Cymbiosis / Audio Origami / Funk firm Pink Triangle upgrade - short review

Posted by: djh1697 on 24 March 2017

Music that I have not heard sound so good, Vinyl of course! Superior to my CD rips of the same music, My PinkTriangle turntable has gone to heights and depth! The arm, a Rega RB300 went to audio origami for a rewire, new bearings and a foam fill.

Peter of #cymbiosis fame fitted my new arm, and set the record deck up! I took advantage of there vinyl cleaning service, listening to music before and after it had been cleaned! A service i will get done to all my records! Without the magical touch of Peter none of this would have happened! Very reasonably priced!

Credit must to to Arthur Khoubesserian, the designer of the Pink Triangle turntable and his fantastic Achromat of funk firm fame. The turntable has lasted for over 30 years and sounds even better, I doubt that I will have the same appreciation in 30 years time!

Whilst arranging to pick up my turntable I requested an A-B comparison between my serviced Pink Triangle with a Linn LP12 Majik, was it a fair comparison? Who knows? The Linn does sell for a few pounds short of £3000, there is no comparable price for the Pink today. I think i should have asked to compare to a superior specification LP12, the PT sounded better than the LP12 in so many respects! The sound base was wider, the top end was cleaner, the bass was far better controlled, tighter, and deeper! The LP12 sounded pale and empty in my humble opinion.

A final thank you to Wayne at Cymbiosis who facilitated the demonstration, cleaned my records, made my a coffee, and attended to me whilst i was doing the comparison, and most importantly took my payment!

Peter's reputation is for Linn LP12's, a well earned and deserved one too, but, he can do wonders for all makes of Turntables (so long as parts are available) well done and a FIVE STAR recommendation in all respects!

Moderated Post: unauthorised links removed. Please don't post unauthorised links in the Hifi Corner, thanks.

Posted on: 25 March 2017 by The Strat (Fender)

Yeah Peter is a great technician and looks after my Roksan.  As to comparisons with the LP12 - no comment

Posted on: 25 March 2017 by Clive B

Would you be kind enough to post some photographs of your Pink Triangle? I remember them from the '80s. I wonder what became of the brand? As far as I recall it was solely a turntable manufacturer and I assume it had nothing else to fall back on during the CD era. 

Posted on: 25 March 2017 by Christopher_M

Nice report DJH. I had a PT One myself back in my valve days. The first time I heard Naim was at Mike Manning Audio in Yeovil on an otherwise dull Saturday morning, where it was fronted by a PT Anniversary/ Aro/ Troika. Sounded very good. Certainly made me question the whole valve rationale.

Seems PT's ideas of the very light and stiff one piece Aerolam sub-chassis and the DC motor were to prove catching.

Pink later made the Da Capo dac which the mag I read at the time loved.

Chris

Posted on: 25 March 2017 by james n
Clive B posted:

Would you be kind enough to post some photographs of your Pink Triangle? I remember them from the '80s. I wonder what became of the brand? As far as I recall it was solely a turntable manufacturer and I assume it had nothing else to fall back on during the CD era. 

IIRC they did produce both a pre-amp (battery powered ?) and a well regarded DAC Clive. They are still around and called the Funk Firm now. 

Posted on: 25 March 2017 by Clive B
james n posted:
Clive B posted:

Would you be kind enough to post some photographs of your Pink Triangle? I remember them from the '80s. I wonder what became of the brand? As far as I recall it was solely a turntable manufacturer and I assume it had nothing else to fall back on during the CD era. 

IIRC they did produce both a pre-amp (battery powered ?) and a well regarded DAC Clive. They are still around and called the Funk Firm now. 

Thanks for the correction, James. Now you've reminded me, I do recall the battery powered pre-amp. I guess the transition to Funk Firm happened during my 'hifi wilderness years'. 

Posted on: 25 March 2017 by james n

Hi Clive - I seem to remember them going through a few stages with upgrades for other decks and then coming back again under the FF banner. The PT was a rather attractive looking deck compared to the conservative looking LP12 and Xeres - was the acrylic platter slightly pink tinted ?

Posted on: 25 March 2017 by djh1697
james n posted:

The PT was a rather attractive looking deck compared to the conservative looking LP12 and Xeres - was the acrylic platter slightly pink tinted ?

The platter is not pink tinted, however, i might get a red achromat, perhaps that will look more funky than the black one? Not a pressing purchase though! How do i put a photo on the forum? 

Posted on: 25 March 2017 by Cymbiosis

Hello DJH, Thanks for your kind comments. Much appreciated and I'm glad you are so happy.

I use a hosting site for images FYI but as it happens, I took a picture of your deck on test the other night.

However, I'm struggling with getting a picture to display here too for some reason! So I've attached it.

Here you go:

KR Peter

 

 

 

Posted on: 25 March 2017 by Christopher_M

^^^ very nice. Takes me back.

C.

Posted on: 25 March 2017 by Clive B

Thanks for posting the photo, Peter. I do remember them with a pink tinted acrylic lid, which I thought really differentiated it from the competition at the time.

Posted on: 25 March 2017 by Christopher_M

IIRC my PT One had a mid blue lid. My subsequent LPT definitely had a pink lid, somehow the colour more prominent at the edges which seemed quite cool.

C.

Posted on: 25 March 2017 by djh1697

I have the pink lid, did not want to transport it, just in case it got damaged. It is over 30 years old, and the glue seems to deteriorate over time. I really want to replace it, but alas no suitable replacement can be found I miss the pink triangle motif from the plinth, i doubt it will affect the sound quality?

Posted on: 25 March 2017 by The Strat (Fender)
Cymbiosis posted:

Hello DJH, Thanks for your kind comments. Much appreciated and I'm glad you are so happy.

I use a hosting site for images FYI but as it happens, I took a picture of your deck on test the other night.

However, I'm struggling with getting a picture to display here too for some reason! So I've attached it.

Here you go:

KR Peter

 

 

 

Lovely deck.