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Hello from Sheffield, UK.

Printed From: Graham Slee Hifi System Components
Category: Find what you're looking for here!
Forum Name: New Members Corner
Forum Description: Introduce yourself here
URL: https://www.hifisystemcomponents.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=4743
Printed Date: 28 Mar 2024 at 5:59pm
Software Version: Web Wiz Forums 12.01 - http://www.webwizforums.com


Topic: Hello from Sheffield, UK.
Posted By: John1479
Subject: Hello from Sheffield, UK.
Date Posted: 05 Jun 2019 at 7:03pm
 Hello to all members. 

I'm a new member..... Although I have enjoyed a generous email correspondence with Graham over the past few years.  Graham has kindly invited me to refresh my membership. 

Born 1970 in Sheffield, UK. I'm a music nut first and foremost! With a very broad and considered taste in music. I've had some interesting (to me) experiences in and around music, artist manager/Internet radio & club DJ/published lyricist (None of which has paid a mortgage).  So like many of you folks I come with some knowledge, some experience and lots of passion. 

Last year I purchased an Accession MM with Enigma power supply. Yes, the Enigma was a very deliberate and considered choice. My current deck is a heavily modified AR EB10 & Jelco SA250st, nothing to break the bank here, but the mods are extensive including solid core silver arm rewire. All my own DIY and rewarding on all fronts especially audio performance. I'm very passionate about the subject of turntables, DIY modifications and HiFi performance. I'm currently in the midst of planning a Lenco L75 build, I'm still gathering components and not yet cutting wood.... too much 'life avoidance' getting in the way. Geek

I want to share a rather strong opinion with you all. An opinion which I expressed whole-hog in one of my 'Sleemails' Wink sent to Graham recently. This in response to 'that' review by Mr Fremer. 

Obviously this is my view, my interpretation and my insights. I don't expect everyone to see what I see, nor to agree wholesale. I also appreciate that I hold no punches and I had some reservations before sending this, but I was so incensed by what I read as injustice. I could have spared Graham's feelings...... 

However, I believe that much more is to be gained by sharing honestly held opinions, than by simply sharing a 'look on the bright side'. I honestly believe that a very real snub has been delivered disingenuously and this is my reply. Written in the heat of the moment, edited briefly.... It could be better presented and polished, if I'd sat on it and edited over a few days. But I'm making excuses now..... So, I will post it whole-hog on a new thread in the News section? Looks like the best place? Or in turntables? Advice....LOL

One thing should be patently obvious here, and that is, that we are all with Graham and his passion for innovation in High Fidelity audio. Smile

My post has been 'moderated' Wink and removedLOL It was rather hard on poor old Fremer or should that be Framer Big smile. Censorship! With no recourse? I may yet post a response, a point for general discussion. I'm thinking about this. Something I should have done regarding the tone of my original post. Smile

I look forward to making some positive contributions to your forum. 

Thanks, John. 




Replies:
Posted By: Richardl60
Date Posted: 05 Jun 2019 at 7:45pm
welcome John 

Would be interesting to hear what your other ancillary equipment is too?
Richard 


Posted By: John1479
Date Posted: 05 Jun 2019 at 9:56pm
Thanks Richard, 

Nothing serious, apart from my renewed enthusiasm.  An MF A1 which I bought new in 1990. Love it, never had any desire to change it. John Sampson rebuilt it a couple of years ago. Not cheap, but no-one else comes close. I've got it on spikes to raise it 40mm, removed the bung-feet to open a bit more ventilation via convection and I run a silent PC fan which reduces temperature by 30%. Not to be overlooked the improvement in sound this extra cooling provides. 
A Sony tuner ST-SB920, again old but this is a really solid bit of kit. 
Oppo BDP105. Used primarily for CD. Occasional dvd use. This knocked my sox off when I first got it home, hard to believe that it's prime purpose is dvd, the audio is surprisingly good! 
Old pair of L*nn Index LS120 again, bought new, nothing spectacular, middle of the road speaker. 
Cables are a rabbit hole......all diy Inc mains (Ooh, naughty), most solid core, this is all fun and games interconnects solidcore 0.20mm gold plated silver. KLEI RCA plugs and diy geometry. 
Speaker cables shielded and sheathed in Polyethylene.... loads of controversies here lol. Smile

I don't download or stream music yet....it's vinyl and cd only. Guess I'll have to get upto date sooner than later.... 

John 


Posted By: Richardl60
Date Posted: 06 Jun 2019 at 6:29am
thanks, cartridge ?

Whilst horses for courses I found wooden cones preferable to spikes under CD and amp.

I too stick to vinyl and CD but have no desire to stream.


Posted By: John1479
Date Posted: 06 Jun 2019 at 9:01am
 2M Blue. Stylus upgraded from Red. 
TBH Richard I bought the AR S/H in 2004. Funny thing was that I spoke to Moorgate Acoustics (delete if necessary) about wanting a decent S/H turntable from a trade-in, budget £150.00. A month later I got a call, when the guy told me what it was I had to curb my excitement. Back as a teenager it was the turntable I dreamed about, the all conquering LP12 was well out of my reach. But, then I decided as CD became hyped (beyond its performance) to get a CD player instead, and in 1987 I bought a Marantz CD56 for £250.00. The going price at the time....That ended my Vinyl buying. I was young, and easily led, I trusted everything and everyone.....

I got a good deal on the AR. The condition was remarkable for 20yrs old, Plastic lids tend to show signs of age very visibly, this was all lovely condition. It felt like I had won a lottery, Seriously! I was thrilled to get this deck after all my youthful dreams. I was really pleased with everything about it, looks, condition, sound. Absolute bargain. A very happy man. 
I was well aware that it's a 'budget' turntable and so never considered spending much on it when the stylus gave up on the Goldring 1012GX, I replaced it with an AT95e. The deck played second fiddle to my CD player. As I became more interested in vinyl and 60's Jazz, in particular Charles Mingus. I began to read and read more about turntables. A plan was put together for a series of DIY modifications and alongside these I bought a 2M Red. The modifications led to a level of performance which left me astounded and charged with enthusiasm. This led to the Blue stylus upgrade. I will at some point look again at the Goldring with a view to adding a 1042 stylus, but for my L75 build. I have been told it's a good alternative choice to the Ortofon range ? 

The MF A1 gets so damn hot under normal conditions, John Sampson improvements have reduced the insane heat of this little amp. I still wouldn't want to fix wood to the chassis. Plus the additional mass of brass spikes is more surface for dissipating heat, it all helps. But I agree with your assessment about the sound of wooden supports and I use wood for the Oppo to good effect. 

I think that as technologies develop, streaming or digitisation is a good component part of a system. Not better, not worse, (price dependent) but has some significant convenience factors. I just don't posses the time, interest nor resources to explore this to my satisfaction at the moment. Something for the future.


Posted By: RichW
Date Posted: 06 Jun 2019 at 10:41am
Welcome John,
The MF MA50 monoblocks, which I think were paralleled A1 power amp sections, I owned many years ago, ran so hot they doubled as room heaters. They did sound very good though.
As you say, John Sampson's mods to MF equipment are exceptional. My current MF NV integrated
is hopefully going to him one day soon..
Interesting that you use the Enigma PSU with the Accession MM, did you compare it with standard
PSU1?



-------------
Majestic/Enigma, Accession MM & MC.


Posted By: John1479
Date Posted: 06 Jun 2019 at 12:30pm
Thank you Rich, 

Room heaters, I can only imagine, the A1 would certainly fry an egg in summer, couldn't keep your hand on for very long, real hot!  JS is without shadow of doubt the only choice with the old A1. Nobody else can do what he does, nor has his absolute technical knowledge. He was, after all MF service manager and worked with the A1 until the end of its development. What he implements takes the performance to the limits of the design with improved reliability. It sounds different to what I remembered, but in a very, very good way. It's now a truly remarkable sounding amplifier. I couldn't be more impressed, nor vociferous in my support and recommendation for his work. After it eventually and inevitably blew I had six months of frustration. First with a Nottingham based so called valve amplifier wizard who simply wasted my time, phonecalls  and trip to take it to be rebuilt, only for him to then turn the job down. Out of his depth with this design! Then I sent it to a so called A1 expert. Ten weeks into the twelve week guarantee period it blew. I was using it extensively and glad I did. Had I used it occasionally the fault would have occured many months later when out of guarantee. He refunded the fee in full when I explained that thermal compound should be spread like marmite, not like jam. Completely defeating the function, thickly spread it impedes thermal transfer. Finally I realised that if I was going to get a proper rebuild, then it was going to JS regardless of the cost. No regrets, worth every penny, wish I'd done it sooner. 
If I were in your shoes, I'd be very excited about the prospect of sending your amplifier and would make every effort to do it sooner rather than later. 

No Rich, I never considered the PSU1.  The choice of using the Enigma power supply for the MM was very deliberate. Based on what I had read here and my own perspectives on audio signals and component performance. The logic to my mind is relatively straightforward, if the signal and frequency of MC required a more careful approach to the PS. This should also apply to an MM signal and frequency, no matter how small, if there is detail to be found, I want to know that I'm at the limits of potential performance with this unit. I spent many months of seriously critical listening when building my deck, I'm more than confident in my ability to discern subtle improvement or degradation in performance. Ultimately tho, we are all possessed with unique ears and sensory experiences. I always trust my own senses as to what's working or not, there's a fierce critical and questioning aspect to my character. A blessing and a curse as these things usually are. It's about knowing when to sit back an enjoy music and forget about the gear once you find the Big Smiles. Big smile



Posted By: Richardl60
Date Posted: 06 Jun 2019 at 2:04pm
Thanks again John and good to hear 'your journey'.
 
Fully agree with ......'Ultimately tho, we are all possessed with unique ears and sensory experiences. I always trust my own senses as to what's working or not, there's a fierce critical and questioning aspect to my character. A blessing and a curse as these things usually are. It's about knowing when to sit back an enjoy music and forget about the gear once you find the Big Smiles. Big smile'
 
I agree with the thought process on the Enigma & Cable but whilst finding this Enigma marginally different on the A MM to the standard PSU couldn't honestly say it was any better overall (I documented my experiences on another thread).  It was superior on the A MC I loaned but not (yet!!) invested in.
 
Look forward to hearing further experiences of your journey again.


Posted By: John1479
Date Posted: 06 Jun 2019 at 7:35pm
Thanks Richard, 

Funny thing about, particularly vinyl is the pursuit of improving audio performance can in actuality become a fools errand. 

As we climb into higher performance, something very easily overlooked is what we then begin to hear. 

Imperfections in the condition of vinyl can become more obvious. But more importantly and not always welcome is that we are suddenly aware of poor studio recordings and mastering. This can lead to some disappointing realisations, removing pleasure from music we once enjoyed for itself now has flaws exposed by a revealing high quality setup. 

Sometimes less is indeed more, and pusuit of High fidelity doesn't always deliver what was so highly sought after. The price of perfection is revealed in imperfection. Ermm

So perhaps the lesson is not to take things for granted and to really appreciate what one has at any given time, even if ones stereo system relatively straightforward. Smile


Posted By: Richardl60
Date Posted: 06 Jun 2019 at 8:05pm
I must admit I have moved down the more is more track. In my experiences good gear should be more revealing but not at the expense of imperfections. 

Good example during my Acc MC loan I recall noting that some second hand records sounded less second hand than with the AMM & enigma

If something sounds too revealing is it to analytical or sterilise or likely more forward in the irritation hearing range.  A generally good Origin live platter mat did boot the upper vocal range AND surface noise quite considerably by way of one example.


Posted By: Fatmangolf
Date Posted: 07 Jun 2019 at 9:37pm
Thanks for joining our community John and starting a really good discussion. Richard, your point "some second hand records sounded less second hand" is right on the money. It's not just the ones I have bought and cleaned, many of my old LP's just sound less damaged and more listenable with the AccMC.



-------------
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: John1479
Date Posted: 08 Jun 2019 at 12:31am
Originally posted by Fatmangolf Fatmangolf wrote:

 Richard, your point "some second hand records sounded less second hand" is right on the money. It's not just the ones I have bought and cleaned, many of my old LP's just sound less damaged and more listenable with the AccMC.

Thanks Jon, This point that you and Richard make specifically regarding the AccMC is really quite an accomplishment and very interesting. A Major benefit as most of us have, inevitably a lot of 'Old' records. Even if some, like myself are, at least for the time being, in the MM field only. Perhaps when I get through my current TT project..... Another will come along which opens the door to take a look at MC? LOL 

As if I don't have enough on my plate..

Richard, I had a similar experience with the OL mat, you described it well. It led to another protracted process of arm adjustments to get a fully balanced sound. But I would say it was worth the time spent. Probably just issue that as a warning that some arm adjustment may be required to extract the ultimate level of performance. Depending upon turntable, arm and cartridge, YMMV. 


Posted By: Richardl60
Date Posted: 08 Jun 2019 at 7:56am
I did post detailed mat findings on another’s thread and ended up with a Blue Horizon mat on my TT.  This did provide the best of all worlds in my set up.  Since my arm has easy VTA adjustment I could at least keep this set up to reflect the mats on test.

Thanks again 


Posted By: John1479
Date Posted: 09 Jun 2019 at 6:56pm
I consider platter mats in the same way as cables. As tuning devices. In that, it can be fair to claim any identical system components will not sound identical in different rooms and with different placement and supports/stands. 

A turntable will present a different sound dependent upon how it is supported. Therefore the performance of any mat will be determined by a number of unique factors. 

In the past, I would read a gushing review and buy into it with high expectations. Then finding, after a couple of weeks, that returning to my original mat was like pulling on a pair of comfy shoes. Big smile

The next mat on my list is to try is the Trans-Fi 'Reso-Mat'. 

Any users with experience or opinions to offer? 




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