Turntables, arms and cartridges
Our search for a dynamic, transparent turntable led us to Galibier. We bought a Gavia and agreed with the designer/manufacturer to provide an ‘audition point’ in the Uk for others who were interested in the turntable. That toe in the water led to Artisan Audio being established.
The Gavia was supplied with the designer’s recommendation of a Triplanar arm. It’s a multi-adjustable mechanism, however, it didn’t spark joy for me.
I experimented with Lenco L75s, building a solid ash plinth and modifying the idler wheel drive to eliminate vibration and strengthened the main bearing housing. There’s a lot to be said for a well-fettled idler drive turntable. Fitted with a Jelco arm and a decent cartridge they play music very enjoyably.
We sourced a batch of Jelco SA250 arms from the manufacturer in Japan, with Artisan branding. Galibier Design created a cunning modification that elevates this arm’s performance several levels. I like the Jelco arm for its detachable headshells. Whilst some purists criticse a detachable headshell arm for the additional joints and connections between the cartridge and preamp, the convenience of being able to swap cartridges that are dialled in is compelling.
I came across Carlo Morsiani who designed and made a unipivot with a unique magnetic anti-skate compensation. A day trip to Bologna showed that his arm and turntable are very competitive, so we offered the Morsiani until Carlo retired.
We imported the Soundsmith strain gauge cartridge to the UK for a few years. This cartridge has a distinctive openness and stunning dynamics, however, with its powered energiser unit, it’s complex and costly when compared with the sunk costs of a high quality phono stage.
Currently, I alternate between a classic AT150Sa and a classic Supex 900. I am planning to explore the current Lyra and Hana ranges.
Amplifiers
My first exposure to single ended triode amplifiers in Colorado convinced me of their merit. We were fortunate to be introduced to Mike Sanders, owner of Quicksilver Audio, which was located in Denver at the time. Quicksilver designs are very well thought-through, keeping short signal paths, specifying high quality components and achieving excellent levels of reliability. There’s no bling and the company doesn’t do glossy advertising. We brought several models into the UK until RoHS compliance reared its head. Currently, we are interested in the benefits of Class D amplification and are watching that space closely.
Loudspeakers
From my first Colorado adventure, I was sold on the immediacy and imaging of horn speakers. Researching online I became aware of the mythical Klipsch Jubilee. A two-way model, designed to replace the K-horn but never released as a consumer product. A senior manager in the company created a proof of concept using products from the company’s commercial range, aimed at cinema theatres. A pathway existed to order pairs and I brought a pair into the UK and demonstrated with them at several audio shows. Some people don’t like horns and that’s fine. I haven’t found a speaker that I prefer to the Jubilees, so whilst they aren’t perfect, I’m invested. Thom at Galibier has blogged about tuning the sound of your system and concludes you either replace your speakers with something that sounds more like your ideal or you anchor your system to your existing speakers by selecting components that work well with them.
Digital sources
We carried the Astin Trew range of CD players which are very well engineered and punch way above their asking price. I have heard good things about CEC’s CD transports and hope to experiment with one soon. File streaming is in vogue and in my view can be done with a computer plus a DAC or even a phone or tablet plus DAC with streaming services. No need to buy a hifi-shaped silver box streamer. I was very taken with Yazaki-san’s blog about ‘iphone real sound adventures’ and have tried a Douk U4 usb dac and found it impressive.
Power conditioning
We are about to begin an experiment with Puritan Audio’s PSM156 mains balancing purifier, following a recommendation from a customer. Watch this space for more.
Cables
I have found cables from studio equipment suppliers pretty dependable. I am in the process of building Thom from Galibier’s Headwaters recipe using Mogami microphone cable and phono plugs from ETi.