System Pics 2016

George Fredrik Fiske posted:

count.d posted:

My curly claro walnut Harban plinth.

Don’t you just have to love the Gerry Built bracing in worse than basic building grade ply on wood that certainly looks “differnt” from normal and good ash, beech or oak?

Don't you know how many different samples of "building grade" ply they went through before settling on that type??

Eloise posted:

George Fredrik Fiske posted:

count.d posted:

My curly claro walnut Harban plinth.

Don’t you just have to love the Gerry Built bracing in worse than basic building grade ply on wood that certainly looks “differnt” from normal and good ash, beech or oak?

Don't you know how many different samples of "building grade" ply they went through before settling on that type??

...and I'm sure some nice native oak would have given a lovely decorative finish, but unfortunately, we started burning it for charcoal in the iron age, and made boats with a lot of what was left in order to take on the Spanish Armada, so using some vulgar North American imported walnut was no doubt one of the few options remaining. 

At the risk of sounding like someone currently residing at Her Majesty's pleasure - "Can you tell what it is yet?"

Someone (probably) looking in is not allowed to play. You know who you are.

John.

Yes! The top of a real ESL!

I may be allowed to play in what is my last post here!

George Fredrik Fiske posted:

Yes! The top of a real ESL!

I may be allowed to play in what is my last post here!

Again?

But that notwithstanding, I would still rather you not leave - on the balance I enjoy your posts, especially about classical music, but otherwise as well, even when I don't agree with what you are saying.

And for the record, I would have guessed correctly, even though I have never seen an ESL in person.

George Fredrik Fiske posted:

Yes! The top of a real ESL!

I may be allowed to play in what is my last post here!

Come on George. You can't quit everytime someone gets on your case. Take it easy until Tuesday or Wednesday then reconsider. What will I do without my Carlton posts. I love those.

Alba1320 posted:

^ Quad ESL?

Well done Sir. You win a large King Edward potato. I'll pop it in the post or do you have a fax machine?

John.

George Fredrik Fiske posted:

Yes! The top of a real ESL!

I may be allowed to play in what is my last post here!

Why so George? I take it you realised that my request for you not to play was with good intention and only to give the other playmates a fighting chance?

John.

George Fredrik Fiske posted:

count.d posted:

My curly claro walnut Harban plinth. Trying to show the chatoyance.

Don’t you just have to love the Gerry Built bracing in worse than basic building grade ply on wood that certainly looks “differnt” from normal and good ash, beech or oak?

Second rate construction would be a compliment ...

George

Perhaps ply is the right thing for the job? Possibly less prone to expansion/contraction or has the right properties to to dampen or excite the plinth? Anyway regardless of any whacky theories, I'm a hobbiest furniture maker and I feel it's totally fine.

James L posted:

George Fredrik Fiske posted:

count.d posted:

My curly claro walnut Harban plinth. Trying to show the chatoyance.

Don’t you just have to love the Gerry Built bracing in worse than basic building grade ply on wood that certainly looks “differnt” from normal and good ash, beech or oak?

Second rate construction would be a compliment ...

George

Perhaps ply is the right thing for the job? Possibly less prone to expansion/contraction or has the right properties to to dampen or excite the plinth? Anyway regardless of any whacky theories, I'm a hobbiest furniture maker and I feel it's totally fine.

It looks like something someone would have used in the construction of pyramids and been buried within one, and excavated as a mummified artefact.

Nothing like a limited depth of field to mask the advanced (16 years) age of a sound system.

LP 12 & Nait 3 on a Qaudraspire.

Haim Ronen posted:

Nothing like a limited depth of field to make us forget the advanced (16 years) age of a sound system.

LP 12 & Nait 3 on a Qaudraspire.

 

Nice photo.  I've always thought the illuminated logo on the Olive series looked very classy and better than that on the current series.

Mike

Clearly one person's perfect wood figuring is outside the taste of others.

Maybe its either possible not to criticise if you don't like the wood?  Or just say "congrats on the new plinth, but not to my taste" or similar, there's really no need to insult someone's taste in decor.

"Nice photo.  I've always thought the illuminated logo on the Olive series looked very classy and better than that on the current series."

+1 - the new logo still looks good, but I likewise preferred the way the olive series logo looked.

sunbeamgls posted:

Clearly one person's perfect wood figuring is outside the taste of others.

Maybe its either possible not to criticise if you don't like the wood?  Or just say "congrats on the new plinth, but not to my taste" or similar, there's really no need to insult someone's taste in decor.

Well said!

sunbeamgls posted:

Clearly one person's perfect wood figuring is outside the taste of others.

Maybe its either possible not to criticise if you don't like the wood?  Or just say "congrats on the new plinth, but not to my taste" or similar, there's really no need to insult someone's taste in decor.

I was photographing a product and whilst the lighting was still there, I placed my plinth on it to see how the chatoyance would appear. It instantly became apparent that this type of wood was very difficult to light. I didn't have time to adjust things, so what you see is how it came out. I opened the image in photoshop and cut it out. Comparing this image to the plinth doesn't do it justice. It's come out far too contrasty, the dark grain has come out too heavy and the chatoyance has made it appear too stripy.

I must admit being a bit surprised at some of the comments, even for this forum. The build quality is impeccable and I can't see any problems with the design.

I'll probably have play with the image in Photoshop to reduce the contrast, improve shadow detail, etc, or maybe photograph it again, this time me holding it, whilst wearing something from Adele's new fashion line. 

count.d posted:

I must admit being a bit surprised at some of the comments, even for this forum. The build quality is impeccable and I can't see any problems with the design. 

Jealosy.

Alba1320 posted:

J.N. posted:

Alba1320 posted:

^ Quad ESL?

Well done Sir. You win a large King Edward potato. I'll pop it in the post or do you have a fax machine?

John.

You mean that the ESLs aren't the prize? 

Oh well, at least make it a Kerr's Pink!  

BTW, how are you getting on with the ESLs? Quite different to SBLs, I imagine?

 

I've had my pair of ESL 57's since 2003. An all-Quad system (with a Goldring Lenco GL75) was one of my formative proper Hi-Fi system experiences when I was about 15 years of age (so late 19th century then - or it feels like it!) and the sound 'stuck'. I hitherto had no idea that such a sound could be created in the home.

I promised myself that one day, I would possess a pair of the wonderful loudspeakers, and so it came to pass in 2003.

There are inevitably some things they don't do very well at all; but the stuff they do do well is still utterly beguiling. They work on modern rhythmic music surprisingly well because they sound very fast and agile - albeit with limited bass extension.

It amuses me to think of the reactions from the old guards of the likes of Wharfedale, Spendor and KEF, when this futuristic looking transducer landed on the market (apparently from another planet) in 1957. Mind you; £52 was a lot of money then.

John.

count.d posted:

sunbeamgls posted:

Clearly one person's perfect wood figuring is outside the taste of others.

Maybe its either possible not to criticise if you don't like the wood?  Or just say "congrats on the new plinth, but not to my taste" or similar, there's really no need to insult someone's taste in decor.

I was photographing a product and whilst the lighting was still there, I placed my plinth on it to see how the chatoyance would appear. It instantly became apparent that this type of wood was very difficult to light. I didn't have time to adjust things, so what you see is how it came out. I opened the image in photoshop and cut it out. Comparing this image to the plinth doesn't do it justice. It's come out far too contrasty, the dark grain has come out too heavy and the chatoyance has made it appear too stripy.

I must admit being a bit surprised at some of the comments, even for this forum. The build quality is impeccable and I can't see any problems with the design.

I'll probably have play with the image in Photoshop to reduce the contrast, improve shadow detail, etc, or maybe photograph it again, this time me holding it, whilst wearing something from Adele's new fashion line. 

 

count.d,

As an amateur woodworker that has worked with quarter-sawn oak and birdseye maple I realize that chatoyance - rays and figuring as I typically call it - on a finely finished piece can only be appreciated in person. The subtleties the rays cast change dramatically with only a slight movement of the head to either side and cannot be captured in a still photo. The use of plywood (for its stability properties) on your plinth is wholly correct and the joinery looks excellent I wouldn't bother here with further efforts to shop photos to justify the quality of your plinth or appease the heathens. It looks quite lovely to me.

joerand posted:

count.d posted:

sunbeamgls posted:

Clearly one person's perfect wood figuring is outside the taste of others.

Maybe its either possible not to criticise if you don't like the wood?  Or just say "congrats on the new plinth, but not to my taste" or similar, there's really no need to insult someone's taste in decor.

I was photographing a product and whilst the lighting was still there, I placed my plinth on it to see how the chatoyance would appear. It instantly became apparent that this type of wood was very difficult to light. I didn't have time to adjust things, so what you see is how it came out. I opened the image in photoshop and cut it out. Comparing this image to the plinth doesn't do it justice. It's come out far too contrasty, the dark grain has come out too heavy and the chatoyance has made it appear too stripy.

I must admit being a bit surprised at some of the comments, even for this forum. The build quality is impeccable and I can't see any problems with the design.

I'll probably have play with the image in Photoshop to reduce the contrast, improve shadow detail, etc, or maybe photograph it again, this time me holding it, whilst wearing something from Adele's new fashion line. 

 

count.d,

As an amateur woodworker that has worked with quarter-sawn oak and birdseye maple I realize that chatoyance - rays and figuring as I typically call it - on a finely finished piece can only be appreciated in person. The subtleties the rays cast change dramatically with only a slight movement of the head to either side and cannot be captured in a still photo. The use of plywood (for its stability properties) on your plinth is wholly correct and the joinery looks excellent I wouldn't bother here with further efforts to shop photos to justify the quality of your plinth or appease the heathens. It looks quite lovely to me.

Agree. Nothing wrong with it at all. Looks very interesting and classy. Nice.

COUNT.D

Why post a pic when it's fitted out with all its other bits and pieces and playing a record. Sure it'll look stunning.

Yes, some pictures would make a nice change. This is System Pics after all.

To get things back on track, here's a nice bit of bamboo. 

TOBYJUG posted:

COUNT.D

Why post a pic when it's fitted out with all its other bits and pieces and playing a record. Sure it'll look stunning.

It's been on my shelf in it's bare state for 4 years, so you might have to wait a long time.

Just going onto Adele.com. 

count.d posted:

TOBYJUG posted:

COUNT.D

Why post a pic when it's fitted out with all its other bits and pieces and playing a record. Sure it'll look stunning.

It's been on my shelf in it's bare state for 4 years, so you might have to wait a long time.

Just going onto Adele.com. 

You could put a nice painting in it and hang it up on the wall instead.