builds his one , isnt likely to buy off the market , although i have owned dynaudio and avalon.
I do like magico , the V 3 being my favourite.
I could live with a number of speakers/types from avalon wilson,dynaudio, kharma and also magico and others i have not heard .
I have enough plans for higher quality designs myself although the current is also wonderfull , the ceramic mid /diamond high being off enormous resolution combined with a very fast/light woofer , although it will be replaced with one with a litle more efficiency .
There are 2 dutch reviews of the diamond , i translated one , if you google you find it , it sounds like ....glass

andromedaaudio June 07, 2011 14:37

So it looks like its a deal, i do have to pay a little bit extra though .
I ll be having a CAT ultimate mk 2 playing probably this week its a 2008 model , see what that changes things , i havent even heard it but i like suprises , it did have a good review in soundstage.
Ill be posting pics and comments off course

andromedaaudio June 06, 2011 20:20

Today i went to a shop show and listened to zanden again and octave jubilee (these poweramps are big and gorgeous) very controlled clean with a lot of slam .
One set was magico v2 with nagra vps ,pll and vpa monos
I have yet to hear a (tube) system sounding so clean as nagra .
The other one was magico m5 with the octave and zanden 3000.
Nice stuff but my own sounds also very nice and clean.
Got my new speaker ideas almost worked out.

andromedaaudio June 04, 2011 19:55

Actually im gonna make 2 new models : one is a improved version of the illusion diamond , IDI .
With a custom cnc machined thick 6000 or 7000 series aluminium baseplate and high tech decoupling devices , no spikes .
The front will probably be made of high grade aluminium or celeron (iso pf ), ultra rigid hard modern composite material.
This all to achieve maximum clarity and resolution.

The other model will be high tech old school .
2 260 mm paper woofers ,a paper mid and a newly designed and very well executed soft dome.
Housing probably all celeron or 6000 series aluminium, all cnc machined high tech designs .

And all designed to play neutral and loud without strain because i am not the typical audiofile music listener i usually like to step on the gaspedal.
Playing loud , pure and neutral without strain is actually what defines "high end sound" to me

andromedaaudio April 04, 2011 21:16

Hoera! finally got a perfect second hand copy of AC/DC s highway to hell, i got the AC/DC collection almost complete

andromedaaudio April 02, 2011 15:28

In strive for soundperfection or different sound for that matter , i m gonna build another loudspeaker .
Its not going to go in the ultra high resolution /stiff membrane direction of diamond and baked aluminium .
Instead the mid will be made from a paper composite and the tweeter will probably be a conventional fabric dome .
All with neodymium magnet drives where possible.
In the enclosure i will change things a lot , not because a special mdf housing(braced ) doesnt sound good , but i want to take things in the extreme.
Ultra stiff housing made of highly modern industrial composite materials with sufficient dampening.
and see where that takes things , at least the energy prduced by a loudspeakerunit will not go lost in setting the housing into vibration.
Of course the freq response must be flat , i only want neutral soundreproduction not a sound i like , it must sound like a swiss clock.
Although it" might" be going a little bit up under 250 hz as we listeners perceive this as being right reproduction of sounds.

andromedaaudio March 26, 2011 08:14

System edited: Added a picture of my latest holiday/hobby ,...nature . Jungle trek in madidi national park bolivia , one of the best parks in the amazon region. One problem though ...the rain season and that is musquitos .

andromedaaudio March 13, 2011 22:42

Old ????

Im just 42 , i dont know what the life ecpectancy is in the states i hope its not that bad .

greetz hj

andromedaaudio February 12, 2011 15:26

Correction: its a moving iron i have to get into the design more , and it is not just good on good(high resolution) recordings , child in time /deep purple in rock sounds better also for example.
{http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decca_Records#Decca_Special_Products}
This cartridge might be a game changer for me , ive always gone with the low output mc ,high gain phonostage path but i think thats about to change .
I might buy a secondhand kondo ksl M77 or M7 with internal mm phono stage in the future and also go higher in the london cartridge line .
The kondo amps are about as pure of a signalpath one can think of and they have the tube(presence) i suspect.
And a rockport sirius 3 or continuum would be nice also but out of my reach

andromedaaudio February 12, 2011 10:29

System edited: The MM cart ,london decca super gold is my new reference cartridge . I m astoundid by the level of resolution on (some) good recordings . A new level of dynamics ,detail, musical drive/speed . Youre talking " live sounding" . A real surprise

andromedaaudio February 08, 2011 19:39

System edited: Thanks ,I ve uploaded a picture as it looks now , ive put some dampening material on the walls ,ceiling and behind the speakers , it definetely needed some more dampening. I live about 8 months in the new place and im also looking for some cool diffusors , and bass traps to ad . I dont like it overly damped though.

andromedaaudio February 07, 2011 21:18

Hello peter ,
No i did not hear a sme table before i bought the sme 20/3 , i did hear a sme 10 very briefly at a show but that system was situated in a great big hall so i couldnt get a opinion.
I based my buying merely on M fremers review of the sme 30 and indeed the 20/12 not so long ago .
I thought a upgrade of a model that was succesfull and existed for so long must be good.
But i personally cant tell of any difference between the 2 , i dont think you can go wrong with either of them.

h-j

andromedaaudio February 06, 2011 22:28

I got good news for analogue junkies like myself , i kind of developed an opinion about the london decca super gold .

Here it is :
-Its cheap .
-Its got history.
-There is no need for transformers and i certainly dont like transformers with a core in the signalpath (i dont know what kind is in the nagra) , i use only air core for that matter in loudspeakerfilters.
- the sound is dynamic and in your face ,it gives body to the sound , kind of like the "reassurance" cd gives .
-it makes the koetsu(vdh mod) sound slick and smooth and the same goes to the condor although to a lesser extant.
- yesterday i went back to the koetsu but i changed later that day again , that certainly should say something.
-It makes me longing for the london reference , i think it should work well with the kondo (with phono ) as it has a built in phono mm amp with tubes and a lot are raving about that one although the plp is a very nice tubeamp to .

My reference jazz drum record : "Explosive drums" from the black and blue label ,with jo jones , cozy cole and others sounds more in your face /more body/dynamic and also very detailed .

andromedaaudio February 06, 2011 17:57

System edited: Show items ayon audio (pics)

andromedaaudio February 04, 2011 20:09

System edited: Check out my added systempics , the urushi is now vd hul modded(vd hul 1 stylus ) My London(decca) super gold has arrived with recordbrushes also london.

andromedaaudio February 03, 2011 17:29

Thanks , i am trying to establish my own brand but thats not so easy.
I have my first review coming up shortly in a mag here in holland , and a good one also .
I strive for full range and very accurate frequency resoponse and as dynamic as i can make them.
Yeah building your own is a very much an adventure.

andromedaaudio January 31, 2011 20:05

System edited: added systempics of acoustic absorbers , made a couple myself and i bought 2 big ones as shown. The change is very well worth it , an appartment like mine suffers from ringing a lot . Now the higher freq seem to be much more damped and under control. I have to(can) increase the volume a bit more than before , and the bass seems to be stronger , more pronounced and much better defined. It sounds very good at the moment.

andromedaaudio January 29, 2011 17:31

{http://hometheaterreview.com/london-super-gold-cartridge-reviewed/}
Ive ordered such a cartridge , its a moving iron with a complete different technique of putting movements into electrical signals , you also dont need a phono pre it can go straight in the nagra line input( 5 mV).
My koetsu is getting a vd hul needle this weekend if he(mr vd hul ) is not abroad .

andromedaaudio January 27, 2011 19:13

Yeah lucky for you, i doubt the +- 30 mm bigger platter will make much difference sound wise any way.
But hey the koetsu might be even better to my ears sound wise than with the koetsu tip.
I informed about the vdh 1 tip today , its the same tip for all the models .
Everything can be renewed for a price , coils ,rubber suspension , boron cantilever , tip, output (amount of coilwindings .
I learned something today as well , one can check both channels for resistance to see if there are any faults.

andromedaaudio January 25, 2011 16:59

Not the microline, but the vdH - 1 stylus as mounted in the colibris for example , it might also be in the condor i dont know

andromedaaudio January 24, 2011 21:26

Dissaster happened , i dropped the urushi to the side of the record and the diamond seperated from the cantilever .
Shit happens , i informed about koetsu repairs and oh boy they take long and cost a shit load of money.
The problem is the sort of foam platter surface of the sme , the sme platter is considerable larger than a record and if the neeedle drops in the foam the diamond sort of hooks and then you know what happens .
I think im gonna have a top vd hul diamondtip(v d hul microline ) installed on the koetsucantilever it wont be a koetsu anymore , but its a much cheaper solution and oh boy how i like my vd hul condor back on the sme , it sounds just more exiting/ livelike.
Although ive said at one time the other way around , but the condor is a stayer, and who knows what a custom koetsu /vd hul sounds like , it keeps the hobby a live .

vinyl still rules and its still cheaper than changing to a different " the best" 10000 $ digital player every year

andromedaaudio January 24, 2011 17:55

So i checked the speed tonight after i saw the lockspeedlight on the motorcontroller blinking, meaning it was not holding a correct speed .
I put on the stroboscoopdisc suplied by sme and adjusted the speed while pressing some buttons i did need to adjust it a bit .
Its nice that adjustable feature it feels secure you can check and adjust the speed at all times .
Further i ve now come to a certain point that i want to rearrange my new appartment acoustically , ive looked around at all kind of absorbers diffusors and basstraps .
I need to do a lot of work to control and damp reflections , i dont have roomacoustic measuring tools so im just gonna play around with it and listen.

andromedaaudio January 13, 2011 22:18

System edited: Edit systempics : my new apollo wall mount, cheap but nice and strong ,.....and black

andromedaaudio January 12, 2011 19:58

{http://forum.zelfbouwaudio.nl/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=12736}
If you scroll down there are more pics ,they weigh over 500 kg incl 90 kg copper for the transformers

andromedaaudio January 10, 2011 21:37

http://home.tiscali.nl/fishbowl.amping/bouwfase.html

andromedaaudio January 09, 2011 14:17

And there is more , i stumbled today on this site a couple of guys here in holland are making monstrous tube amps built around gigantic triodes , much bigger than the 833.
Im gonna pay them a visit in the near future

The tube boxes in the top can be clicked upon to get different menus
http://home.tiscali.nl/fishbowl.amping/inleiding.html

andromedaaudio January 09, 2011 13:11

System edited: Some more pics and yes the sound is more structured , a bit unexpected actually a more upclass turntable can make a considerable difference , Fleetwood mac live sounds "almost" like the concert although i hadnt given that record much attention the vpi made it sound blurred in comparison

andromedaaudio January 08, 2011 16:59

NO i dont build them myself , i have them build woodwork is a craftmanship by itself , i use "waterproof" MDF which has more glue in it than normal and its heavier.
I design them myself , i will in the future use other materials , aluminium , polymeer stuctures and others maybe, but i still think you can built a good speaker with mdf and keep cost low with good internal bracing .
The fineer is gewaterd esdoorn i dont know the english word.
The thing i do want to tell you is you need good measuring equipment to built a good speaker.
The accuton diamond is something , very smooth/detailed/natural and snappy , it can really '" hit" you in the ear .
I might use scanspeak tweeters also in the future , i wish scanspeak made a nice midfrequency unit with a higher efficiency than they have today

andromedaaudio January 05, 2011 18:22

Add: the sme arm seems to have two fixed bearings in which it rotates vertically which gives a solid/fixed feeling

andromedaaudio January 05, 2011 18:01

Thanks i might post some more , after listened now for a couple of nights with familiar records although not to the diamond speakers with the more refined high frequencies , i can say that what springs to mind is that the sound is (much) more at ease and there is a change in the way the speakers image , the stereo image is wider and there seems to be more distance between singer trumpet guitar etc .
Is it better than the vpi? yes it seems so , you constantly get the feeling of transparency coming from a extremely solid quiet background.

Further its much more a joy to use than the scoutmaster the speed is dailed with a touch on a button and is on speed very quickly , further everything runs very quiet , the sme 5 arm is very easy to set up and is not so wobbly than the vpi arm the sme is probably a double pivot i dont know i have to read some more about it .

AM i happy with purchase ?
Yes i was on a kind of dead end with listening but now i have the feeling the hobby gets much more exciting , i might sell the krells again though not because they are not good , but i think i could also be happy with a ml 432 for example and keep the change , i cant play extremely loud anyway , the krells might be a bit " better" though

andromedaaudio January 05, 2011 17:13

System edited: and some pictures

andromedaaudio January 03, 2011 22:21

System edited: Finally arrived and playing , the assembly takes a while but you get a good feel of the construction and its very nicely done "a sophisticated design" . As i have my "voyager" speakers playing i cannot say defenitive things about the sound as i listened mostly to the diaqmond ones lately , firsts impression is of a solid/precise sound , stereoimiges are very solid and the sound is a natural one with ease and precision , although ive never heard a sme table , i do like the sound after only the first few minutes which is usually the time i need to like or to dislike something

andromedaaudio January 03, 2011 21:25

Thanks, ill post some pictures and give a first impression very soon
Its gonna be delivered mondayevening as i was very busy the last week , the vd hul i also havent got yet ,because of delivery problems which were not my fault.

andromedaaudio January 02, 2011 06:18

Update on my future sme 20/3A !!!!
The importer informed me today .
It will be in holland by the end off next week , so i will probably have it playing between christmas and new year.
I will also pick up a new vd Hul colibri XCP 0,22 mV on tuesday , and i hope it will together raise the level of analogue playback ,digital does not have my interest, exept for DVD films /documentories

andromedaaudio December 18, 2010 17:28

This is another hobby of mine particle physics, live ion collisions at the LHC http://cms.web.cern.ch/cms/FireworksLive.html

andromedaaudio November 14, 2010 20:12

After having had the Condor now playing again for a week , i have an opinion for what its worth:

The condor sounds a bit lighter/ edgier the bass sounds a bit more heavy though.

More microdynamics /revealing / (musicality) than the koetsu which is the most positive factor .

I would say the koetsu is the mercedes with a warm luxurious stable sound .
The condor is the sportscar which drives on the limit.

I enjoy both , declaring a winner needs more time cause sometimes changing things might influence ones opinion.

The factor that the vd hul rides with 1,40 grams and the japanese one with 1,80(in my case ) might have influence on the vd hul being a bit more revealing i dont know , the stylus is also different among other things.

After i ve tried them on the sme i might buy another one maybe the ortofon A 90 which looks like a well designed piece supported by a big cart company

andromedaaudio November 13, 2010 18:54

Thanks for the kind comments and explanation , mike indeed its a very interesting happening for a analogue enthousiast, its a every year show in the first week of november , so when youre in the neigbourhood ?
It might be a nice thing to organize in the US also, it is of course a very good initiative of a shop to get customers in.

You must have a very good opinion of the vd hul cartridges after having had so many , he is 76 by the way, but is a very sharp and funny guy as well.

There was also a new series Ortofon on the repair bench not the A 90 , the magnet used was of a very strong type .

andromedaaudio November 07, 2010 16:36

System edited: Follow up on the repairstory, systempics added with the repaired condor

andromedaaudio November 07, 2010 15:33

Yesterday i went to a very nice show in a little town in the dutch country side .
It was held in a shop owned by a designer in which he also sells his own line of audioproducts .
Mister vd hul himself was present as he lives nearby, there were about 10 turntables on the floor and cupboards when i arrived , and a lot of cartridges to be checked too
The actual adjustment of the cartridge was done by a oscilloscoop and were then ready to play.
It was very interesting to see him and the other repairmen work, my own Condor was put onder the microscoop and i had a look myself , what i thought had happened,.... happened .
1 thread from 1 of the coils had come loose and was soldered back on after removing the red fabric coating , the needle was adjusted again and is now perfectly in line with the headshell , the coils looked a bit worn/damaged but were still okay, as was the needle tip he told me , usually the rubber suspension behind the coils is the reason for an element to be repaired as it dries out with the years.
I had a chance to hear 3 colibries in different turntables ,every turntable that was repaired was given the opportunity to be heard , it didnt matter if it was a 200 eurom player or a 10.000 euro player .
There was also a prototype airbearing tangentiaal arm playing with a custom designed colibri .
Here is the link with some lastyears photos .http://www.jkacoustics.nl/portal/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=170&Itemid=177
One funny thing happened when my condor was under the microscoop he asked me do you work with metal which i do, because there were tiny metal fragments on the coils , these were al taken away by hand using a certain type of clay.
One more interesting thing was mentioned ,that one could bring the needle pressure down in some cases after the rubber suspension has settled from a new element onwards ,supposedly under the min weight of some manufactures advice , your talking in the range of a couple of tens of a gram ,as they did the precise adjustment by scope .

greetz HJ

andromedaaudio November 07, 2010 12:53

Readjusted my turntable again today , its sounds gorgeous (the sme better be better or its vpi again for me, by the way) and im looking forward to the "analogue days "tomorrow , its a day for analogue lovers and mister aalt jouk vd Hul will be there to adjust turntables /elements for very little change , im looking forward to meet somebody who makes such nice products , i will leave my condor there to be checked and repaired again.

greetz henk jan

andromedaaudio November 05, 2010 19:02

Hoi Emcgala , i was very busy at work , but here in Holland the percentage increase is 19 % versus the old sme 20/2 A .

greetings, henk-jan

andromedaaudio November 05, 2010 17:00

Listening on a saturday night , my all time favourite is still AC/DC , with the albums Powerage , high voltage , dirty deeds done dirt cheap .
Thats rock and roll although the press called it hard rock.

Lyrics and a energy in the songs thats formidable and also a disrespect for goverments / anarchy thats my style .

andromedaaudio October 30, 2010 20:33

Nice music one can find in the 1 euro boxes at the record store .
Doubled a couple of LP s i had already today , Fleetwood mac , and another favourite of mine "Talk Talk" colour of spring especially the song chameleon very dynamic song.

I am very curious how al my LPs will sound on the SME

andromedaaudio October 30, 2010 19:24

System edited: Ive posted a picture of my new future table .

andromedaaudio October 23, 2010 08:04

I dont know how to copy paste pictures on this forum so i will explain some of the differences of the 20 /3 A .
First,.... i did go for the 3 A model which is considerable more expensive , the weight is as well , the former was 18,5 kg incl powersupply the new is 31 kg with powersupply .
The pillars with O rings look a bit taller and the subchassis doesnt have the cut out and looks heavier/thicker which will be responsable for the increase in weight , further i heard of some electronic changes/updates , i will receive it in januari and will be the first or 1 of the first , signing in is possible from november ,....so i must be the first!!!!
F$#@$K digital , thats not where i spend the money

andromedaaudio October 22, 2010 16:11

I got the new brochure today via email , the new model is called 20/3 A and at first glanced looks a lot like the previous , i will try to post some data
Delivery starts in januari 2011

andromedaaudio October 16, 2010 22:10

I went today to look at the 1 euro boxes in my favorite vinylstore and found quite some treasures , i almost have my flairck collection complete now , i found original sound material on vinyl of the apollo 11 landing on the moon with live footage of neil armstrong ,pretty cool.
I collect interesting hystory on vinyl ,this and most of the recordings looked as they were never been used
Further a specially recorded DMM mastered " audiofile" recording by a group of audiofiles in holland which was in a discount , and already long on my wishlist see what that brings , maybe nice for " audiofile " shows (laughing).

andromedaaudio September 12, 2010 17:41

Not one month more , but some more months more .
Me reached the news of a substantial upgrade for the sme 20 / 2a , so i decided to cancel the order and sign in for the new one , I ll probably be one of the first to have it , it should be in amsterdam somewhere in the autumn.
I dont know if its better or merely a commercial thing but i decided to take the gamble .

andromedaaudio September 08, 2010 15:22

One month more and i will have the SME , i have ordered the version with the black platter top and black arm /white lettering.

andromedaaudio August 27, 2010 03:34

More plans ,im gone make a turntable plus probably an arm and compare it against the SME , there will be a lot of " industrial design " involved and a lot of metals cause im a metal guy.

Keywords :
All kind of metals .
Direct drive as there seems to be "something" connected to that.
Must be able to take it apart without problem .
Designing "adjustable" decoupling feet , threaded so they can be used under speakers as wel

andromedaaudio August 11, 2010 18:32

Off course i ll post on the SME 20 /2 A (where does the 2 stand for , A is arm i reckon)
I ll look at LP mint protractor ,i saw it was part of your system

andromedaaudio August 08, 2010 20:07

Thanks , Im not going into cables, to much uncontrollable variables............!!!!!!!
If i put in a ARC preamp i get also more bloom and less of the dryness/leannes , with a tube poweramp even more , i accept its not perfect, but what system is .
The speakers are designed to have a very flat frequency response they stay within a 3 dB bandwith all the way up to the end of my metersscale +- 1,5 dB , very neutral response up to 19 khz

andromedaaudio August 08, 2010 19:55

I could get a good price on my VPI , so i decided to order a brandnew SME 20/A which has received a motor/control update as well so to speak its the latest version.
Im very curieus

andromedaaudio August 06, 2010 18:50

As i dont get many comments on my system i will write something down .
Future plans ,...which will may or may not be realized .

A Zanden preamp .
A different turntable .
There are many models and extraordinary designs to choose from , as i have a high regard for M fremer reviews the one that is "affordable" to me and has his high regards is the SME 20 / 5 arm .
As i work in the mechanical industry , desinign some thing by myself would be also a nice thing to do , i have many contacts in workshops (CNC machines and what more )
But it seems in the world today there are a lot of designs which probably leave not much room for improvement.

andromedaaudio August 03, 2010 19:50

Sometimes yes , although not very often to the pyramid ones as the 20 mm thiel diamond tweeter is miles ahead of the 25 mm ceramic one that is mounted in the pyramid , i built speakers for a hobby/commercially so switching/ making different models is the fun of the game i think it would be very interesting to replace the 30 mm ceramic with a 30 mm diamond although they are very expensive , also a nice comparison is the 260 mm paperwoofer compared to the 2 200 mm eton woofers for bass reproduction , by switching now and then i learn what i want for future models its an evolutionary process

andromedaaudio July 21, 2010 16:18

Hollands gonna win the soccer world cup,.....i hope.

andromedaaudio July 11, 2010 07:23