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Post by dsjr on Mar 14, 2019 21:24:58 GMT
I've heard a bad Creek amp. Evolution model, I found it was reasonably powerful, but muted, muffled and totally bland in modern-day terms, which amazed me really (it wasn't faulty either I gather).
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Bigman80
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Post by Bigman80 on Mar 14, 2019 21:47:48 GMT
I've heard a bad Creek amp. Evolution model, I found it was reasonably powerful, but muted, muffled and totally bland in modern-day terms, which amazed me really (it wasn't faulty either I gather). Did you like the 4040 and 4140 models, Dave? Just trying to frame your thoughts in terms the amps I have heard, |
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Post by dsjr on Mar 15, 2019 7:20:41 GMT
We sold loads of these back then - they kind of took over from the ubiquitous NAD 3020 which is still an endearing old amp if a little plump sounding perhaps. The first 4040's were over-complex and not quite right as well as not being especially reliable, but after a short while, the circuit was quite drastically simplified (!), the sound became better for it and they began to fly, along with the simple yet effective tuners they made for them. The 4140 was seen as 'better' again, although technically, 'Choice found it an oddball. By this time, the venerable A&R A60 was double the price of the 4040.
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Bigman80
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Post by Bigman80 on Mar 15, 2019 7:51:10 GMT
We sold loads of these back then - they kind of took over from the ubiquitous NAD 3020 which is still an endearing old amp if a little plump sounding perhaps. The first 4040's were over-complex and not quite right as well as not being especially reliable, but after a short while, the circuit was quite drastically simplified (!), the sound became better for it and they began to fly, along with the simple yet effective tuners they made for them. The 4140 was seen as 'better' again, although technically, 'Choice found it an oddball. By this time, the venerable A&R A60 was double the price of the 4040. I always thought the Creeks had the beatings of the A60. Still a nice amp to listen to though. Especially creamy with some pairings. |
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Post by dsjr on Mar 15, 2019 12:27:49 GMT
We sold loads of these back then - they kind of took over from the ubiquitous NAD 3020 which is still an endearing old amp if a little plump sounding perhaps. The first 4040's were over-complex and not quite right as well as not being especially reliable, but after a short while, the circuit was quite drastically simplified (!), the sound became better for it and they began to fly, along with the simple yet effective tuners they made for them. The 4140 was seen as 'better' again, although technically, 'Choice found it an oddball. By this time, the venerable A&R A60 was double the price of the 4040. I always thought the Creeks had the beatings of the A60. Still a nice amp to listen to though. Especially creamy with some pairings. The earlier A60's were very 'musical' and 'involving' to listen to and the only thing that I'd say was against it was the price rising annually - it all but doubled in price from late 70's to mid 80's and as NAD kind of lost the charm with the tone-control-less 3120. Creek had tweaked the 4040 by then as I stated above and it slotted in perfectly with a Rega source and HB1 speakers quite often, the other benefit being that the factory wasn't so far from us in mid Herts (or my dealer pal HiFi Dave) so they could often do a Saturday delivery to both of us... We ceased with them when like Epos, they got absorbed into the Mordaunt Short organisation of the time and it all became kind of impersonal and the products went a little up-market.
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Bigman80
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Post by Bigman80 on Mar 18, 2019 20:42:07 GMT
I bought a tatty pair of Allison CD8s the other day. They went for peanuts and I can collect so I will tidy them up and have a listen. It’s pure curiosity and the price was just daft, so I went for it,
Anyone heard them?
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Post by macca on Mar 18, 2019 21:40:05 GMT
No I have only heard one Allison speaker and I don't know which one it was. Floortsanding, not large, offset drivers. The CD8 look very interesting though. www.hifi-classic.net/review/allison-cd-8-507.html Bass flat down to 40Hz, Should be quite capable. |
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Post by Deleted on Mar 19, 2019 16:29:41 GMT
Looking forward to your findings, westie.
S.
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Bigman80
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Post by Bigman80 on Mar 19, 2019 19:24:20 GMT
They are real dogs, but nothing you can’t fix. I got them for £42 so I can’t complain, I seem to like semi omnis so it will be interesting to see how they fare against my Spicas,
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Post by Bigman80 on Mar 23, 2019 16:35:48 GMT
Ive has a really fun day with a mate. I grabbed a pair of Allison CD8 for £41 and he helped me collect. He loved them when he heard them so I let him have them. I must say they are very good indeed. Way better than I am xpected. The best £41 worth I’ve ever heard lol
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Post by macca on Mar 23, 2019 17:02:29 GMT
You're not keeping them? That's a shame they were actually interesting, was looking forward to a full report.
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Post by antonio on Mar 23, 2019 19:05:39 GMT
You're not keeping them? That's a shame they were actually interesting, was looking forward to a full report. Snap. Maybe Westie will get a listen and let us know a bit more about them.  |
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Post by Bigman80 on Mar 23, 2019 19:22:44 GMT
Tbh it was really hard to let them go because they sounded really, really lovely. He saw them on EBay before me and told me about them. He wasn’t sure he was even going to bid and with a few seconds to go I checked the bidders list and couldn’t see anyone with his number of feedbacks so I bid £50 on the basis that it was unlikely to bid him up much if he bid last second (unlikely as he’s 72 and not into tech).
When I won them I offered him first dibs if he drove me down to collect them. It was a no brainier he’d take them because they looked great in the flesh and sounded even better. They need a re-foam (which i’ll Probably get the job to do) and they need a poked in dome sorting, but otherwise they are pretty good looks wise. If and when he sells them I will likely get first dibs but not at £41 lol. I really hope he keeps them because other than Impulse H2s, I haven’t heard a better sound in his room.
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Post by Bigman80 on Mar 25, 2019 20:04:22 GMT
Just bought a Mayware MC-2V cartridge. Anyone tried one?
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Post by Deleted on Mar 26, 2019 20:17:52 GMT
Just bought a Mayware MC-2V cartridge. Anyone tried one?No, but I've always wanted to. They are reputed to sound decent. |
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Post by Bigman80 on Mar 26, 2019 20:53:09 GMT
I’ve always been intrigued by them. Some folk say they are special £78 seemed like a bargain to me, but I honestly don’t know.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 26, 2019 21:41:23 GMT
The Mayware SUT is supposed to be nice. Not tried that either.
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Post by Bigman80 on Mar 26, 2019 21:45:46 GMT
The Mayware SUT is supposed to be nice. Not tried that either. I’m keeping an eye out for one. I do look the Formula IV. They seem to have been a company that got little credit because they didn’t charge high prices |
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Post by Deleted on Mar 27, 2019 23:03:33 GMT
The arm used to be considered equal to the Hadcock 228.
I got the arm and cartridge last year from someone on AOS that was selling them on behalf of someone they knew. Haven't tried them yet.
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Bigman80
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Post by Bigman80 on Mar 28, 2019 6:14:41 GMT
I think the future is unipivots for me.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 28, 2019 12:09:14 GMT
The arm used to be considered equal to the Hadcock 228. I got the arm and cartridge last year from someone on AOS that was selling them on behalf of someone they knew. Haven't tried them yet. Actually, it must have been 2017, before I was evicted. Really should get them fitted to something. |
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Post by Bigman80 on Mar 28, 2019 19:06:08 GMT
Had a pretty strange day. Made an early start hoping to get a head start, only to have serious IT issues.
Tried to report it and had a telephony failure. Used my mobile and got tech support to remote on, but my surface pro repeatedly crashed. Moved Desks and my dual screens failed. Set up at a third desk and went to print only to find no printouts at the machine. Tried sending to another printer but it refused to recognise me. Printed to another floor, out of toner! Came back down and the lift went to the wrong floor. Then it stalled on another (again wrong floor). Got back to my floor and the security doors failed. Left early, royally pissed off and immediately lost my phone and bank cards.
Thankfully I got them back after about an hour of searching and after cancelling my cards. Rang Lloyd’s to order a new card but can’t get one as I haven’t updated my address and can’t do it online. I need to ale a paper form to a branch in Newcastle (150 miles away).
I’ve locked the hotel door, closed the blinds and switched off the phone. Counting down to midnight and waiting for a new day. Hopefully it can’t be any worse. No real harm done, just let scratching my head at such a freaky day.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 28, 2019 19:29:25 GMT
Had a pretty strange day. Made an early start hoping to get a head start, only to have serious IT issues. Tried to report it and had a telephony failure. Used my mobile and got tech support to remote on, but my surface pro repeatedly crashed. Moved Desks and my dual screens failed. Set up at a third desk and went to print only to find no printouts at the machine. Tried sending to another printer but it refused to recognise me. Printed to another floor, out of toner! Came back down and the lift went to the wrong floor. Then it stalled on another (again wrong floor). Got back to my floor and the security doors failed. Left early, royally pissed off and immediately lost my phone and bank cards. Thankfully I got them back after about an hour of searching and after cancelling my cards. Rang Lloyd’s to order a new card but can’t get one as I haven’t updated my address and can’t do it online. I need to ale a paper form to a branch in Newcastle (150 miles away). I’ve locked the hotel door, closed the blinds and switched off the phone. Counting down to midnight and waiting for a new day. Hopefully it can’t be any worse. No real harm done, just let scratching my head at such a freaky day. Weird. You haven't found a doll with pins stuck in it by any chance?  |
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Bigman80
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Post by Bigman80 on Mar 28, 2019 19:50:37 GMT
Had a pretty strange day. Made an early start hoping to get a head start, only to have serious IT issues. Tried to report it and had a telephony failure. Used my mobile and got tech support to remote on, but my surface pro repeatedly crashed. Moved Desks and my dual screens failed. Set up at a third desk and went to print only to find no printouts at the machine. Tried sending to another printer but it refused to recognise me. Printed to another floor, out of toner! Came back down and the lift went to the wrong floor. Then it stalled on another (again wrong floor). Got back to my floor and the security doors failed. Left early, royally pissed off and immediately lost my phone and bank cards. Thankfully I got them back after about an hour of searching and after cancelling my cards. Rang Lloyd’s to order a new card but can’t get one as I haven’t updated my address and can’t do it online. I need to ale a paper form to a branch in Newcastle (150 miles away). I’ve locked the hotel door, closed the blinds and switched off the phone. Counting down to midnight and waiting for a new day. Hopefully it can’t be any worse. No real harm done, just let scratching my head at such a freaky day. Weird. You haven't found a doll with pins stuck in it by any chance? Nope but I can think of a good few suspects in the same building lol |
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Post by brian2957 on Mar 28, 2019 20:23:08 GMT
Wot about trying the lottery Andrew  |
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Bigman80
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Post by Bigman80 on Mar 29, 2019 8:00:28 GMT
For a minute I thought “why not?” It’s. A good way to turn my luck around, Then I remembered the cancelled cards and the fact I don’t carry and cash lol.
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Post by Bigman80 on Mar 30, 2019 8:03:58 GMT
FFS can Rega actually make anything properly? Bought a metal stub to go with a better counterweight on an RB250. The thread has two flaws on it.
Last thing I bought from them was an RP1: Platter badly warped, sub platter badly warped and plinth had several significant flaws in the finish. The build quality was Fisher Price too.
If they can’t make a screw thread properly then they truly do need to be binned off. I’ll buy a third party one and forget Rega exist. I may still dabble with their older stuff, but anything beyond around 2000 is off my list for good.
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Post by macca on Mar 30, 2019 8:35:19 GMT
I think Rega's rep is entirely based on the Planar 2 and 3 from the 1980s because they were affordable decks that sounded competent and back then anything Japanese was beyond the pale. It made their name. Now the market is packed with affordable decks that sound competent and a massive second hand market where you can buy a super deck for what a Planar 3 cost in 1985 they don't make much sense to me anymore.
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Post by Bigman80 on Mar 30, 2019 9:01:28 GMT
Bought another Claymore for headphone duties. It also has handy Mm and Mc for one of the two decks I bought.......just in case I ever set them up Also bought a TPA3116 class D amp on Geoff’s reccy. Likely to do tv duties but will be tried in the main rig. Well it arrived a bit ago, but I hadn’t even looked at it. I’d forgotten to buy a psu too, so I had to check my laptop supplies. Luckily one was perfect. So what about the looks and build. I’m always slagging off cheap Chinese tat, so I’m going to hate on anything badly made. Well, try as I might I can’t find a single thing to complain about. It’s a lovely wee thing: Solid, slick and perfectly formed. No way it should cost £16 to make and ship. So I witch it on expecting it not to work. It again disproves my negative expectations. And the sound is clear, detailed and “straight down the middle”. The word “lucid” springs to mind. Now this is just a quick lash up in my main bedroom floor with a Sonneteer Byron and my DIY Cubes. I did compare to the Claymore though and it’s not inferior within this setup. Could I live with this amp. On the first half hours listening, I’ve found no reason to expect I couldn’t, And I don’t want to turn it off. Remember I’d already had a TA2021 amp a few years ago and hated the thing, so it took a bit of reprogramming to even allow this wee amp across the threshold. Props to Geoff for: A: Finding and recommending it B: Being a bloke that even a skeptic like me just had to listen to. Imagine this amp with a cheap source as a pair of La Scalas: I bet it would allow you to have an amazing sound by concentrating practically all your funds on the speakers. An eye opener, an ear opener and a prejudice killer in every respect. |
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Post by Bigman80 on Mar 30, 2019 9:12:48 GMT
There’s a real irony in my last two posts:
1. I buy a simple machined stub from Rega, a British stalwart with a rep for quality and reliability. Not much to go wrong there then? Did I expect to have to return something so simple with TWO faults? Not a chance.
2. I buy an amplifier for only £4 more than the Rega stub including international shipping. It’s got so many opportunities to disappoint in build, finish and the fact that it carries current and signal. It’s from China with all the stigma that many attach, and I expect it to be crappily made, sound shite and probably fail.
Only a single example, I know, but it’s indicative of where I feel hifi and audio is headed.
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