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Topic ClosedUK loan programme

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Fatmangolf View Drop Down
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: 26 Aug 2012 at 3:13pm
Good point well made BinB. And I had trouble making the Facebook "Like" button work.
 
Jon
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Open mind and ears whilst owning GSP Genera, Accession M, Accession MC, Elevator EXP, Solo ULDE, Proprius amps, Cusat50 cables, Lautus digital cable, Spatia cables and links, and a Majestic DAC.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: 05 Sep 2012 at 10:25pm
Hi

Is this loan programme still running, I have been away for a bit - birth of my Son  and just catching up with hifi listening.

I am thinking of buying some new interconnects and would be interested in trying some cusat50 to run from my Meridian MC200 to my Novo?

Is this still possible?

Thanks very much

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Direct Link To This Post Posted: 05 Sep 2012 at 10:32pm
Yes it is Ellis. Please pm me with your delivery details. Thank you.
And congratulations on your newborn! Big smile
 
Jon

Open mind and ears whilst owning GSP Genera, Accession M, Accession MC, Elevator EXP, Solo ULDE, Proprius amps, Cusat50 cables, Lautus digital cable, Spatia cables and links, and a Majestic DAC.
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BB Wan View Drop Down
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: 19 Sep 2012 at 9:26pm

Ok, so this review has been a few weeks coming, because of time constraints and the fact that I wanted to try and do justice to the phenomenal (and I don't use that word lightly!) Reflex C.

 

A little background first I think. I worked in the hifi industry for about 10 years all-told, so I think I can safely say I had heard a fair bit of equipment. My passion has always been for vinyl, so in that time I heard and owned many phono stages, in all different systems and environments. From the likes of the entry level offerings such as NAD, Cambridge Audio and MF units, through to the likes of EAR, Whest, Audio Research, Tom Evans and beyond, I have heard and lived with many, all of which have their strengths and weaknesses.

However, even with high price stages and with much tweaking (in most cases), I still hadn't heard what I felt was the 'right' phono stage for me and my ears. So did I find it in the Reflex C? Well, read on!

 

After receiving the unit (with PSU 1, from Fatmangolf on the loan program...many thanks!), I cracked open a bottle of red and settled in for an evening of listening. Well, straight out of the box and stone cold, it was a HUGE step-up from the MF V-LPS mk2 i have been using as an interim. No surprises there then!! (Although, for the £120 asking price I doubt you'll better this MF easily). I eventually crawled into bed at 3.30am after most of the aforementioned bottle of red. Needless to say half my vinyl collection was laid out before me on the floor and I had encompassed everything from The King James Version (Sheffield Lab), to Queen, Hendrix, Basie, Jimmy 'The Cat' Smith, Dire Straits, Tracy Chapman (yes I hear the groans but I even cracked 'Fast Car' out), right on through to Air, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Rachmaninov, Liszt and pretty much everything in-between (basically, a bit of everything!). It was only an initial listen of the Reflex C, which as I say, wasn't even properly warmed up by then, but even at that stage there was a rather large 'something' that was leaving me looking like "a one-eye cat, peeping in a seafood store"!

 

So, a few days of warm up time passed and any exact memories of the musical delights that had been served up via the Reflex C, had all but disappeared. And so, I pulled out the big guns, in a pristine, first pressing of Led Zeppelin’s debut album. Lights down, wick up and...OH MY WORD! It hadn't sounded quite like it did there and then at that moment, for many a year. I have used this album on every system I have ever owned (and most of those that I have been able to play it on at shows, customer's homes etc) and I have heard it sound incredible, truly awesome, but only a few times had it come close to, and only once had I heard it surpass, what I was listening too at that moment. The time it surpassed this performance, was on an insanely expensive (think the cost of a house, not a car) system at a 'well heeled' customer's abode, where the turntable cost more than my entire system, twice over!

 

I was captivated to say the least! John Bonham had parked himself up about 6 feet behind my speakers (fairly impressive given his current circumstances), Jimmy's guitar had, for all the tea in China, replaced my left speaker completely, John Paul Jones' bass guitar was finding depths I honestly didn't think my PL100 stand-mount speakers could go down to and Mr Plant was standing no more than 4 feet from where I sat. Ok, so you are by now probably all thinking, this guy must be getting over excited about it all or he's been at the wine again. But you are wrong, on both counts! I personally think if you heard what I heard, you'd be there, tapping your toes and nodding along with me.

 

So it's pretty good then? Well, in a word....yeah! I have heard some stages that do certain things better, like the Tom Evans Groove, which has a smidge more soul and the Whest I borrowed a few years back (and very nearly bought!) had a slightly more precise quality to it, but both of those stages cost many times more than the Reflex C and still, to my humble brain at least, didn't do many things as well as the Reflex C. I often find a component that does everything very well and nothing badly, is more enjoyable than one that excels in many areas but is weak in just one. In the context of my system, in my room and for the music I play, I would buy the Reflex C over everything else I have heard, hands down, no question. It does nothing wrong and everything very well indeed. Is it the best photo stage I have heard, well no, but then it's only a shade under £650 too and for that reason it is the best value stage I have ever heard period! So will I buy one I hear you ask? Well, much though I think it's going to cost me more in the long term, being that the Reflex C is this good, it would be churlish not to at least try the Reflex (or Revelation maybe) M with Elevator EXP, as I have heard Graham believes the pairing to be superior. After experiencing the Reflex C, who am I to argue and for the price of some postage, I’m damn well going to find out, even if I end up having to save up for a few more months, once I have heard them. I will of course report back once I have given them a try.

 

Also, just a quick note about the loan program....it's absolutely brilliant! You will not find any other manufacturer who offers this level of service anywhere and we are all very lucky that Graham understands just how crucial it is to try his equipment in the context of your own system. It's silly really, as I suspect the quantity of sales revenue that this program generates has paid for the loan stock, tens (if not hundreds) of times over! If only there were more companies like Graham Slee, the industry would be a good deal richer! Huge thanks to Fatmangolf too, for doing such great job in running the loan scheme, bravo!

The story of life is quicker than the blink of an eye. The story of love is hello and goodbye. Until we meet again.
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morris_minor View Drop Down
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: 20 Sep 2012 at 10:14am
What a great write up BB! Thumbs Up

I hadn't heard the range of phono stages that you have, but my experiences with the Era Gold V and then the Reflex M were pretty similar. (Including the late nights and vino!).

When something is so "right" in your system, you just keep playing and time stands still - kind of.

It'll be very interesting to hear your comparison of the Reflex C with the M+EXP.

And the loan programme is a fantastic idea - kudos to Graham and thanks to Jon, Miguel and the others for operating  it. I'm waiting for a CuSat50 cable to try out. If it goes according to form that'll be another sale then, Graham!
Bob

Majestic DAC/pre-amp
Accession MC/Enigma, Accession MM, Reflex M, Elevator EXP, Era Gold V
Solo ULDE, Novo, Lautus USB and digital, Libran balanced, CuSat50
2 x Proprius + Spatia/Spatia Links
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: 20 Sep 2012 at 7:31pm
BB that is a tremendous write up and I felt like I was there with you and the music. Thank you.
 
Jon
 
Jon

Open mind and ears whilst owning GSP Genera, Accession M, Accession MC, Elevator EXP, Solo ULDE, Proprius amps, Cusat50 cables, Lautus digital cable, Spatia cables and links, and a Majestic DAC.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: 22 Sep 2012 at 1:31pm
[QUOTE=morris_minor] What a great write up BB! Thumbs Up

I hadn't heard the range of phono stages that you have, but my experiences with the Era Gold V and then the Reflex M were pretty similar. (Including the late nights and vino!).

When something is so "right" in your system, you just keep playing and time stands still - kind of.

It'll be very interesting to hear your comparison of the Reflex C with the M+EXP.

And the loan programme is a fantastic idea - kudos to Graham and thanks to Jon, Miguel and the others for operating  it. I'm waiting for a CuSat50 cable to try out. If it goes according to form that'll be another sale then, Graham!
[/QUOTE
I had to chuckle when I first read BB review, I too am a vinyl freak, and have been collecting for over 40years, so have quite a bit of the stuff.
I too have borrowed, listen too and spent wisely and unwisely as most of us do at some time. I borrowed a West pre from a mate(Quad Man) , just to listen too and find out how it compared to what I had listened too in other systems. The West was very good and did a great job, but not in all parts. For me the acid test of any pre is a solo piano piece, or a lone female voice, the reed instruments next. Just my opinion. The West was great in most of the areas, but not all, and for what it cost it should have been top dog. Then I got to borrow a Reflex C from another friend(Krell freak) and I wasn't really paying attention when I put the stylus down on the first track of an album I just had next to the kit.(Avalon) I nearly dropped my tea, I thought I must be on something, THIS isnt supposed to sound this good for what it cost? So, next album, Joan Sutherland........superb, ok, let's give this baby some real acid, out comes some of my Verdi operas, ( have about 30 box sets ) started off with Macbeth, passed with flying colours, next Aroldo-Cabelle, a walk in the park. Next, Haydn, the six last Masses, superb, these are choral works, so quite difficult pieces due to the variation of voices. Just in case you think I only like classical, I don't. I like most types of Music, so next, Goats Head Soup, you know who this is? It was great, then so was The Eagles, then U2 etc. Conclusion, I went out and bought one next day. Great bit of kit, works well with my system.(Linn, Orb,SME 309) so for the cost, a really good investment. In particular it did a great job on the Joan Sutherland single voice albums, I have.
Brian.

Edited by Brianev - 22 Sep 2012 at 2:24pm
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