Here is a fuller report on my side of Peter’s visit to Northern Ireland. I am sure the other guys will either join in if they want or will post their own threads. I thought I would separate the visit from my thread on the 552. Pictures will be added later.

I think Peter’s visit to Northern Ireland has been a resounding success. Over the three days he has fettled four LP12, two systems and assembled some Fraim.

Before his arrival I thought I had set my system up reasonably, my CD replay was fine but my LP12 very much lacking. Little did I know what was in store for me. Post visit, I have a system that I am so very proud of. It is musical, detailed, fast and dynamic, with loads of lean bottom end grunt; in essence it is a fully functioning active system which, to quote Peter “Boogies like a Bastard!!”

The biggest improvement was the LP12. Once all the wrong, loose or broken parts were sorted, and everything tightened, oiled and bouncing, it was transformed from a bright and boring thing to a source of wonder. I was truly taken aback when Peter restored the LP12 to my system and the first album was spun up. There was grunt, and music, and detail and oodles of magic. I could easily hear leading edges, there was attack when needed and notes ended without overhang. The best word to describe what I am now hearing is “tight”.

I am really impressed with what Peter has done to my TT and any doubts I may have harboured about vinyl have been dispelled. It also highlights the benefits of having an LP12 fettled by someone who knows exactly what they are doing, and I would unreservedly recommend Peter to anyone.

The downside of the improvement of the LP12 was that by comparison my CDS3 sounded broken. Peter took note of my sad face on Sunday evening and with a knowing smile told me that the Fraim would rebalance things.

Once the fettling of Willy’s LP12 was out of the way on Monday, the serious business of sorting out the rest of my system took place. This included the installation of Naim plugs at the speaker end of the cables so that the isobariks could be moved even closer to the rear wall. At this stage the speakers had not been repositioned.

After locating the missing courier, the Fraim box contents were quickly decanted onto the lounge floor and construction commenced. Peter quickly sorted and assembled the Fraim and in what seemed like an instant, the CDS3/555PS/552/552PS/Lingo/Linto were installed on their respective shelves. The boxes had all been shut down for a while, but even so, on power up, it was immediately evident that putting the Fraim under the CDS3 and 552 allowed them to work properly and the performance gap between my tuned LP12 and my CDS3 has more or less disappeared. I am the proud owner of two absolutely fantastic sounding sources.

The final tweaks of the day happened in the last hour. The isobariks were moved backwards to around an inch from the rear wall. The final position of the briks added bottom end grunt to the music as well as taming a slightly sibilant and bright treble on vinyl.

Peter then did the LP12 felt mat demonstration – it really makes a difference and adds an extra degree of performance to the LP12. Finally Peter introduced me to the Bedini Clarifier. All I will say is that I don’t understand it, but there is an audible improvement to the clarity of voices and strings. There just might be a request to Santa for one in my Xmas stocking.

Peter left the CDS3 on repeat to help warm the system up and we left for Dan’s, where we dined magnificently on his superb home made lasagne. A quick listen at 0120 on return home quickly turned into an hour long session, but I went to bed a very happy bunny.

The last day was spent at Dan’s where a further two LP12s were fettled and Dan’s system had the once over. I will let Dan and Blueknowz post about their experiences.

Time all spent, I returned Peter to the airport for his evening flight.

I am delighted with the improvements Peter has brought to my system. With his experience and knowledge he has gotten the absolute best out of my sources and newly acquired 552. As mentioned earlier, I now have an active system that I am very proud of and one which is going to have me rediscover my music collection, as well as encourage me to buy more.

It really is stunning how much information and music there is hidden in both CDs and LPs. Once I was sceptical about the improvements to be had as you climbed the performance ladder. Now I am of the view that the law of diminishing returns is one which can be periodically redefined. However I have no intention at all to even contemplate going any further until I have fully explored the possibilities of the system I now have.

For the first time I can truly say that I am happy with my system – and be totally sincere about it.

Again, many thanks to Peter for everything he has done; he is truly a master of his trade.

Thank you Peter.

Kind regards

Brad

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Nice write up, Brad. Glad to see you're really enjoying your newly fettled system. It's amazing how much difference a proper set up can make. I was listening to a fully rigged up Linn LP12 yesterday and it sounded fantastic, and that was through much lesser amplification and speakers than yours.

Enjoy!

BTW how many Peter Swain's are there??!!!

Mark

I feeling a bit of an urge to see those pics, because i want to know how Naimed heaven looks like.

And Hmmm, lasagna!

Bye.

Great write-up, Brad. Nice to hear how it went and that you're so happy.

quote:

he is truly a master of his trade

He is indeed. What's more, he's a good bloke too, isn't he?

Cheers

Mike

A+++ for the action photos. the first ever on this forum?

"no mommy, i don't want the Superman action figure for christmas - i want the Blissed-Out-Groovin'-Audiophile with the kung-fu-LP12 action grip....pllleeease."

PACE

I'll post in more detail later, as I have to dash to the shops (more guests for dinner tonight - boeuf bourguignon, if anyone's interested), but I couldn't resist commenting on one item.

Looking at the first of Brad's pictures, it seems pretty clear that the glass is definitely more than half empty!

Dan

Great Brad, now you need this one to spin it
http://cgi.ebay.com/VELVET-UNDERGROUND-NICO-1966-Acetat...QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem


Oz

Excellent write-up Brad - enjoy the music! Nice to hear those Briks are still up to the job with such a fettled front end
Regards
John

I am more than a little envious that you have dealers who a) live close enough to visit you, and b) know how to set up a Linn properly. Sadly, I no longer know of any dealers in the USA that I could confidently say have any more ability/experience than myself to do this; which means I am always left with that nagging doubt "is the Linn truly giving of it's best"?

Just as a matter of interest, I see tales of dealers flying to Hong Kong, Ireland, etc, to set up customers' systems. How does that work - do the dealers visit as part of a business trip elsewhere or do the customers pay for their travel?

Keith

Greetings from Doncaster. Spent the morning in Hull, lunchtime in a pub with Timothy Taylors "Landlord", and now suffering in an airport lounge. Will post some later, suffice to say last time I heard my system it had been restored to it's former tunefullness.

Willy.

Hi Yeldarb

What a truly heart warming read your post is, you have no idea what it means to a dealer when their efforts are so appreciated, the pleasure I get here from the ever growing number of thank-you cards on the mantelpiece is more warming than the big log fire beneath it. Much of what a dealer does is the result of years of experience and are of tiny often overlooked things, but as your post so clearly shows the impact upon a customers enjoyment of their system is can be astonishing.

Thanks also for posting the Pics, it is the first time for me that I have actually seen what Peter looks like, now I hate him coz he looks so youthful, just kidding! Very well done Peter for attracting this much attention to what good dealers do.

Warmest regards,


Norman
Partner – Ultimate Home Entertainment Solutions

Still in Doncaster. Flight delayed. Bombardier Dash-8 continues to live up to it's unenviable reputation for reliability. No exec lounge, no wi-fi, marginal 3G and I've consumed so much Costa(ly) coffee I probably won't sleep for a week. Could be worse, at least I managed to score some paracetamol.


Willy.

-sktn77a

the customer pays for air fare up front...
accomodation and food are agreed upon up front... and payment as well...although usually usually made at the time the work is done.

best
Scottt

A couple more shots:

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That's one pricey hunk of vinyl Oz

Cheers

Brad

Seriously

I have a cactus on my mantelpiece, not much else

I haven't got round to getting a gas fire put in yet.....I wonder why

However, when appreciation of my efforts arrives on a plate, I am very happy

If not, Kit-Cats are always nice for a stop-gap.

Scottt, you are right on your second point But, it's really between you and your dealer to arrange something that works for you both. For me, whether it be sleeping bag, spare room or hotel, I really don't mind, as the Hi-Fi always comes first..... Perhaps nutrition second and sleep third! When with Joe, we only averaged three to four hours sleep a night anyway Just having loads of fun, so why sleep? I did manage to pretty much catch up during the 12 hour flight back though. However, I think it may have taken Joe a little longer to recover from my visit!


TTFN & Kind regards,

Peter

A thank you card what a novel idea and there was me earlier calling into Simpkin and James for Peter and his staff.

If I had have known I could have got away with a thank you card

Brad, forgive my ignorance, but the two Linn boxes on the Fraim are what, exactly? (NB : I don't have vinyl any more, so I'm a bit thick).
What are your thoughts on putting all that microphonic stuff in the corner - I only ask because I would like to put my Fraims between the Briks, and have a sense of foreboding....
John

John,
one is a lingo, the other a linto??

One is the psu for the tt motor, the other a phono stage, perhaps?

Nice write-up, Brad. As usual, its all in the wet-up....

Spot on Andy,

One is a lingo2 the other a linto.

John,

It is the best compromise for me given the constraints of the room. I did talk to Peter about it and short of moving the rack to the other end of the room, bringing the power amps etc in from next door and running really long speaker cables, this is the optimum spot for me. My understanding is that placing the Fraim between the speakers is best avoided if at all possible.

I have just been playing the 200g pressing of Dire Straits "Brothers in Arms" 25th Anniversary Edition and it was superb. That was followed on CD by Ultravox "Quartet" and Peter Gabriel "So". Again it was just so enjoyable to hear the music from my system now - and to think that warm up time is still needed on the boxes since the power down while things were being moved.

Brad