Talk Morgan Forums Community The Malvern Arms The Analogue Experience

Having completed a couple of responses to posts on the forum I thought I would add this for anyone who might be interested. I put it here as It seems to me that anyone enthusiastic about one thing is often interested in a host of other things and I know there are those on the forum keen on music and photography.
I’m sitting in my study/darkroom listening to an LP of Janis Ian played on my Ariston RD11s through a Baldwin phono pre-amp straight into a Naim Muso Qb. The Ariston I have owned since 1981, at the time it was the source design for the original Linn turntables, some say Linn nicked it. A couple of years ago I overhauled the motor and bearing, replaced the springs, on/off toggle switch and belt and now it is once again as good as new. It is a lovely thing, the two speeds 33 and 45 are changed by removing the (very heavy) platter moving the belt from one spindle pulley to the other - there are no other controls. The Grace tonearm is fully mandraulic needing to be placed on the record by lifting it and moving it into place.
The turntable sat in pride of place among other analogue HiFi gear that changed over the years, Audionote, Arcam, Roksan, Inca-Tech, SD Acoustics - all gone in favour of streaming audio and radio from an iMac into two Naim Muso units, the lady of the house really appreciates the absence of wires, CDs, vinyl records and clutter associated with the analogue experience and I am persuaded by the sound of the Muso.
Moving on, the other side of the room is my darkroom populated with 3 black&white enlargers, two Leitz 35mm units and a Durst capable of enlarging negs up to 6x8cm which I use to print negs from my Rolleiflex and Hassleblad X-Pan panoramic camera.
The enlarger nearest to us is a Leitz Valoy ll made in the early 50’s equipped with a period Focotar enlarging lens, it produces first class prints indistinguishable from those from any other source.
Next is a Leitz V35 Multigrade enlarger, autofocus with built in filters to create prints with differing contrast requirements. The V35 comes fitted with a matched 40mm Focotar lens adjusted to function with the auto-focus system. This was the pinnacle of technological development in the darkroom enlarger world and is a piece of beautiful industrial design. I bought this from a newspaper photographer on the Isle of Wight, I travelled over in my TVR Griffith and loaded it into the well behind the seats for the journey home.
Beyond that is my Durst M805, secured by a friend from a trip to the dump and given generously to me. This needs some restoration, cleaning, rust removal, missing screws replaced, lamp modified and new bulb fitted and is back to new levels of performance. Like the earlier Leitz Valoy this unit takes filters that have to be manually fitted to adjust the contrast for b&w prints.
The record is now ‘Sound Venture’, a Georgie Fame record produced and financed by Georgie himself. It’s a true swing jazz album recorded with the Harry South Band in 1965/6 and featured some of the great British players, Dick Morrissey, Stan Tracey, Ronnie Scott and the great Tubby Hayes. I’m on my third vinyl having lost one and ruined one, I found this copy of a Mono pressing in average condition second hand in London. I searched for a CD issue for years and eventually found one on a Japanese Audiophile label and paid the £40 for it, it has since been re-issued (although out of print) as a result of lobbying by Elvis Costello who rates it as one of his all time favourite albums, but I’m not letting that put me off.




This side shows my small library of books by my Photographic heroes, the vinyl replay setup and most of my cameras. It is not a very clear picture but if you look closely you will find three Nikon F/F2s, Leica M6, Rolleiflex, Horizon Panoramic, Zeiss Contarex, various folders.


If you like black and white photography, there are hundreds of great pictures on Flickr produced in an analogue fashion by enthusiasts, my photographs can be found on Flickr Kevin Yateshere: ironically it begins with a few digital images of the Morgan

Now that's a man cave to envy!!

After I had a system which required a DSP tool in the active X-over for around 10 years (it was a good system) I am back to a fully analogue world - from preamp inputs to the speaker - since three years - even if a good everyday source is Tidal (also using mqa) and Tunein beside my again often used vinyl and some CDs.
Your toys look great, Kevin
Re the photo hobby I only can appreciate it, I have no relation to it but as a substitute my electric guitars.

Nice collection of cameras Kevin!

I would love to hear that stereo !

Will it fit in a Morgan?

You’d need Peter Ballard to design a vibration damping system for the turntable.... :
Your man cave is tidier than mine!

Jeez Kevin... My good lady looked over my shoulder and said "that is a nice picture" in relation to the second image of your study which was filling much of the area of my lap top screen at the time..Thus I am now under pressure to sort my act out..!!! (-:

Many thanks for taking the time to share your analogue tenancies, which show me up to be perhaps less of a Luddite and more of a selective Luddite than I might care to admit on occasion.

I suspect like many of our contemporaries we have indeed trodden similar paths.. I have but a few remnants of the progression from analogue to digital, in photography and hi-fi. My old Cannon AE1, and in hi-fi terms a pair of Linn speakers that are now pumping out sounds via an old Arcam digital amp fed by a Samsung CD, DVD, Blue-Ray player, though I must admit I do miss my attractive Technics platter with its strobe and rows of dots on the edge of the turntable in order to determine and adjust speed...

Evolution in much has brought with it a great deal of convenience..? I never set out to be a serious photographer, I just liked the idea of recoding my passage through life and in the process have come from a Kodak Instamatic in my teens to a Nikon D800, the latter far exceeding any capability I might have to understand many of it`s capabilities, but in the process have been able to record and enjoy and learn a bit more of the photographic process. I bought the D800 and so called holy trinity of Nikon lenses as a retirement present to myself ... The advantages of high pixel count output from the camera and digital manipulation via Affinity`s post production processes can make my pics appear far better than they otherwise might, thus some digitisation has wormed it`s way into my affections.. (-:

I suspect my ears could not justify any high quality music reproduction kit these days, and again convenience has taken priority, the evolution in my sound system makes for a mismatch in components in terms of the timespan over which it evolved as components were changed, but more recently I have spent little time going through my collection of CD`s, my vinyl long since lost.. sigh..! I found that access to unlimited music resources via my lap top has taken over from my old kit, in that I can beam up almost any artist I can think of , and oft times with a video of the performance, which seemed astounding when I first gave it a go..!

My first lap top was a large and heavy unit with better sound reproduction than might be expected, though it`s replacement is not quite as good, which caused me to wonder at possible improvements might be available, I dislike the idea of Alexa and went for a Bose portable speaker which can be Bluetooth connected to my lap top thus I can watch the vids on my laptop and with much improved sound reproduction. If I upgrade my smart TV to one with Bluetooth connectivity then I could add improved picture quality and in larger dimensions too...? I guess I could spend a load of cash on improving on the sounds too, but then I suspect in terms of cost benefit analysis, my hearing is the limiting factor these days...!

However... on discovering the Willie Nelson "I never cared for you" track on the interweb and posting it on the forum, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kmdwsLtNx2E&list=RDkmdwsLtNx2E&start_radio=1 thinking it sounded a bit boomy via the Bose unit, T`was Tim who informed us the track was off the CD Teatro which I then went out and bought to play on my old system in a more digitally controlled manner, so I guess my ears may be better than I imagined... Call it evolution..(-: Though it seems vinyl is making a limited comeback..?

As for my Morgan, I am happy for it to be as analogue as It can be, that way I ever retained a degree of self reliance...(-:

Totally agree with you on the Naim Muso. I have a couple of units and won many brownie points from Mrs JB when the miles of cable and connectors were retired.

I also love the sound given the simplicity of the set up.

I took the liberty of moving the discussion here because it is perhaps the more appropriate setting and the other thread can continue to deal with car hifi.

Since three years I am very satisfied and happy with my set up. Sorry I didn't do any extra tidying up.



I have had the Mcintosh amps since 2004, it was a stroke of luck, the MC275 MK4 I had bought used in Switzerland from a dealer. He still had an original packed C22 CE (with board, not hard wired like the old ones, but still very good sounding) which I bought for 1900€ on that occasion.
I did have an EAR 864 preamp, which sounds very nice, which does without a cathode follower and instead uses a transformer at the output to lower the impedance. This achieves a great three-dimensional sound. But when I heard this old C22CE for the first time I was amazed, not to say scared in a positive sense. I had never heard such intelligibility of speech, the clarity of vowels, but also this combination of space and percussive precision of instruments.

The turntable is an Oracle Delphi Mk4 I bought in 2003 at a bargain price including the larger power supply from a Condor pilot.



He had to close his household in Germany for tax reasons because he moved to Bahrein and flew the private planes of the Sultan...he had three 767 all to himself and his harem for shopping in London etc. So I paid less (though without stylus) than what the SME MK5 alone, mounted on it, costs today.
Stylus is an Ortofon Venice MC. From there it goes into an EAR step up MC4 and then into the MM input of the C22.

As for tubes, I discovered an interesting source in the USA two years ago. There I bought NOS 12AX7 from 1960 for $25 a piece. They are original Sylvania but Baldwin (organs) branded, that's why the price is so low. Also 12AT7 from 1959 from GE for similar small money. You can argue about it but these tubes are much better constructed and more durable than anything today. You can argue if it is necessary to buy an old Telefunken E83CC for 500€. I personally think this is nonsense.
My current KT88s are some of the cheapest on the market but the ones I like best on the Mcintosh - JJ from Slovakia. I think the small gain and driver tubes are more important for the sound. But on the other hand I was not at all satisfied with the Satarov GEC Gold Lion KT88 in comparison with the easyness of the JJ. And as you said KT88 do not make it for too long a time so I feel not guilty to put the system on whenever I want and how long I want to. When using original RCA or Golden Lion from the sixties I would feel bad perhaps when letting the system just play a bit in the background.

I hardly ever use the Meridian G08 but it sounds very nice. For streaming I have a Bluesound Node2 that sounds really nice, not only for the price range but to my satisfaction.

Speakers are the newer interpretation of the good old BBC series, a LS3/6 from Stirling Broadcast with which I am extremely satisfied.
Maybe this has something to do with getting older and with my listening habits. I hardly know of any other loudspeaker that is so little disturbing and fatiguing. And this brings me to the point that is important for me. I am not a hififreak who is constantly changing devices and I think you are are also such a type of music lover, Peter, with the music in the focus and not the sound system under priority. At least I know how long you are since satisfied with your modern ESL. I am a music lover who likes to listen emotionally. But you can also hear my sound system when you read a book, just casually. Then it has the qualities of an old tube radio.

Until three years ago I had a more expressive system, probably the only Klipsch Jubilee in Germany, with a choice of high-midrange drivers, Faital, Klipsch and most importantly TAD 4002 Beryllium. To my 45 years lasting Odyssey belong small and bigger Tannoy (I still have the Canterbury from 1988 stored away) the ESL 57, formerly Rogers and Spendor.

But to be honest I am very happy now and I don't feel any urge for a change. But I have always had a system for at least 10 years before. I built the first sound systems myself when I was 15 years old, also a full horn system according to a construction plan.
I have never bought anything similar from another brand. But I changed between the transducer principles ELS, horn, conventional but BBC style when I really wanted a new experience.

But as your system looks like, Peter, it seems to be an established very good system growing over the years and you may do fine tunings from time to time as I do. It is the music that counts. The rest is old technical knowledge over the decades.


And yes, the stupid TV screen can cause unpleasant reflections. That's why I put a blanket over it when I hear really nice.


As I said I haven't cleaned up, but this is perhaps the more important part of the music system in the other corner. A lot of original 1960s jazz and classical records and 1970s rock, a lot of the 1960is inherited from my father.