Flat Earth

[Nigel]

No Classic. It will annihilate all comers! It's the Timothy Taylor Landlord against your John Smiths in cans.

[Dr Bunsen Honeydew]

I prefer Gin and Tonic or Cointreau.

[SteveTheShadow]

No Classic. It will annihilate all comers! It's the Timothy Taylor Landlord against your John Smiths in cans.

Annihilate? all comers?
Seems a bit extreme to talk about annihilation. It's only a bloody stereo FFS!

When folk talk in these extreme terms about their systems, then I suspect immediately that these types of posts are an attempt to justify:
a) the fact that a huge amount of money has been spent so it has to be the best.
b) there is an attempt to justify to the inner self that despite the fact that any normal music lover would cover their ears and run from the room, when the system was played, the "investment" was well worth it ........wasn't it?
c) it is a wind-up

Here's the deal. I don't claim that my own system is the best in the world, but it is in a family room, the whole family use it, the whole family, not just me, comment on the sound being great and it is on, sometimes for 16 hours a day.
My daughter can play her techno and dance music, my wife and I can play our widely varied palette of rock,jazz, blues, soul and classical. Mp3 and iTunes AAC files sound great, CD quality and hi-rez digital files sound even better.
As a result, WE are able to dictate what we play, the system has no part in that decision-making process.

My own sorry experience of Flat Earth was that almost all of my records were unlistenable. I was angry all the time it was on.
And don't give me any nonsense that it was not set up properly. The thing with the flat earth was that it was nothing more than a sales and marketing exercise aimed at prizing money from the gullible; nothing more. Good sound played no part in its success. Unfortunately To my eternal regret and embarrassment, was one of the cloth-eared idiots that swallowed the whole thing, hook, line and sinker.
Here's another apt piece of wisdom from a pre Belt Jimmy Hughes, the scales beginnng to fall from his eyes.

"If a system sits poised on a knife-edge, so that the slightest deviation from perfect set-up makes the whole thing unlistenable, then its no bloody use...period!"
That is the experience of the flat earth.

I remember a series of concerts that went around some London venues in the late 80s, when the flat earth was at its height. They were called "Classical Music Bloody Loud"
That just about sums up the whole sorry episode.

[terrybooth]

Here's the deal. I don't claim that my own system is the best in the world, but it is in a family room, the whole family use it, the whole family, not just me, comment on the sound being great and it is on, sometimes for 16 hours a day.
My daughter can play her techno and dance music, my wife and I can play our widely varied palette of rock,jazz, blues, soul and classical. Mp3 and iTunes AAC files sound great, CD quality and hi-rez digital files sound even better.
As a result, WE are able to dictate what we play, the system has no part in that decision-making process.

[Lindsayt]

Sounds fabulous, Lindsay. The only downside to a top of the range LP12 is that it didn't stay top of the range too long. What about Mana stands? Did you have those?

I used the original Sound Org table for the LP12 and the standard Linn stands for the Briks.

It sounded better than my original system of LP12 / Basik LVX / Rega R100, Creek 4040, Heybrook HB1's. More clarity. More musical detail. Bit more bass extension too.

But my EMT 930 and 950 sound like grown up turntables compared to my Lingo'd LP12 / late Ittok / Troika. They have more authority than the LP12.

My Bozak Symphony speakers make my Briks sound thin and lean (when I position the briks to avoid having a muddled bass in my room). My EV Sentries make my Briks sound shut-in in the midrange. My EV Patricians make my Briks sound thin and lean and unextended in the bass and shut-in in the midrange and overall lacking in fun, spiky dynamic ease and impact.

And my Coincident Frankenstein prototype and Korneff clone amps make my Avondale sound robotic / synthetic / artificial in the midrange and treble. The Avondale beats them for bass grip on speakers like the Briks, plus ability to go really loud with inefficient speakers like the Briks. With the Patricians, 2 watts is enough to go very loud.

[terrybooth]

My LP12 journey I had two ended as Lingo/Tampolin/EKOS/Klyde on a light spiked table.

The table helped a bit. The Lingo helped with the bass. However, I don't think I was ever satisfied with it for more than 6 months and ended up not listening very much at all. Music went from being dynamic and lively to rather 'flat' quite quickly.

I recently heard an LP12 (which the owner had spend quite a lot of money on) and it sounded fairly weird to my ears.

To my way of thinking nowadays, all the so-called upgrades were done to attempt for fix a basic flaw in the sound and what you have now is a sonic frankenstein.

I've no doubt that my PL71 can be bettered. But, other than a bit of fiddling to adjust the arm/cartridge when fitted, I haven't had to do anything to it other than put a record on and play it to get a satisfying sound out of it.

[kimangelis]

I agree totally with Steve the Shadow. A system should be used or it becomes nothing more than a very expensive ornament. It's no good admiring the polished rosewood, burnished steel and the rest if it goes off the boil if you stand up too fast. My mate at college in Manchester was a Linn LP12 fan, along with his Creek and Somethings... He spent more time on his feet dialing a new down-force or adjusting this and that than listening to what was spinning. It was bloody painful being there. Never got to hear a full LP.

As I've said before.... get home, CD on... Volume up.... Bliss!

[Fretless]

It was in an effort to distance myself from the global domination of the Linn/Naim axis that I discovered NVA in the 80's. Also had a Logic DM101 TT which was a pain to set up, and ran too fast (took me years to realise that though).

[terrybooth]

It was in an effort to distance myself from the global domination of the Linn/Naim axis that I discovered NVA in the 80's. Also had a Logic DM101 TT which was a pain to set up, and ran too fast (took me years to realise that though).

How long did it take them to realise that one side of Miles Davis's 'Kind of Blue' was pressed at the wrong speed? Someone must've cottoned on straight away.

[Fretless]

Also had a Logic DM101 TT which was a pain to set up, and ran too fast (took me years to realise that though).

It was when I used to live in Selby. A friend of mine was a drummer who practiced by playing along to LP's. When we were listening to 'Close to the Edge' he said "Even Bill Bruford can't play that fast.". So we got hold of a another TT and compared them. My Logic deck was running at about 35 rpm. Never could get it fixed as they weren't in business anymore. The deck is now collecting dust in the attic - does have a nice Syrinx arm on it though.