Question for Woodsyi. Are you enjoying the UB40 albums?

michaelmickj7 · « **on:** 11 Jan 2006, 02:41 pm »

Hi Woodsyi, just wondering if you liked the UB40 albums you bought.

woodsyi · « **Reply #1 on:** 11 Jan 2006, 03:08 pm »

Hey Mick,

Yes, I am impressed with Signing Off and Present Arms. I didn't know that they include instrumental 45s in there -- very cool. My wife remembered that they had instrumental jams in concert. Unfortunately I didn't get a chance to see them.

I also got an EP with Chrissie Hynde on a song. I had to get it since I am a big Pretenders (Chrissie

) fan. What have you done with your preamp?

michaelmickj7 · « **Reply #2 on:** 12 Jan 2006, 10:32 am »

I've almost gone insane researching pre amps and amps that I've decided to leave it for a while and just save up for a bit.The trouble is here in my home town of Liverpool there's a shortage of good Hi-Fi shops for some reason, and the ones that interest me I would have to buy on peoples advice (such as yourself).

I think the problem with my system is the power amp.From the reviews I've read where people have compared the pre and amp in isolation with other products they say the pre amp is on the warm side and the power amp although 100 wpc is a little lean.I was seriously considering getting the Bryston 4B-SST which is has lot of power probably a lot more than I need for my room, but apparently they do really good bass and they're a great match to my PMC speakers which are their UK distributors.
I've been told the extra headroom of the amp would myake the speakers "sing".

I was also considering DK Design intergrated which has had really good reviews but a couple of people mentioned it's midrange had some glare.I've emailed the company for advice as the reviews were for the MII and there's a MIII out now.A dealer in the Uk said it's the best intergrated he's heard under £5000, but he would say that of course.
Also considered the Bryston B100 SST intergrated but it's over £3000 here but has a phono stage and a headphone socket plus the twenty year guarantee. Also considere the Lvardin intergrated(the middle one).
It's been driving me crazy so I'm trying not to think about it.i should stick to spending all my money on beer,it makes the sound so much better anyway.
I may just buy a new cartridge - grado reference master or Musicmaker III.

Anyway glad you like the UB40.If you get a chance try to get some of their 12' releases, such as The Earth Dies Screaming and Love is Alright, they're great,for the old basslines.
If you see any on the UK ebay site I'd be happy to put a bid in and send it over for you. Another great album I think you may like is by a another Britsih reggae band called Steel Pulse-the album being Handsworth Revolution - the title track must have one of the best basslines ever.The album would be in my top five reggae albums of all time,and they were Bob marley's favourite band.

regards,
Mick.

woodsyi · « **Reply #3 on:** 12 Jan 2006, 01:58 pm »

Mick,

I think it's time to chill on the equipment and just sit back and enjoy the music with your fine ales and bitters. I hear you are going metric and will not be serving beers by pints anymore. Is that right? It will be so strange to say, "one half liter please."

Quote

I was also considering DK Design intergrated which has had really good reviews but a couple of people mentioned it's midrange had some glare.I've emailed the company for advice as the reviews were for the MII and there's a MIII out now.A dealer in the Uk said it's the best intergrated he's heard under £5000, but he would say that of course.

I haven't heard this thing but it made the list here for "the most underwhelming equipment." From the commentary of a few people I gather that this is a very finnicky piece that will either be fabulous with your system or a real stinker. After the initial glowing review and heavy marketing, many (mK2) were purchased. Most of them took a bath trying to resell it. Last one on Audiogon sold for $999.99. I would definitely audition any DK Design gear in your system before buying. If it works, it would be a good bargain; if not, run and don't look back.

Another factor you may consider is your TT set up. I run two and I get totally different sound out of each. For Reggae I use my Oracle/SME/Koetsu/Art Audio (tt/arm/cart/pre) combination. It gives the best thumping bassline and rich midrange. On the other hand, my Basis/Rega/Benz Micro/EAR combination gives the most exquisite details and airy highs -- great for female vocal recitals and string ensembles. What TT set up do you have? Ooops, I didn't mean to get your head spinning with yet more gear considerations. Forget what I said.

Thanks for the music recommendation and I will look it up.

Have a pint on me!

P.S. What do the Liverpoolians think of the Beatles -- sick of them or can't say enough good things about them?

michaelmickj7 · « **Reply #4 on:** 12 Jan 2006, 02:54 pm »

I think even the French have given up trying to persuade us to give up on our pints now.The European Union have to stick their noses into every little affair of ours. They have stringent rules on everything from the shape of bananas to what can be termed chocalate.I think they're still pissed off the Americans and Commonwealth(British) baled them out in WWII.

Us Liverpudlians (if you heard my accent you'd understand why it's pudlians and not poolians) mostly like the Beatles to be honest.There's a Beatles festival each year and littelrally hundreds of bands come over to play - not all Beatles music by the way-and thousands of people from all over fill the hotles up, so it's can't be a bad thing.Liverpool has had a really bad press over the years especially during the Thatcher years as the local council was run by Left wingers who ooposed her.it had high unemployment and many social problems and the reputation has stuck although it's meant to be the safest city in Britain.Most people who come here seem to love it and I think Bill bryson the travel writer said it was his favourite city, although he said it looked like we were having a litter festival when he came over.If you and the missus ever fancy a trip over give me shout.

My system is Gyrodec, with a Tom Evans DC PSU, Schroeder Model 2 arm, Dynavector DV20x HO and Graham Slee phono stage, going into Musical Fidelity pre/amp and PMC speakers.Speaker cable is LAT bi-wire and JPS interconnects.
I'm also thinking of the Musicmaker cartrdige or Grado which are supposde to have really good bass. Also whether speaker cables may improve things like Analysis plus although they're expensive over here.

Marbles · « **Reply #5 on:** 12 Jan 2006, 03:14 pm »

Sorry to butt in on this thread...

Can you afford a Tom Evans amp?

Also some VERY VERY good speaker cables are the Gregg Straley Reality cables.

$225 USD 8' pair

Their price is much lower than their performance.

Shipping shouldn't be too bad.

http://www.realitycables.com/

Bryston amps always seem a bit lean sounding to me.

woodsyi · « **Reply #6 on:** 12 Jan 2006, 03:20 pm »

Quote from: Marbles

Sorry to butt in on this thread...
Bryston amps always seem a bit lean sounding to me.

Rob,

Your inputs are always welcome. I had heard that but I never heard the Bryston amps. So, it's good to have some one who heard them chime in.

michaelmickj7 · « **Reply #7 on:** 12 Jan 2006, 07:28 pm »

Thanks Rob , I'll check the cables out. I have LAT which are silver fused or something so I want copper to hopefully give a fuller sound.

I have a Tom Evans DC PSU for my Gyrdocec which cost me £700.It has worked wonders for the Gyrodec, better bass and more PRAT,but I think his stuff may be out of my proce range.
I'll still check his stuff out though.

I was reading about Audio Oasis gear before and it looks interesting.Have you heard any of their stuff?.

By the way woodsyi thanks for the tip about the DK Design also.

cheers.

woodsyi · « **Reply #8 on:** 12 Jan 2006, 08:24 pm »

Mick,

I am sure you have seen this review. http://www.enjoythemusic.com/magazine/equipment/0305/dynavectordv20xh.htm When I was auditioning for carts, I almost always liked LO MC's over MM and HO MC's. As in anything audio, you have to find synergy but your cart may be what is holding your bass down (in volume). Adding a MC head amp (Elevator EXP for you) would open up a whole lot of possibilities in LO MC carts that are excellent in bass. Having said, one MM that is supposed to be good with bass is Clearaudio Virtuoso Wood. Review: http://www.audiophilia.com/hardware/hw2.htm
As you would have it, there is one on sale on audiogon at a fair pric for a NIB unit. http://cls.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls.pl?anlgcart&1141425116

When you next cross the big pond, give me a holler and I will give you a guided tour of Washington, DC followed, of course, by spinning some vinyl in my cozy lair.

jqp · « **Reply #9 on:** 13 Jan 2006, 03:36 am »

Quote from: woodsyi

Hey Mick,
I also got an EP with Chrissie Hynde on a song. I had to get it since I am a big Pretenders (Chrissie ) fan.

I think I have (had) that Chrissie Hynde song on CCCP - Live In Moscow

I don't have the CD anymore just the case

but I belive she does "I Got You Babe"?

woodsyi · « **Reply #10 on:** 13 Jan 2006, 12:55 pm »

Quote from: jqp

I think I have (had) that Chrissie Hynde song on CCCP - Live In Moscow

I don't have the CD anymore just the case but I belive she does "I Got You Babe"?

That's the song. The EP I got is titled Little Baggariddim and includes One In Ten and I Got You Babe with Chrissie Hynde and Dub Version. I never realized how much more there is to UB40 than Red Red Wine.

michaelmickj7 · « **Reply #11 on:** 13 Jan 2006, 01:08 pm »

Thanks Woodsyi, thanks for the offer if I ever have enough money to go to the States I'll look you up. Likewise if you fancy a trip over here to sample our warm beer and sample the delights of a football(soccer) match you're more than welcome to stay.

I've read about the Clearaudio before and heard it was good.
I believe the Musicmaker has excellent bass also,apparently works well with the Schroeder arms and maybe cheaper over here.I'll have look though.

Trouble is with reviews there's an endless amount where the reviewer seems to love every component and it becomes really confusing.I think each reviewer should make a list of their favourite gear and and maybe a list of suitable matching components.I don't know whether it's me but the reviewers seem to favour stuff which is very very detailed, maybe they like this stuff for reviewing gear.

On the subject of UB40 they've also done a few dreadful albums later on where they went for commercial sounds, as they nearly went bankrupt a few years back, probably due to giving free 12' recordings free with every album.As your wife will testify they're even better live,but I can't ever see them packing it in so there's a good chance you'll be able to see them at some stage.

woodsyi · « **Reply #12 on:** 13 Jan 2006, 04:22 pm »

Being domestic, perhaps you can get a deal on Musicmaker. If you see a deal on that cartridge damping gizmo (<$100?) over there, I would be interested.

I would love to see the Reds at Anfield (old or new?) They are playing some beautiful ball right now, aren't they? I tend to follow clubs that has Americans on the squad but I try to keep up with the top teams. I once got in a heated discussion with a busfull of blokes from New Castle about American football (soccer) in Whitby. Apparently they just hop on a bus and drive south to get away from their wives and go drinking. At least that's what one of them said.
Real friendly those northerners! One of them knew all the drinking holes in Washington, D.C. better than me.

michaelmickj7 · « **Reply #13 on:** 14 Jan 2006, 10:13 am »

I'll keep an eye out for any offers on the isolator but I've only seen it here for £85.00 which is probably more than $100. Seems an awful lot of money for what it is.They'll say the costs cover R&D but I can't see a cottage company like Slee developing a material rather testing lots of materials available.

I'm amazed at your football knowledge,I didn't think the Americans took to it.As for the Geordies (people from Newcastle) they are reknowned for their drinking, rather like the Scots,but without the aggression.The one's I've met have always been really nice friendly people(salt of the earth as the say over here).They are amazingly loyal to their team even though they have hardly won anything in their history which is amazing for a football mad city with only one team. Liverpool has two teams the other being Everton.Everyones really optimistic about Liverpool and the way they are going.It's a pity Chelsea have one of the richest men in the owlrd backing them,as no-one else has a chance of signing a player that Chelsea may be interested.

I'm thinking of going the intergrated route now maybe a Rogue Audio Tempest,an Audio Research VSi55 or I have seen an Ex-demo BAT VK300X. There a re two versions of the BAT,standard and super tubed so I think it's a standard one,and I'm not sure if the Rogue would better it.The only reviews I can find are for those of the supertubed version.

I may post something on here to see if anyone has experienced the standard version or Rogue.

all the best,
Mick.

michaelmickj7 · « **Reply #14 on:** 14 Jan 2006, 10:15 am »

By the way it's still the old Anfield -45,000 capacity but when the Reds play midweek in Europe there's no-where in the world with a better atmosphere.It will be a pity when the build the new one,and hopefully it will retain a good atmosphere.