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Reflex C Review |
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Alexjj
New Member Joined: 09 Oct 2017 Location: Wales Status: Offline Points: 7 |
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Posted: 26 Feb 2018 at 11:01am |
A little about me first. I am a fifty year old bloke that has always listened to
music and I’m old enough to still call “vinyl” albums. I don’t know the proper
terms for what I’m listening to but I know what I like. I read lots of forums but I very really contribute. I don’t
usually have much to say. So this is new
to me. My Hifi set up is relatively modest. P******t RPM 5 Carbon,
Benz micro gold cartridge, Marantz PM8005 amplifier and B&W CM4 speakers. Up until now I have used the phono stage in the amp with a
moving magnet cartridge. But wanting to try moving coil cartridges I managed to
pick up a used Reflex C on eBay for a very good price. Then bought a cartridge
to go with it. The Reflex has been plugged in for 4 days (will it burn in
without music going through it?) and the cartridge is new so both need to be
run in but here’s my initial thoughts. Astonishing As I said before I don’t know the correct musical terms so
here goes. There is more music in my music. Where I use to hear guitar now I hear separate guitars. Base
and drums were bassy now there is a base guitar and a base drum. Cymbals are
out of this world. I only listen in a small room and 3.5 x 3.5 mts but the
music somehow seems bigger. How can two speakers in front of me produce music
that sounds like it’s all around me? I like all types of music (apart from country and warbly
female singers). I’ve listen to Classical, Rock Psychedelic and some Reggae and
it all sounds good. Apart from a few tracks that sound awful which I am hoping
will get better. I dug out an old Grace Jones album and the sound and rhythm
that came out of the speakers was a different class to anything I’d heard from
the record before. I put on Pink Floyd’s Momentary lapse of reason. The vocals
at the beginning of “on the turning away” were haunting. There is just a voice
from nowhere and everywhere at once. The base in the song Angel by massive
attack brought my wife in to see what was going on. As I said at the beginning,
astonishing. I can’t wait to hear it when everything is run in and I will
add to this review when I have more thoughts. The only real issue I have now is if I bought more of
grahams gear would it sound even better!!!!! This could get very expensive. Thanks for reading Alex |
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morris_minor
Moderator Group Joined: 27 Mar 2012 Location: Surrey Status: Offline Points: 6015 |
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Hi Alex and welcome to the forum!
It's great you're enjoying the Reflex C. You should keep it powered up all the time - that way you'll always get the best out of it. The difference between integrated amps' phono sections and Graham's phono amps is always a bit of a shock at first. As you're discovering, there's so much more information in your record grooves!
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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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BackinBlack
Senior Member Joined: 05 Feb 2012 Location: Hinton, N'hants Status: Offline Points: 2020 |
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Hi Alex and welcome to the forum from me too.
I started with Grahams products in a similar way although with a Fanfare. The first thing that I noticed was the almost total absence of pops, clicks and surface noise, then the width of soundstage with instruments easily identified within it. As Bob says keep it powered on 24/7 for best results. As your Reflex C is 2nd hand burn in should be well established, but after a time idle there will be some further improvement as everything settles in again. Happy Listening Ian |
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Just listen, if it sounds good to you, enjoy it.
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Graham Slee
Admin Group Retired Joined: 11 Jan 2008 Location: South Yorkshire Status: Offline Points: 16298 |
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The only problem I can foresee is that some room modes in a square room will dominate and this could be why some albums don't sound right. They will possibly contain frequencies which are overly boosted or cut making them difficult to listen to.
The Reflex C is best left on all the time, only pulling out the mains plug if leaving the house unattended for a few days which most of us do anyway. It doesn't need signal to settle-in. |
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That none should be able to buy or sell without a smartphone and the knowledge in how to use apps
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Alexjj
New Member Joined: 09 Oct 2017 Location: Wales Status: Offline Points: 7 |
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Hi Graham
It was more certain tracks not whole albums that sounded bad. One was the last track on side one of the new foo fighters album. Also this album seemed to have a lot more surface noise. Could that be the 180g vinyl and the cartridge not being set up for the thicker vinyl? |
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Graham Slee
Admin Group Retired Joined: 11 Jan 2008 Location: South Yorkshire Status: Offline Points: 16298 |
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I doubt it's the thicker vinyl, but then again if the stylus isn't at its optimum "digging in" angle then it could be riding high. Unfortunately surface noise is sometimes pot luck, and I've bought some so called quality re-releases which are worse than their commercial quality originals.
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That none should be able to buy or sell without a smartphone and the knowledge in how to use apps
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Alexjj
New Member Joined: 09 Oct 2017 Location: Wales Status: Offline Points: 7 |
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Thanks for the responses guys. I am looking forward to hearing the sound when its all run in.
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