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Post by robbiegong on Aug 13, 2021 9:44:36 GMT
Never had or used an off-board phonostage Olster so add me to the list, and if I'm lucky enough, send it over with the cables and instructions of what goes where - lol and I'll happily evaluate and review it over the on-board on my Sansui Integrated and inform how good or otherwise the Candenza Black FGS sounds through it  Hey Robbie, are you still in Catford? I have a Firebottle otp you can borrow if so, it's not getting used atm. If you really sweet talk me you might get a listen of the bb3 too 🙂 lol - Yep! that's me, Crofton Park to be precise, walking distance to Catford Bridge  Thanks for the very kind offer which I'd be nuts to not take you up on. I'll pm so as to keep the thread Avalon focused  |
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Bigman80
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Post by Bigman80 on Aug 13, 2021 9:51:32 GMT
Wow Robbie, not having an external phono stage! Without knowing how good the Sansui one is, I'm sure it's good, but my money would be on a decent separate stage bettering it, and the quality of your analogue set up I think deserves it. I had an older Sony ES amp, purchased because folk said how good the phono was, it was ok but soundly beaten by Jez's modded Cambridge. I certainly don't like recommending people go out and spend more, I'll be interested in your thoughts. Yeah, definitely something that's been in my thoughts for a while and having read so often what a good off board phonostage can do to elevate things further, I owe it to myself and my system to see what happens when the Cadenza Black-FGS is given an even better platform/stage to perform on. Angus has a Sansui Integrated that is very similar in construction to mine, dual mono etc and I've heard that with the off board phonostage he had at that time and it sounded very good indeed, very refined and much cleaner sounding than my set up, no hash, through the on-board phono. I do think I've a lot more to extract from my vinyl front end, courtesy of a good stand alone phonostage. Having a Cadenza black running through an integrated Phonostage, is like having a Ferrari with trolley wheels on 🤣 Just being dramatic, but you get the point. Sansui phonostages are actually pretty darn good. Trouble is Rob, once you start on that path.....there is no end to where the mind sees upgradation |
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Post by electronumpty on Aug 13, 2021 10:02:24 GMT
Hey Robbie, are you still in Catford? I have a Firebottle otp you can borrow if so, it's not getting used atm. If you really sweet talk me you might get a listen of the bb3 too 🙂 lol - Yep! that's me, Crofton Park to be precise, walking distance to Catford Bridge Thanks for the very kind offer which I'd be nuts to not take you up on. I'll pm so as to not keep the thread Avalon focused 😎 no worries. Give me a shout. |
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Post by antonio on Aug 13, 2021 10:29:18 GMT
You never know Robbie, there could be some bargain stages coming up for sale in the non to distant future reading this thread, time to start saving. Sorry about recommending you spending more, I would not do it if I thought you would not get a substantial improvement. I would certainly take up Electros's kind offer of the Firebottle, before you know you'll be tube rolling |
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Bigman80
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Post by Bigman80 on Aug 25, 2021 7:37:59 GMT
Been busy with stuff at work over the last 10 days, so my Avalon build has stuttered a little bit. In hope that I'll have some free time tomorrow, I thought I'd get the thread moving again in preparation for some more pics over the weekend. The rear panel layout is done and dusted, and the holes drill and casework temporarily marked up with how I think it's going to look. The black lettering will be replaced by engraving and possibly highlighted by filling the engraved channels with special paint. As always when making the first one of anything, you find things out along the way, and as always, there is an issue. The Traffo I want to use is too big for this case, so I either find a different Traffo, or I find a different case. I suspect it'll be the case that goes. The Goldplated OCC did not go anywhere near as far as if have liked either, resulting in me having to buy more. At £30 per meter, you can start to see why this isn't going to be a cheap Phonostage. However, making sure the build quality and the materials are as good as possible is what this phonostage deserves.     image upload |
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Post by dsjr on Aug 25, 2021 8:40:28 GMT
You never know Robbie, there could be some bargain stages coming up for sale in the non to distant future reading this thread, time to start saving. That case and drilling looks superb Ollie. What's the case again please?
Antonio, there should be something from this end once I can get some pics taken (family medical emergency and son in hospital for a few days has chucked all plans out the window).
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Bigman80
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Post by Bigman80 on Aug 25, 2021 19:14:55 GMT
It's alive!!!!!!!! Talk about transparency 😳   |
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Bigman80
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Post by Bigman80 on Aug 25, 2021 19:15:18 GMT
You never know Robbie, there could be some bargain stages coming up for sale in the non to distant future reading this thread, time to start saving. That case and drilling looks superb Ollie. What's the case again please?
Antonio, there should be something from this end once I can get some pics taken (family medical emergency and son in hospital for a few days has chucked all plans out the window).
Thanks Dave, I'll dig out the details. |
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Post by rexton on Aug 25, 2021 19:27:02 GMT
Looks good, how about a few words with regards how it sounds?
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Post by gninnam on Aug 25, 2021 19:31:51 GMT
That was quick - nice one |
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Bigman80
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Post by Bigman80 on Aug 25, 2021 22:14:09 GMT
Looks good, how about a few words with regards how it sounds? As much as I'd love to start throwing out some initial thoughts, I'm going to hang on a bit. |
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Post by robbiegong on Aug 25, 2021 22:35:08 GMT
Looks good, how about a few words with regards how it sounds? As much as I'd love to start throwing out some initial thoughts, I'm going to hang on a bit. Makes sense Olster, get some burn in and hours on it |
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Bigman80
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Post by Bigman80 on Aug 25, 2021 22:39:01 GMT
As much as I'd love to start throwing out some initial thoughts, I'm going to hang on a bit. Makes sense Olster, get some burn in and hours on it Absolutely. It's brand new, had less than 1.45hrs on it and it's been at least three weeks since I heard any vinyl, so throwing plaudits around would be foolish at the minute. I'll give it a thorough thrashing tomorrow and see what I think. I can say that I'm already very excited by what I've heard though, but for specific details, we must wait! |
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Post by antonio on Aug 26, 2021 1:56:05 GMT
My first thoughts, it makes a nice poster  Robbie's right, give it a good 10hrs  before you listen seriously, obviously we're all keen to know about this new creation. |
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Post by electronumpty on Aug 26, 2021 11:32:00 GMT
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Bigman80
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Post by Bigman80 on Aug 26, 2021 11:42:58 GMT
How very cool! I'd love to find a way to put some madness in lol Yeah, cheers Andy. It's a cracking Phonostage. Certainly worth the effort put into it by all parties. |
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Post by dsjr on Aug 26, 2021 14:13:02 GMT
How does it sound? Like any bloody good phono stage should I expect I'll get me coat On a more serious note and forgive me not seeing how big the case is and so on. No shielding around the mains transformer which I admit is well spaced? Using an MC cartridge, hum can creep in from anywhere and back in now Jurassic times, any audible hum with MC pickups may have some effect on the sonics. I do remember being told however, that the magnetic field radiation from a toroid is top and bottom mostly rather than the side, but peeps here who've experimented would know more than I with their builds. |
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Post by brucew268 on Aug 26, 2021 14:43:17 GMT
I do remember being told however, that the magnetic field radiation from a toroid is top and bottom mostly rather than the side, but peeps here who've experimented would know more than I with their builds. That's what I've read too from measurement studies. Will be interested to know if anyone has found certain applications like phono to be sensitive enough to warrant shielding or greater separation of from the toroidal traffo. |
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Post by electronumpty on Aug 26, 2021 15:19:34 GMT
I suspect Olli will use a different traffo in the final build, ocore maybe and shielded if the bb3 build is anything to go by?
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Post by macca on Aug 26, 2021 16:01:08 GMT
All the power supply electronics is on one side and all the signal electronics are on the other. There's no way the EMF from that little traffo will reach all that distance.
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Post by firebottle on Aug 26, 2021 17:07:34 GMT
I do remember being told however, that the magnetic field radiation from a toroid is top and bottom mostly rather than the side, but peeps here who've experimented would know more than I with their builds. Interestingly, with much experimentation, I have found that pointing the top/bottom towards the point of max sensitivity is often the best way to go. The magnetic field forms a doughnut type of shape, the field lines curve around from the axial direction so this is a low hum direction. When I rebuilt the Paradise into one box I mounted the toroids facing the input sockets and there was no discernable hum at all, quite an excellent achievement I thought. |
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Post by dsjr on Aug 26, 2021 17:17:05 GMT
In my ignorance, I just thought a can (different sizes available) over said transformer might just reduce or remove any potential interference. Just a few thoughts - as you were chaps |
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Post by firebottle on Aug 26, 2021 17:23:14 GMT
It does, very well. With the orientation I just mentioned it didn't need a can even.
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Bigman80
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Post by Bigman80 on Aug 26, 2021 17:46:32 GMT
Well gents, this ain't gonna work. Hum from the Traffo, not Mega happy with how the case has gone together either, so Angus is going to look at different Traffo options, including some very cool Traffo shielding ideas, and I'm going to look for an alternative case I think. It's a shame, as this is a nice case. Pic for scale.  |
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Post by karma67 on Aug 26, 2021 18:16:10 GMT
angus's one doesn't hum or at least it didnt when i heard it, what are you doing thats different from his?
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Bigman80
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Post by Bigman80 on Aug 26, 2021 19:36:22 GMT
angus's one doesn't hum or at least it didnt when i heard it, what are you doing thats different from his? Traffo is too close mate. I thought it be but I wanted to try the case |
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Post by firebottle on Aug 26, 2021 20:00:17 GMT
Can you try the traffo at the front of the case, furthest away from the rear connectors?
Regulator board towards the rear. Nothing to lose by trying it, I always mounted the traffo in the furthest corner from the inputs.
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Post by rexton on Aug 26, 2021 20:41:57 GMT
Only teething troubles which I'm sure will be sorted.
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Post by electronumpty on Aug 26, 2021 21:37:13 GMT
Olli if it's not up to spec I'll take it off your hands so's it's not cluttering up yer wee shelf like 🙂
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Bigman80
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Post by Bigman80 on Aug 26, 2021 21:43:29 GMT
Olli if it's not up to spec I'll take it off your hands so's it's not cluttering up yer wee shelf like 🙂 Ha! This one will be sold off as a pre production model and like rexton says, just teething troubles, which is natural....when you didnt do as you were told. firebottle, Yes, i can try that but Angus has a very interesting idea involving 2 separate transformers, so we're gonna give that a whirl. It's not large amounts of hum, but knowing how quiet this phonostage is, it makes no sense to not have it at its best. |
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Thanks for the very kind offer which I'd be nuts to not take you up on. I'll pm so as to keep the thread Avalon focused 
before you listen seriously, obviously we're all keen to know about this new creation.
