Scalford 2011 - An Owner System Hi-Fi Show

[User211]

I thought I'd show the mainly American audience what the Brits on the other side of the pond are listening to. What better way than to report on an owner system show held just outside Melton Mowbray - home of the pork pie!

This time the pornographer has branched out into video to add that extra dimension to the proceedings. The video quality is good at 720p but the audio quality sucks. Such is the nature of the cheap (but good) and now rather long in the tooth camera used. C'est la vie.

So I'll present some of the best systems there.

One of the best was a Celestion Ditton 66 based system, run with a Tube Distinctions KT88 amp, a Nagra tape deck, an upgraded Technics 1210 record player etc.

The Celestions are a 1970s affair. My brother used to own Ditton 25s, and they were damned good. But the 66s are even better. I loved the way the 66s looked, ahem, so knackered, yet sang so well. The 66s ooze detail, can pack serious, serious bass. They also image really well. Brilliant, really.

That these old speakers perform so well in the year 2011 is a real ear opener. They are easily as good as modern designs. In fact, I can't think of many pairs of box speakers I have heard that are genuinely better.

The Nagra sounded great even if it was playing CD recordings. Be sure to check the Nagra video. What a lovely piece of engineering!

Also the Tube Distinctions amp - I'm left with the impression it is significantly better than the Air Tight ATM2 I used to own. A very clean sounding amp indeed.

Nagra / Tube Distinctions close up video.

Whole system video

 

[User211]

Since this is a stat lover's site, next up comes the Jadis/ESL57 system with a twist - a ribbon tweeter. The ribbon tweeter did, IMHO, add a level of resolution I have not heard from ESL57s. Probably because they're no longer really just ESL57s! My wife was sitting next to me, dumstruck by the level of resolution presented by this system.

Whilst it won't work well with bass heavy tracks, what this system does well it does extremely well. The Quads have been restored by One Thing audio in Germany - Google for more info.

Better than Martin Logans? Well, I'm honestly pretty sure the sound this system was knocking out was at least as good as a pair of Summit Xs - if not better, really. It was that good, deep bass handling issues aside. I kid ye not.

Serious food for thought. Check the video for a close up of the ribbon HF unit.

Quad video

 

[User211]

Time for something pretty. Avantgarde Uno Nanos, Audio Note Japan Kondo M7 (serious money), Transporter a la Modwright, Red Wine Audio battery powered monos etc.

The room this system was in was huge, and the Nanos filled it with ease. I was rather surprised when I asked the owner to play a trance disk I had brought with me. It handled it in a manner I wasn't expecting i.e. extremely well! The dynamic bass unit does blend well with the horn, and the level of resolution this system produced was again very high.

In general, the level of sound reproduction achieved at this show was above most of the commercial hi-fi shows I have been to. This proves audiophiles have ears, and genuinely know good sound when they hear it. Good stuff!

Uno Nano video

 

[slowGEEZR]

Very cool. Just shows that great sound and musical enjoyment can come from many different ways. As we're trying to start monthly gatherings here, in the Austin, TX area, I'll take pics and post impressions, too.

 

[tsv_1]

Justin,

A big yankee thankee for your time and effort. I will enjoy absorbing the info.

 

[User211]

Very cool. Just shows that great sound and musical enjoyment can come from many different ways. As we're trying to start monthly gatherings here, in the Austin, TX area, I'll take pics and post impressions, too.

Looking forward to it. I'm sure we'll all appreciate it.

 

[User211]

Justin,

A big yankee thankee for your time and effort. I will enjoy absorbing the info.

Seems like an apt time, then, Todd, for some Apogees.

Talking to the owner of these, it was quite clear that he was deeply in love with them. It was quite touching, really. The Krell KSA50 sounded warm and sweet - I've never heard one before. Maybe the Audio Research pre had something to do with that.

Anyway, these little Calipers, re-ribboned some time ago by the chap that restored my Duetta Sigs, were again in a huge room. I was a litle puzzled by the sonics, as this system managed to sound nothing like my own. I've invited the owner to my bake-off event at the end of April. Be interesting to see what he thinks of my system. I think he'll probably be as "shocked" as I was when he hears it.

Essentially, the sound was quite calm and sweet - a good long term easy listen. Whereas I'd describe mine as pretty full on - highly tuned, packed full of resolution, speed, dynamics and slam - with bass that has real balls. Not really in the same vain at all!

Loved the lighting on these - be sure to watch the video for a real impression of how good it looked. White Apogees? Growing on me, I think..

Dr Rock's Apogee Caliper video

 

[projectormovielover]

Great gear

I would like to know where to get them lights

 

[User211]

Avantgarde's too small? Time for some BIG DIY horns. And a very nice home made TT.

Horns seem to be capable of filling big rooms with sound with consumate ease. No exception here. It's exactly what they did. The home made TT is a very nice effort too. Jelco 12 inch tonearm. I've met the owner at 3 different events now - he's a top chap.

There are dedicated threads covering the making of both the TT and the speakers on another forum. If anyone is really interested I could dig out the links.

I didn't actually get round to hearing the TT, which is a sin, but the speakers are pretty good for a work-in-progress.

I really like this DIY approach to Hi-Fi some have. Must be nice to own equipment you have made yourself. Real feeling of pride these guys must have, I reckon.

It was loud in there - you can hear the camera's mic clicking - it does that when it gets overloaded.

BigDur's Big Horns video

 

[User211]

Great gear

I would like to know where to get them lights

Not too hard to track something like it down, I'm sure. They just look cool reflecting off the foil. Not sure they'd be so hot on MLs.

 

[sebrof2000]

Gread thread - Thanks
The Lonestar Audio Fest in Dallas each year (13 - 15 May this year) is mostly manufacturer rooms, but there are always a handful of personal exhibits. Last year one of the guys had highly modified Altecs with 300b amps on the horns and big SS amps on the woofers. Of course he went on and on about why he designed it the way he did, how he built it, why he liked it. Great stuff to see a guy so passionate. Sounded great, btw.

 

[TrumpetDoug]

Now that was fun!! Thanks for the extra effort with the vid.
Doug - out

 

[User211]

Thanks chaps. I'll sling a few more systems up as and when I get the chance. But you can watch all the vids I took on YouTube for the other systems. Just look at the other videos under my handle.

One thing - how they come out through the camera's mic and how they sound in real life are two very different things. It isn't possible to draw any realistic conclusions from them - try though you might.

 

[Tj Bassi]

Good job on the videos. I found them not from this thread but while researching information on NAT products.
BTW, if you ever come across one of the NAT transmitter-class amplifiers and have a voltmeter in hand, I'd love to figure out the OP for those. Neither the OPTs or power supply sections look large enough to produce the claimed power......

Tj

 

[User211]

The NAT dealer is just down the road from me. Literally.

He owes me one as someone came round to listen to my system, then spent £10K on a pair of SE2s, as my jobbies are no longer available. I wouldn't like to say the SE2s sound the same as my Austria Analogue amps, though.

I was thinking of inviting him round to listen to the Duetta Sigs to see what he thinks of them. A marked contrast to the Omegas, I think. But really, I just want to hear the Transmitters driving my Apogees Cool looking beasties, but I agree they seem to pack less iron than my AAs. No interstage tranny, though.

BTW Tj - did you ever finish off those transmitter tube amps you posted pics of a while back?

 

[Tj Bassi]

Justin-

The specs on the NAT Magma and Transmitter are almost unbelievable, at least on paper. 160 watts single-ended 10 Hz to 100KHz for the Magma, 120 watts single-ended 8 Hz to 100KHz for the Transmitter. Power supplies including output are regulated. All this while consuming only 450 VA from the line.

Hmmmmmmmm.........


In my fifteen + years of hanging around the DIY tube amp crowd, I've yet to see a SE amp with those specs that was not the equivalent size and weight of a small refrigerator. And none of those OPT's would have bandwidths close to the NAT specs.

More Hmmmmmm.........

There are no published reviews of the Magma or Transmitter where the reviewer cites any specifications besides what the manufacturer puts in print. If at some point you dig up any good info, I'd love to hear it.

Tj

 

[Tj Bassi]

Justin-

My 304TL transmitter-class amplifier has about 180 hours on it in the current configuration; with the exception of bumping the operating point around a bit I am enthusiastic about the design. The 304TL is an excellent output tube, built like a tank. Circuit boards are being made up for the driver stage and hybrid rectifier, and only the only part not purchased for the final build are the custom power supply chokes....which like everything else are going to be significant in cost.

Last design has amp running 125 watts into 6 ohms, 1205 plate volts each tube. TDA2030 'chip amp' driver stage swings 300+ volts into 304 grids through Electra-Print A2LD-7 'chip loading' interstage, which means the amp could conceivably put put more than 275 watts each channel. The push-pull design and driver stage/output stage running in common mode completely eliminate any AC filament noise from making it to the output signal.....no need for DC heating! In the attached photos amp is running 105 watts.

It also draws 14-ish amps from the AC line

Hardest part about this project is penning up an interesting chassis to put it all in. It was the clean, simple look of the NAT amps that had me researching their designs. The 304 amp in the photos is built on a 2x4 foot wooden 'breadboard' and takes to people to move. And that is one chassis.

Crazy stuff....

Tj

 

[RichTeer]

Seems like an apt time, then, Todd, for some Apogees.

Talking to the owner of these, it was quite clear that he was deeply in love with them. It was quite touching, really. The Krell KSA50 sounded warm and sweet - I've never heard one before. Maybe the Audio Research pre had something to do with that.

That ARC SP8 and Krell KSA50 remind me of an old ad for Doug Brady Hi-Fi (although in that ad, Mission speakers were used). The tag line was "You really must hear this". An LP12 was the source IIRC.