An interesting night listening to Malcolm's home-brew gear some of which dates from the 1950s (the turntable), the 60s (the cartridges), the 90s (the CD player, the 2000s (the ECC83 based line-amp and what I think was a direct coupled complementary bi-polar power amp). The main limitation on the sound quality was a few records that had visited a sandpit. Maybe you don't have to spend $100k to be happy or impress other aficionados! It would be nice to have a few other demos like this or if anyone is bold enough, comparing modern and old kit. No old DACs though please. If anyone wants to know why not, I'll bring a late 90s Theta along to make the point.

Likely the Jaycar ones then.

What were the speakers?

Does AAS have a house pair, as it were?

Thanks for the note, review.

Probably the Jaycar amp and yes the AAS has it's own in-house CD player, amp and speakers.

RdM I have connected with Malcolm Hope - he believes you are on the money with your primary suggestion ...

www.jaycar.co.nz/studio-350-high-power-amplifier/p/KC5372.

I think he said he found the design in Silicon Chip mag.

BTW you were entirely correct 'Motto' (like Lotto).

Geee I've just read of your misfortune, posted April 25 - holy moly - it doesn't pay to go out at night (sometimes).

If you will allow a spot of humour, you must have been looking like a stuntman. All the best.

Studio 350

AMR-iFi R&D

RdM

What were the speakers? Does AAS have a house pair?

Yes AAS does have a pair of speakers ... Q Acoustics Concept 500s (bought from Rapallo).These are a British design in collaboration with a German consultancy.

See the review by Thomas J Norton at Stereophile, Feb 2019.

www.stereophile.com/content/q-acoustics-concept-500-loudspeaker

May 5, 2022 18:34:17 GMT 12 aassec said:

RdM I have connected with Malcolm Hope - he believes you are on the money with your primary suggestion ...

www.jaycar.co.nz/studio-350-high-power-amplifier/p/KC5372.

I think he said he found the design in Silicon Chip mag.

BTW you were entirely correct 'Motto' (like Lotto).

Geee I've just read of your misfortune, posted April 25 - holy moly - it doesn't pay to go out at night (sometimes).

If you will allow a spot of humour, you must have been looking like a stuntman. All the best.

Ha ha, thanks! ;=})}

But the stuntmen & women were surely meant to save the stars from the scrapes, hopefully too to avoid their own, presumably!

I felt I looked like an extra in a film, facially smashed up a bit!

Pedant corrections; - sometimes I can't help myself - sorry;- I see typos in even reputable publishers hardback books sometimes too.

You might like this:

The Jaycar result was from a simple search.

(But yeah, thanks for the sympathy note too;-)

it was and still is awful, in that I also find I've fractured  a front tooth at the root, pain up to 11/10 bumping it, and an implant replacement might cost $6K.

Blood all down my cheek in hospital at 4am, concussed, I still don't know how long I was out for.

And all I'd done was to walk down a steep hill with a very lumpy footpath and attempted to turn left on a dark night with no streetlamps !

On the Monday night of the meet a day later I still had scabs above R eyebrow, big on upper cheek, red swelling below R eye, scab on purple bruised lip, red bruised chin.

(Tennis ball sized bruise on my R shoulder too.)

By Saturday 30th just down to the upper cheek scab, still headache, massive tooth pain, a second is loose as well.

(Now the scabs have gone, just head and tooth ache.)

Much improved but still bad. I was about to paste photos, thinking if it's good enough for LinnBoy, and I might, the last photo similar, but then I realised it was of Ivor.

Well, although I still have headache around impact area, and a few days earlier had a 2nd CT scan, showing improvement, and despite other problems, I'm not dead.

Maybe I will.

Maybe we'll meet next month.

Cheers! ;=})

~ RdM

May 8, 2022 19:45:01 GMT 12 RdM said:

it was and still is awful, in that I also find I've fractured  a front tooth at the root, pain up to 11/10 bumping it, and an implant replacement might cost $6K.

Blood all down my cheek in hospital at 4am, concussed, I still don't know how long I was out for.

And all I'd done was to walk down a steep hill with a very lumpy footpath and attempted to turn left on a dark night with no streetlamps !

On the Monday night of the meet a day later I still had scabs above R eyebrow, big on upper cheek, red swelling below R eye, scab on purple bruised lip, red bruised chin.

(Tennis ball sized bruise on my R shoulder too.)

By Saturday 30th just down to the upper cheek scab, still headache, massive tooth pain, a second is loose as well.

(Now the scabs have gone, just head and tooth ache.)

Much improved but still bad. I was about to paste photos, thinking if it's good enough for LinnBoy, and I might, the last photo similar, but then I realised it was of Ivor.

Well, although I still have headache around impact area, and a few days earlier had a 2nd CT scan, showing improvement, and despite other problems, I'm not dead.

Maybe I will.

Maybe we'll meet next month.

Cheers! ;=})

~ RdM

Is that before or after the accident? 🤣

May 8, 2022 19:54:24 GMT 12 Citroen said:

Is that before or after the accident? 🤣

That was April 30th, the accident early am Sun April 24th. AAS meeting 25th.

Before going to hospital, not yet knowing the full import, but knowing something serious had happened...

Then came a big red swelling under eye by 24hrs later, night of AAS meet, which has diminished since.

That looked even more gruesome! But the body heals itself ...

Hopefully!  Sometimes we need external assistance !!! In this case, expensive dental assistance ... ;=})

Still recovering from concussion, very tired through day, continual headache apart from broken tooth pain.

I'm told that's somewhat to be expected. I look forward to improvement in coming weeks, we'll see.

Thanks. Sorry for the ugly mug shot! For a few days afterward I was actually happy to wear a mask!

Cheers!

Ouch!

May 8, 2022 10:55:54 GMT 12 aassec said:

RdM

What were the speakers? Does AAS have a house pair?

Yes AAS does have a pair of speakers ... Q Acoustics Concept 500s (bought from Rapallo).These are a British design in collaboration with a German consultancy.

See the review by Thomas J Norton at Stereophile, Feb 2019.

www.stereophile.com/content/q-acoustics-concept-500-loudspeaker

OK, thanks for that!

AUCKLAND AUDIO SOCIETY
www.facebook.com/akaudiosociety

Account: Kiwibank, Auckland Audio Society, 38 9014 0611559 00
Meetings: 4th Monday of the month at 7.30pm, February to November
AAS clubrooms Cornwallis Street, St Lukes.

AAS MAY meeting is on Monday MAY 23rd (4th Monday of the month).

This month, Monday MAY 23, the ever inventive Bobby Reyes presents his Omnidirectional speakers - who knew he has been hiding Omnidirectional speakers out West there in the land of the movie makers.

Ever inventive, Bobby would also be described as irrepressible: perhaps we could even encourage him to say a few words about them.

MBL and German Physiks are notable, longstanding, proponents of omnidirectional speakers of exceptional sound quality. We might get some clues on Monday evening regarding this interesting segment of speaker design.

German Physiks tell us: ‘They create an enveloping sound field in the listener’s room that more closely mimics that found in a concert hall. This provides a more natural recreation of the original musical performance and so a more enjoyable listening experience.’

Does this mean a more open sound characteristic?

A couple of comments I read on Audioscience Review …

“I think that omnis have the benefit of driving the room more evenly, so provided the driver(s) used are very good, results should also be as good as the room allows, but, with the proviso that stereo imaging is less precise.....much like real life really...... Ideal for naturally recorded classical music where the audience normally sit in the reverberant field of a concert hall, possibly less good for rock/pop etc which is assembled from bits and pieces recorded at different times in different places.”

“Subjectively, they lacked precise stereo imaging, but equally, didn't have the stereo 'sweet spot' that conventional forward-facing loudspeakers have.”

Of course Nothing will happen without your CDs.
Sec

Hey guys and gals – Munich High End

You might be interested to know what was said about Richard Krebs K3 TT on the Oswald Mill Audio stand (with Jonathan Weiss, Richard’s sponsor, the man who commissioned K3).

This from ‘audiophil(e)-online’

“At Oswald Mill Audio, one was overwhelmed both visually but predominantly acoustically with a performance in a class of its own.

Don’t let the design mislead you. The OMA K3 turntable effortlessly manages to create a very high level of realism. It is full of countless design principles, some of which are unique. Addictive potential and goose bumps while listening are guaranteed here. No other than Frank Schröder from Berlin designed the unusual-looking tonearm. The playback quality nips all doubts in the bud, this was one of the best demonstrations I have ever heard. The arm construction may seem a bit retro, but it is elaborately produced with the most modern means. The complex structure of the arm design is 3D printed from the finest metal powder using selective laser melting (SLM).”

Btw the photos would not copy. Should you wish you can have a look via the below link, about half way through.

www.audiophil-online.com/news/high-end-munich-2022-international-trade-fair/

AAS Sec

AUCKLANDAUDIOSOCIETY

Account: Kiwibank, Auckland Audio Society, 38 9014 0611559 00
Meetings: 4th Monday of the month at 7.30pm, February to November
AAS clubrooms Cornwallis Street, St Lukes.

AAS JUNE meeting is on MONDAY JUNE 27th (4th Monday of the month).

VINYL NIGHT … next Monday

It would be a good idea to bring your favourite round black disks along.

Sec

Richard Krebs great talk last night, actually it was a dissertation on turntable design at PhD level, discussing some of the solvable problems and the impossible to solve (just mitigate).
Richard showed a couple of us a particularly interesting short video that illustrates some of what Richard was discussing.
Richard says
“Link to stylus drag demonstration. Скатывающая сила как измерить – YouTube (in Russian apparently).

Note how at times the arm moves rapidly to the left stopping at the wall of the float box for some extended time.
When the arm moves left it is lifting the weight in the water filled jar as well as accelerating the weight of the arm, counterweight and cartridge.
This takes quite a lot of effort that needs to be resisted by the drive system.”
It is worth studying the video long enough to ’get’ what Richard means.
The world is full of crap/cheap turntables leading the non-initiated to assume it is a simple to build device – yes, until you want to build a good one!
Sec

How was the latest meeting peter0c?

Mssr., I'm glad you asked. It was a typical audio meeting with everything. Good music, interesting home-brew amplifiers, one stalking-off and one presumptuous taking back of a cd (bring on the drum roll), which I can only surmise didn't come up to spec on one of the amps - and also a nice chocolate cake provided by the sole female attendee. Mercifully there was minimal chatting during the music except for some interpersonal plotting prior to the stalking off. Bobby Reyes provided the two amplifiers - an updated copy of the Leak Stereo 20 with Sowter OTs and a single ended SV811-10 direct heated triode. Both would be welcome inhabitants to my lounge and functioned pretty well much as expected. Some listeners preferred the Leak (more mellow with a better defined bass) whilst others preferred the SV 811 (note that this is a new valve and although sharing the same name is not related to the old 811 transmitter valve with an anode cap) which had a better defined leading edge but a more limited bass. The music was via an OPPO 105 and the speakers were the club's Q Acoustic Concepts 500. The club is considering buying a Willsenton R8 p-p valve amplifier to go alongside it's current Krell K 300i Class D integrated. It makes sense having a choice of solid state and valve to optimise with any speakers that members might wish to trial. The Willsenton (at just over $2k landed) would easily drive the club's speakers and most other's that folk might bring along apart from say Thiels and other very low impedance speakers. The stalking off occurred when there was a disagreements amongst ss enthusiasts a) about buying any valve amp at all or b) buying one without first hearing all viable alternatives to the Willsenton, the problem being of course how to compare these alternative to the Willsenton R8 which must be bought directly from the Chinese manufacturer. The other problem is whether the argument was about a) or b) or both. I enjoyed the evening because the amps were interesting and musical, and continuous tracks containing actual music with actual instruments and voice were played throughout the evening. I'm not in favour of jumping from track to track when reviewing equipment and not at all interested in listening bits of music for allegedly impressive sound effects (i.e. lowest bass, the most startling percussion etc). I like listening to music and make my evaluation from the beauty of the instruments and voice and the ambience (at least for live recordings which I prefer) of the venue. Audiophiles are notably opiniated (me too) and perhaps should temper this with a bit of humour and modesty. Hell's bells our great-grandchildren would die laughing if they read today's enthusiastic hifi reviews on for example variations on antiquated paper cone plus magnet plus voice coil plus box speakers, just as we would have on their tweeking of wind-up horn gramophone thingies. Does that answer your question Mssr. and will you bring along a turntable to add to the mix? Clubs like this only survive if members offer to bring along their holy grail for others to enjoy and are also open to learn something.

The Krell K300i is not a Class D amp.

It's a normal Class AB with a variable bias scheme.

Corrected - thank you.

FYI

AUCKLANDAUDIOSOCIETY





Account: Kiwibank, Auckland Audio Society, 38 9014 0611559 00



Meetings: 4th Monday of the month at 7.30pm, February to November



AAS clubrooms, Cornwallis Street, St Lukes.



[e-mail]





Ladies and Gents



This month we will audition a Class A amp and a Class D amp kindly supplied by fellow members – some would say these are at the opposite ends of the technology spectrum, but is there any truth in the assertion? Perhaps we will get helpful pointers.



Monday 27th March, usual time, usual place.



Sec

Apr 26, 2022 12:47:55 GMT 12 peter0c said:

An interesting night listening to Malcolm's home-brew gear some of which dates from the 1950s (the turntable), the 60s (the cartridges), the 90s (the CD player, the 2000s (the ECC83 based line-amp and what I think was a direct coupled complementary bi-polar power amp). The main limitation on the sound quality was a few records that had visited a sandpit. Maybe you don't have to spend $100k to be happy or impress other aficionados! It would be nice to have a few other demos like this or if anyone is bold enough, comparing modern and old kit. No old DACs though please. If anyone wants to know why not, I'll bring a late 90s Theta along to make the point.

Going slightly off topic, but personally I enjoy the sound of older DAC's. What don't you like about your Theta compared to modern options? Also, what model is it?

Cheers.

Electronics Technician - Pitch & Pixel

It is a Theta Miles (integrated) and I use the transport only in my garage / garden system with a MDHT Havana R to R DAC (First Watt F7 power amp and Tannoy MG15). Recessed, lack of life, dull and horrible are a few words that I could use to describe the Theta DAC in comparison. I bought the Theta in Hong Kong to replace my then Marantz CD67SE which was the standard of the time. The Theta was a big improvement but now ..... Just one of those things. Cars and computers (which is what a DAC is) have improved hugely over the last 20 years. Amps and speakers less so.

Not seen a Theta Miles in decades.

Pioneer Stable Platter transport iirc.

A friend had one and then the big Theta that used a Philips laserdisc transport.

I'm not sure whether the transport is Pioneer or TEAC. Anyway it plays shiny side up and is built like the proverbial. The internal DAC was I think the same as the Theta Cobalt which was released at about the same time.

The Miles was the complete player version of the Pearl which used a Pioneer Stable Platter transport.

www.thetadigital.com/legacy-products/

FYI
Meetings: 4th Monday of the month at 7.30pm, February to November
AAS clubrooms, Cornwallis Street, St Lukes.

"AAS APRIL MEETING - MONDAY APRIL 24th - NEXT MONDAY
The esteemed Peter Coleman and Grant Blewett are respectively going to bring along a ‘Line Magnetic’ LM-218 IA amp, and 30W Class A Aureal amp.
Should be interesting – see you there.


Sec"

FYI

"AAS MAY MEETING - MONDAY MAY 22

This month we have alternative speakers to sample courtesy the esteemed Grant Blewett bringing his KEF LS50 Metas and Peter Coleman bringing his Coincident Invictus.

Both of these are compact speakers, but not to be under-rated.

Further reading:

KEF hifiplus.com/articles/kef-ls50-meta-stand-mount-loudspeaker/

Coincident www.coincidentspeaker.com/speakers.htm

The Coincident info is from the manufacturer and well worth reading.

Should be interesting – see you there.

Sec"

Addendum
There will be three bookshelf speakers to compare. Grant Blewett is bringing his KEF LS50 Meta speakers whilst Steve Protheroe is the proud owner of the Co-incident Invictus bookshelf speakers whilst I am bringing my home-brew improved ProAc SC1 bookshelves. The LS50 Metas represent modern technical developments whilst the Co-incidents with a 7 inch paper SEAS bass midrange and first order crossovers will be an interesting comparison with my speakers (informed by the analysis of Troels Gravesen - www.troelsgravesen.dk/T14.htm) which have a 5 1/2 inch SEAS polypropylene bass midrange and a very complex crossover. Similar silk dome tweeters (1 inch Scan-Speak Revelator and 3/4 inch Hiquphon OWL 1) are used in each; similar because the designer for both is Oscar Wroending from Denmark! I suspect that the Co-incidents will win the shootout.

FYI AAS next meeting. This one has your name on it Citroen.

" AUCKLANDAUDIOSOCIETY

Account: Kiwibank, Auckland Audio Society, 38 9014 0611559 00

Meetings: 4th Monday of the month at 7.30pm, February to November


AAS clubrooms, Cornwallis Street, St Lukes.



[e-mail]


AAS MAY MEETING - MONDAY JUNE26


This month we are going to have a VINYL NIGHT. Steve Protheroe will be bringing along:

A Michell GyroDec TT with a Linn Basik LV X arm with a Hana SL low output moving coil cartridge.
A Klyne model 7px3.5 RIAA Phono Preamplifier.
The newly acquired Prima Luna Dialogue HP Integrated Amp with EL34 valves.

We will be using the club speakers
Please bring along a couple of your favorite LPs to play on the night.


Cheers Steve"

Additional reason to attend for anyone in Auckland

"Richard Krebs is giving a chat about his K5 turntable at the Munich High End Audio Show where he presented it"

Sorry I couldn't make it ... I was on a bus back home from the supermarket around then, exhausted enough.
Pity to have missed a potentially sublime evening for such a prosaic purpose... any show notes or photos?