Review Reflex C & Lautus Interconnects
Printed From: Graham Slee Hifi System Components
Category: Headphone Audio
Forum Name: Write A Review
Forum Description: Satisfied with your Graham Slee headphone amp? - share your experiences here
URL: https://www.hifisystemcomponents.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=2709
Printed Date: 23 Apr 2024 at 9:21am
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Topic: Review Reflex C & Lautus Interconnects
Posted By: CAIQUEMAN
Subject: Review Reflex C & Lautus Interconnects
Date Posted: 02 Dec 2015 at 8:17pm
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Well thought i should review some of my thoughts on the Reflex C & Lautus Interconnects,which i recieved from Jon.Firstly never having had a phono stage before i was hoping for an improvement,not that i have hi end hi-fi,but i have kept the same equipment for about 30 years.It has been not used for 10years,but recently i have had the Amp serviced,the turntable had an overhaul,speaker cables upgraded,CD Player repaired,and interconnects replaced.Next logical step a Phono Stage. Never told the wife about the loan as she think hi-fi is snobby bullsh*t,she has been round dealers in the past with me,and has her opinion,so she tells me the postmans been with a package,thats when i break the news,so off i go and connect it all up,about 45 mins she appears,the dreaded question Do You Notice Any Difference,i did not answer her,one week before, i bought a very good album she had been wanting for a while,and we had been playing it quite a lot,so i put it on the deck for her to listen to,and she said almost immediately THERE IS A DIFFERENCE ISN'T THERE.   So the next 2 weeks were spent playing as many albums as i could with the new set up.Now i have just sent everything back and i am starting to play the albums again and what i notice it's a bit of a mish mash now,the bass is not as defined,the music seems to overlap,and the general quality of the sound is a lot weaker,in other words there is a big difference,just listening to Queen The Miracle,as i did last night with the Reflex and it's harsh compared to last night,sorry if i cant be more definitive about the Reflex and Luteus but these are my thoughts.Now i just need to persuade Santa Thanks to Jon & Graham for the loan ------------- ALAN |
Replies:
Posted By: Fatmangolf
Date Posted: 02 Dec 2015 at 8:48pm
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Thanks for posting this review Alan, you've captured my experience exactly and probably that of others here. I also envy you your wise wife - "she said almost immediately THERE IS A DIFFERENCE ISN'T THERE." ------------- 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. |
Posted By: CAIQUEMAN
Date Posted: 02 Dec 2015 at 8:52pm
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Just an addition to my review of useing the Reflex C i did notice a few times when the album had finished and when i was going to move the arm back,i got kinda beeps through a speaker for about 5 -10 secs.I have never had this before any thoughts what might have caused this.? ------------- ALAN |
Posted By: Fatmangolf
Date Posted: 02 Dec 2015 at 8:58pm
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I don't know. It may be interference being amplified. What equipment is nearby please? ------------- 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. |
Posted By: CAIQUEMAN
Date Posted: 02 Dec 2015 at 9:45pm
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Hi Jon,There are 2 computers 3mts away wi-fi ,bog standard surge protected six way mains adaptor,and a arcam cube,but this was never powered up when the records were on,and thats it ------------- ALAN |
Posted By: CageyH
Date Posted: 02 Dec 2015 at 9:58pm
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Was there a mobile phone near by? ------------- Kevin European loan coordinator, based near Toulouse, France. |
Posted By: CAIQUEMAN
Date Posted: 02 Dec 2015 at 10:01pm
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Re the Reflex C Loan,i have just turned the deck off as the sound from the albums now are irritating me,seems like this trial has unsettled my sonic ear,oh well  ------------- ALAN |
Posted By: CAIQUEMAN
Date Posted: 02 Dec 2015 at 11:07pm
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No mobile in the room i am afraid ------------- ALAN |
Posted By: RichW
Date Posted: 03 Dec 2015 at 9:20am
Very odd that Alan - I've never had any beeping with the ReflexC. Hopefully Santa is good to you, it's a superb phono stage & as you've discovered there's no going back once you've heard it. ------------- Majestic/Enigma, Accession MM & MC. |
Posted By: Graham Slee
Date Posted: 03 Dec 2015 at 10:08am
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Radio frequency interference concerns are treated with utmost importance by us, and it is a legal responsibility on us that our products are electro-magnetic compliant. The Reflex C and Elevator EXP are the very last of our phono products to use bipolar junction transistor technology. All others have moved onto FET input technology. Bipolar transistor junctions have a greater 'ability' to rectify radio frequencies--you may be aware of the old 'cats whisker' radio?? However, nothing else is capable of the moving coil performance we are able to provide. The proliferation (and I call it madness) of radio frequency devices demanded by this modern (crazy IMO) world are at odds with moving coil. I have voiced this exact same opinion numerous times on this forum. You can't have the extreme gain moving coil demands--with extreme musicality which demands high frequency peformance way beyond the audio spectrum--with the low noise moving coil must have--and also guarantee zero breakthrough from all the radio frequency equipment and their strong signals that are in abundance in this day. You don't need a mobile phone yourself to have interference. There are plenty surrounding you. They have free abandon to over-modulate and they are not in themselves fault free. Politically their manufacturers are free to do what they want - governments think it 'cool' to allow all this. Just think what the public backlash would be if they reverted to the strict laws governing the use of radio transmitters we had less than half a century ago? The moving coil amplifiers of that day couldn't exist today. I've cloned many and they all pick up interference to a much greater degree! I called in EMC consultants Cherry Clough recently because of my concerns regarding RFI (radio frequency interference) with our products. I spent £2K on a one day visit from them where Cherry Clough tested our most sensitive products (phono stages) using 'pre-compliance' techniques. Overall our products performed better than most when subjected to RFI. However, I was shown advanced ways in which further protection could be implemented. We have since that visit (some months ago) implemented modifications in production which did not exist at the time the loan equipment was manufactured. However, and I must stress, moving coil will always be a problem no matter how much RFI protection technology is used. It is quite frustrating that people are unable to grasp the enormity of the problem moving coil in a modern RF gone mad world results in. You have a high frequency antenna (the cartridge) on the end of a "wand" (arm tube) which gives zero shielding to the cartridge wires it contains (at RF), and people expect a phono stage to give them the extreme entertainment value we strive for--whilst at the same time removing all the RF the 'antenna and wand' "welcome with open arms"!!! At some point the cartridge and turntable manufacturers need to get real! Put it this way: it's different when it comes to microphones--the things used to record or reinforce sound in live performances. There a responsible attitude is obvious--they shield microphones! The shielding is so good they can make radio mikes! Yes, audio and RF can co-exist in the same microphone case. Now take a look again at that wide-open plastic (or whatever) cartridge--which is a high frequency inductive coil waiting for radio frequencies to be induced into it. And the wires looped onto its pins! The wires travel in an arm tube grounded at one end only--when professionals know that to avoid RFI that shields must be grounded both ends to be effective. The average arm length at around 9 inches loses all protection above 30MHz. The cartridge design itself ignores the physics of low-level amplification. Microphone design doesn't!!! It is a complete mismatch with what is possible in physics! How the hell something that is so wrong can be added to all the other things that are so wrong, and yet still be greeted with such enthusiasm by people is--and will always be--beyond my understanding (as well as the consultants I brought in). OK, others can do it, you will say. But others don't give you the entertainment value. It's a circle which can't be squared unless all in it do their part. But don't expect cartridge, arm and turntable manufacturers to consider or act on the problem anytime soon. (PS: Under current EMC law, cartridge, arm and turntable manufacturers are exempt) ------------- That none should be able to buy or sell without a smartphone and the knowledge in how to use apps |
Posted By: morris_minor
Date Posted: 03 Dec 2015 at 5:46pm
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That was worthy of a blog post, 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 |
Posted By: CAIQUEMAN
Date Posted: 03 Dec 2015 at 7:07pm
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Cant say it dampened my enjoyment of the sound,as it never interfeared with the music,just when the arm had lifted and the bleeps faded out just as quick as they came.Nice to know there is a rational explanation to it,as the first thing you think of as a layman,what the bloody hell could have caused that noise.Needless to say it wont put me off,sending my letter off to Santa soon ------------- ALAN |
Posted By: tg [RIP]
Date Posted: 03 Dec 2015 at 9:23pm
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Glad you liked the music through the Reflex Alan. I can relate to the feeling of loss when you have to send it back, I did not listen to headphones for a fortnight after I sent back the loan Solo ULDE - even though I owned an earlier Solo. I live in a fairly densely populated area, I can see 8 or more local wifi networks other than my own, I have owned mobile phones that annoyed the life out of me by being picked up by computer sound cards when they sent their keep alive signals, although not any in the last few years. I have had one amplifier that picked up the signal from the scroll wheel on a wireless mouse and some other wireless signals from a PC from time to time, oddly one of those was the starburst "you won" display on the game Spider Solitaire - weird - might have been the video card broadcasting. In that time I have used "evil" MC cartridges and a Reflex/Exp combination and they have not caused a moments concern with RFI pickup or hum. I do ensure proper grounding and use properly shielded cables, I have used 3 different decks, 6 different arms and numerous different cartridges in that time. ------------- Tony G |
Posted By: CAIQUEMAN
Date Posted: 03 Dec 2015 at 9:49pm
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Thanks Tony for the reassurance,thinking back many years ago,i just remembered i had an amp that picked up radio stations,now that was F annoying.! ------------- ALAN |
Posted By: Graham Slee
Date Posted: 05 Dec 2015 at 6:50pm
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I must thank tg for his evil recommendation of the Denon DL-103... It is absolutely wicked!!! ------------- That none should be able to buy or sell without a smartphone and the knowledge in how to use apps |
Posted By: morris_minor
Date Posted: 05 Dec 2015 at 9:38pm
Are you being seduced by the 'dark side', 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 |
Posted By: Graham Slee
Date Posted: 06 Dec 2015 at 4:25am
Only in the pursuit of excellence... Needed to hear exactly what the Reflex (Revelation) C and Elevator EXP were capable of. Not being able to justify the expense of exotic MCs for the workshop, the DL-103 was obtained for comparison with the old Eroica LX, Salsa and OC-9 - which it beat hands down. I therefore consider I now have an MC cartridge which might be as revealing as the exotic? Plus, the sound is on par with my MMs  It also works really well on the Technics SL1210 II. ------------- That none should be able to buy or sell without a smartphone and the knowledge in how to use apps |
morris_minor wrote:Posted By: tg [RIP]
Date Posted: 07 Dec 2015 at 12:16am
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So you think all those broadcasters who used it might have been on to something ?
------------- Tony G |
Posted By: Graham Slee
Date Posted: 07 Dec 2015 at 1:43pm
Must have been different downunder? According to this: http://www.bbceng.info/Designs/designs_sections/Recording.htm, the BBC used crystal cartridges until the Goldring 800 came out in 1969. I didn't know that. So it was pure coincidence that I used crystal cartridges on disco, and a Goldring 800 on home audio in the early/mid '70s. Even when doing production studios in the early '90s UK broadcasters were specifying high output cartridges. ------------- That none should be able to buy or sell without a smartphone and the knowledge in how to use apps |
Posted By: morris_minor
Date Posted: 07 Dec 2015 at 3:21pm
- a mine of information. George (pinky) the rampant lion is good, too . . . ------------- 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 |
Posted By: tg [RIP]
Date Posted: 09 Dec 2015 at 4:17am
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I find your references to BBC usage unsurprising, whether it was different here I have no certainty. The cartridge was developed by Nippon Columbia/ Denki Onkyo (Den-on) and the japanese radio and television broadcast corporation NHK in 1962. This “standard” DL 103 is still in production. I infer from that that its intended market was broadcast usage, that may well have been mainly in Japan. IIRC in the early 60's Japanese manufacture did not have the reputation for engineering quality it has since earned, rather being synonymous with the opposite. That in itself may have restricted its use outside Japan, then again, they have often kept their best audio products for their home market. Still, not many cartridges are still being made after 50+ years. ------------- Tony G |