System Pics 2016

Nick from Suffolk posted:

Wow. A Wadia CD player!

A blast from the past! :0

kuma posted:

Nick from Suffolk posted:

Wow. A Wadia CD player!

A blast from the past! :0

In my book 17 years (we bought the CD player in 1999) is very recent history, not the past.

The NAT03 is the oldest component in the system. It was a present from my wife on a significant birthday and will therefore stay in the system whatever happens, even if/when the FM radio service dies.

Interestingly, Wadia maintain that there is no need for any servicing of the machine; I have asked the question every few years.

tonym posted:

Richard Dane posted:

Looks pretty high to me... 

Richard,

Safe to assume you were referring to the stack? Or maybe both subjects?

Here are some pics of my new Tiger Paw Vulkan turntable shelf.

And a few with the LP12 installed...

Tried it without the glass, cups and balls for a few days.

Glass, cups and balls added...

Will try this combo out over the next couple of days.
First impressions are good!

apye! posted:

Glass, cups and balls added...

Will try this combo out over the next couple of days.
First impressions are good!

Can you say that the addition of Naim cups and balls makes a noticeable improvement? Musically better or is it just more hifi?

Clive B posted:

apye! posted:

Glass, cups and balls added...

Will try this combo out over the next couple of days.
First impressions are good!

Can you say that the addition of Naim cups and balls makes a noticeable improvement? Musically better or is it just more hifi?

Early days yet but I can notice an improvement (IMHO not just more hifi!), not as big as when I had them fitted with my old Quadraspire shelf.

That could be down to the fact the Tiger Paw Vulkan is a much better shelf?

APYE! Have you tried your LP12 without a glass shelf?

When I tested my Sondek it seems to have sounded less comfortable on glass... But perhaps that just a combination of my room and the setup.

Adam Zielinski posted:

APYE! Have you tried your LP12 without a glass shelf?

When I tested my Sondek it seems to have sounded less comfortable on glass... But perhaps that just a combination of my room and the setup.

Hi Adam, as stated in my earlier post I tried it without the glass to start with.

apye! posted:

Adam Zielinski posted:

APYE! Have you tried your LP12 without a glass shelf?

When I tested my Sondek it seems to have sounded less comfortable on glass... But perhaps that just a combination of my room and the setup.

Hi Adam, as stated in my earlier post I tried it without the glass to start with.

Of course - skim reading is never a good idea

Nick from Suffolk posted:

kuma posted:

Nick from Suffolk posted:

Wow. A Wadia CD player!

A blast from the past! :0

In my book 17 years (we bought the CD player in 1999) is very recent history, not the past.

The NAT03 is the oldest component in the system. It was a present from my wife on a significant birthday and will therefore stay in the system whatever happens, even if/when the FM radio service dies.

Interestingly, Wadia maintain that there is no need for any servicing of the machine; I have asked the question every few years.

In digital years, a 17 year old CD player is pre-historic! ( computer is even worse ) I fondly remember Wadia called their DAC 'decoding computer'.

Here's my antique Krell kps25s in a late 90s turn of the century hifi. I've owned Wadia 16 & 21 before I moved on. Yours must be an 800 series player?

I must say during my Wadia ownership, I did not have any problem. I am surprised that it does not need any recapping. My Krell has been recapped 2 times already. ( and the factory replaced the entire unit once in the same year I purchased in '98 :/ ) Count your blessing your Wadia is working.

I have very few blessings and none that I would ever count!

I am amused by your phrase 'pre-historic'. The Wadia still works well and portrays music nearly as well as the TMS3. At the time we bought it the Wadia was, in our view, well ahead of the Naim CD players available. I have experimented with using my Hugo as a DAC and the Wadia as just a transport. We both preferred the Wadia on its own.

Kuma, I am not sure in digital years 17 years is at prehistoric at all, say 30 to 35 years ago I'd agree with you.. but perhaps even then very late Jurassic. Around the mid to late 90 thete had been huge renfinement and development in digital audio and it was possibly in a golden age, and even in the late 80s many commercial recording setup were all digital and of course it was around 20 years ago that home streaming started to get popular, albeit for the techno freaks back then.

So any great player still surviving from the mid to late 90s I would still expect to sound relatively great now... it's that it would be a lot cheaper to get the same performance now. Sadly my Arcam Alpha 5+ from that era passed away (transport failed).. but I say it belongs in the science museum, not the natural history museum...

+1 Simon. There exist CDs from the late 1980's that play with superb SQ. That, despite any upgrades in analog to digital converters that have occurred in the studios in the interim. Given your listening habits, it's not unreasonable to find that a CDP/DAC voiced from yesteryear could sound more pleasing than one more modern. I don't doubt that some current DACs and possibly pre's are voiced to accommodate the modern, compressed sound and as a result have a tendency to genericize the output, and I don't buy the notion that something newer is inherently better.

Nick,

CD is so out of fashion way behind vinyl now.

I think that only the old farts like us play CeeDees.

I have not had a pleasure to listen to the TMS3 but interesting you say Wadia CD player is similar. I don't know which Naim CD player you listened to (CDS2? ) but their house sound is so different from Wadia or my Krell. Naim player is similar to my Naimed LP12.

I also tried Krell as a transport but I preferred as one box CD player, too. I think that many variables attribute to the outcome including digital cables. There might be a way to get a better result but from my limited experiment, it wasn't worth the added box, shelf space + extra cables.

Wadia made a decent DAC back then. I recall Chord 64's ( remember this!? ) presentation was different from either. Critics made a  reference to a Naim player but I could not find much similarity. ( possibly due to the cables I used, however )

Simon-in-Suffolk posted:

Around the mid to late 90 thete had been huge renfinement and development in digital audio and it was possibly in a golden age, and even in the late 80s many commercial recording setup were all digital and of course it was around 20 years ago that home streaming started to get popular, albeit for the techno freaks back then.

Simon,

I agree to a point. That's why I still use CD players for my digital playback over streaming ( which I think if everything is worked out, there is a greater chance of sounding much better than a CD albeit more boobie traps than CD player)

Transport and laser will eventually fail but so long as they work, I've no plan to ditch them. Plus there are still many new classical music released in CDs. I think it's a matter of time that physical media will be a tiny niche. ( it already is as Millennials do not play CDs )

Thelonious posted:

Lewis posted:

Thelonious posted:

Lewis posted:

 

 I got the idea off a photo I saw online with a Nait 1 sitting on a piece of ply.  Just looked so damn good

Do you mean this one (from a german website)?

I knew this one and in fact after I've also seen your picture I thought there was some sort of tweak of which I was not aware LOL

Yes that is exactly the one

kuma posted:

Simon-in-Suffolk posted:

Around the mid to late 90 thete had been huge renfinement and development in digital audio and it was possibly in a golden age, and even in the late 80s many commercial recording setup were all digital and of course it was around 20 years ago that home streaming started to get popular, albeit for the techno freaks back then.

Simon,

I agree to a point. That's why I still use CD players for my digital playback over streaming ( which I think if everything is worked out, there is a greater chance of sounding much better than a CD albeit more boobie traps than CD player)

Transport and laser will eventually fail but so long as they work, I've no plan to ditch them. Plus there are still many new classical music released in CDs. I think it's a matter of time that physical media will be a tiny niche. ( it already is as Millennials do not play CDs )

Just quickly, so as to avoid too much digression, Kuma, what's the source of that graphic? Could come in handy the next time a record contract negotiation crops up!

All change again...

Now using all 4 spikes on the Vulkan, much better!

james n posted:

Thanks Simon - Yes they probably look much better in the flesh - i like them. I'll be interested in your 'active' pursuits 

Hi, alas, this is not going to be straightforward.. My dealer does not currently have a relationship with ATC to facilitate a home evaluation/demo... So unless I can achieve this I won't be exploring down this path... as I never buy without home evaluations... not with this sort of money... 

Kuma, I think Europe and the UK might be a little different as physical media is proving surprisingly resilient in sales (at least it was when I last looked) ... it appears the forecast rate of its decline was over egged... the real suprise is downloads as they have been largely impacted by streaming. In the UK most albums of all categories are released on CD in my experience with increasingly a delay after launch with some artists before they are available on streaming.  EPs less so these days and are more the domain of streaming and downloads... but I note lossless downloads are getting more popular so this is not always such a bad thing.

S

apye! posted:

All change again...

Now using all 4 spikes on the Vulkan, much better!

Andy, did you try it on 4 spikes without the glass shelf (another option)? I cannot help thinking 'Mana' when I see the double layer of shelves and I feel sure that if I could work out a way to get a Vulkan on my wall I would want to avoid the Mana look. 

Simon-in-Suffolk posted:

james n posted:

Thanks Simon - Yes they probably look much better in the flesh - i like them. I'll be interested in your 'active' pursuits 

Hi, alas, this is not going to be straightforward.. My dealer does not currently have a relationship with ATC to facilitate a home evaluation/demo... So unless I can achieve this I won't be exploring down this path... as I never buy without home evaluations... not with this sort of money... 

Perhaps our dealer needs a little nudge in ATC's direction Simon?

Tony,

Thanks to your recommendation I have a new Fraim shelf (standard) on the way. My dealer also pointed out that due to a nice one-day only savings I really should also get that PL for the nDac. Really looking forward to putting the HCDR at the bottom of the Fraim, and lifting my nDac out from under some AV gear () - I know, sub-optimum. 

Before and After pics to follow. 

Aric