On The Run I
FEATURE
This month’s running report sees David Allcock tell the story of his current reference system... came to the world of hi-fi later than many fellow audiophiles. It was at the venerable age of sixteen that I decided I wanted the best video recorder money could buy, which at the time was a JVC HRD-370EK with ‘Hi-Fi Stereo’ audio capability! To make the best of this, I purchased a Realistic stereo receiver, Technics cassette deck and a used pair of Sony three-way speakers. Suddenly, things stopped being mangled by the family’s Amstrad rack system, and I found myself increasingly listening to music! After eighteen months, I started looking for a CD player, and this led me to the Denon DCD1500 MkII, a stunning multibit player, but at the same time I heard an Audiolab 8000A amplifier, which when partnered with the Denon amazed me. I also heard a pair of SD Acoustics SD-3 standmount speakers, and a Denon DRM-24HX 3 head cassette deck. Whilst a purely digital system initially, a day listening to a friend’s Linn LP12/Ittok/K9 combination showed me the error of my ways, so within the month I found a mint, used Michell Syncro with Linn Basik arm. At this point, the entire system was housed in a room only 3.2 by 2 metres! Another eighteen months passed until I started to look for an upgrade to my system, and knew that I wanted a source better than the Syncro. After auditioning, and being disappointed by, most of the suspended subchassis designs such as the Pink Triangle PT TOO and Michell GyroDec, along with what was considered to be the best arm
at the time, the SME V, I eventually heard about a new US turntable called the Basis Gold Debut, a formidably expensive deck which was engineered on a massive scale by an ex-aerospace engineer. In 1991 I finally heard this turntable, along with the original Graham tonearm. After auditioning a pair of Magneplanar 3.3R speakers I knew I’d found the sound I wanted, and in rapid succession heard the Apogee Stage and Martin Logan Sequel speakers, but in every case they would not even fit in my room, and clearly a room upgrade was necessary. Over the next three years I put the equipment upgrade plans on hold and instead converted my garage into a listening room. The new listening room meant I could really take the gloves off, so I installed a full home theatre with a CRT front projector, but now the SD-3 speakers were struggling to fill the new 7x3.5m space. In 1995 I was fortunate to find a mint used Basis Gold Debut Standard being sold by a dealer in the USA, and the same dealer supplied a Graham 2.0 tonearm, along with what was considered by many to be the finest phono stage available, the Klyne System 7PX 3.5. After this spending spree, I realised that to fulfil my ambition to use a panel speaker, I would need a pre/power combination, and again I looked to the USA for my preamp, which materialised in 1996 in the shape of a Krell KRC-3. I was finally in the position to purchase the power amp and speakers, and after listening to several of the suspects available at that time including the Magneplanars again, but also the Apogee Caliper and Wilson WITT, I decided upon the Martin Logan SL-3, and now needed a
monster power amp to drive them. I was hearing good things about the Bryston 7B-ST and I purchased a pair of these used in the UK, and finally an ex demo pair of Martin Logan SL-3 hybrid panels. Needless to say my CD performance was now lagging behind, and once again the Internet came to the rescue with a used Wadia 64.4 DAC in 1997. Whilst this system ran unchanged for four years, a couple of weeks with a Perpetual Technologies P-1A upsampler/P-3A DAC in 2001 meant an upgrade for my CD performance. Time spent with the Bryston 14BSST in 2002 brought about my next upgrade, replacing the 7B-STs. Good as the 14B-SST is, I felt a more modest, real world amplifier was needed for my system, so the 14BSST was supplemented in 2004 by its little brother, the 3B-SST. I returned to using a single box CD player in 2006 when I heard Shanling’s radical CD-T300 Omega Drive, whilst SACD playback is handled by a Shanling SCD-T200 I am delighted with my current system’s performance, with only an arm and cartridge upgrade planned this year. This system is capable of astonishing dynamic range, a stunning, holographic soundstage and a smooth frequency response from 35Hz to 20kHz. Whilst this system is an outstanding reviewing tool, it never ceases to delight with its musicality and energy regardless of the material it is given. It’s been a long climb, but I’m getting close to the top of my stairway to hi-fi heaven.
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