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Heef
New Member Joined: 05 Jul 2015 Location: Up T'North Status: Offline Points: 7 |
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Posted: 07 Jul 2015 at 9:45pm |
Hi All,
I've just bought a Gram amp communicator to add to my revamped system and I thought I'd sayhello. I started last year with a budget of £200 and a lot of old hi-fi gear that had been left in the garage for several years. I started with the source = in his case it was a 1982 L*nn Sondek lp12 with an lvx basik plus arm and an old k9 cartridge, unfortunately it had been left unboxed in the garage for over a year and was definitely not doing so good (as to why all my stuff was in the garage in such a sorry and neglected state is another story.....) so - as you must appreciate its easy to blow £200 on the set up of one these decks alone..... but I was determined to save the dosh - so I hit Google and read a lot about set up etc and spent a couple of days with de-greasers and scrubbers and engineering level spirit levels and screwdrivers..well, you get the picture - it took a lot of work and eventually I got it working, with the arm balanced and the cartridge tracking properly. The amp that was in there was a Naim Nait 2 - in perfect order apart from a few marks on the case so no issues there and I had a pair of L*nn Kans with some Kan II stands...all good you would think - but I needed new springs and grommets for the LP12 - I didn't trust myself to disassemble it that far and then be able to set it up properly so that meant off to the dealers with my paltry £200....I knew I would have to get my haggle on if I was going to get anything out of this. I got the work done and a new AT120 MM cartridge thrown in for my £200 - but I was skint and to tell the truth - the legends of the L*nn/ Naim combo is not really all that its cracked up to be unless you jack the volume up .. so they had to go.. A good bit of e-baying left me with about £800 in the pot - now we're talking :) I had one of the fatman ipod dock valve amps which I was using and really liked the warm easy sound so I decided it was valves for me :) first up was new speakers - I really liked the B&W CDM NT1's but they were harder to find than golden hens molars, however in my diggng around I found a chap on the bay of E that was selling a pair of Ruark Templars and I landed these small floor standers (only 70cm tall) for £180 (£1100 new and in mint condition - even though they are twenty years old) - I have to say, they sound about a million times better than the L*nn Kans even with the tiddler of an amp. so next up a bit of umph - I still wanted valves but it seemed most of the new valve amps were about eighty million pounds for something that looked like it was dragged out of a wwII bunker, I am married so I needed something that not only sounded great but looked good as well after many investigations and conversations I decide on one of these terrible but good chi-fi amps.. Ack! I hear you cry - but steady.. if you use the right dealer and know what you want its not as risky as it sound! so I went a Hong Kong based dealer (I wont mention the name) and bought a Music Angel MENG X8 amp which sports 4 KT88 power valves and a plethora of others - twelve in all so now I looked at the phono stage (I had been using a P******t phono box - good but not up to the job I thought) and so I eventually went for the Gram Amp 2 Communicator and here I am :) the final set up I ended up with: L*nn Sondek LP12/L*nn Basik LVX arm/Audio technica AT120E cartridge Fatman iPod dock Gram amp 2 Communicator Meng X8 KT88 Ruark Templars not too shabby for £200 |
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aren't I supposed to put something clever here?
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miT
Senior Member Joined: 07 Jan 2009 Location: London Status: Offline Points: 890 |
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Welcome Heef.
Congrats on the bargain system! |
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Chris Firth
Moderator Group Joined: 16 May 2013 Location: Rossendale, UK Status: Offline Points: 1529 |
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Hi there Heef
I had one of the early P*****t phono stages too. It was an improvement over the phono stage that was in the amp (R****l). I replaced the P*****t with a Gram Amp2 SE, and I haven't looked back. I think your Communicator will do you proud. |
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Heef
New Member Joined: 05 Jul 2015 Location: Up T'North Status: Offline Points: 7 |
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thanks chaps, its just about burnt in now and starting to sound really good
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aren't I supposed to put something clever here?
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BackinBlack
Senior Member Joined: 05 Feb 2012 Location: Hinton, N'hants Status: Offline Points: 2020 |
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Hi Heef, a belated welcome from me too.
Glad to hear that you're enjoying your new communicator, it will continue to further improve over the next few weeks and months. |
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Just listen, if it sounds good to you, enjoy it.
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Graham Slee
Admin Group Retired Joined: 11 Jan 2008 Location: South Yorkshire Status: Offline Points: 16298 |
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Great intro Heef. Welcome from me too.
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That none should be able to buy or sell without a smartphone and the knowledge in how to use apps
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morris_minor
Moderator Group Joined: 27 Mar 2012 Location: Surrey Status: Offline Points: 6015 |
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Another welcome from me, too . . .
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Bob
Majestic DAC/pre-amp Accession MC/Enigma, Accession MM, Reflex M, Elevator EXP, Era Gold V Solo ULDE, Novo, Lautus USB and digital, Libran balanced, CuSat50 2 x Proprius + Spatia/Spatia Links |
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