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Stereopal Home Visit:     Ken    (Markham, Canada)  1st Visit: Oct 11, 2005

2nd Visit: March 3, 06

                                                

                  

        

                      

 

 

Ken's DIY Turntable

I have been to the homes of many Audiophiles, many of them have DIY speakers or tweaks of some sort.  However, I have never seen anybody with a DIY turntable (Left).

Ken has plenty of experiences with DIY stuff.  From DIY speakers to DIY cables, he has plenty of them on hand.

He enjoys a variety of music ranging from Jazz, Female Vocal to Classical.    Very inviting and friendly, Ken is a very interesting and knowledgeable audiophile.

On my revisit, Ken is no longer using the Krell amplifiers.  He is now using a pair of Audio Research Monoblocks.

 

 

Stunning EnVogue Quasar Turntable, like a piece of art.   The center platter weights over 60 lbs. 

In Ken's word, the sound is 2x better than his previous turntable !

 

 

 

System Components: (Under Construction)

 

Turntable No 1: DIY Turntable
Turntable No 2: Envogue Quasar Turntable
   Tone Arm: Kuzma Stogi Reference
   Tone Arm: Benz Micro
MC Phone Preamp: Mastersound Modulo Fono
Turntable No 3: Goldmund Studietto
Turntable No 4: More Details Later
SACD Player: Sony NS999ES
Preamp: Krell Audio Video Standard
Power Amps: Krell 250me Monoblock (recently replaced with Audio Research M300
Speaker 1: B&W Nautilus 802
Speaker 2: DIY Dynaudio
Speaker Center: DIY Dynaudio
Speaker Surround: DIY Dynaudio
Home Theatre Equipment: Cary AS Cinema Amplifier
  Anthem MCA-5
   
   

 

 

 

 

Ken's Comments:

 

 

General Comments:

 

"I have been an audiophile for many years, I probably began this hobby in the early seventies.   I still remember playing with my brother's Open Reel AIWA tape recorder.  They sound better than Vinyl LPs.

 

I enjoy all aspects of this hobby, from listening to nice music to changing equipments.    I do enjoy LPs more than CDs though.  With CD players, I find  myself falling asleep very quickly.   Vinyl LPs and turntable set ups keeps me awake, and they do sound a lot better.   My guess is that in 10 years time, the sound of SACDs may still not catch up to vinyl LPs.   

 

I get bored with equipments very quickly, so I tend to buy and sell a lot of gears frequently.   No matter what gears I use, I get bored with them after a while and I'll replace them with something else.   I enjoy the process of setting up Turntables a lot.  Sometimes I would buy a turntable and set it up properly, the process is not easy and it requires a lot of patience and energy.   But I thoroughly  enjoy the process. 

 

 

Future Changes:

 

My system is constantly changing, and gears are moving in and out all the time.   Right now, it looks the B&W 802s has got to go.  They are too aggressive sounding and pointy to my ears.

 

 

Audio Research M300 Monoblocks with 8x 6550 Output Tubes.  Nearly 300W of Tube power.

 

Huge transformers on AR 300M.   The unit runs fairly cool as a dual fan unit is placed below the tubes.

 

 

Heavy Duty DIY Turntable.   Layers of MDF sandwiching Corians in between.   The platter is as stable as the best tables out there.

 

 

 

 

Krell 250me Monoblocks, weights over 100 lbs each.  Ken is no longer using these, they were replaced by the AR amps.

Krell Preamp Unit

 

Goldmund Turntable

Another Turntable, Ken's truly an analogue lover.

 

Mastersound Modulo Fono Preamp

 

B&W N 802.  Sometimes "Big Names" doesn't necessarily outperform

DIYs. Ken likes his Dynaudio speakers better, and I agree with him. 

The B&Ws are a tad forward and aggressive sounding vs the DIY.

 

 

 

Clash of the Titans, B&W N802 vs DIY Dynaudios.  

Guess which pair sounded better ?

  

When i first visited Ken, these had a bass boom issue, and uncontrollable resonance to them.  On my second visit, Ken drilled 5 holes on the inner cabinet, which greatly reduced the bass boom.   They are now pretty good sounding.

 

 

 

Heavy Duty External DIY Crossover for the Dynaudio speakers.    

 

 

 

 

 

Ken is working on a few more speaker designs.

 

 

Its certainly fun to visit a knowledgeable audiophile such as Ken.  There are too many "brand name" chasers out there and Ken

certainly isn't one of them.   

 

 

 

 

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