System edited: The MM cart ,london decca super gold is my new reference cartridge . I m astoundid by the level of resolution on (some) good recordings . A new level of dynamics ,detail, musical drive/speed . Youre talking " live sounding" . A real surprise

andromedaaudio February 08, 2011 19:39

System edited: Thanks ,I ve uploaded a picture as it looks now , ive put some dampening material on the walls ,ceiling and behind the speakers , it definetely needed some more dampening. I live about 8 months in the new place and im also looking for some cool diffusors , and bass traps to ad . I dont like it overly damped though.

andromedaaudio February 07, 2011 21:18

Lovely system but it looks like it could use some room softening, rugs etc.

rwwear February 07, 2011 15:33

Hello peter ,
No i did not hear a sme table before i bought the sme 20/3 , i did hear a sme 10 very briefly at a show but that system was situated in a great big hall so i couldnt get a opinion.
I based my buying merely on M fremers review of the sme 30 and indeed the 20/12 not so long ago .
I thought a upgrade of a model that was succesfull and existed for so long must be good.
But i personally cant tell of any difference between the 2 , i dont think you can go wrong with either of them.

h-j

andromedaaudio February 06, 2011 22:28

Did you listen to/audition the SME 20/12 before you bought your 20/3? I'm curious about the differences. Thanks.

peterayer February 06, 2011 20:02

I got good news for analogue junkies like myself , i kind of developed an opinion about the london decca super gold .

Here it is :
-Its cheap .
-Its got history.
-There is no need for transformers and i certainly dont like transformers with a core in the signalpath (i dont know what kind is in the nagra) , i use only air core for that matter in loudspeakerfilters.
- the sound is dynamic and in your face ,it gives body to the sound , kind of like the "reassurance" cd gives .
-it makes the koetsu(vdh mod) sound slick and smooth and the same goes to the condor although to a lesser extant.
- yesterday i went back to the koetsu but i changed later that day again , that certainly should say something.
-It makes me longing for the london reference , i think it should work well with the kondo (with phono ) as it has a built in phono mm amp with tubes and a lot are raving about that one although the plp is a very nice tubeamp to .

My reference jazz drum record : "Explosive drums" from the black and blue label ,with jo jones , cozy cole and others sounds more in your face /more body/dynamic and also very detailed .

andromedaaudio February 06, 2011 17:57

System edited: Show items ayon audio (pics)

andromedaaudio February 04, 2011 20:09

System edited: Check out my added systempics , the urushi is now vd hul modded(vd hul 1 stylus ) My London(decca) super gold has arrived with recordbrushes also london.

andromedaaudio February 03, 2011 17:29

Thanks , i am trying to establish my own brand but thats not so easy.
I have my first review coming up shortly in a mag here in holland , and a good one also .
I strive for full range and very accurate frequency resoponse and as dynamic as i can make them.
Yeah building your own is a very much an adventure.

andromedaaudio January 31, 2011 20:05

Andromedaudio,

Very nice speakers...well done, bet they sound magnificent!
I've always wanted to build my own speakers.

scar972 January 31, 2011 19:39

System edited: added systempics of acoustic absorbers , made a couple myself and i bought 2 big ones as shown. The change is very well worth it , an appartment like mine suffers from ringing a lot . Now the higher freq seem to be much more damped and under control. I have to(can) increase the volume a bit more than before , and the bass seems to be stronger , more pronounced and much better defined. It sounds very good at the moment.

andromedaaudio January 29, 2011 17:31

{http://hometheaterreview.com/london-super-gold-cartridge-reviewed/}
Ive ordered such a cartridge , its a moving iron with a complete different technique of putting movements into electrical signals , you also dont need a phono pre it can go straight in the nagra line input( 5 mV).
My koetsu is getting a vd hul needle this weekend if he(mr vd hul ) is not abroad .

andromedaaudio January 27, 2011 19:13

Yeah lucky for you, i doubt the +- 30 mm bigger platter will make much difference sound wise any way.
But hey the koetsu might be even better to my ears sound wise than with the koetsu tip.
I informed about the vdh 1 tip today , its the same tip for all the models .
Everything can be renewed for a price , coils ,rubber suspension , boron cantilever , tip, output (amount of coilwindings .
I learned something today as well , one can check both channels for resistance to see if there are any faults.

andromedaaudio January 25, 2011 16:59

That's too bad. My SME10 platter is the same size as the LP, so that is not a potential problem for me, but it is for 20/30 owners. Sorry.

peterayer January 24, 2011 21:56

Not the microline, but the vdH - 1 stylus as mounted in the colibris for example , it might also be in the condor i dont know

andromedaaudio January 24, 2011 21:26

Dissaster happened , i dropped the urushi to the side of the record and the diamond seperated from the cantilever .
Shit happens , i informed about koetsu repairs and oh boy they take long and cost a shit load of money.
The problem is the sort of foam platter surface of the sme , the sme platter is considerable larger than a record and if the neeedle drops in the foam the diamond sort of hooks and then you know what happens .
I think im gonna have a top vd hul diamondtip(v d hul microline ) installed on the koetsucantilever it wont be a koetsu anymore , but its a much cheaper solution and oh boy how i like my vd hul condor back on the sme , it sounds just more exiting/ livelike.
Although ive said at one time the other way around , but the condor is a stayer, and who knows what a custom koetsu /vd hul sounds like , it keeps the hobby a live .

vinyl still rules and its still cheaper than changing to a different " the best" 10000 $ digital player every year

andromedaaudio January 24, 2011 17:55

So i checked the speed tonight after i saw the lockspeedlight on the motorcontroller blinking, meaning it was not holding a correct speed .
I put on the stroboscoopdisc suplied by sme and adjusted the speed while pressing some buttons i did need to adjust it a bit .
Its nice that adjustable feature it feels secure you can check and adjust the speed at all times .
Further i ve now come to a certain point that i want to rearrange my new appartment acoustically , ive looked around at all kind of absorbers diffusors and basstraps .
I need to do a lot of work to control and damp reflections , i dont have roomacoustic measuring tools so im just gonna play around with it and listen.

andromedaaudio January 13, 2011 22:18

System edited: Edit systempics : my new apollo wall mount, cheap but nice and strong ,.....and black

andromedaaudio January 12, 2011 19:58

{http://forum.zelfbouwaudio.nl/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=12736}
If you scroll down there are more pics ,they weigh over 500 kg incl 90 kg copper for the transformers

andromedaaudio January 10, 2011 21:37

http://home.tiscali.nl/fishbowl.amping/bouwfase.html

andromedaaudio January 09, 2011 14:17

And there is more , i stumbled today on this site a couple of guys here in holland are making monstrous tube amps built around gigantic triodes , much bigger than the 833.
Im gonna pay them a visit in the near future

The tube boxes in the top can be clicked upon to get different menus
http://home.tiscali.nl/fishbowl.amping/inleiding.html

andromedaaudio January 09, 2011 13:11

System edited: Some more pics and yes the sound is more structured , a bit unexpected actually a more upclass turntable can make a considerable difference , Fleetwood mac live sounds "almost" like the concert although i hadnt given that record much attention the vpi made it sound blurred in comparison

andromedaaudio January 08, 2011 16:59

NO i dont build them myself , i have them build woodwork is a craftmanship by itself , i use "waterproof" MDF which has more glue in it than normal and its heavier.
I design them myself , i will in the future use other materials , aluminium , polymeer stuctures and others maybe, but i still think you can built a good speaker with mdf and keep cost low with good internal bracing .
The fineer is gewaterd esdoorn i dont know the english word.
The thing i do want to tell you is you need good measuring equipment to built a good speaker.
The accuton diamond is something , very smooth/detailed/natural and snappy , it can really '" hit" you in the ear .
I might use scanspeak tweeters also in the future , i wish scanspeak made a nice midfrequency unit with a higher efficiency than they have today

andromedaaudio January 05, 2011 18:22

Being a speaker builder myself, I'm really intrigued by yours. Can you talk a little about the cabinets? Did you build them, if so what materials do you like to use and what type of finish do you use? You're the only one I know of that has used the accuton diamond.

s7horton January 05, 2011 18:03

Add: the sme arm seems to have two fixed bearings in which it rotates vertically which gives a solid/fixed feeling

andromedaaudio January 05, 2011 18:01