System Pics 2015

In this case, fortunately, no.

Why?

Perhaps if you reflect on your comments, you will realise why. 

seems to be a really tolerant community---

Seems to me that you were not very tolerant of a few bookshelves, LP's, CD's .......no?

Not everyone chooses to play their music from a computer, I happen to be one such backwards thinking sap who still enjoys collecting physical media.

Hey sorry man,

it was not meant as an offense, my children will just have code when I die and my younger one is collecting vinyl to an astonishing extend. Being a 61er I can not understand the desire for physical demand. In our century it is so much more comfortable to listen to even old tracks.

Listening to the fine equipment of today has brought out details of music I was listening 40 years ago which I was never aware of before.

May be the MP3 generation will find some thrill out of vinyl, certainly not me, because I know them from before and will not be happy with it. 

My son has the vinyl, I keep my files (wav and flac)

A weird world isn`t it?

I'm a retired (kinda) DJ and 70% of vnyl is techno/house/electronic music. I'm 40 and mostly using spotify/tidal plus files. And ca. 10-20% old school media. So all cool, I'm not offended. 

you probably never had a good record player the past 40 years. It has nothing to do with details. 

certainly I was listening to some fine turntables, it just does not give me as much pleasure.

On Top of that I noticed that quite a few new records have been digitally mastered and mixed, in that case we have the worst of both worlds in my opinion.

40+ years ago we did not have anything else than vinyl and tape -it is so much fun to explore the new media.

And digital gets better and better, the technical advantages are coming to grips.

Hi Harty,

Quadraspire don't make a base shelf. The top shelf is isolated by bronze cones that can only be used on the top shelf. Here's mine, although I agree with HH that it's difficult to do the Bamboo SVT justice on an iPad.

Keith

Harty - the Quadraspire bronze upgrade (expensive spikes that on the face of it look like they wouldn't do anything, but in fact do) can be used in two ways. One is to add them to the top of the uprights and put the existing top shelf on top, (MDS uses this method) or to use them to go between two shelves, as shown above, and which is slightly better, but does mean you have to buy an extra shelf. 

The SVT is very different to the standard QS Ref: it is larger for a start, and the shelves have brass collars so that the uprights don't actually touch the wood. The bamboo version is a lot better than the standard veneered MDF. 

Having got the rack recently I've been very impressed, as it sounds considerably better than the Hutter I had before. In my view it's now a serious alternative to Fraim, maybe not quite as good, but it performs well, looks good and is easy to keep clean. 

Thanks for the clarity guys, understood. I have isoblue and am tempted to try something different but can't face the dust magnet shelves on a frame (will also struggle with the financial outlay having just upgraded the black boxes).

Isoblue is a superb rack, and I'm not sure I'd swap it for SVT, although the latter looks a lot better in my humble opinion. Unlike Isoblue one can get decent gaps between shelves without using spacers that look like rejects from a Year 7 woodwork class. And the big chunky spikes do look rather classy. 

You've hit the nail on the head - I'd like to get more space between shelves and can't bring myself to put those awful chunks of wood in!! Having said that, it's not a burning issue and an XPS should probably come first.

Thankfully they've put on a bit of weight and look quite well buiIt and ergonomic. Not,  as I mentioned in the past,  so anorexic as their previous incarnation. 

Auditioning Marten Getz II speakers, against the current 802D. Compared to the B&Ws, the Martens are a shockingly traditional design and actually look a bit like my old Ninkas.  A bit of an ear-opener, too: the resolution / detail and speed are amazing, but I'll have them long enough to (hopefully) be able to assess them without a pink mist hovering around the listening room.

EJ

I have to date but a couple of black bamboo SVT shelves are sitting patiently in their box awaiting the return of my SuperCap from Salisbury after its service and DR upgrade and then I'll be moving to the close-coupled approach that you and KRM use. Will report back on what I make of it.

Mike

I agree the SVT in bamboo with bronze spikes is an interesting alternative to the Fraim. The Fraim is very good and I'm not saying the Quadraspire is better, but it is very good, better looking and a hell of a lot cheaper.

We did the comparison with the Fraim when we auditioned the SVT. It was only out of interest as we weren't prepared to pay Fraim prices and it wouldn't have fitted in the corner of our room, so it may have been that we heard what we wanted to hear. Never the less, our feeling was that the Fraim is more dynamic and exciting. The SVT is almost as good (and far far better than the MDF Q4) in these areas, but it's real strength is that music just sounds more enjoyable.

We were even more impressed with here at home. Is it on a par with a better power supply? Possibly, yes. The NDS has deeper tighter base and better defined leading edges (guitar strings etc) and vinyl replay is a revelation. In the attached photo you can see that the record player shelf has been configured for extra rigidity.

Keith

Hi Mike,

How long have you been waiting for the Supercap? I'm thinking about getting mine done along with the 300 in the new year.

Not tempted to try the funky new 802Ds EJ?

That sums up Isoblue IMO. Can't stand the look of it. Looks like off-cuts from the shop floor.