Call Out
Back to Q & A main page

 

Question

What is a good sound in your opinion?

Answer

The facetious answer is 'probably not the same as yours.' Not much help though I guess. The truth is though that I tend to listen for different aspects of a sound which a comparative novice might not. By novice I mean someone not having 33 years of experience to draw on. Most of those experiences have been good. Some have been dreadful and quite a few have been in between.

The point is that what I might consider to be a good sound really isn't important. My job is to help the buyer get them the sound that brings out the biggest grin on their face, the greatest leap in their stomach, the biggest pounding of the heart. All the rest is irrelevant.

Question

What's the worst sound you've ever heard?

Answer

Well I guess this is a bit tongue in cheek, right? You want to know about audio makers perhaps? Too many frankly. Especially ones that should have known better. Usually from UK-based makers that have just four letters in the names. However, non-audio worst sounds that stand out include:

1. Clair Short (MP) giving it some serious verbal as an after dinner speaker at an automotive industry conference in Birmingham in the 1990s. Both the message and the messenger were awful.

2. Anyone playing a recorder (the wind instrument, not a TEAC or Revox) anywhere at any time.

3. By far the most memorable was in an engraving dock in Tilbury when I was a delivery driver being exposed to riveters riveting a ship's hull. The clatter of the power guns can, even now, 30 years later be easily recalled. Neither they, nor I, were wearing ear defenders.

Question

One of . . . no, the best turntable I ever heard was a special fully funked LP12. Sure it sat on a mountain of Mana, and was part of an awesome system . . . but it really out-shone the original modified (Ninja) LP12. So, if the Funk Firm could transform a Sondek like that, surely their own decks would out-perform their version of an LP12 ? or not? Many thanks. Steve.

Answer

The vinyl replay system which left the most powerfully positive impression on me, and like a fool I sold it, was a Pink Triangle with Breuer 8 Dynamic and Van Den Hul MC1.

After this, I experimented for years to get close to that sound. I tried an LP12 with a Dynavector DV-505 (all 2.5kg of it) with a Supex 901 – and I like that very much. I sold 14 OSKs, this being the Oracle / Sumiko ‘The Arm’ / Koetsu Rosewood combination and I liked these too. Reading Hi-Fi (remember them?) sold 15, and I lost out for some award that Ricardo (Absolute Sounds Ltd) was offering.

The Breuer era

Then I put a Breuer on a Gyro, then a Gyro with an Orbe platter, and then on the full Orbe SE – all using an Audio Technica OC9. again, good – but not with the visceral thrill of the aforementioned PinkT.

Then - the Brinkmann

And then I discovered the Brinkman 10.5 arm – which was a better built version of the Breuer - but sounded no better. This in turn led to a full Brinkmann LaGrange with a 10.5 built for me by Helmut and his brilliant engineer Werner Roschlau that was fully balanced electrically right through the arm, through to my Ayre phono stage into an old and still wonderful Meridian 101b into the balanced inputs of the Meridian M1 active speakers. As far as any of us could tell, it was the first truly fully balanced (stylus through to speaker drivers) vinyl replay system anywhere.

This too was very good. But, again relying on memories, it still didn’t give me the magic I heard all those years previously.

Then Arthur K.

A couple of years back I met up again with Arthur K. He lent me (and I still use, it after buying it) a Funk Vector V with the cheapest Rega arm and the cheapest Goldring MM cartridge, that modest combo was and remains so good that I sold my Brinkmann combo. The Funk combo is under £1k and the full Brinkmann was £14k. Extreme bass (my main system produces a clean 23.5Hz) is more credible on the Brinkmann. That’s it. Nothing more.

The point being that once again, Arthur K was able to weave a certain sort of magic for me, and all the others that crave the PT sound.

Home again

To bring you up to date, (this story was written in 2008) I borrowed a prototype Funk Saffire with an Arthur K modified Ittock (new carbon fibre arm tube with lateral cross beam internal bracing) and the very cheapest Denon MC he and I could find. And yes, as best I can judge, that combo has after 28 years brought me back to the long lost PT / Breuer / VDH combo. And I’m content. I am using the LFD MCT phono stage though - all £3k of it. Ratio of cartridge to phono stage? 1:25. Love it!

And then - the also-rans.

Incidentally, I owned and sold many Trio L07D turntables and yes, the sound fully justifies the current very high reputation. I sold many JBE decks too. Set them just a smidgen faster (a la Rega so I’m told) and it was very fine indeed – especially with the big ones they built for me to house the Dynavector DV-507.

I had a Maple Knoll too. Looked like junk. Pump was a pain. Sound was world class.

There’s so much more – but hopefully that will do for now. Other than to draw your attention to . . .

A premature and unjustified burial - a shameful episode

During the turntable wars of the late 1970s and 1980s, Technics came up with a truly extraordinary deck. It was direct drive and with spring / rubber suspension. As far as I can recall, no other direct drive of that time or any other had for that matter had anything other than cursory and utterly ineffective isolation. Anyway, their one bounced! And it rocked too - in the appropriate meaning of that word.

A very well know reviewer, still writing today and who wishes to remain anonymous told me in the early 1980s of an out-of-hours listening session in the IPC building (Kings Reach Tower) in Southwark where this curious device with some seemingly mediocre arm (an Acos Lustre derivative I guess) was put up against the then current LP12. The outcome shocked those that were there and to cut a long and shameful story short, that Technics deck was buried – editorially.

PS

Other fine contenders I owned and rather liked…………

The most magical Linn combinations I ever heard:

Question

I know that you used to be quite keen on the Stereovox range but they are perhaps more expensive than the equivalent LAT?

Answer

No, not particularly. the Stereovox have a ‘bite’ and grip that I rather like. It compensates for my impaired (due to age) hearing. The LAT ‘characteristic’ is generally is more natural. slightly less ‘exciting’ but for many, less fatiguing over an extended period of time.

Question

Will I hear the difference?

Answer

My answer is simple. “How should I know?“

A bit curt you might think. At face value, it is. But if you look beneath the superficiality, my answer is both objective and rational, to say nothing of truthful. This is because I am not you and you are not me.

A more considered approach might be for you to consider this truism.
“For something to be better, it HAS to be different. However if something is different, that’s no guarantee it WILL be better!”

So here’s what I do when I’m evaluating a new accessory:
For myself, rather than as a retailer – such as a power cord – or in fact any change to any of my systems. I say to myself . . .

I KNOW this change is going to make a difference – and so the five questions I must ask myself are these:

  1. Can I hear that difference?
  2. Is it merely different, or better?
  3. If better, in what way? For example, is the bass tauter, or the vocals clearer, or the dynamics more credible? It’s no good being vague about this.
  4. Can I repeat this experiment at some other time and get a similar result? Probably the most important question.
  5. If yes to the above two questions, is it really worth the money?

Err – that’s it.

At Stereonow, my approach is pretty similar to the above, but with a change of emphasis because now I’m looking at it through the eyes of a potential customer.

  1. Is the extent and nature of this improvement related directly to the combination of items in the system at that time, or might it have a more general application in other systems?
  2. At the retail price, does it offer reasonable value for the end-user?
  3. Can I afford to offer a buy-without-risk / Sale-or-Return facility to the end user?

Err – that’s it.

Question

Hello Howard, wanted to ask what your view of isolation supports etc is?

Answer

Over many years I have had personal experience of isolations systems from everyone from Russ Andrews, Mana and latterly Townshend Audio. My conclusions are these:

  1. Anyone who claims that an isolation support, in your home, at your listening levels will automatically provide a dramatic improvement in sound is either (a) deeply misguided or (b) probably lies about other things too. How can they possibly know? Can your doctor properly diagnose you without examining you? Can your tailor measure you for a bespoke suit without measuring you? Of course not.
  2. I have occasionally experienced very significant differences in sound when comparing an item of equipment on and off an isolation system. Please note that I am stressing the word ‘differences’
  3. Sometimes these differences are sonically preferable. Sometimes they are merely differences – and nothing more.
  4. I have never personally experienced a situation where an isolation support made the sound less pleasing. However in over half the instances, the isolation system being evaluated made no difference whatsoever – to me or anyone else present.
  5. For something to be ‘better’, it has to be different from the previous state. However, this does not mean that merely by being ‘different’ that this translates into ‘better’
  6. And most importantly, what precisely is ‘better? Is better for ‘you’ the same as ‘better’ for someone else? Who’s better is better?
  7. Although it is undeniably true that physical isolation can in theory improve the quality of the sound, the problem is that the effects are always, always unpredictable. Unpredictable inasmuch as (a) can you hear any difference at all and (b) are you certain that difference is an improvement?
  8. In summary, never ever buy an isolation system from anyone at any price at any time unless you can do so on a sale-or-return basis. Otherwise, you are gambling in an environment where the odds are very much stacked against you. Makers are in business. Behind the words and the pseudo engineering and all the other stuff, they are fumbling in the dark, just like the rest of us.

You might want to consider the following rather unpalatable fact. Some 30 years back, one company in particular, Linn, stressed the advantages of putting speakers and stands on spikes, this then became widespread. So why is it then that the world’s most accomplished concert pianists using the finest concert pianos have those pianos on wheels rather than spikes? It isn’t, I assure you because of the weight (some Wilson Audio loudspeakers weigh more than a concert grand) nor to protect the stage floor. If you ever get a credible answer to this, please let me know.
Hope this helps – and thank you for your question.

Question

Is it deliberate or accidental that you never have links to any thread that was started about Naim?

Answer

Deliberate.

Question

It is possible to get an upgrade of motor for my turntable from an AC one to a DC one. Should I?

Answer

If my own experience is anything to go by, probably not. I changed my AC motor to a DC one on my Michell Orbe SE. At first, I heard a significant difference and inevitably thought it was an improvement. The bass was certainly better defined, but the toe-tapping rhythmic nature was reduced. There is no question that both motors were running at identical and correct speeds. There is a lot more to this than is generally understood, certainly by me. Max Townshend (designer of ‘The Rock’) has a fair idea what’s going on though.

Question

I noticed on your price listings for used equipment the brand Accuphase. Are they any good ?

Answer

Yes very. But also over-priced in the UK I feel - which is precisely why I do not stock it. That’s the only reason.

Question

Is it possible at any price to reproduce the sound of a piano in the home?

Answer

Not exactly, no. The closest I heard was the Bosendorfer demonstration in Munich 2005 where in one room a live piano recital on a Bosendorfer grand piano was recorded on to DAT and then the audience moved to the adjacent room and heard that recording played through the Bosendorfer VC7 speakers. The harmonics were pretty much all there but the thunder of the bass in the live performance wasn’t. A very brave demo. It’s only a matter of time before piano reproduction in the home, providing you have the money to fund it, becomes almost lifelike.

Question

Do you know anything about the Townshend Avalon Turntable? I have one but I do not really know much about it. Web searches do not seen to turn anything up. Do you know where it fitted into the ‘Rock’ line-up. I bought it because I read an article on the history of Townshend Rock turntables in HI-FI World (I think) and it was the only one I could find couple of days after reading the article. I probably should have waited for a Rock Reference to come on the market.

I also wonder how the headshell damping paddle/ silicone filled damping trough effects cartridge choice/ pressure and tracking force. What would an ideal arm/cartridge combo be and is it worth persevering with and spending money on or should I just get a full new vinyl front end. Any advice would be great.

Answer

Okay – you’ve got me. I can offer no observations on this. Frankly I wasn’t even aware that Max made such a turntable. As with all things Townshend (except Pete Townshend of course) you could and should defer to the man himself. Find him HERE.

The Townshend site seems to be in a constant state of rebuilding. Not dissimilar to his own product-line in fact. Max can usually be found on 0208 979 2155. You can email him, but from experience it seems he might only reply if (a) there is an indication of money, or lunch or (b) the contents of the incoming email are interesting. Or perhaps both.
Sorry I couldn’t be of more help. It happens.

Question

What is next on your wish list Howard?

Answer

Accuphase C-290 preamp. But not at the greedy UK prices though!

Question

Hi, received the LFD speaker cable thanks. Is there some directionality that I should keep in mind?

Answer

Glad you received them .They become directional during use. This means that the sound will become progressively more natural i.e. less artificial, the more you use it.

Question

Why do some people enter a listening room and clap their hands? What are they hoping to find out? If they find out, then what do they do? Should I move my system into a basement? Solid walls and no bass boom – right? Now I am doing it. I have no idea why. Help.

Answer

My guess is that they are looking to hear echoes and reverb. Complete waste of time really – unless you are an experienced acoustician. Okay, so they hear reverb and echoes. So what? Is that a good or bad thing? If it’s bad (a subjective response at best and entirely lacking in objectivity), then what?

Apart from anything else, the very act of clapping, at best, can only indicate high frequency reflections. What about the bass? I’ve yet to find anyone who can deliver bass from a hand clap. So, what’s to be done?
Well, some audiophiles install thin acoustic foam all over their walls, mistakenly believing that is sufficient. By doing this you won’t hear any reverb or echoes. However – these physically thin treatments can’t control low frequency reverberations or reflections.

Some audiophiles know this through experience and/or instinct. And so they look for a room with walls made of brick or concrete. That’s not very clever either because as they eventually discover, such rigid walls are especially prone to this ringing. Now I’m no acoustician. I may indeed have over 30 years of listening to innumerable high-end systems that claimed to deliver (and sometimes did deliver) outstanding sound – but I’m not an acoustic expert. Having said this, what would I do?

First, despite some wonderful subterranean music rooms I’ve visited in the USA, quite frankly I find listening to music in a room without natural daylight to be unpleasant after a while. It’s not that I’m claustrophobic. Rather, I feel that listening to music totally isolated from the natural world is, well, a bit odd.

Perhaps even odder is the fact (and I really can’t get my head around this) listen to music played back in a recording studio, which usually have no windows at all, not to be uncomfortable in the way I’ve previously described.

Anyway . . . if it were me and if I could be bothered (assuming I was troubled by echoes and bass reflections, which I’m not) then I’d build a new plaster board wall a few inches inside the brick wall behind where I sit (filling the space with fibreglass). It’s not perfect, but it works. Not all 4 walls please note, just the wall behind me. Oh yes, I nearly forgot. I’d give up all that clapping nonsense. I really would.

Question

Have you ever done any comparisons with other interconnects such as the LFD and Townshend? I recently purchased a used LFD grainless RCA off one of the forums for £120, as an upgrade to one of their Spirolink. I have always been sceptical about cables but I’m surprised at the difference. Its not night and day, as the Spirolink is very good, but i feel that the bass is much lower and articulate with better imaging. Very pleased with the overall result.

Answer

Yes I have. The odd thing is though that while I can readily hear difference between all of these, and more - I can only do so when using RCA phono connections.

My ability to consistently distinguish between the same makes when terminated in balanced XLR format is near zero.

I can offer not sensible explanation. Consequently I neither endorse nor sell XLR leads more expensive that the LAT. In tests, against used examples of very expensive XLR terminated leads I used for the experiment, neither could my customers!

Question

Dear HP I understand that by making an easy mod (which even I could do) I could change my Audiolab Integrated Amp ( about 12 yrs old & going strong) into a pr-amp. Do you have any idea if that would be totally incompatible, a reasonable match, or a solution awaiting an upgrade, or whatever comment you could make.

Answer

Before tonight, I had no answer to your question. However I’ve just hooked up the preamp stage of my Audiolab 8000LX integrated into the PA2. Sheer magic. Well, for me at least. I used various lowish cost LFD interconnects and the Stereovox HDSE – into Harbeth Monitor 30s. What I got was a very fast, tight and dynamic sound. Detailed but not harsh. Pretty much indistinguishable from my LFD LE Mk3 integrated. Hope this helps

Question

Glad to finally do business with you. It was interesting to see your comments on using an Audiolab 8000LX as a pre-amp, as I will initially be using my Audiolab 8000A as a pre-amp while I consider a better solution. An LFD linestage would of course be great, but I don’t think I’ll have more than a few hundred to spend. Any recommendations for preamps to look out for on eBay? I will of course be watching your blog carefully for preamps as well.

Answer

Thank you for the kind comments. Truly - and for the time being at least, trust me on this, the preamp section of the Audiolab might be all you need. Based on my experiences with the 8000LX, the preamp stage is slightly more dynamic and exciting than the now discontinued LFD Linestage 1. Not quite a LFD LineStage 2 (SE version) though. If you don’t have big money to spend right now, then get the best interconnects you can between the Audiolab pre and LFD. LAT ones are magic - at a reasonable price. Hope this helps.

Question

In the case of a machine like Ayre or the Mark Levinson would adding an out board DAC like a Benchmark benefit it considering the quality of the design of the machine?

Answer

I very much doubt it. The debate between onboard and external still rumbles on. I have had a lot of direct experience re this, but much of it has proved inconclusive. First - it’s worth noting that in many cases transports and DACs from different eras are partnered together. This is because [a] many users could not simultaneously afford both a state-of-the art DAC and transport . So you might get a late 1980s Transport (Meridian 500 series 1 and 2 were/are popular) with say a Musical Fidelity Tri-Vista DAC 21 and so on.

Then of course the trend towards stand-alone transports began to fade and today very few makers make stand-alone transports. Even the new mighty KW units from Musical Fidelity can only be used with their companion DAC.

There is a persistent and plausible argument to suggest that having an onboard DAC makes sense because you avoid all the degradation of plus and interconnects. On the other hand, having a transport and stand-alone DAC with their individual and separate power supplies makes equal sense.

If anyone tells you there is a definitive answer, then I guess they lie about other things too. It happens.

Currently I’m using a STAX DAC X-1 from the 1980s. Cost me £2k recently. Was $20k dollars a while back. I’m looking for a stand-alone transport to drive it.

 

Back To Top