I’m considering the Korf ceramic arm. Any impressions you can share?
What turntables do you use? Pictures would be nice as well :-)
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Really good to know. I’ll try pairing it with something a bit more lush and romantic as that’s my hope with the 2nd system. What cartridge do you like in it?it´s veery clean, fast and if your system is on the lean side, you don´t get any help
Rowland Complement was pretty good......also Kiseki Purpleheart NOS
Guess a Hana Umami Red would be nice as well and in the upper range Koetsu or even top SPUs
Guess a Hana Umami Red would be nice as well and in the upper range Koetsu or even top SPUs
Any opinions on the Luxman PD-444 (or 441)? How do they stack up to, say, the Technics SP10mk2? Or a modern direct-drive like the STST Motus? On the 444, the provision for two arms and the two sliding "sleds" for mounting them seem really nice.
Are the vintage Luxman serviceable? Or do you have to know the right person in the right state/country?
I'm also toying with trying to find a Micro 1500 or 3000 or 5000. Something that can take multiple arms. Though I'm not sure if anything more than two arms on the Micros is really convenient. Cuing from the front or the left side always seemed really awkward to me.. The 8000 looks incredible but is probably out of my budget.
Are the vintage Luxman serviceable? Or do you have to know the right person in the right state/country?
I'm also toying with trying to find a Micro 1500 or 3000 or 5000. Something that can take multiple arms. Though I'm not sure if anything more than two arms on the Micros is really convenient. Cuing from the front or the left side always seemed really awkward to me.. The 8000 looks incredible but is probably out of my budget.
SUTs:
Altec 15095, DaVa cu, DaVa ag/cu, 2xParmeko, Denon AU340 DIY, Supex SDT1000 , MCT2 Altec/Peerless 4722 clone
also have riaa onboard DaVa cu mono and S&B TX103
totally 5 MM and 2MC riaa inputs at the flick of a switch
Well you certainly have come a long way from that Linn & Naim system! Nice kit now.Yes, Linn and Naim were huge back in the early 1980's with very little competition at the high end of the HiFi market.
I listened to my first high end (at that time) HiFi system at a Linn and Naim Dealer in Birmingham UK in the early 1980's i.e. a Linn LP12 with Linn Ittok arm (can't remember what the cartridge was) with a Naim tri-amp system linked to Linn Isobariks. They played rock i.e. Led Zep, PInk Floyd, Deep Purple.
It was an amazing introduction to high end HiFi systems which set me on my path as a HiFi system fanatic.
After listening to this amazing hi-end Linn & Naim system, they then set up a more basic and much cheaper Linn LP12 and Naim system to listen too that may be in my reach to purchase. It wasn't even close to the high end System I had just listened too and was a bit disappointing. However, the Dealer told them that you have to start somewhere and I could upgrade over time to the bigger system !
I therefore bought this Linn & Naim basic small system i.e. a Linn LP12 with the basic arm (can't remember the cartridge fitted) and the small Naim pre-amp and power amp with the small Linn Kann Speakers with Naim and Linn cabling.
I remember having to get a big personal loan out with help from my Mum for the deposit and pay off this small Linn & Naim from my meager Apprenticeship salary lol
I remember travelling home with it, with the LP12 on my front seat and being ultra careful of not upsetting the Dealer set-up of the LP12 and setting it up at home (yes had to set up the whole system myself as the Dealer wasn't prepared to travel relatively long distance to my one bedroom Batchelor pad apartment in Coventry (even though it was only approx. 20 miles away). I built a wall shelf for the Linn LP12 and installed the Naim equipment on a cheap second hand hifi system rack (think it was from a company called Sound Organization ???).
I also remember playing different genres of music from rock to pop to classical and being very disappointed as the bass was non existent although the high mid range and treble were ultra clear (too clear in fact with the sound being icy cold) with very good instrument separation and a relatively decent sound stage for such small speakers in a small room.
I did keep this basic Linn LP12 and Naim system for a very long time moving from property to property with it and having the LP12 re-set by the Linn Dealer every time I moved it (mainly due to having no finance for luxury items i.e. upgrading to the bigger Naim system as got married when I was very young in my early twenties with two daughters and a wife to look after and a high mortgage loan on my first house !).
I never really enjoyed this small basic Linn & Naim system due to the above sonic issues.
After 25+ years I finally sold it as I was just not using it and it was collecting dust.
I dabbled in some of the British equipment back in the day too. The early Linn turntable I didn't really fancy and I found many of the speakers bass shy as I became a double Advent fan early on. The BoothRoyd Stuart Meridian 101 pre and 105 mono block amps found their way into my system for awhile. As I recall I was using the DCM TimeWindow speakers and an Oracle turntable with probably a Grado or Supex cartridge. I remember it as being a pretty good system, perhaps a little on the dry side.
Interesting enough I didn't get caught up in the Naim hype until around 2001. Around that time I finally considered buying a CD player. Up until then I was firmly in the analogue camp finding digital sound rather lacking and frankly annoying. Reviews seemed to indicate that CDs and their players were improving so I thought I would check things out. Pretty much everything I was hearing in the Audio Salons still was not very good. Until! I can't remember how I got onto Naim, I remembered them from the olive Amp days but there were no dealers in Calgary. As it turned out there was this guy who sold Naim out of his apartment by appointment only. So yeah I went and he had all this Naim stuff crammed into a tiny apartment. He had a few of their CD players which he played and they sounded better than anything I had heard up to that point, more analogue, lol! I left with a Naim CD5 and the Flatcap power supply to demo at home, I still have them in my system!
Thank you AudioHR for your kind words. Much appreciated.
Still feel I have a long way to go yet though in satisfying my curiosities and to reach for my final HiFi system(s). I need to get out more though and listen to different systems that are on my bucket list to listen to !
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