I had the pleasure of visiting Steve (MVJ) at his place in God's own county Yorkshire yesterday (25/5/23). But since I also live in said county it was only just over an hour's drive away even with the usual traffic shenanigans on the M62 and several reroutes by Google maps. When you bare in mind the challenges that both Steve and in particular his lovely wife Hillary have faced over the last year it was very kind of them to extend their hospitality towards me for what was most of the day.
I arrived just after 10am and according to Steve he had already milked the cow in preparation for the excellent latte he whipped up to welcome me. However, I personally have my doubts about the the origin of the milk. I think he just used that as an excuse to put the word 'udder' in the message he had sent me just before I set off.
We started off by just chatting and generally getting to know each other a bit better and then we retired to Steve's listening room. And what a great listening room it is. It is very well set out and it's easy to see why Steve spends a lot of time sat in his comfy chair listening to his extensive vinyl and CD collection. One thing I will say though is that Steve's method of filing his records is little different - in fact I have never come across its like before. Instead of going from the usual left to right, it is set up right to left! Maybe I just need to get out more
and of course it works for him.
As nice as the listening room is, it does have one particular challenge to overcome and that is a 4 foot void beneath the carpeted floorboards. In order to get an enjoyable sound that Steve is happy with and can listen to for hours, it is fair to say that he has tried a lot of different speakers (both floor standing and stand mounts) as well as a lot of different amplification combinations ranging from both solid state and valve pre and power combo's. Steve also has very eclectic musical tastes that encompass most genera's and so it is no good for his system to be dialled in for any particular style of music at the expense of others. To be honest, I was pretty astounded at the tenacity and perseverance he has displayed in his striving for musical satisfaction. But what I can also say, is that to my ears (and obviously his as well) all that effort and hard graft has handsomely paid off.
Steve's current system that we listened to comprised of
Vinyl:- Technics SL-1200G + Acromat and AT-ART9 cart & Sony Biotracer PS-X600 and Audio Technica AT-F7 mc
Phono Stage:- E Minimax with Copper Cap Rectifier
Digital Source:- Esoteric DV50 SACD
Pre-Amp:- Esoteric C0-3 Dual Mono
Speakers:- Active Event Opal Studio Monitors on Usher MiniX-Stands
We started with Fleetwood Mac 'Rumours' playing on the Sony deck that Steve acquired for £220 collected . And what a bargain that was. Everything was present - bass lines were reasonably clear, imaging was good, all the vocals both male and female were realistic and conveyed lots of emotion. The dynamic range was slightly compressed but it did hang together. Now, I know these are general comments but it in some ways that is deliberate because the main thing I wanted to convey is that it just sounded so enjoyable despite me knowing that some detailing was missing and that there was definitely more music in the grooves than the Sony was not able to extract. But if I had no other option but Steve's Sony deck on which to play vinyl on I would definitely continue to play vinyl and I would find it a very acceptable and enjoyable experience. For £220 quid, Steve's lucky he has not been arrested and charged with daylight robbery!!!
After Rumours, we switched tract completely and spun up AC/DC and 'Thunderstruck' from The Razor's Edge on the Sony deck. Apart from loving this track I also know it inside out. It can present quite a challenge to a vinyl front end because it has a large dynamic range and it is complex in its construction with a lot going on. Two types of drum, bass rhythm, and lead guitar, backing and lead vocals. Again the Sony does a great job at conveying the drive and energy in this track and all the separate instrumental components are there and can be heard. They hang together well. But once again, the deck was just great fun and very enjoyable to listen to despite knowing that it was leaving out details in the instrumentation and it was a little bit lacking in portraying the energy and emotion in the lead vocal.
We then switched to playing same track (Thunderstruck) on the Technics deck which comes in at approximately 15 times the cost of the Sony. Was it better - you bet it was. What was better - EVERYTHING. Better imaging, instrument separation especially the two types of drum, bass lines were very clear and tight and it seemed that Brian Johnson had popped a few pills, completely woken up and was really giving it some. The track really rocked along with more drive and energy and it really got the musical blood pumping - It sounded fantastic to me. The Technics also showed the capabilities of the rest of Steve's system especially the active Event Opals which I had never heard before yesterday. Those speakers have definitely overcome that troublesome void under his floor. We also listened to Yello, Goldfrapp and other music and they all sounded just so 'right' to me.
I have not yet mentioned Steve's CD/SACD Esoteric DV50 player of which we did have a good listen to. It's a very fine player and it produced music that I could listen to all day but I have concentrated on vinyl because that is my first love. I'm now off to lie down in a dark room because its been a long time since I did this much typing and my brain and finger tips hurt .....
Finally, it was a lovely day and my heartfelt thanks go to Steve and Hillary for being so welcoming and hospitable.
I arrived just after 10am and according to Steve he had already milked the cow in preparation for the excellent latte he whipped up to welcome me. However, I personally have my doubts about the the origin of the milk. I think he just used that as an excuse to put the word 'udder' in the message he had sent me just before I set off.
We started off by just chatting and generally getting to know each other a bit better and then we retired to Steve's listening room. And what a great listening room it is. It is very well set out and it's easy to see why Steve spends a lot of time sat in his comfy chair listening to his extensive vinyl and CD collection. One thing I will say though is that Steve's method of filing his records is little different - in fact I have never come across its like before. Instead of going from the usual left to right, it is set up right to left! Maybe I just need to get out more
and of course it works for him.As nice as the listening room is, it does have one particular challenge to overcome and that is a 4 foot void beneath the carpeted floorboards. In order to get an enjoyable sound that Steve is happy with and can listen to for hours, it is fair to say that he has tried a lot of different speakers (both floor standing and stand mounts) as well as a lot of different amplification combinations ranging from both solid state and valve pre and power combo's. Steve also has very eclectic musical tastes that encompass most genera's and so it is no good for his system to be dialled in for any particular style of music at the expense of others. To be honest, I was pretty astounded at the tenacity and perseverance he has displayed in his striving for musical satisfaction. But what I can also say, is that to my ears (and obviously his as well) all that effort and hard graft has handsomely paid off.
Steve's current system that we listened to comprised of
Vinyl:- Technics SL-1200G + Acromat and AT-ART9 cart & Sony Biotracer PS-X600 and Audio Technica AT-F7 mc
Phono Stage:- E Minimax with Copper Cap Rectifier
Digital Source:- Esoteric DV50 SACD
Pre-Amp:- Esoteric C0-3 Dual Mono
Speakers:- Active Event Opal Studio Monitors on Usher MiniX-Stands
We started with Fleetwood Mac 'Rumours' playing on the Sony deck that Steve acquired for £220 collected . And what a bargain that was. Everything was present - bass lines were reasonably clear, imaging was good, all the vocals both male and female were realistic and conveyed lots of emotion. The dynamic range was slightly compressed but it did hang together. Now, I know these are general comments but it in some ways that is deliberate because the main thing I wanted to convey is that it just sounded so enjoyable despite me knowing that some detailing was missing and that there was definitely more music in the grooves than the Sony was not able to extract. But if I had no other option but Steve's Sony deck on which to play vinyl on I would definitely continue to play vinyl and I would find it a very acceptable and enjoyable experience. For £220 quid, Steve's lucky he has not been arrested and charged with daylight robbery!!!
After Rumours, we switched tract completely and spun up AC/DC and 'Thunderstruck' from The Razor's Edge on the Sony deck. Apart from loving this track I also know it inside out. It can present quite a challenge to a vinyl front end because it has a large dynamic range and it is complex in its construction with a lot going on. Two types of drum, bass rhythm, and lead guitar, backing and lead vocals. Again the Sony does a great job at conveying the drive and energy in this track and all the separate instrumental components are there and can be heard. They hang together well. But once again, the deck was just great fun and very enjoyable to listen to despite knowing that it was leaving out details in the instrumentation and it was a little bit lacking in portraying the energy and emotion in the lead vocal.
We then switched to playing same track (Thunderstruck) on the Technics deck which comes in at approximately 15 times the cost of the Sony. Was it better - you bet it was. What was better - EVERYTHING. Better imaging, instrument separation especially the two types of drum, bass lines were very clear and tight and it seemed that Brian Johnson had popped a few pills, completely woken up and was really giving it some. The track really rocked along with more drive and energy and it really got the musical blood pumping - It sounded fantastic to me. The Technics also showed the capabilities of the rest of Steve's system especially the active Event Opals which I had never heard before yesterday. Those speakers have definitely overcome that troublesome void under his floor. We also listened to Yello, Goldfrapp and other music and they all sounded just so 'right' to me.
I have not yet mentioned Steve's CD/SACD Esoteric DV50 player of which we did have a good listen to. It's a very fine player and it produced music that I could listen to all day but I have concentrated on vinyl because that is my first love. I'm now off to lie down in a dark room because its been a long time since I did this much typing and my brain and finger tips hurt .....
Finally, it was a lovely day and my heartfelt thanks go to Steve and Hillary for being so welcoming and hospitable.
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