Let's See What Makes Your Vinyl Spin!

AnthonyI said:
Oops, originally posted in the wrong place.

Stuned! Ordered less than 24 hours ago and here it is.

.........was not expecting the "heft" this thing has, that being said, it sure is a looker in my opinion. Sleek, clean and simple :)
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How are you going to be using this one as a alternative /backup to your Prima Luna ? I considered the MF Kevin was blowing out a few years ago.
 
AnthonyI said:
Oops, originally posted in the wrong place.

Stuned! Ordered less than 24 hours ago and here it is.

.........was not expecting the "heft" this thing has, that being said, it sure is a looker in my opinion. Sleek, clean and simple :)
View attachment 102094
Click to expand...

JohnnyCashFan said:
How are you going to be using this one as a alternative /backup to your Prima Luna ? I considered the MF Kevin was blowing out a few years ago.
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Well, this was actually replacing the NAD on my second system, BUT, it looks like it's going back. This was a demo and once I got it hooked up, the left channel wasn't working. Of course they offered to look at it and see if it's a simple fix, but I'm not willing to take that chance and have something else go wrong later on.

I'll wait for a restock at Upscale. A little bummed.

That being said, the NAD is still going, I'm not even going to hook it back up in the mean time.
 
Here’s my main system:
  • VPI Traveler turntable with Hana SL cartridge
  • Sutherland Insight phono preamp
  • Bryston BP-25DA preamp
  • Bryston 4B-ST power amp
  • Thiel CS6 speakers
  • NAD 5 disc changer used as a CD transport
  • NAD tuner (with rabbit ears!)
  • Cables are BJC and Straightwire Symphony II
The outdated “stereo cabinet” is heavy MDF and is very effective at eliminating footfalls when loaded with equipment. The WAF is very low, though - she hates it.

4D844D57-08D1-4651-8717-680AD660C1A1.jpeg2220512E-6FDE-4BFB-813F-F422DFE0800A.jpeg57F28257-6A9D-49A3-B68B-D2F3C8F92885.jpeg
 
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AnthonyI said:
Well, this was actually replacing the NAD on my second system, BUT, it looks like it's going back. This was a demo and once I got it hooked up, the left channel wasn't working. Of course they offered to look at it and see if it's a simple fix, but I'm not willing to take that chance and have something else go wrong later on.

I'll wait for a restock at Upscale. A little bummed.

That being said, the NAD is still going, I'm not even going to hook it back up in the mean time.
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I replaced my NAD with a used Bryston B100-SST last year, if you are considering alternatives. The integrated phono is stunning. The whole preamp section is exceptionally clean and noise free. The unit cost not much more than a used BP-1.5 phono alone. The drawback is that the phono input is MM only. I’d have to add a SUT if I want to use a low output MC in that system. My Bryston is still under the 20 year warranty.

 
Angsty said:
Here’s my main system:
  • VPI Traveler turntable with Hana SL cartridge
  • Sutherland Insight phono preamp
  • Bryston BP-25DA preamp
  • Bryston 4B-ST power amp
  • Thiel CS6 speakers
  • NAD 5 disc changer used as a CD transport
  • NAD tuner (with rabbit ears!)
  • Cables are BJC and Straightwire Symphony II
The outdated “stereo cabinet” is heavy MDF and is very effective at eliminating footfalls when loaded with equipment. The WAF is very low, though - she hates it.

View attachment 102167View attachment 102168View attachment 102174
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Lovely system! And another fellow VPI user here (I think there are at least 4 or 5 of us now). How do you like the Gyro arm ?

The Bryston amp must be one of the longest continuous manufactured products ever in audio ?
 
psemeraro said:
White Bose 502 based mini line arrays, (with correct Bose rackmount eq/controller) event at Dr. Phillips performing Art Center Orlando FL private room.View attachment 101947View attachment 101948View attachment 101949
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Quick note, subs are behind the drape. Bose 502a is professional, full range box (minus low end) has no crossover and uses captive manufacturer supplied processing. The EQ supplied by the processor was rather intense and much more sophisticated than what could be done with a typical graphic or parametric EQ. Their natural tone, clarity, and intelligibility would embarrass many hifi speakers and they had a smooth "throw" of over 100 feet. We called them the "dual bananas" and with good subs behind them easily covered rooms of 500 - 600 people including music for DJs. They were powered with a 300 watt per channel amp which was the perfect match along with a few thousand watts of sub support. It's easy to hate Bose but their professional line is a different animal and even cranky audio techs loved this system.
 
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Angsty said:
Here’s my main system:
  • VPI Traveler turntable with Hana SL cartridge
  • Sutherland Insight phono preamp
  • Bryston BP-25DA preamp
  • Bryston 4B-ST power amp
  • Thiel CS6 speakers
  • NAD 5 disc changer used as a CD transport
  • NAD tuner (with rabbit ears!)
  • Cables are BJC and Straightwire Symphony II
The outdated “stereo cabinet” is heavy MDF and is very effective at eliminating footfalls when loaded with equipment. The WAF is very low, though - she hates it.
Click to expand...

Nice to see another Traveler owner here.
 
Joe Mac said:
So random! New grab day impatience led to me reconnecting everything and wouldn’t you know it the large hum disappeared!

There’s still a really low level hum that’s only audible if you put your ear into the speaker but it’s a least listenable to now!
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You could try running a ground wire from your phono stage to the ground on the PL.
 
Joe Mac said:
So random! New grab day impatience led to me reconnecting everything and wouldn’t you know it the large hum disappeared!

There’s still a really low level hum that’s only audible if you put your ear into the speaker but it’s a least listenable to now!
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Joe, I'm really, REALLY hesitant to give advice about other's gear but it sounds like solder joints need to be re-flowed. Assuming your cables are perfect, AND assuming all your gear is powered from the same circuit, AND assuming there are no weird grounding issues between components, there should never be audible hum from audio gear, even faint hum.

Every time I've chased down on-again/off-again issues it turned out to be solder joints. I've never seen an issue on machine soldered hifi boards but the hand soldered boards on some hifi components can be problematic. Assuming they are built by someone competent, tested upon manufacturing, work fine, get boxed up and shipped, in use they can can develop a problem. I've seen solder joints that look fine, and test fine with a meter but dont pass the press on the board test. Put some pressure on the circuit board even just a little and the connection becomes intermittent.

When I had my AV company, amps got re-capped and re-flowed every three years. Those amps worked balls to the wall all the time, and their "work week" would include powering subs at 2 ohms in 100 degree outdoor heat for 12 straight hours, get packed in a truck, bounced to a city 10 hours away and do the same thing the next day. (would love to see a hifi amp try that...) ridiculous dubstep bass, wonky generator power, on and on... I learned to be proactive about maintenance. Solder joints are always the place to start.

QSC who's amps we used rate the best in the industry for reliability. When they are developing products, testing includes throwing the product off the roof of their 3 story building onto the paved parking lot then putting it back on the bench. If it doesn't meet factory specs its redesigned until it passes that test. Then it can be manufactured and sold.


Pat
 
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psemeraro said:
Joe, I'm really, REALLY hesitant to give advice about other's gear but it sounds like solder joints need to be re-flowed. Assuming your cables are perfect, AND assuming all your gear is powered from the same circuit, AND assuming there are no weird grounding issues between components, there should never be audible hum from audio gear, even faint hum.

Every time I've chased down on-again/off-again issues it turned out to be solder joints. I've never seen an issue on machine soldered hifi boards but the hand soldered boards on some hifi components can be problematic. Assuming they are built by someone competent, tested upon manufacturing, work fine, get boxed up and shipped, in use they can can develop a problem. I've seen solder joints that look fine, and test fine with a meter but dont pass the press on the board test. Put some pressure on the circuit board even just a little and the connection becomes intermittent.

When I had my AV company, amps got re-capped and re-flowed every three years. Those amps worked balls to the wall all the time, and their "work week" would include powering subs at 2 ohms in 100 degree outdoor heat for 12 straight hours, get packed in a truck, bounced to a city 10 hours away and do the same thing the next day. (would love to see a hfif amp try that...) ridiculous dubstep bass, wonky generator power, on and on... I learned to be proactive about maintenance. Solder joints are always the place to start.

Pat
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No worries at all. The dealer is onto PL at the moment and I’m waiting to hear back what they say.
 
JohnnyCashFan said:
Lovely system! And another fellow VPI user here (I think there are at least 4 or 5 of us now). How do you like the Gyro arm ?

The Bryston amp must be one of the longest continuous manufactured products ever in audio ?
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I really like the gimbal bearing more than the yoke bearing on the Player or the unipivots in most other VPI products. The VPI gimbal is quite bit more sophisticated than the bearing in my PLX-1000. My Bryston has just left its 20 year warranty but still runs in spec.
 
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