BBC LS5/1A Western Electric 124 Conrad Johnson Premier 7 Soundsales AM 8/1 Jorgen Schou No. 251

Click all pics to enlarge. Many more pics with captions at bottom. jules' living room is small, but the sound with the LS5/1A is big!

Virtual Home Visits (8): BBC LS5/1A, Western Electric 124, Conrad Johnson Premier 7, Soundsales AM 8/1, Jorgen Schou No. 251, and other goodies

Editor: I have known Jules for over 25 years. Jules is an engineer involved in a lot of Hong Kong development projects, quite a busy man! With two kids, I have no idea how he finds the energy to acquire so many audio classics. Jules is also a classical music fanatic and still buys CDs regularly in addition to streaming via bluetooth.

Regular readers will recognize him as a frequent host of our HK home visits. Truth to tell, by the end of my stay in HK, I was not that keen on home visits, except when there are rare gears to be heard, and jules surely gave us several surprises. In particular, I urge you to read my last visit, a mammoth but informative article about more than the RARE LS5/1A and jules' Reel-to-Reel setup; in that article you will also earn how a CD Transport and DAC can drastically degrade the sound (The visit before that is also a good read as it reported on how a "respectable" modern loudspeaker got trampled by a vintage one).

At the end, I shall write some Footnotes.

Not surprisingly with Jules, equipment has changed quite a bit!

Analog: Garrard 301 with 2 arms - SME 3012s1/Ortofon SPU AE/Jorgen Schou step up and Decca arm/Decca mk2 [Editor: see Footnote 1]
CD transport: Forsell Air Bearing Reference Mk2
Bluetooth: Cheapie from Taobao
DAC: Totaldac D12 dac
R2R: Studer A807 and Telefunken M21
Phonoamps:-Built-in Phono of CJ P7 (below) or Diatonic Precision DP10 (solid state, HK brand) [Editor: see Footnote 2]
Preamp: Conrad Johnson Premier 7 [Editor: see Footnote 2]
Power amp: Western Electric 124 or Soundsales AM 8/1 [Editor: see Footnote 3]
Speakers: KEF LS5/1a

It's too bad I cannot be there!

Editor's Footnotes: 

• 1) For better pics of this and other Decca cartridges, see my home visit to Kevin, another Decca arm/cartridge user, here. The Step-Up Transformer uses the rare vintage Jorgen Schou No. 251 that is supposedly a perfect match for some SPU's.

• 2) Having heard so many CJ preamps (and used the PV10), the only one that attracts me is the P7, which I have not heard. This is a classic (read J Gordon Holt's stereophile article for details), and I am particularly interested in its use of 6GK5 which is also used in my Melos 222. Jules and I listen in much the same way and we both agree that the CJ P2 and P3, so prevalent in my NYC circle, are just too sluggish sounding. Jules said the P7 is more neutral sounding, and he prefers its tubed phonostage's dynamic bloom to the HK brand's solid state.

• 3) WE 124 needs no introduction and has appeared in this blog many times. Unless you are from the UK, you'd not have heard of Soundsales. This vintage amp maker was associated with the BBC. If you google "Soundsales AM 8/1" you find almost nothing in writing, but if you switch to image search, there are a lot of pics, many originating from HK. Apparently, there is a cult following. I asked Raymond what's the difference between the Soundsales and the WE, which is much more expensive as they are tubed with WE tubes, he said:" ...124 聲音更多內在變化起伏，絕不拖泥帶水，節奏明快，而高中音帶有西電 DNA 的 吸引力。雖然 8/1 輸出比 124 大一倍，但聽感上 124 的驅動力更強更豐富...." the WE 124 is superior in microdynamics and rhythm and pace, and its treble and midrange of course has the mesmerizing quality unique to the WE DNA. Although the power of the Soundsales is supposedly twice that of the WE, subjectively the WE 124 is grander and more effortless in its drive..." There! As I expected.

Garrard 301; Decca Arm/Cartridge in the back; SME 3012/SPU in front

Jorgen Schou Step Up Transformers

Forsell on top, multibox Totaldac below

Studer R2R

From top to bottom: SS Phonoamp, PSU and Dual Chassis of CJ

WE 124 and vintage Step Down Transformer

Telefunken R2R

Soundsales AM 8/1 (pic from the net)