WithamFest07

[simon2a3]

Hi Andrew,

PM sent.

Valves are 6CG7 followed by 6DJ8 in this circuit.

Thanks,
Simon.

[Greg.]

Lots of good posts that inform those of us who wanted but could not be there. Who won the Sunday trophy and for what?

Best wishes,

Greg

[simon2a3]

Andrew, for coming the furthest distance. Really.

[Dave the bass]

Thats summink I forgot to post a piccie of.

Here it is proudly displayed on the mantlepiece...



Thankfully my teenage kids haven't noticed it's slightly phallic

DTB

[andrew ivimey]

So, after fond farewells, kisses and waves have been handed out to the beautiful blonde bouncy albeit anglo-saxon babies (is anything perfect?), sister in law as mother and brother in law whose continued enthusaisms continue the struggle for domination by NXT in the world audio market (the’ve lock stock and barrelled it to China), so we won’t be seeing them for a while; the nuclear family, they depart.

Life returns to normal in Bedford. So, I can address Witham07 and face post Witham with equanimity and hope, even though a few flakes of snow are falling, for a sunny future.

I really enjoyed the weekend and thanks Peter for the praise and introduction on the BB for ESSAMTs and Ongakkers. The amp and speakers are not me but there is a bit of ego to be stroked! But for those who stayed for Sunday… were’nt we pretty much underwhelmed by ESS/Heils when powered by otherwise really lovely 300b monoblocks from Simon? These speakers take some driving. Ongaku (211SE) and Nick’s GM70 SE were fine, really fine, even with that appalling Metallica stuff, but as it stands, ESS/AMT, including the legendary Heil air motion transformer tweeters NEED power.

Also on Sunday, if you like Lowthers then Steve’s amp and speakers were gorgeous. Lowthers will always sound different to anything else. Even when badly set up, they still have character. Steve’s set up is NOT badly set up and WOW.

Simon’s LP, which shall remain nameless, made what few hairs I have left stand up in appreciation of … well, beauty. The hair cells inside my old luggoles were very appreciative too. I’d love to have that recording. Watching Paul B do an impromptu reconfiguring of Simon’s driver stage (to paraphrase someone else, ‘ it’s ohms law, dummy’) was all duly noted, mentally at least, as much as I enjoy a version of the 300b circuit Simon is using, I too, would like improvement. We tried KR300bxls, Audionote approved 32Bs and EHgold grids. EHGGs are good value for money but if you are willing to go the extra mile, the more exotic and expensive versions are kindacreamy, kinda wow. I thought the 32bs were more elegant but beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

Back to Saturday …

DTB’s enthusiasm is marvellous and, as I am sure we all are, I am following his progress with joy! It wasn’t so very long ago I was using anything with a few windings as output transformers and finding that the output ‘transformer’ was actually louder than the speakers themselves.

His WD88 amplifier is very classy indeed. It looks good, has lots of high quality sound on offer and it does you good. Best yet, if we take into account WAD predecessors. Power, grip, range and all those other highly subjective terms the magrags bandy about. This amplifier really isn’t bad at all, at all, at all.

Nick’s phono stage is peerless. To me this stage in the chain is a black art. Having myself ripped apart a WAD phono and rebuilt it using every black gate and kiwame, silver hard wire I could find, I have not thought about it since; and been pleased, not looking back ever to replacing a much upgraded gyrodeck for GL78/haddock. But Nick’s deck is quality. His deck; haddock, almost obligatory Denon103R, and SP10 worked as a reference this weekend and this is where it got difficult. Other decks tried just didn’t sound so good, for no obvious reason. Back here in Bedford, having done a serious listen to WADphono and Tom Evans and my two decks last week; none of it sounds in the same league as we heard on Saturday. Why is it so difficult, so tricky?!

Andrew (the other one) has enthusiasm by the bucket load and is always good company. He really wants to get phono right. He loved my Panzer but I can tell where his heart is. If you are quibbling and he offers you phono pcb or advice, take it.

And this hints at what I enjoyed most. As we’ve done a few Eggfests now and Witham wobbling, what I most enjoyed is meeting the lot of you and getting to know you a little more. I envy the Yorkshire crew, (even though it must be awful living in Yorkshire ;-) ) because it’s so easy to drop round and try this that and the other. It was the company at Witham07, however, I enjoyed most.

Next?

Well I could demo a couple of Rankins but I also have up my sleeve OTL; not 6C33, as you might expect but what about Futterman’s 6080. Marvellous!

hasta la manana, companeros!

[simon2a3]

Originally Posted by simon2a3

I thought pretty much everything sounded very nice, with the exception of my 401 which was horrible. Not quite sure why that was and I haven't had chance to set everything up again to check it's still okay.

Got everything set up now and the 401 is as sweet as a nut again. The treble is clear and the bass deep and powerful. I'm leaning towards the support - I've certainly found that important when I've been experimenting at home, but I'm struggling to believe it could make that much difference. Curious.

[Max N]

Hello everyone
My turn to post (very belated) thanks to Sam and Martin for hosting another great Withamfest.
The venue worked really well, the company was great as usual, and I had a wonderful time.
Lots of highlights for me, but the Heil/ESS driven by Ongaku has stayed with me. Very nice Andrew, and thanks for lugging them there with your bad back!
WD88VA is very, very good. If I was single and not broke I would build one, even though I don't need it. If I was thinking of getting into the DIY thing, or just looking for a very good amp at a very good price, I would not hesitate.
Simon's 300B amps were lovely (but I am partial to 300Bs.) Sometime I would love to hear a comparison of KR300B against TJ meshplate 300B.
Lots of other good stuff - great coverage DTB!
I'm already looking forward to the next one!
Cheers
Max

[simon2a3]

On Sunday we tried the KRs against Andrew's AN AV32bs and Nick's EHGG. There wasn't much between the KRs and AVs - I think it would take me a while of living with both to decide. The EHs were very good for the money, but as has been said elsewhere by others, they're not as good, and I don't think I could live with them after the KRs. It's a personal thing though I guess. A comparison with the TJ meshplates would be interesting though...

[Primalsea]

I was all set to come on Saturday but Kerri was still ill so I had to stay home and do boring things like get a hair cut and look after the girls.

Maybe next time hey. Thanks for posting the pics and the reports as they give a very good idea of what went on, especially for someone who hasn't made it to a Fest yet.

[Martin213]

Thank you Steve Shiels for the ECL86,it arrived safely this morning
And a very BIG thank you to 'Mr Anonymous',two Mullard ECL86's arrived safely in a jiffy bag yesterday It's nice to have friends