The objectivist/subjectivist battle rages on in audio forums. Denial that subjectivist types hear what they think they hear etc. That the ear is not reliable in blind tests etc. That natural body and resonance are coloration etc.
That an explicit, hyper-detailed sound must be right when long-term realisation shows that it is just tiring. If you want to show your system picks up a vocal inflection, a click of the tongue ''more betterer'' than your friend's system that's fair enough I suppose. The fact that it probably has a manipulated upturned frequency response to impress in a comparison audition... well never mind. When I look at Hi-Fi magazine reviews I am mainly looking out for the reviewer's description of something as 'musical'. That is what music is about not logic. Should not need to be said really...
I sometimes genuinely forget that I have loaned an item from my system such as a DC blocker and filter which would be hidden behind the equipment. I rack my brains thinking why is the soundstage relatively congested, where has the life gone. Then I remember I have loaned out this or that. Or when you audition something that should be better than what you had. You start by hearing what it does better. Then, maybe through tiredness, you just listen almost subconsciously, half-listening. The mind coming and going. Then you can judge if overall it is more musical and enjoyable than what you had before. In other words, when you are not looking for a difference and you hear one that is what counts! Call it subconscious comparison.
Adrian
Loth-X Troubadour – £3999
Used Loth-X Troubadour Speakers.
These are very rare folded horn speakers with 104 dB sensitivity using full range drivers with Alnico magnets. They are finished in a beautiful hardwood and sound amazing. Detailed highs, very sweet mids and fast, clean and detailed bass. These are best close to a wall or in corners.
They use a coated paper driver and huge alnico magnets made by Loth-X and designed by Stefan Stamm. They have just had the cone spiders and surrounds finished in everlasting cloth material by Speaker and Lowther expert David Pinnegar . They will not now need re-doing for a lifetime. They are exceptionally well made and are sequential serial numbers too.
Don’t miss out. It’s not likely you’ll see another pair anytime soon and they are not made anymore.
Dimensions: W 28 cm x D 44 cm x H 123 cm
8 ohm; 104db; 40hz-20khz frequency response
Review here http://www.audioevidence.com/troubadour.html
and of sister Polaris using same Stamm driver: https://www.tnt-audio.com/casse/lothpolaris_e.html
Some specs:
Cut Loose Audio Silver Mains Cable – £150
Cut Loose Audio silver mains cable unlabelled but genuine – £150.
Funk Firm Houdini Mini Review – Nov. 2020
The Funk Firm Houdini has added focus, lowered distortion, improved dynamics slightly but, most importantly, the music now floats out of the speakers in a way digital never really manages. This is in quite a high-end front end. Without exaggerating, I would compare the effects to a successful £2000 upgrade or 25% improvement in my set-up and I have had over 40 years of experience in getting the best out of systems. What is particularly interesting about Houdini is that I can’t think of an upgrade in any part of the Hi-Fi chain where quite that same improvement in space and perspective within the soundstage is achieved. The music sounds closer to the real event rather than just different.
Now stocking Houdini as I have been so impressed!
Damage to New Records
Record sleeves even with specialist pressings are often made of cardboard and put fine scuffs on the records every time they are removed. This can cause surface noise. E.g. Aldous Harding – Party my most recent buy. I have had to buy plastic-lined paper inner sleeves which work well but now the original cardboard one no longer fits.
Damaging new LP records.
Docet Lector 0.5T valve CD Player – £795
Docet Lector 0.5T valve CD player recently serviced and upgraded at the factory to 0.6T spec. see images.
Will supply with 2 sets of good valves.
One of the most analogue-sounding CD players ever.
Turntable DC power supply
Minimalist turntable DC power supply with adjustable speed control.
Can run on battery.
Built on maple and ebony block with Black Gate capacitors and 2W Audionote tantalum resistors.
Wired with flat silver in cotton sleeving.
Excellent sound quality!
80W power amp, based on NAIM – 400 Euros.
Hand built, 80 w per channel into 8 Ohms. Darlington circuit, all analogue with power surge and speaker protection. Based on Naim.
4 ohm speakers and effect on power delivery.
I often get asked about this and some speaker manufacturers like to avoid stating average impedance when they quote speaker sensitivity…
In 2002, Paul Messenger described beautifully the paradox of 4 Ohm speakers.
‘Over the years, speaker makers have tended to evolve their designs to suit the typical transistor amplifier which is essentially a voltage source with a low source impedance.
Halve the speaker’s impedance from 8 to 4 Ohms and the speaker draws twice the current and power from the amplifier. This extra power gives an increase in apparent (though mythical) sensitivity. Once one manufacturer adopts the strategy, others feel obliged to follow.’
A 4 ohm speaker actually draws 2W when provided the voltage required to provide 1W into an 8 ohm speaker so a 93db 4 ohm speaker is no easier to drive than a 90db 8 ohm one!
Valves for sale – £offers …
2 x Gold Lion KT88 (4 hours use)
2 x Mullard EL84 (Heavier use)
4 x Philips/Sylvania ECG 2C51 NOS
1 x Siemens E88CC (Gold pins, little use)
1 x Carbon anode Raytheon 6080 WE (Little use)
Offers
Nottingham Analogue Tracer 3 cartridge.
With broken cantilever. Genuine spares available from Tonar.
Excellent sound quality when working.
Sennheiser HD 25-1 headphones.
One driver damaged – not through overdriving.
No lead.
Will put on Ebay if don’t sell soon.
Reasonable offer accepted.
Transcription Audio mono-blocks. £950
Mono-block tri-wired battery powered power amplifiers with a pair of tri-wired B&W DM2 series 2 loudspeakers to match the amps included.
MDF casework.
3 x 50W channels per amp.
Include battery charger power transformers.
Silver ribbon signal cabling in ptfe,
Audio Note silver sockets.
Mundorf input capacitors.
Mild steel support brackets. £150
PAIR OF MILD STEEL SUPPORT BRACKETS. 6MM WALL MOUNTING PLATES DRILLED FOR ANCHORING TO WALL (CHECK BEARING CAPACITY OF WALL PRIOR TO INSTALLATION AND FIXING TYPE) 50MM X 50MM X5MM MS ANGLES WELDED TO PLATES TO PROVIDE SUPPORT. UPPERMOST BRACKET ARMS WITH THREADED BOLT ADJUSTERS FROM BELOW TO ALLOW LEVELLING (SUPPLIED). (LOWER BRACKETS NO ADJUSTMENT- USE SHIMS / SIMILAR (NOT SUPPLIED) IF ADJUSTMENT IS REQUIRED) BRACKETS ARE DESIGNED TO BE FINISHED WITH SAME PAINT AS WALL PLANE TO BLEND IN, AND AS SUCH, WILL COME WITH RAL 9010 MATT DULUX PAINT COLOUR PICTURED.
Gold Note CD-7 with top of the range Favard upgrades – £1200
The compact CD-7 was always very musical.
This is a custom-built one-off Gold Note supplied to me with upgrades from the top of the range Favard including its Burr Brown PCM 1792A DAC, components of its power supply including the power regulator and OP as well as the Clock.
The idea being to have a really compact CD player of superior quality.
DIMENSIONS: Width 200mm x Height 80mm x Depth 260mm
Superb and at my cost price.
Tektron TK2A350S REF power amplifier. £2000
Ex-dem with 10 hours of use.
Fascinating power amp with adjustable heater voltage allowing use of different output triodes – 45, 2a3, 300B, VT 50 &52.
Can use UX245, UX345, KR 242 and type 46 with adaptors.
Currently has Electro Harmonix 300B Golds.
JAN 5Z3 rectifier.
Retails for £3750 + VAT.
‘SME’ RCA plugs.
Many years ago I used to curse the overly complex 4-5 piece RCA plugs which were often referred to as ‘SME’ plugs.
I don’t know if SME made them but they were dreadful.
Often attached to arm leads the wires would shear, come loose and cause all sorts of intermittent problems.
The screen wires were trapped by a threaded portion which would soon enough break off the filaments or develop a loose connection.
To my surprise, some Chord cables use a similar design of RCA plug with a plastic outer casing.
My Chord iChord lead has been very unreliable with the centre pins sometimes sticking in the socket and the plastic body sliding off the plug (hence the ugly glue fix) and the same issues with the screen- pinching piece needing tightening and the screen coming detached.
Now, the last straw, the earth has sheared causing a rare drive-unit to be blown…
Peerless 100-20 co-ax drivers – offers
Rare 9 inch drivers with tweeter on frame in front of bass-driver dust cap.
Alnico magnets.
Not the first time I find a good co-axial driver outperforms a good full ranger. E.g. Visaton B200, Fostex etc.
Peerless did not bother replying regarding driver parameters but sensitivity seems very high – about 95db.
Original Jensen caps (which measure fine) supplied but have replaced them just in case. – see image.
Gold Note Mediterraneo turntable in walnut – £4250
Ex-dem £4295.
Hardly used.
Walnut is the best sounding version.
With B5.1 arm and dust cover.
Electronic speed control.
Class-leading sound quality and ease of use.
Will include new cartridge!
Retail for this spec. is £5445.
These images are of my original Olive wood demonstrator, not the walnut which is darker.
Audioflair
There has been some confusion about our status. We never traded as Audioflair Ltd. We applied to be a Ltd Co to protect the Audioflair name but it remained dormant until it was voluntarily dissolved by us in 2016. I have always been a sole trader and still am.