Description

This system is hopefully the final successful treatment and stabilization of the deadly and insidious upgradiola virus.Stage 1 my Tanoys. Stage 2 My valve amps.

Stage 3 upgrading what I have already got,Sony CDP D500 & Monarchy DAC, Sansui TU 919 and Thorens TD 125 MK1 SME Plinth with an SME 3012 restored by Audio Origami. RCM Sensor prelude Phono pre with ZYX Ayame cartridge.

Acceptance is the key to audio satisfaction. Realization that there will always be something better than what you have got no matter how good you think it is. Accepting this fact, building a bridge, getting over it and living with it, in other words being grateful for what you have got and enjoying it. Then you can spend your hard earned clams on the music rather than the medium In the end you stop listening to other peoples opinions and focus on what YOU like. In other words It is your path so follow your ears and your tastes! Do not accept the subjective opinion of some so called expert you have never even met to decide what you purchase. Listen and THINK for yourself. The system pictures are of various incarnations of my audio evolution. The room is now arranged and treated for smoother response. More precise positioning has improved imaging. The tannoys are now earthed direct to ground. Other subtle changes changes including preamp volume pot upgrade and system tuning have resulted in ever evolving better sound. Lastly I came to the conclusion when I heard Warwicks system which was worth 5 times more than mine.Chasing that last poofteenth of fidelity for that much outlay wasn't worth it. At least not for me. In the end I've found something better. "The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field". My System aside from the digital front end [Sony,Monarchy] & power amps will be sold off on eBay Au or Audiogon. Cheers thermonicavenger.
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    • Tannoy Prestige Canterbury SE
    Sometimes the first idea is the best.This is Tannoys closest offering true to the original design of 1947. Dual concentric with the pepper pot waveguide for the central horn tweeter. The original and to my jaded ears still the best. I am a part -time musician and what I look for in sound reproduction at home is a live sound. Something that dynamically, harmonically and literally sounds closest to the real thing. Only one other speaker topped this one The Quadral Titan and I could not source one. Let me explain, I preferred the retro model more than the modern ones. I wanted something that was covered by a warranty with replacement parts still available. Other less popular or seemingly in this world relevant fact. Magnetic flux density declines over time. This is the reason many vintage guitars of such high value with their original alnico magnet pick ups sound so terrible is the flux density of the magnets has dropped to such a level as to make the pick up useless as a pick up. To get the sound back you have to re- magnetize the magnets to the original flux density or replace them. Hence I am not a huge fan of vintage loudspeakers. As it turned out I made the wisest decision. My original Tannoys had a fault but thanks to Tannoys truly stellar after sales service they shipped me a new pair hand selected by their chief production engineer. Yippee! these were absolutely fantastic! better than what they replaced in every way and no faults that I have yet been able to discern. Lastly when this design was originally voiced so long ago there was no such thing as a transistor. Would the Tannoy still voice best with Valves as when it was first made? Well read on. I have had many years getting these Speakers to sound their best and the Rola was not so fantastic at controlling those 15inch woofers.I had to find something that would have the mid and top end finesse of the STA but with grip and detail in the bass. Enter the Flanagan Mono blocks each with 4 El34's NOS winged C Svetlanas C core transformers Finesse AND Grunt combined with the Monarchy Pre-Dac is an awesome leap forward in every respect I now consider the STA a very nice AV or Computer sound set up. The old Monitor Gold 15's may sing quite nicely with smaller valve amps they were designed for but this modern interpretation thrives with some clean grunt behind it. Only thing is You can get carried away. 3 visits by the police for having my monster roar a little too loudly.
    • Thorens SME Plinth Thorens 125 Mk 1 & 3012
    This heavily modified Thorens has served me well for several years. It features a lead lined plinth with an 18mm mdf lead lined base to replace the flimsy masonite original. SRM Tech mods including platter waveguide trap with custom isolators, motor bearing mod.Paper base with natrual rubber top platter mat. I have a few NOS Thorens belts And the whole thing sits on custom machined brass feet. I decided to make the deck original and mounted an SME 3012 superbly restored and rewired by Audio Origami and it sounds fantastic
    • SME 3012
    Added this to my SME plinth Thorens to make it Original. Very impressive This one was Modded by Audio Origami in the UK
    • ZYX Ayame
    This cartridge was custom made for Warwick Freemantle of Puremusicgroup under the SonicPurity label by Mr. Nakatsuka
    of ZYX corporation It is the finest phono cartridge I have owned or listened to aside from Warwicks own Continum turntable set up. This remains the only system with a 9 inch arm that I can honestly say I liked and at the stratospheric price it sells for one would hope so. Seriously this is true top of the range performance output voltage: 0,[email protected]/sec 1KHz Frequency response 20Hz to 20kHz- - /+1dB Channel Balance < 0.5dB [1kHz] Channel Separation >30dB [1kHz] Tracking Force 2.0gm 20deg @ 20 C Internal Impedance 8 Ohm Load impedance > 100 Ohms
    • RCM Audio Sensor Prelude IC Phono Preamp
    Latest addition to the RCM Audio product range is the RCM SENSOR PRELUDE IC phono preamplifier. Built to the highest quality standards this preamplifier provides precise RIAA correction for cartridges in the range of 0.3 mV to 5 mV, and outputs a line level signal of 2 Volts at 1 kHz. Easily accessible switches on the back panel allow the user to adjust cartridge load impedance, gain and mode of input stage (balanced or single-ended).RIAA correction is achieved via a passive split network with two separate RC filters, low noise resistors and 1% tolerance polypropylene capacitors. To ensure high precision in the RIAA correction each component of the filter is hand picked and measured to guarantee a tolerance of less then 0.3 dB in the frequency range 20Hz - 20 kHz. This is done for every unit built so that the customer receives a unit sounding as good as the reference unit in our laboratory. All other components in the preamplifier are selected to ensure perfect channel balance.The SENSOR power supply is housed in a separate metal case to eliminate interference with the sensitive circuits in the phono preamplifier. It is fully balanced and has oversize filtering capacity and low output impedance. Because of the extremely high gain capability of up to 76dB combined with a very low noise floor the Sensor Prelude IC can amplify very low output MC cartridges with ease. Music emerges from a black background and images are finely crafted and spread out before you in a sound stage that is both wide and deep. Detail retrieval is exceptional and the ability to communicate Pace, Rhythm and Timing (PRAT) is very satisfying. Sensor Prelude IC performs at such a high level that it can be used in the most expensive audiophile systems, I never thought I would like an IC based phono but this one does sound outstanding and can most likely be hotted up by Burson Audio. With a discrete replacemnt for the OPA2134 variant. Technical specification: Input RCA - Balanced and Unbalanced (selectable via switch) Output: 1 pair balanced XLR 1 pair unbalanced RCA (single ended) Input sensivity: 0.3 - 5mV (selectable in 7 steps) Gain: 52 - 76 dB (2 Vrms output at 1 kHz) 0,3 - 0,4 - 0,6 - 0,9 - 1,4 - 2,5 - 5 mV Input impedance 20 - 47000 ohm (selectable in 6 steps) 20W - 50W - 200W - 400W - 1kW - 47kW Input capacitance: 150 pF Nominal output: 2V rms. Max. output level 8V rms. Output impedance: 70 ohm THD: 0,01% (1 kHz) S/N: 85dB (lowest gain settings) RIAA linearity: +/- 0,3dB (20Hz - 20kHz) Dimensions: preamplifier 214 x 214 x 75 mm (without terminals) power supply 120 x 65 x 160 mm (without terminals) Weight: preamplifier 2,0 kg. power supply 1,7kg. Guarantee: amplifier - two year
    • Sony Sony CDP D500
    A Sony pro player I picked up on eBay for $200! They cost around $2400 new. originally it was used as a stand in for my VDRS 10 SE but ended up my long term player.The shuttle funtion is just so cool and plays everthing you throw at it. The VDRS does sound slightly better on transport duties but the Sony is far less fussy about what it will play.
    • Monarchy Audio Model 24 Tube D/A Converter
    This pre-amp was modified by Lenehan Audio and further by me And now carries Dact attenuators Duelund Capacitors and NOS tubes It punches way above it price point but MUST be tweaked otherwise you would never realize its full potential.

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