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. . . Transporting Vintage Gear
Question
I have seen new and used audio equipment on eBay offered at bargain prices in the USA into the UK. Good idea or what?
Answer
Buyer beware! First, remember you will have to pay import duty, plus VAT at 17.5% when the purchase comes into the UK. So add at least 20% to the final price. Plus the carriage of course.
On super amps and speakers, the carriage cost can be monumental due to the weight. UK official importers will not honour a warranty (they'll know from the serial number) and usually will not supply spares to UK-based independent engineers. If it goes wrong, you're usually stuffed. Not always, but usually. All in all it has to be something really special or a true bargain before the hassle is outweighed by the benefit.
Question
By the way, I just spotted your little bit about the Meridian M1s. I have seen some M100s for sale and fairly interested – do they hold up to the M10s or were the revised M100s a disappointment like the M20s were? The seller is asking £1000 which seems a little steep but then I missed some mint M10s that sold quickly for £950 from a dealer. What do you think?
Answer
A very difficult question to answer as my memory re my impressions of these units is somewhat hazy. To the best of my recollection, the change from M10 to M100 might have been purely driven by the non-availability of some drivers rather than a serious attempt at a sonic upgrade. I believe this was the case with the transition from M2 to M20. As I've mentioned on the StereoWOW site from time to time, the issue of a Mk2 version of anything audiophile cannot be automatically considered as an upgrade.
Sometimes it's forced on makers because of parts discontinuation, parts unreliability, to boost flagging sales, because the cost-accountants can boost the profit by cutting back on the quality of component – and so on. Occasionally, it's for the best of reasons i.e. a true sonic improvement. But that's rare in my 32 years of experience. Re the price, yes, very steep. Before considering it, phone Dave Hall at BS Meridian and ask him about driver availability for the M100/M10. I suspect the rear-facing ABR (KEF) is no longer available. It should, however, be easily re-foamed by Wembley Acoustics.
If it were my money, do what my eldest did and buy a pair of M1s. He paid £950 via eBay and is overjoyed.
Question
I have speakers I want to sell but not the cartons so I cannot send them. I live in south London. Can you advise who you recommend who won't rip me off and are not far away. Thanks.
Answer
A common problem. The answer to some extent depends on where you live. For Southern England I would suggest you talk to David at Green Home Electronics. 01344 300661. He's in Bracknell in Berkshire. I've not met him, but I know people who have and, it seems, he's a really friendly decent sort of bloke with a sensible attitude to used equipment both as a buyer and as a seller. This might be the place. http://www.greenhomeelectronics.co.uk/3.html
Question
Hi Howard, Thanks for mentioning my R-zero on your website, I’m sure it helped sell it, however I’ve just been told the winning bidder was a fake! I will be re-listing it right now. Anyway, I was going to contact you as I have some tone arms that I know very little about and was hoping you may be able to tell me a little about them. They are: Hadcock GH220 and DSC SA-100. Any idea what they might be worth? I’ve seen Hadcock GH228’s on eBay but never GH220. Thanks.
Answer
Hello Barry. I have been thinking about your question re the arms. Frustratingly, I have no worthwhile guidance to give you because I am not familiar with the DSC and re the GH220, I believe that through the years there have been quite a few modifications to this model. This would make accurate pricing nearly impossible. Sorry about that.
Question
Roger Modjeski (Beveridge RM1 preamp and more) What can you tell me about this legendary engineer and was he the guy that built the RM1 preamp?
Answer
- Yes, he is the designer of that legendary unit
- He struck me as seriously grumpy
- No way does he want to supply the European market with anything, apparently.
- He has a most interesting history and you can read it HERE
Question
Other than the Yamaha NS1000, have the Japanese every built credible loudspeakers?
Answer
I guess you are speaking historically, right? Well, yes, they did. Sony in fact. In the very early 1980s they released the SSG1 Series 2. It wasn’t cheap. Around £200 from memory, which was a small fortune then.
However . . .
this isn’t quite the whole story. They came out under the Sony brand name, but they were designed in Europe (Germany I seems to recall), probably by designers with a strong European sense of sonics and again from memory, used non Japanese drivers. SEAS I think. In essence then, a European loudspeaker tuned to European ideals ‘merely’ under a global Japanese-brand name. Not really a Japanese loudspeaker then.
Other than that, no I can’t think of anything historically from that country to rival the Yamaha NS1000. I had one of only 3 pairs on NS2000 ever imported. This was an NS1000 but with a 15” bass driver. It just wasn’t as good.
But . . . today, at least one Japanese maker is supplying state-of-the-art near-field monitor loudspeakers with one of the finest subwoofers ever made. I’ve heard it. A terrific achievement. More information can be had HERE
Hope this helps.
Question
I was reading your blog yesterday on The Michell Synchro. Did you ever hear the Mycro? How was it by comparison?
Answer
At one time Subjective Audio stocked the entire range of Michell Engineering turntables including the Prisma and the twin-platter Prisma.
Sonically we heard little difference between the Mycro and the Synchro. This was pretty much the case with many of their designs. To some extent, in those early days, John was preoccupied with outstanding aesthetic design and attention to cosmetic detail. Consequently outstanding sound quality was, at that point, not top of his list of priorities.
He took the view, and I have to tell you that I pretty much agreed with him in this because the evidence was clear to hear, that rigorous attention to mechanical engineering (”The bits you can’t see Howard“) would automatically result in first rate sound.
Thus while all of his models, from the budget ones upwards always looked the part (John would have been acutely if not mortally embarrassed to have sent out anything looking sub-standard) the mechanical engineering design in the higher models such as the Gyro and then the Orbe resulted in significantly superior sound. Closer tolerance bearings, superior isolation, platters that were increasing acoustically dead, and so on.
Other than this, all I can add is the fact that both the Synchro and Mycro really benefit from high quality isolation platforms, the like of which really weren’t around at that time. Hope this helps.
Question
Hi, I am interested in the Music Fidelity pre-amp and P270-2 class A amp on eBay and wondered if you could advise if it would be suitable upgrade for my system.
Oracle turntable, FR64S tonearm, original Koetsu Gold Onyx cartridge. Nakamichi 1000 ZXL cassette deck with Dolby C and wired remote, speakers JBL 220. My current preamp is a tired trio LO8C with two power amps which are trio LO8M. This system is now too big for current property due to the usual divorce situation but if the amps are suitable as an upgrade and would power the speakers i would either keep it or sell it as a complete package. Any help would be appreciated.
Answer
I know your system very well. I owned nearly the identical system, except that I was using JBL L100a Century speakers and a Trio LO7C with 2 x LO7M power amps. I still use those speakers from time to time.
You raise a question which with regret I cannot offer a definitive answer. Certainly the Musical Fidelity P270-2 power amp is the better of the 2 MF items you mention. Rightly or wrongly, I’ve always taken the view that baring a handful of exceptions, MF have always produced finer sounding power amps than preamps. The P-270 Mk2 is no exception. It is very heavy and quite big though. If you bought it, and didn’t like it, the shipping costs might be eye-watering.
Candidly, without hearing your system, I suspect that the Musical Fidelity will give you a sound which is certainly different, but not necessarily better.
My advice would be to consider LFD. Their modest sized Integrated LE Mk3 had just received one of the most powerful endorsements from Stereophile Magazine that I have ever read. I will obtain a copy and will send it to you. For just £1,500, this might be all you need. Really!
I can offer you a no-obligation home demonstration of this if you wish. Sudbury isn’t too far from me in North London to make this an attractive proposition for me, and hopefully you too.
If you are only using vinyl, then the next stage up is the PS Audio GGPH Phonostage (Hi-Fi News gave it a 20/20 review score; £799) driving the LFD Powerstage PA1 Mk2 (£1,500). This too I can bring along.
And finally, if you really want to find out, possibly for the first time what our magnificent front end and equally magnificent speakers can do, the PS Audio phono stage into the LFD Powerstage PA2M (twin mono in one box) power amp (£3,000) is heartbreaking good. And yes, I can bring these along too.
Question
Were you the owner of the World’s first fully balanced vinyl replay system?
Answer
Very probably the first. Certainly one of the first three.
I purchased the 10.5 before I became a dealer, and paid £2,200 from the then importer, Walrus. I then purchased from a collector an ultra lightweight EMT which had the best VDH diamond fitted. The collector, among many other items had from memory a full set of Cello amps, two Breuer 8’s, an ML26, ML 28, ML32, two pairs of Ml2a monos and two Linn CD 12s. It is highly likely that this cartridge was never used by him.
Anyway, the challenge was that this ‘nude’ version of the EMT had rather long trailing leads with gold pins rather than sockets. This meant it could not fit the arm. To cut a long and rather fine story short, I had by this time become a Brinkmann retailer.
I asked Helmut Brinkmann personally if he would modify the cartridge with new leads that would fit the 10.5 and to check over the cartridge and do whatever mechanical upgrades were necessary to make it the finest he could build. It is in effect a lightweight racing version of the EMT ti apparently. At the same time I asked if the internal arm wiring itself could be balanced and that XLRs be housed in a customised LaGrange arm base.
The objective was for me to have, as best I could judge at that time, the world’s first fully balanced vinyl system. To help with this I purchased an Ayre phono stage (using the XLR in and out facility) and used various preamps with XLR ins and outs into my Meridian M1 actives using the balanced input facility. Anyway, this was indeed a first – and frankly phenomenal. Helmut personally rewired the arm, modified the cartridge and set up the alignment.
The machine work that Werner Roschlau did on the arm base with the XLRs (a first for the Brinkmann organisation) was magnificent. Such a pity that so much of it is hidden.