The Bigblog!

Ah well, you obviously need a new phono stage. When you upgrade I might take the current one you have off your hands , if you're lucky 🤣

okay, that's bizarre.

What you need is an RFI Sniffer , but sadly someone stole my old one years ago and i am not sure that anyone makes them any more .

Like a Trifield Meter (Radio frequencies, EMF)? They're on Ebay int'l or Amazon as well.

Too knackered to write about it now, but had a run out to Jason's today to pimp the Ekta and have a listen to the Vaders.

A few pics to whet the appetite:

I am not. I'm sulking

Nice mods - hope it makes the right improvements!
(I assume you liked the Vaders )

Andy, I've heard the Vaders with Chris's 686 before, however, yesterday I got to do a real AB in my system on the Vaders (686 vs my MF amp). Oh wow, wow, WOW!!!

I kept ploughing through the tracks with my jaw dropping further and further... Oli's 686 is rather special... really, really special. A 686 will happen when funds allow and I need to sort my Turntable too... It is perpetual rabbit hole of obsession! 😂

Yes, that's the most expensive upgrade of all.

When I bought my MBL speakers I originally had signed up for a larger model, but after a weekend of soul searching sanity prevailed.

Oh my, how shiny are they?! They still look absolutely immaculate!

I walked into my workshop this morning and thought somebody had ransacked the place...! Then I remembered that we had been very busy bees! All tidy now.

No worries, it was a pleasure.

I'd rather have a quick tidy today, as we had more time to listen yesterday.

Nice one Olster, they are a lovely looking speaker that's for sure.

I'm assuming you'll be detailing those internal component changes, what you had, what you have now, why and what that means, also presentation before and after type thing as that should be very interesting and i look forward to    

So, seeing as the TG Ekta MKII have seen some pretty significant upgrades, i think i need to clarify exactly what has been done to them, and why i have done it.

When i got the Ekta from Jason, i pretty much bought them on the proviso that they would need some “Bigman” mods. There are things i have found to make real, tangible differences to the way equipment sounds, and i was eager to see if this translated to speakers in the same way. Are these “mods” universally applicable, or do they only have influence in the most sensitive of devices like phonostages?

The mods are pretty sensible in truth. I haven’t gone for wild HiFi foo, or things that don’t make sense. The first and top priority was the removal of the Janzen supplied speaker wire. This stuff is pretty decent gauge silver plated OFC copper. Now, if you have been on this forum for any length of time, you will know that i wouldn’t use silver plated OFC in anything. The King of Copper (so far) has been the veritable PC-Triple C. My system is literally entirely wired internally and externally with the stuff. Anywhere a piece of wire exists...you will find PC-Triple C.

It’s not without good reason either. There are varying levels of CCC, as there is with everything. However, the particular construction of the stuff i use seems to have a level of transparency that is unmatched. However, i couldn’t use that stuff for this job as the gauge is either too big or small to be workable inside a speaker.

In the end i plumped for some SAEC SPC-650. It’s a compromise of sorts as i would have ideally used the SPC-850. That said, it’s a marked improvement in terms of quality from the Janzen stuff.

Secondly, the binding posts supplied by Janzen are tat. I am pretty sure they are nickel plated brass, but they are nasty. In their place went some CMC pure copper binding post. I have used these on amplifiers before and have always been very happy with that they bring to proceedings. Ideally, maybe some low mass binding posts would have been better, but there are none with long enough threads to get through the solid body of the speaker, so CMC got the nod.

Thirdly, there are already some Alumen-Z Film and Foil caps inside the XO’s, but i wanted MORE! Lol
There was one cap in the mid that was a metalized PP. That had to go. In its place went two WEET F&F caps that cost around half the price of Alumen-Z, but they had some reviews that preferred them to Alu-Z. I managed to wrangle a set of 5 of each value required and measured them up. I got two pairs of identical value and felt very lucky. It’s not the be all and end all as variations exist in tolerance throughout the speakers, but i like to do things properly.

Lastly, when this kit originally sold, it came with an electrolytic cap for the LF XO. I wasn’t particularly bothered by this, but felt it should be done for completeness. In its place went a Janzen metqlised PP crossCap.

Obviously i would have LOVED to whack F&F in there, but i would have been able to buy Vaders with the cost required in capacitance. Metalized it is.

The revamp work was extremely straight forward, or at least that’s how it felt. Jason is a pro.

Everything was methodically thought out, even down to how he was going to remove the drivers so as not to damage the high gloss finish. A few hours in, maybe 3, we had everything out, rewired, XO’s upgraded and binding posts in place. Then we broke for lunch...for three hours lol. Listening to his Vaders with a 686 kind of distracted us. We were waiting for the adhesive to set under the new components on the XO tbf lol.

Once we reconvened, the last part was probably the biggest PITA. Reaffixing and wiring up the XO’s in situ. But it was done and they were ready to go.

In the car they went and off i went with them.

Next, the listening.......

.........