Viren was home

[prem]

It was a pleasure having Viren over at my place yesterday. Evening was spent listening to some music. We experimented a little with the top plate of the amplifier. The aluminium plate was replaced with a wooden one. But both plates bought in their own signature. The amp sounded best without any top plate. So the search goes on for an ideal top plate.

Would also like to thank Denom, Hemantwaghe, Hiten, mpw and Satyaki for coming over. It was great meeting up with you guys.

 

[rajadeep]

Man now I am so jealous of these guys ...

 

[Hiten]

We should thank you prem. It was a privilege to listen to your setup. Will gather scattered thoughts and post soon. Thanks again.
And It was nice meeting Denom, Hemant, Satyaki, Mahesh and Viren sir. It seemed we already met before. Very good experience.
Regards.

 

[hemantwaghe]

Thank you Prem Sir & Virenji - it was really memorable and EAR OPENING meet. In fact honestly more learning for strater like me - more than last 2 meets and other auditions combined.It was actually micro meet with Prems wonderful hospitalty.

I like many beginners - equated twiks with snake oil. But in last 3-4 meetings with prem at his place realized that if you have resolving system - some twik not only works - they work wonders!!!

Virenji bowled by your warmth and modesty. Heard a lot about you ; in real life I found that you are wonderful person with such a modesty! Those dealers with half baked knowledge and full on attitude shold learn from you!

BTW - in one thread someone said 2.5 watts / channel is very very low low power. Prem's system is 2.5 watts / channel....and one should experience it to realize how loud it sounds!

 

[mpw]

thanks prem for having us over.

It was an experience for me to meet you, virenji and ofcourse denom, hemant, satyaki and hiten.

It was also a great experience and knowledge looking at and hearing the very nice sounding setup you have.

Must thank your family also for bearing with us for all the time yesterday.

Spent few minutes with Virenji just chatting up about voice coils, speakers and drivers.. and it was an interesting experience. Maybe next time i an in Delhi i would make a plan to drop in at Lyrita too.

Last week i had the pleasure of listening to Roger Waters - Amused to death - in Surat ( at Jignesh's place with Neo ).. which was wonderful ( the Q sound effect ) and this week Prems setup was great too.

The search continues for the final few tweaks i suppose and i hope that you nail it soon. But hey... even otherwise i enjoyed the system and your hospitality.

The TT is so amazing and conveys the dynamics and nuances so well !! It was an education just to see those wonderful tweaks and ofcourse those very nice sounding cables which jelled so well with your setup.

Your system compliments you well in the sense that both are dynamic and its nice to see you so obviously enjoy the music. The setup would be a painstaking effort for the hardware and software ( those lovely records ) and it is showing in the remarkable setup.

Good luck and enjoy the journey !!

mpw

 

[square_wave]

. The amp sounded best without any top plate. So the search goes on for an ideal top plate.

.

Man the travails of being an audiophile

Must have been an honor having Viren at your home.

 

[prem]

Hi mpw, hemantwaghe

We should try and meet more often.

Hi square_wave

I agree with you. We audiophiles are always nitpicking and never happy. But i think the aluminium top plate ringing can be sorted out. I think teflon tape along the 4 sides of the top plate on the underside should take care of it. Will try it this week.

Denoms observation that vocals seem to have a slight haze is correct. Need to work on that. Cannot figure out what the issue is. I suspect it is the nickel plating in the rca jack and the tube socket. Will be replacing these and see if the problem gets solved

 

[square_wave]

@ Prem,

Yes, controlling resonances & mechanical vibrations are the key. I have seen folks sticking thick tapes on the undersides of the plate to solve this problem.

 

[prem]

Hi mpw

Its not about the record player or the cables. Synergy is more critical. 2A3 tubes normally work well with Lowthers. Added to this is the fact that Dave Slagle who wound the transformers himself is a Lowther user.

The one main thing i learnt when putting this system together is i have to try and open up everything. There needs to be minimal absorption and damping. This was in complete contrast to how i had set up my earlier systems. It took me quite some time to figure this out.

More importantly since Jacob, Franck Tchang and Viren all share the same philosophy of open, dynamic sound and the EMT table is also designed on this same philosophy, its easy getting the synergy from such a system

 

[prem]

Hi hemantwaghe

What you heard at my place are not tweaks in the true sense.

Room treatment can either be done by absorption/diffusion panels or else the room can be tuned by resonators. Both are accepted forms of room treatment. At my place i chose the resonator route since i use a very low powered amp. As a result spl is low and i cannot have absorption happening. In the past with more powerful amps i had used real traps for treatment.

The aluminium face plate which i used on the wall outlet is a standard damping procedure. In most cases the plate would have worked. However in my system as you experienced yesterday the sound closed in a little. Which is why i do not use a face plate

 

[prem]

Sorry for the double post

 

[prem]

Hi arj

Its nice to have a moniker starting with a. It looks like you were the first one to thank the OP

 

[Hari Iyer]

Hi mpw, hemantwaghe

We should try and meet more often.

I would love to visit during next meet. Do let me know.

 

[Santy]

Once I visited, all subsequent meets I have been missing. I too would like to join for the next mini meet Prem !

 

[prem]

Sure Hari. You can drop in whenever you want. And Santy you are most welcome

 

[Hiten]

It was great meeting prem and fellow members and listening to his system. He is amongst few of the senior most members in our forum with years of listening experience, has worked in recording studios and lots of equipments has passed through his ears.
Sharing few things...

From my browsing days I knew about superb engineering of EMT turntables. Got a chance to 'feel' the EMT. When touched It was absolutely dead quiet. In my limited experience would rate it as top notch idler wheel turntable. Build quality is prominently evident. Detailing in music was crystal clear. Thinking back I guess its the cartridge too. Don't know the name but only superfi cartridges can extract such detail. Phonostage close to cartridge is another advantage.

Speakers are very very interesting (would like to open and see inside ). Nice design of form following function. No wonder they are reputed. I think they have two powered drivers for low end. We listened at little loud levels with amazing tight control over sound quality. Without taking anything away from sound quality I think low end very minutely dominated the spectrum at that particular volume level. But with so much experience behind him Prem can't be wrong and I guess he listens at little lower level than yesterday. If so, it is just too perfect and well thought of. (Remember vintage amps having loudness on/off to listen at low volume) Would like to revisit and listen again. Norah Jones and classical Sitar sounded realistic. Sitar strings decay were noticeably clean. Sign of a good fidelity and placement. Didn't noticed when two hours passed.

Prem has good collection of mint vinyls. Absolutely no clicks or pops. On my request he played some Hindi film music. Lata was first and replaced with sweet voice of Asha and Kishore whose sound I am used to. Digitally recorded 'Rockstar' was also played. Prem and Virensir were discussing digital recording differences which I missed. I could not make out the difference. I may be wrong but found the vocals little grainy than yesteryears analogue recordings. But overall OK to listen to digitally recorded vinyl.

...just my thoughts folks. Individual perception can not be measured and mostly we prefer sound which is imprinted in our mind from our earlier days. Communicating the experience is also difficult so have used words that came to my mind, so pardon me. From power cords to speaker placement an excellently arranged and well thought of setup . A comprehensive approach to high fidelity. If anyone is on audio journey, make a point to stop at Prem's home.

Besides listening to music got chance to meet Prem (obviously), Dave, Hemant, Satyaki, Mahesh and Virensir... all you nice people it was pleasure meeting you all.
Best regards to everyone.

 

[prem]

Hi Hiten

A small correction. My EMT is not an idler drive. Its direct drive. The cartridge is EMT TSD 15 and the tonearm EMT 929

Also my system needs to open up a little more, both in the highs as well as in the mid bass. The vol control i use apparently needs about 600 hrs. I have only had about 350 hrs on it. Once the rca jacks, iec jack and the tube sockets are changed and everything settles down would love to have you over for an extended Bollywood listening session

 

[Hiten]

My mistake Prem.
Also wanted a closer look at transformer you specially made. Hope to listen and chat with you more.
Regards

 

[prem]

Sure, next time around, will open the amp and show you the innards. Unfortunately the speaker cannot be opened

 

[Hiten]

Oh ! no need to open the amp or speaker. was just curious to take a closer look.
Regards.