Click Pics to Enlarge. Tannoy Canterbury HE behind Spendor SP-100.
Virtual Home Visit (5): Tannoy Canterbury HE and Spendor SP100
The name of my HK yumcha friend trazom used to come up quite often in after yumcha activities (dealer or home visits), yet I haven't really written an update for quite a while. Trazom is Mozart backwards, what a moniker! Maybe I should call myself Renkcurb or Hcivokatsohs, Bruckner and Shostakovich in reverse. Almost unique among HK audiophiles, although trazom listens to all kinds of music, his heart belongs to opera.
Early in our acquaintanceship, I wrote in detail about him in 2009 (here and here). He gradually fell under our influence and became a very different kind of audiophile (tube oriented) and took up vinyl again. Two years later, I sold him my Spendor SP-100 and he acquired tubed preamp and monoblocks from YS Audio (here). Although 2015 was the last time I wrote about him, up till the time I left HK, I have actually listened to his setup several times. In the interim, he had upgraded his YS amps. I then lent him the Leben RS-28CX Preamp, then sold him the EAR 912 Preamp. Before I left HK, I lent him both my Tannoy Canterbury HE's and EAR 509 monoblocks. His current setup:
CDP: Lyngdorf CD-2; Esoteric K-03
Analog: Thorens TD-125/SME 3009; Zorin Setup
Phonoamp: YS Audio Concerto Plus MC
Preamp: EAR 912; Leben RX-28CX
Amp: YS Audio KT-120 monoblocks; EAR 509 monoblocks
From Right, from Top to bottom; Zorin TT, YS Phono; EAR 912, 509; Esoteric, EAR 509; Thorens, Leben, Lyngdorf.
A word about the analogue setup. Around the time trazom updraded his YS Audio Amps, he bought the Zorin Turntable (YS is distributor in HK). Zorin is a Taiwanese company that now only maintains a Facebook Page. Its products are very beautiful and competitive in price. I was not really enamored of the sound. While very good, it seemed to lack something, soul perhaps. One day, out of the blue, trazom called me and said there was a used Thorens TD-125 with SME 3009 arm for sale for around USD500 and I told him to jump on it without delay, which he did. I heard it later and, yes, that was the kind of sound I like!
Every audiophile is different in his preference and his ways. The Spendor SP-100 and Tannoy Canterbury always sounded a little tighter at trazom's than at my place.
He also put together something in his study. I sold him my pair of the famed Pioneer S-A4SPT-VP (evaluated here), and I see he has paired them with an old Pioneer receiver!
trazom's other hobby is to build toy models (mostly Japanese designs, OEM'ed in China). During the Lockdown, he built many kits, See below:
Preamp: EAR 912; Leben RX-28CX
Amp: YS Audio KT-120 monoblocks; EAR 509 monoblocks
From Right, from Top to bottom; Zorin TT, YS Phono; EAR 912, 509; Esoteric, EAR 509; Thorens, Leben, Lyngdorf.
A word about the analogue setup. Around the time trazom updraded his YS Audio Amps, he bought the Zorin Turntable (YS is distributor in HK). Zorin is a Taiwanese company that now only maintains a Facebook Page. Its products are very beautiful and competitive in price. I was not really enamored of the sound. While very good, it seemed to lack something, soul perhaps. One day, out of the blue, trazom called me and said there was a used Thorens TD-125 with SME 3009 arm for sale for around USD500 and I told him to jump on it without delay, which he did. I heard it later and, yes, that was the kind of sound I like!Every audiophile is different in his preference and his ways. The Spendor SP-100 and Tannoy Canterbury always sounded a little tighter at trazom's than at my place.
He also put together something in his study. I sold him my pair of the famed Pioneer S-A4SPT-VP (evaluated here), and I see he has paired them with an old Pioneer receiver!
trazom's other hobby is to build toy models (mostly Japanese designs, OEM'ed in China). During the Lockdown, he built many kits, See below:
Posts
Thorns TT with 3009 for 500usd, what a deal!
ReplyDeleteIn HK, space is at a premium and bulkier things often beg for buyers. Many bargains around. No such luck in the US.
DeleteCool banana, I should arrange visit with trazom sometime to audition how the EAR combo work with the Tannoy Canterbury!
ReplyDeleteI think he's not using them. He is using all balanced connection between EAR 912 and YS monoblocks. The 509 does not have balanced input (unlike 549).
DeleteBUT, tell you this, the 509 is just dynamite with Tannoy. 小寶 thinks it is the best sound he has heard from the Tannoy. Also, remember my article where the 509 killed Andy's CJ? :-)
Ya, I'd like that!