B and W Matrix 801 Mk II Garrard 301 Thorens 124 Lenco 75 DIY Tonearm Decca Cartridges

Click all pics to enlarge. The Ever Changing Landscape. Compared to before, the Infinity Ribbon Columns are further back, and the Resurrected B and W Matrix 801 are in more advantageous positions. 

Virtual Home Visits (2): Man of the Year at Work

Regular Readers know all about Kevin, our super-diligent friend who is constantly on the move. In my 2019 Year in Review (here) I named him "Man of the Year": "...This category is a First! Of course, it has to be Kevin, who has acquired and done so much this year that this blog has worked hard to track him. I thank him for all the good time, the great food, and of course for making my Thorens TD-124 arm board! His DIY and restoration efforts are also deserving of praise. I am still amazed by his DIY Tonearms (bottom pic; feel my admiration? description here) and Cactus Cantilever/Stylus (left pic, click to enlarge, here). This man re-invents himself virtually every minute; watch this space!.."

Well, that happened to be the last time he was mentioned in this blog! I actually saw him a couple more times before the lockdown but did not write about it. Fear not, his tinkering has not stopped. I just got a lot of pics from him to update you. He mostly worked on DIY turntable plinths and tonearms.

According to him, the sound just kept improving. Most gratifyingly, he resurrected his B and W 801 Mk II and now the sound fills the room (as it should, and didn't last time).

Sometime ago he helped repair the Wadia Transport of Andy's brother-in-law. He could not forget the sound (better than the computer for sure). He consulted with Andy and I about transports. I asked him to try out hid DVD players first. He did and told me the result with a Marantz was not bad (though not quite a Wadia). This morning I asked him to try Bluetooth; I hope to get something from him later! Sorry, no food pics...

A newly acquired Garrard 301 Grease Bearing, with DIY Plinth and Tonearm. Cartridge is

VdH tipped Decca Super Gold

Thorens TD-124 in a New Plinth, with Decca Professional Arm

and H4E Cartridge. Note a Pair of Bell 2122C Behind.

Lenco L-75. Note the Modifed Double Platter. The Plinth has a New Top. The DIY

Tonearm Employs SME Bearings. Cartridge is Ortofon MC-5000

 At the very back is the VPI with Decca SC4E Cartridge.

Next to the Thorens 124 is the Citation I

He is Working on his Digital (Computer Music) too. The box with the screen is the

Digital Interface, which connects to the small TEAC DAC next to it.An old

Marantz professional DVD Player serves as Disc Player.The cheap

Chinese "Blue Velvet" Tube Preamp Buffers the signal before the Preamp

B&W Matrix 801 Mk II, Gotham GAC-1 Ultra Pro

The Big Fat Ladies, flanked by the Altec A7's. In the rear: on shelves, from left, VPI Prime, Lenco GL-75 and Thorens TD-125;  on top of rack, McIntosh MC-30's flanking Harmon Kardon Citation I and Chinese Preamp; on the shelves, my two McIntosh C-20's and Conrad-Johnson Premier 3 Preamps; in front, Conrad-Johnson MV75 amp flanked by Chinese Blue Velvet Preamp (with regulation diode tubes).

B&W Matrix 801 Mk II and Gotham GAC-1 Ultra Pro
Making the Rounds, Again

This past Sunday the same old crowd gathered again, this time a full house. VAS Stephen's wife, and electronic wizard Paul put in rare appearances. First, We first visited R on Long Island. Then it was a rare Sunday for Kevin to be available, and we all went to his house in the late afternoon.

Click pics to enlarge. Top, a pair of Bell 2122's flanking the Marantz 8B; Right, half way through lunch.

Altec A5 + 6V6 amps
R's stuff has not changed much since my last report (here). This time James sourced a pair of Bell 2122 and restored them for him (using teflon caps), so this pair in the pic is now R's, not mine, which I took back last time (for more on the Bell 2122, read here). All remarked that this pair did not sound quite as open as my pair, though still very good. Such are the vagaries of vintage gear restoration, or perhaps the caps are not yet broken in.

I brought with me my long time reference loudspeaker cable for horns (and most others), the Belden 9497 (reported here). I am not surprised that it sounded substantially better than R's lamp cords (literally). They are not coming out of the system.

A few meters of cable did not even begin to repay R's excellent lunch of Roast Pork and Home-Made Sausages, garnished by a wonderfully citric Apple and Fennel Salad tossed with honeyed walnuts, all washed down with an excellent vintage Chilean Shiraz at its peak. Magnifico!

I sincerely thank R for having us to lunch twice in a month! We have to think of more toys to keep him going...

The Return of B&W Matrix 801 Mk II

Click pics to enlarge. Top, the Appetizers, mostly Cold Dishes; Clockwise from 3 O'Clock, Bamboo Shoots, Pig's Ear, Beef with Tripe, Sausages and Fish, surrounding a very nice Merlot; Below Right, Addition of the Lamb Soup, served with Noodles.

Serendipity! After talking with Andy and I, Kevin had pretty much decided he'd like a pair of B&W Matrix 801. Our great leader Andy then happened to spot a pair for sale, and Kevin drove two hours to pick them up.

This is a pair of Mk II's in mint condition, with original boxes, and obviously well taken care of. They were inherited, which the seller then used for a while before re-boxing them.

The B&W 801 Mk II is one of the best loudspeakers I have heard (my experience). I am really glad that this pair is now in the possession of Kevin, as I'll get to hear it.

These as yet do not have proper stands. Kevin had improvised a pair of stop-gap stands which I am sure he will replace with something more suitable in due course.

At first, the sound as not at all close to what I know they are capable of. Well, these were placed very close and not elevated enough. I urged Kevin to move them further in room (in front of the Altec's) and have they wider apart, but for the day we only managed to have them a little more forward than in the pic, and even those few inches, which made the baffles clear the Altec enclosures, improved the sound.

The Chinese Blue Velvet Preamp, which works well with the horns (including at my place), proved to be less ideal for the system, now using CJ MV-75 amp. Things coarsened considerably at higher volume. The replacement CJ Premier 3 Preamp could play much louder. We tried several loudspeaker cables but settled with a pair of Straight Wire. But the most astonishing change came with swapping out the DIY cable between the preamp and amp for the Gotham GAC-1 Ultra-Pro I brought with me.

WOW! Now we are talking! The images fleshed out and the soundstage increased substantially in both depth and width, but the most impressive was the sheer coherence and liveliness. Andy turned around and said to me: "...just a cable change?"

Bass Alignment Filter They even came with the optional Bass Alignment Filter (read the very interesting treatise here), which we did not use on the day. Apparently, Kevin had briefly tried them out, reporting the result of less mid-bass. In Stereophile's review of the Matrix 801 Mk II, the reviewer deemed the use of the filter essential, but the same reviewer did not think it should be used in the more upscale 800 model that followed (here). Unlike Kevin's, my pair did not come with the filter, but the sound is already superb and full range to me. Being a tube preamp user, I'd be most hesitant adding the filter between the preamp and amp, but I surely would like to hear the effect at Kevin's. More fun (and articles) to come!

Thoughts

• B&W Matrix 801 One of the greatest loudspeakers ever made, and for baby boomers many of their favorite recordings were likely mastered using these as monitors. It is very revealing, but at the same time highly musical and authoritative. Personally, I regard the Matrix series as superior to the Nautilus and Diamond series that followed.

• Belden 9497 You never go wrong with the 9497. While I have never heard it sound bad with any loudspeakers, with horns they are simply the best. Next time, I'd like to try a double run to bi-wire the B&W 801.

• Preamp Choice While the Chinese Blue Velvet Preamp (simple circuit with basic power supply and simple diode regulation) performs well with our horns, it did not do so well with the B&W 801. Instead the much better built and regulated CJ Premier 3 (not a personal favorite) performed much better. To me, this re-inforces my belief that simpler (including vintage) preamps are better for horns whereas harder to drive loudspeakers demand more modern (highly regulated) preamps (see my thoughts in my Citation I article).

• Gotham GAC-1 Ultra Pro While I have never formally reported on this particular Gotham cable (previously mentioned here), I have used it a lot. To me, it is even cleaner and more detailed than the older GAC-2 and 4, not to mention the supremely musical DGS-1. The air and soundstage are tremendous. With the B&W 801 it sounds just perfect, but with horns it can sometimes be just a little too revealing. I have not tried the other more expensive Ultra Pro's, but I know some people in HK swear by them. Definitely worth a try.

What a wonderful day. Many thanks to R and Kevin!

More Pics

Thorens TD-125 with Rabco Tonearm and Pickering 380 Cartridge

Lenco GL-75 with Decca Tonearm and Shure M44-7

Tea and Fruits after the Royal Meal

Princess on Her Chair

2018 in Review

Click pics to enlarge. To the right, the Grommes flanking and atop the Wavac MD-811; in the middle, the WE 133; to the left, Thorens TD-124 MkI with ad-hoc SME "3012".

2018 in Review

It has been quite a stressful year. Due to my leaving HK, for once, I have sold off far more than I have acquired. Although without many new toys, my experience has not been less vital than in years past.

Best Sound

Western Electric + Horns = Great Sound This is a truth, but of course even WE can get mangled in the hands of users with lesser ears. The WE 41/42/43 heard here was not only the best sound of the year, but also likely the best horns I have heard. However, running it very close is the sweet WE 46 system heard here.


Even without using WE, the horns in my NYC circle, three Altec's and my own YL, which I have written a lot on, have all sounded very good.

Sleepers that have given the Best a Run for the Money

This year is just as remarkable for mostly Rediscoveries!

6V6 Amps My two pairs of 6V6 amps heard at Kevin's (here) are now back in my home. I swapped out the Grommes LJ5 for the Wavac MD-811 and was delighted by the results. With both my recently fired up System I (Manley 300B as preamp) or System II (Shindo Monbrisson as preamp), the sound was just as good, if not better than before. Compared to the SET Wavac, the midrange is just as transparent and sweet, whereas the treble is a tad smoother and the bass a tad more fulsome and rolling. Curiously, in my system, there is none of the overly smooth and somewhat restrained manner experienced at Kevin's. I double-checked with my Mangar Test CD, and everything sounded just wonderful. When I get the chance, I shall take this to Andy's place and give it another sounding. Grommes, like Bell, in an old name that has a solid reputation. But I kinda suspect many other 6V6 amps (though not all, as some are pretty flimsy) will sound great too with horns. For more on 6V6, read my Overview (here).

B&W Matrix 801 Mk II Towards the end of my stay in HK, I got re-acquainted with my B&W Matrix 801Mk II. After writing about it (here), I actually got to listen to it a lot more while cleaning house. The more I listen, the more I was impressed. What a deep sound! I actually heard more details than even my Tannoy Canterbury and TAD TD-3401. And that authoritative bass belies the woofer's relatively modest 12" diameter - it managed to sound like a 15" paper woofer, the best in my book. As this article gets ready, I learned that our friend Kevin has just scored a mint pair, so you can be sure of further reports. I am glad I'll get to hear them again imminently - I miss them!

Lowther TP-1 and VTL Straightline DAC/Preamp These are real gems, not a whit outdated in sound. See the same article for details.

Loudspeaker Placement continues to be an important issue, even for bulky horns, which tend to be left against the wall. Significant improvements were obtained with them further in-room, as witnessed in the Altec Systems of both R and Kevin (here).

Subwoofer Use Many systems would benefit from the addition of a subwoofer. ESL In the case of our friend WSS, the addition of a subwoofer (my REL) for his Quad 2812 was eminently audible, not for more solid bass per se, but for an added vitality, which is quite winning! 47 Labs 4737 Addition of subwoofer utterly transformed the 4737 from a great small loudspeaker to a full system!

Honorable Mentions 47 Labs 4737 This small loudspeaker with alnico magnets works a treat with solid state amplification, less so for tube amps (here), but it is with the addition of a Subwoofer that elevated it to the Pantheon. The result was so persuasive that I sold them to my ESL friend WSS! SMSL SA-36 Pro performed way beyond expectation. At my friend R's place, I'd rather listen to it than his Jadis and Cary (here). I suspect many T amps would do a similar job. Blue Velvet Preamp A cheap Chinese implementation of this (mainly) Dick Olsher design, a known DIY entity, was surprisingly good sounding.

Happy New Year!