[1UP]

Hi all,

After reading the US auditions thread, I'm really eager to hear an Aspen setup.  

Are there any UK owners (preferably in the South East - I live in London, myself) who could oblige?  

Cheers.

[AKSA]

Nick, David,

Any other SE UK AKSAphiles, would you be happy to talk with Alec (aka 1UP)?

We've had quite a dialogue, but I suggested he post any concerns on this forum to get more of a feel for the AKSA kits from someone other than the owner of the business!!  

Cheers,

Hugh

[Grumpy_Git]

I'm in the UK I moved to Chelmsford a while ago but could possibly entertain or even unplug the beastie and bring it round to south london, it would be an excuse to visit my parents for the weekend.

I'm limited with my time as I'm currently trying to get a real job developing HiFirather than traffic signals. Also my other half lives away from me and I have to visit her occasionally or she gets moody.

The only other point is that I "only" have a 55N, cant afford the gk1, (I'm gonna miss my chance) Not sure I want toobs anyway.

It might force me to sort out my interconnect sockets as they occasionally short on the casework as I used a blunt handdrill to create the holes.  



Nick.

[andyr]

... It might force me to sort out my interconnect sockets as they occasionally short on the casework as I used a blunt handdrill to create the holes ...

Wow!  A blunt hand-drill for 3/8" holes!  That shure is dedication for you!  How many hours did each hole take?

I'm afraid I use an old electric drill for those (simple!) holes ... it's making the bloody IEC "oblongs" that really pisses me off!!    Lots of 1/16" drill holes, then a fine metal saw and then lots of filing!!

Hope you are able to show Alec the AKSA sound!  Mebbe he'll bring in a case of Guinness to help the evening go by?

Regards,

Andy

[Grumpy_Git]

It took........ forever, not to mention the ventilation on the bottom of the case so get the air moving.  

Squares are easier, just use a dremel with a cutting wheel, like a hot knife through butter, or at least they are the right shape and size.

I'm more than willing to share if i we can agree a time and place.

Nick.

[1UP]

Cheers, Nick!  That would be majorly kind, but I'm in North London myself, just off the A1.

How about we pencil in some time for an upcoming weekend?

[Grumpy_Git]

I'm also in North London a lot so PM me and we can sort something out, you'll have to throw dates at me and see what we can arrange, where abouts are you?

There arent enough hours in the day.

Nick.

[RonR]

Hi Alec,

I have a GK-1R and 55n+,  and I live just outside London in Kent.

I'm about to have builders descend on my house at the moment, but I could bring them to North London for an evening for an audition.

Maybe I could come along at the same time as Nick? I've not heard any other AKSAs apart from my own, and you could both have a chance to hear the GK-1 as well.

Cheers,

Ron.

[Grumpy_Git]

You are the devil   , I'm trying to convince myself I dont want a GK1 as I can't really afford it and now you are offering me a listen? Its not fair............ Ok then, I'm game.

Nick.

[AKSA]

Ron, Grumpy,

Thank you very much for this helpful, affable dialogue - it's great that you can compare notes, so to speak, I will be very interested to hear what Nick and Alec think of the sound of the amp with the GK1 in front of it.

Of course, it's all very well for me........!  

Cheers,

Hugh

[1UP]

Thanks, lads!  All welcome round mine.  I can provide pizza and  Guinness!  Please PM with which weekend / days good for you guys when you know.

[1UP]

*** bump *** - waiting to hear back from PMs sent to grumpy git and ronr - I'm ready and waiting to hear your amps now      or indeed anyone else in the London area  

[Grumpy_Git]

RonR

Alec and myself have arranged to meet up this saturday, fancy joining us?

Hugh, any chance of waiting till monday for a reply on what we spoke about so i can see if Ron can convince me for you? If not I'll make a decision tonight.

Nick.

[RonR]

Thanks Alec, for hosting a very informative and enjoyable afternoon, and to Nick for providing such a varied and interesting mix of music! It's always good to meet such enthusiastic and knowledgable people.

Musically, we tried just about every genre we could think of, from Blue Grass to Rock, Classical to solo voice, with the AKSAs performing admirably on each.

From my point of view it was great to hear the 55N+ and GK-1 with a truly hi-fi CD signal, it's something sadly lacking in my system. (HINT to Hugh: the DAKSA would be an ideal solution! )

I hope I was able to help you both with your decisions on whether to 'Take the plunge' on your purchases.

Cheers,

Ron.

[AKSA]

Hi Ron,

Many thanks to you and Nick for showing Alex the AKSA lineup.  This is above and beyond, and I'm most grateful.  Hopefully he will take the plunge and join our happy throng;  I've found these decisions are very largely confidence.  Having met both of you, he knows it's all possible, and doable, but the decision must of course be his alone.

Take the point on the DAKSA!  I'm up to my neck in alligators at present, doing some consulting work on a high end turntable with Ben which will incorporate real time remote control adjustment of tracking angle.  After that it's a cheaper variant using a drive motor of our design.  Can you imagine?  It ain't simple;  I'm doing mechanical design and pcbs, Ben is doing digital control, with some very fancy bidirectional control on the remote, with a backlit LCD.  This turntable will sell for megabucks in the US and is already earning accolades in early reviewer testing.

Cheers,

Hugh

[1UP]

My deepest thanks to both Nick and Ron for making the trip; we had a really memorable afternoon listening to loads of great music, through several great amps!      

Nick has the patience of a saint and answered all my dumb questions of DIY and amps in general; also a very diverse taste and interesting selection of music!

Ditto Ron, but OMFG has everyone seen the quality of Ron's amps?    We were joking we should hijack a room at the Heathrow show, put Ron's GK1R and 55N+ up against all comers - pretty safe bet we'd walk away with much £££ in orders at the end of the day  

And the sound!  Revelatory is the word.  Suffice to say I've never heard such a high quality sound in my flat before - and I'm not sure whether any one component was the star (Ron says it's the synergy/combination of the pre-power that brings the performance to a higher level), but was pretty certain/stunned near-into the session that my speakers were in fact holding them back   (trust me, I've heard my speakers with very expensive commercial amps and never felt they were the limiting factor).

Along with the unnerving goosbumps-response (that I've never really got from listening to hi-fi), the outstanding memory for me was of how gorgeous female vocals come across, so vivid, real, yet wrapped up in silk - just lovely!!!   Is it the tubes, I wonder?

Congrats, Hugh!  And apologies to Nick - I think the listening session cost him a bit of cash by the end of it!

I'm off to to get some books on electronics and a soldering iron.  I may be some time!  

[RonR]

Hi Alec,

Glad to hear that you've decided to join the happy band!

You asked:

Is it the tubes, I wonder?

Hugh will be able to tell you exactly what part the tubes play, but for me, they 'set the tone' of the GK-1's voice.

The first set of tubes we listened to in the GK-1 were (relatively) cheap no-name PCC88 miniwatts, which still sounded pretty good to me. The second set were by all accounts one of the best tubes for the GK-1 application, New Old Stock Siemens E188CC (7308 in non-european parlance). When I first tried the siemens tubes in the GK-1, they sounded right straight away, and I felt that they were what Hugh's design deserved.

My credit card disagreed.

It's now cowering in the corner at the mention of 'AKSA' and 'Turntable' in the same sentence!

[Grumpy_Git]

Hello all

I'm finally back in front of a computer so would also like to add my comments regarding two new friends with whom I can now associate a face to the monicor.

We had a fantastic afternoon, and I got to know Alec who is as passionate about music as anyone I have ever met, a byproduct being his interest in the actual kit. Some of his music that we listened to was wonderful. I shall be picking his brain for some names soon I have no doubt. He has a setup that puts mine to shame in all regards except one minor item, my AKSA  .

Ron turned up after a short listen and oh my gosh what kit, I must agree with alec, the finish on both amps is immaculate. Just ignore Ron if he tries to tell you otherwise, its the kind of details you can only notice if you made it yourself.

The GK1 was stunning even with the cheap tubes and the difference with alecs primaire we had been using earlier was more than obvious (sorry alec), I've never quite believed some of the claims here before, heretic that I am.

Then a quick shift to the Siemens tubes and we just left everything and started wandering through cd collections and beautiful aural landscapes. The setup made some of the vocalists sound like they had been gargling baby lotion they were so smooth, but put on some drums and they really kicked, and the guitars sounded like guitars. I want one!

Anyway, we eventually rolled round to half 5 and it was time to go, I've had a smile on my face till about an hour ago when I got back to mine and plugged everything back in, its just not enough for me anymore, everything is just hidden behind slack bass.

Thanks to both Alec for the venue, and both Ron and Alec for their equipment and music, I had one of the best afternoons for ages, I hope wecan get more potential customers together so we can convince them in such an entertaining way.

better go now I've got to write an email to Hugh,  

Nick.

PS: Next up a Turntable? There will be no point in even trying to Diy anything in the future, as Hugh will have it covered, DACs, Turntables, next is the Carbon dioxide powered automobile that produces Chocolate and Shiraz as a byproduct.

pps: Hugh, you've got mail