Description

I have been involved into high end audio for about 7 years now .

My long time favorite preamps have been Audio research /Marklevinson i also owned a ML 431 and a graaf GM 200 power amp.

I am not very much a digital fan and i like the set up that i have now, although it might be a bit on the dry side of neutral, it is very dynamic and clean .

The thiel diamond tweeters are very nice especially with strings and voices , the attack of those high frequency units is phenomenal.

At the moment i just buy more records i enjoy especially flamengo music ,Manitas de plata being my favorite LP to spin
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Components Toggle details

    • VPI Industries scoutmaster signature
    very nice and dynamic sound , makes me wonder why i should spent more.
    • Nagra PL-P
    very dynamic/clean sound and very precise tends to be a bit on the dry side of neutral
    • Krell EVO 400 mono
    Very clean and dynamic sound , has to be under power a day to get the warmth in.
    • Koetsu urushi wajima
    very good cartidge, very dynamic great tracker not a dust collector. beatiful with voices
    • van den Hul the condor
    Open body so you have to be careful with it , great detail and dynamics light tracker
    • andromeda audio illusion diamond
    My own designs . They will stay within plus /minus 1,5 dB bandwith measured from 250 hz till 19 khz , measurements under 250 hz are very roomdependent
    • van den Hul Vde hul condor
    My repaired condor with the coilwires now shortened and behind the red cloth
    • Koetsu Urushi
    Urushi wajima again just before switchig to the Condor , Tracking weight 1,80 gram and all the settings are written down
    • SME 20/3 A
    its finally playing my favorite record ,Flairck :de eerste dag na je vertrek .
    meaning the first day after you left.
    • sme 20/3A
    Assembling the sme together with the importer takes me back to my youth ,assembling kit aeroplanes just kidding , man o man a whole lot of parts and the build quality is very good a lot of pride of ownership . maybe not at first glance but surely after you have assembled the whole thing
    • sme 20 / 3a
    screws and bolts , but a beautiful piece of construction
    • sme nice
    in between
    • sme 20
    A lot of parts
    • sme sme
    turntable
    • sme new
    this record clamp is heavy
    • vd hul condor
    sounds much better than the vpi arm /table combination , but at a price difference of course ,
    • SME Series V
    A light and a bit fragile feeling in comparison to the heavy jmw arm , but is a breeze to adjust and produces a precise sound
    • koetsu wajima
    Now mounted in the sme arm and playing its first tunes , i ll make a comparison after a while and write my expiriences down
    • koetsu and sme 5 wajima
    Japanese laquer
    • unknown , i ll ask! acoustic absorber
    acoustic panels , filled with ??? 120 cm , 60 cm 17 cm thick
    • absorbers ?
    room wih absorbers and measuring microphone (not in use). good stuff
    • koetsu vd hul modified koetsu urushi
    A koetsu wajima with a vd hul 1 stylus
    • london(decca) super gold
    My new reference cartidge moving iron(i think) with a comlete different technique of turning movements into electrical signals , output 5 mV so no transformer needed i think i plug it into the mm of the pre
    • london super gold
    MY new reference cartridge taken after a couple lps , and it doesnt sound dissapointing , first of all the transformer of the nagra is taken out of the signalpath , and it actually sounds very good but different fom normal mc s , but its to early for fianl comments
    • ayon audio spirit
    look im an audiofile , check out the cables
    • ayon audio spirit
    tubes
    • Convergent Audio Sl 1 ultimate mk 2
    my new toy , first impression heavy , it has the legend front panel
    • philips blue ray 9000 series
    blu ray player with dedicated audio output
    • Zanden 7000
    tube power amp with vol . control
    • studer B 62 VU B 62
    reel to reel recorder

Comments 110

Showing all comments by charles1dad.

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Hi,
I got my Takatsuki tubes direct from japan via amtrans.co.jp This was before the april price increase. I paid 1450.00 USD and will happily buy them again when the time comes.The 300b SET amplifiers are the final destination for me.

charles1dad

Hi Henk jan,
You should be happy with the Sophia Royal Princess 300b, it`s an excellent tube.I wrote a comparision of this tube and the Takatsuki in the thread "favorite 300b,Sophia or KR" . There`re other owners who also compared these two tubes. It begins in the feb-march 2012 portion of the thread.There`re lots of comments.I wish you the best sucess with your speakers.
Regards,

charles1dad

You wrote "the feeling of reality has much improved". That sums it up well.When I switched to my current 8 watt 300b SET among 'many' attributes the sense of real live performers presence and transparency stood out the most.

Adding the Takatsuki 300b tubes elevates it to the sublime level.I can completely relate to your satisfaction with the Zanden amplifier.What is the sensitivity and load of your speakers?
Regards,

charles1dad