MCRU hifi club meet

Cool,

The Bigbottle may not be there. Barrington has messaged to say the right channel has dropped out!

I'm perplexed. Hopefully we can get it up and running before the weekend.

I had that running for two months, daily without issue, it was thoroughly checked by Firebottle too and worked perfectly.

Bugger. I really hope it can be sorted in time.

You can fit it in Surely! Lol.

Where you off to?

STI clinic?

The Bigbottle is up and running! A defective FET which is really rare but as suspected, nothing wrong with the design or PCB etc.

Very happy it's a component defect.

Hopefully it will be at MCRU!

It fixed mate. Just up to Barrington now to see if he attends.

If you get to hear it, let me know what you think. This one has the earlier Prototype PCB an not the new premium version. Whilst i can't confirm a difference between the two, as a Premium isnt up and running yet,  The premium *should* be better. By how much would be a guess at this early stage.

I dont think he opens the shop mate, he said previously that its just a venue for the HiFi club. I could be wrong though lol

Would have been nice to get your feedback matey. Just remember, if anyone goes, it's a £350 DIY phonostage. That one is also not built with the new premium boards.

I think you're in a happy place hifi wise. There's not much appeal to hear loads of gear once you've found that contentment, however, I am very interested in hearing whats about and especially phonostages. I just love it plus the chance to hear Nick Gorham's work, for free, shouldn't be passed up by anyone.

It’s not about Dave selling anything, he deliberately shuts the shop for these, it’s all about what people bring. He has a large basement which is the shops’ listening room so there’s plenty room. The Maxonic speakers he has are quite something, very very revealing so ideal for comparing kit.

Sorry i cant take anything MCRU seriosly.

So many products at such rip off prices.........F-MCRU.

Ta.

It's hard to see how some things cost what they do. 

Some of his cheaper diy mains leads are reasonably cheap but lots of eye watering stuff too.

For me, any cable that’s 3 figures and doesn’t contain significant precious metals is a rip off. Any expensive cable which does contain precious metals is still a dubious buy. Good kit should not need expensive cables

Just had an email to say things didn't quite go to plan for the Bigbottle at the Bakeoff. Apparently some sort of matching issue with the cartridge led to a different cartridge being used, then alignment was off and then an issue with loading?

Seems like it was up against it from the off.

The bit of feedback I did get was this:

"The owner advised the audience he had exchanged the original valves for a pair more to his personal taste.

The forward projection was very evident and the cohesiveness of the performers was a strong perception, I was trying to gauge the width and depth of the soundstage but the forward projection was masking the sense of space. The forward Projection was becoming a detractor to the balance of the overall presentation"

I've been a little surprised by this as the phonostage didn't present forward in the three systems I've tried it in and the width of the soundstage is usually more evident BUT it's feedback and I accept good and bad.

This was the original prototype PCB version, not the new one. Hopefully, when mine is built, I can get it out and about for some more feedback.

I know mate. I think it must be all the kit in the same space. 

They also cant seem to agree on whats wrong with my phonostage lol Too forward, too laid back, soundstage is very deep, soundstage is flat......FFS, i wont bother again lol

You heard it at mine, was fine! I think so anyway.

They used one fancy digital cartridge which is HOMC but it's not suitable. Too much gain on the Phonostage. Then they used a one off cartridge built into a Kontrapunkt b body, which wasn't set up right. Then the cartridge loading was wrong. Just seems to have been up against it from the off.

Yes, the one you heard was the on that went up there. I didn't think it lacked width, dynamics or anything else. When we played ZZTOP they sounded very much dynamic and live.

It's just HiFi mate. People hear differently. I'm happy with it, as are the two other people who have one. I'll get mine out and about a bit when it's built.