It wasn't my imagination.....I have been there!!

SNAP PB

Yep, you beat me to it Geoff

quote:

So there ended the hi-fi comparisons and I will expand further later if anyone wants me to

I'm interested Polarbear. You make very pleasurable reading as I sit here in my damp, dripping castle.

Hi Count,

which bit would you like me to expand on?

Regards

PB

I know you went here Geoff

Anything really. It's nice to read your report.

Thats very kind Count

I will start of with the total system which we heard on Friday night. A mixture of both Linn and CDS3. The CDS3 only really got played on the friday night, the rest of the weekend really got dedicated to Vinyl.

Franks system for those that don't knowis CDS3/555psu, LP12, Nat o1 into 552 and active SBL's using two Nap 300's a tasty combination. I will be honest and say I never had the pleasure of hearing the SBL's active with 250's.

However this is one of the finest SBL based system you can have the pleasure of hearing. It majors on speed attack and detail and wow you can't get much beeter on any genre of music. The secret is to get the system doing what it does best. Don't try and get it to do something its not capable of. The SBL's are small two way speakers and thats being a little unfair as they don't leave you wanting for anything. They have plenty of detail and dynamics and Peters efforts over the weekend just improves on this.

They have a capable bass line and soundstage with pin point accuracy. What they do do is grab your attention and demand you listen to them for hour upon hour. It would have been easy for us to play music further in to the morning without the speakers ever becoming overbearing. A real compliment to them.

What the system does show is the meticulous amount of detail to attention that Frank with Peters help have put into the system and it just proves you are better off getting the very best out of what you have rather than looking towards something else.

So anyone who mocks someopne for putting a weekend of effort into a system should really come and listen to Franks system and hear just what is capable form an SBL system,

Regards

PB

Here's another

Sounds like you all had a great time PB, thanks for the great read and lovely pics.


Would you care to say which flavour of LP12 you preferred and why?

Did the active sound tempt you?

Cheers Karl

We had a great time Lark and thanks for the compliment.

Don't forget you may need some photo's soon

I prefered the Naim Aro/ Te Kaitora rua combination. I just thought it was more evenly balanced, Sure the XV-1S is ultimately the better cartridge but the Rua gave it a close run and for me it was enough.

Does active tempt me, yes sure it does. There were parts of the Active ATC's which really atracted me and I would love to go back to a pair of 500's with the ART's.

Sadly finance is the limiting factor.

Reagrds

PB

quote:

Originally posted by Polarbear:
I know you went here Geoff

Indeed I did...a spectacular crag.

quote:

Originally posted by Geoff P:
It wasn't my imagination.....I have been there!!

SNAP PB

So was I. However, somewhat earlier in the morning. To sit and watch the sun rise with the light gradually getting stronger and spilling over the mountains into the valleys is something else. Plus it's so cool that time of day, with just a gentle breeze to stir the air a little. So peaceful too, save the odd rooster crowing in the new day, but I didn't care

quote:

Originally posted by Polarbear:
That’s the end of the hi-fi story for now, what followed after the chillie was some excellent sightseeing with a drive up to the mountains and then a very long twisty drive to the top of a mountain to find the only bar for tens of miles where the three of us sit and discuss the proceedings of the day.

Frank, PB and the Bar. A picture tells a thousand words IMHO :

quote:

Originally posted by Polarbear:
Sunday morning and it was time for something completely different. An early morning trip inland to Rhonda to beat the heat and the crowds. A nice trip through the mountains with some expert driving by Frank and a stop of for a very nice Spanish breakfast, coffee and tomatoes on toast, loverly J Plenty of stops were made for opportunities of photo’s which will follow.
A leisurely trip through Rhonda with views of the gorge and the churches made a nice break.

Yes, may I just echo Nigel's thanks to Frank for his efforts. The roads were spectacular to say the least.

Ronda first. If you want some scale...... check out the people standing in front of the white building, left of centre at the top. Even then the bottom is still not in view!

Quite a difficult image to get to display properly here, but I'm sure you get the idea:

quote:

Originally posted by Chillkram:
Ooh er, that's a bit risque! Peter's flashing rather a lot of cleavage in that last picture!

Pecks Mark.....

This one is less revealing, showing an interested Frank.

FYI Mark, the temperature outside was about 37 degrees and bright, bright sunshine as you can see. Hot work, but worth it.

Kind regards,

Peter

quote:

I prefered the Naim Aro/ Te Kaitora rua combination. I just thought it was more evenly balanced, Sure the XV-1S is ultimately the better cartridge but the Rua gave it a close run and for me it was enough.

Hi PB,

thanks for the photos and a really good weekend, glad you liked the Chilli!! I will post the photo of a Polar Bear eating fish when I get to my own computer.

The TK Rua is certainly very good and I am very happy with it until it wears out, the bass extension is impressive but it needs to be driven a bit because of its' lower output. The Akiva and XV1s have more balls of course but I have the option of using either the Akiva or the Rua and that is fine for me for the moment. An Aro keel might change this!!

The SBLs are certainly the bargain of the century. They need a good set up and I had them damn fine before. Peters efforts brought out more and IMO it was lowering the spikes as far as possible (it's in the SBL handbook) and getting the tweeters at the same height that really made the difference. Getting to grips with reflections behind the sofa was also a leap and put a cork sheet on the wall to do this. Now for a tapestry before my wife returns!! She was scheduled to be with us but her father died on thursday and so that was not possible.

I also had fun and games before I collected PB and Peter on friday because the power to house had tripped off while I was away in Seville which meant cold HiFi and no freezer so I had to do a rapid clean up and then shopping to replace everything!!

So thanks again Peter for working magic, the system is tip top IMO and revealing enough to show up the differences in loading, speaker position, cable dressing and room changes.

FF

Frank, Polarbear and the paella:

Nice read PB

I sit here very envious of Peter in my windowless and aircon-less office as I struggle to find efficiency savings to combat an overspent NHS budget

Could you spell out for me the hierarchy with the Superline power. I got the Hi-line bit but does it sound better with 552 power or Hicap power and with the latter do you need 2 hi-lines?

Thanks, B

Hi Bosh,

In my system the HiCap power (olive, old and unserviced) clearly out performed the 552 powered superline using the 4 to 5 HiLine. Using the lavender 4 to 5 (which I had modified by removing the rings and the metal body) there was also a significant improvement over powering with the 552 alone but not as much as with the HiLine.

The improvements were space, depth and music.

FF

quote:

The SBLs are certainly the bargain of the century. Peters efforts brought out more and IMO it was lowering the spikes as far as possible (it's in the SBL handbook) and getting the tweeters at the same height that really made the difference.
FF

Sorry, quick question as I will be setting my SBLs up for the first time tonight - do you mean the spikes should be extended as far as possible? If anyone else has any SBL tips like these then they are most welcome!

Thanks.

Waz