Thanks i might post some more , after listened now for a couple of nights with familiar records although not to the diamond speakers with the more refined high frequencies , i can say that what springs to mind is that the sound is (much) more at ease and there is a change in the way the speakers image , the stereo image is wider and there seems to be more distance between singer trumpet guitar etc .
Is it better than the vpi? yes it seems so , you constantly get the feeling of transparency coming from a extremely solid quiet background.

Further its much more a joy to use than the scoutmaster the speed is dailed with a touch on a button and is on speed very quickly , further everything runs very quiet , the sme 5 arm is very easy to set up and is not so wobbly than the vpi arm the sme is probably a double pivot i dont know i have to read some more about it .

AM i happy with purchase ?
Yes i was on a kind of dead end with listening but now i have the feeling the hobby gets much more exciting , i might sell the krells again though not because they are not good , but i think i could also be happy with a ml 432 for example and keep the change , i cant play extremely loud anyway , the krells might be a bit " better" though

andromedaaudio January 05, 2011 10:13

Like the new pics! Glad to see you got your new SME.

srwooten January 04, 2011 21:03

System edited: and some pictures

andromedaaudio January 03, 2011 15:21

System edited: Finally arrived and playing , the assembly takes a while but you get a good feel of the construction and its very nicely done "a sophisticated design" . As i have my "voyager" speakers playing i cannot say defenitive things about the sound as i listened mostly to the diaqmond ones lately , firsts impression is of a solid/precise sound , stereoimiges are very solid and the sound is a natural one with ease and precision , although ive never heard a sme table , i do like the sound after only the first few minutes which is usually the time i need to like or to dislike something

andromedaaudio January 03, 2011 14:25

Thanks, ill post some pictures and give a first impression very soon
Its gonna be delivered mondayevening as i was very busy the last week , the vd hul i also havent got yet ,because of delivery problems which were not my fault.

andromedaaudio January 01, 2011 23:18

Are you ready to share your impressions of the new SME20/3? Congratulations.

peterayer January 01, 2011 14:44

Update on my future sme 20/3A !!!!
The importer informed me today .
It will be in holland by the end off next week , so i will probably have it playing between christmas and new year.
I will also pick up a new vd Hul colibri XCP 0,22 mV on tuesday , and i hope it will together raise the level of analogue playback ,digital does not have my interest, exept for DVD films /documentories

andromedaaudio December 18, 2010 10:28

This is another hobby of mine particle physics, live ion collisions at the LHC http://cms.web.cern.ch/cms/FireworksLive.html

andromedaaudio November 14, 2010 13:12

After having had the Condor now playing again for a week , i have an opinion for what its worth:

The condor sounds a bit lighter/ edgier the bass sounds a bit more heavy though.

More microdynamics /revealing / (musicality) than the koetsu which is the most positive factor .

I would say the koetsu is the mercedes with a warm luxurious stable sound .
The condor is the sportscar which drives on the limit.

I enjoy both , declaring a winner needs more time cause sometimes changing things might influence ones opinion.

The factor that the vd hul rides with 1,40 grams and the japanese one with 1,80(in my case ) might have influence on the vd hul being a bit more revealing i dont know , the stylus is also different among other things.

After i ve tried them on the sme i might buy another one maybe the ortofon A 90 which looks like a well designed piece supported by a big cart company

andromedaaudio November 13, 2010 11:54

Thanks for the kind comments and explanation , mike indeed its a very interesting happening for a analogue enthousiast, its a every year show in the first week of november , so when youre in the neigbourhood ?
It might be a nice thing to organize in the US also, it is of course a very good initiative of a shop to get customers in.

You must have a very good opinion of the vd hul cartridges after having had so many , he is 76 by the way, but is a very sharp and funny guy as well.

There was also a new series Ortofon on the repair bench not the A 90 , the magnet used was of a very strong type .

andromedaaudio November 07, 2010 09:36

Henk-Jan,

i loved the description of the cartridge issues from your visit to the show. very interesting about the metal in the coils. i'd enjoy attending an event like that some day.

i've owned 7 vdH Colibri's in the past and hopefully i'll own another in the future. i've met Mr. vdH a few times at shows. he likely knows as much as anyone about cartridges.

mikelavigne November 07, 2010 08:53

System edited: Follow up on the repairstory, systempics added with the repaired condor

andromedaaudio November 07, 2010 08:33

The clay was most likley "Rodico". It comes in a 4 inch green stick extensivley used by watchmakers for removing smudges from movements, etc. Many uses, just cut off a small bit at a time. Thanks for sharing your system's progress and incarnations. Very nice speakers!

isochronism November 07, 2010 08:17

Yesterday i went to a very nice show in a little town in the dutch country side .
It was held in a shop owned by a designer in which he also sells his own line of audioproducts .
Mister vd hul himself was present as he lives nearby, there were about 10 turntables on the floor and cupboards when i arrived , and a lot of cartridges to be checked too
The actual adjustment of the cartridge was done by a oscilloscoop and were then ready to play.
It was very interesting to see him and the other repairmen work, my own Condor was put onder the microscoop and i had a look myself , what i thought had happened,.... happened .
1 thread from 1 of the coils had come loose and was soldered back on after removing the red fabric coating , the needle was adjusted again and is now perfectly in line with the headshell , the coils looked a bit worn/damaged but were still okay, as was the needle tip he told me , usually the rubber suspension behind the coils is the reason for an element to be repaired as it dries out with the years.
I had a chance to hear 3 colibries in different turntables ,every turntable that was repaired was given the opportunity to be heard , it didnt matter if it was a 200 eurom player or a 10.000 euro player .
There was also a prototype airbearing tangentiaal arm playing with a custom designed colibri .
Here is the link with some lastyears photos .http://www.jkacoustics.nl/portal/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=170&Itemid=177
One funny thing happened when my condor was under the microscoop he asked me do you work with metal which i do, because there were tiny metal fragments on the coils , these were al taken away by hand using a certain type of clay.
One more interesting thing was mentioned ,that one could bring the needle pressure down in some cases after the rubber suspension has settled from a new element onwards ,supposedly under the min weight of some manufactures advice , your talking in the range of a couple of tens of a gram ,as they did the precise adjustment by scope .

greetz HJ

andromedaaudio November 07, 2010 05:53

Readjusted my turntable again today , its sounds gorgeous (the sme better be better or its vpi again for me, by the way) and im looking forward to the "analogue days "tomorrow , its a day for analogue lovers and mister aalt jouk vd Hul will be there to adjust turntables /elements for very little change , im looking forward to meet somebody who makes such nice products , i will leave my condor there to be checked and repaired again.

greetz henk jan

andromedaaudio November 05, 2010 12:02

Thanks Andromedaaudio...

emcgala November 05, 2010 11:09

Hoi Emcgala , i was very busy at work , but here in Holland the percentage increase is 19 % versus the old sme 20/2 A .

greetings, henk-jan

andromedaaudio November 05, 2010 10:00

Great info on the new SME Andromedaaudio...one question: when you say more expensive, how does that translate into a percentage ?

emcgala November 04, 2010 17:19

Listening on a saturday night , my all time favourite is still AC/DC , with the albums Powerage , high voltage , dirty deeds done dirt cheap .
Thats rock and roll although the press called it hard rock.

Lyrics and a energy in the songs thats formidable and also a disrespect for goverments / anarchy thats my style .

andromedaaudio October 30, 2010 13:33

Nice music one can find in the 1 euro boxes at the record store .
Doubled a couple of LP s i had already today , Fleetwood mac , and another favourite of mine "Talk Talk" colour of spring especially the song chameleon very dynamic song.

I am very curious how al my LPs will sound on the SME

andromedaaudio October 30, 2010 12:24

System edited: Ive posted a picture of my new future table .

andromedaaudio October 23, 2010 01:04

I dont know how to copy paste pictures on this forum so i will explain some of the differences of the 20 /3 A .
First,.... i did go for the 3 A model which is considerable more expensive , the weight is as well , the former was 18,5 kg incl powersupply the new is 31 kg with powersupply .
The pillars with O rings look a bit taller and the subchassis doesnt have the cut out and looks heavier/thicker which will be responsable for the increase in weight , further i heard of some electronic changes/updates , i will receive it in januari and will be the first or 1 of the first , signing in is possible from november ,....so i must be the first!!!!
F$#@$K digital , thats not where i spend the money

andromedaaudio October 22, 2010 09:11

I got the new brochure today via email , the new model is called 20/3 A and at first glanced looks a lot like the previous , i will try to post some data
Delivery starts in januari 2011

andromedaaudio October 16, 2010 15:10

I went today to look at the 1 euro boxes in my favorite vinylstore and found quite some treasures , i almost have my flairck collection complete now , i found original sound material on vinyl of the apollo 11 landing on the moon with live footage of neil armstrong ,pretty cool.
I collect interesting hystory on vinyl ,this and most of the recordings looked as they were never been used
Further a specially recorded DMM mastered " audiofile" recording by a group of audiofiles in holland which was in a discount , and already long on my wishlist see what that brings , maybe nice for " audiofile " shows (laughing).

andromedaaudio September 12, 2010 10:41

Not one month more , but some more months more .
Me reached the news of a substantial upgrade for the sme 20 / 2a , so i decided to cancel the order and sign in for the new one , I ll probably be one of the first to have it , it should be in amsterdam somewhere in the autumn.
I dont know if its better or merely a commercial thing but i decided to take the gamble .

andromedaaudio September 08, 2010 08:22