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Postby JohnAng » 25 May 2009 04:18

Hello to everyone here.
Someone put me on to this site so thought i best come and visit as i have just entered the world of turntables.

I have been into hifi for a fair few years now and my current setup was as follows up until Friday past.

Digital: Esoteric X-03SE
Pre amp: moon P5
power amps: SGR
speakers: SGR active


Here are the SGR speakers

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I upgraded from B&W 703 to these. As you can see, i still have one 703, which i use as a center speaker. It use to be 3 x 703's accross the front

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here is the rack as it stood up until Friday morning

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then Friday night the new toy arrived and we spend all day Saturday setting it up.
Not an easy job to do, and required 2 men due to the weight

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as i am sure most will know its the VPI HRX with super platter

and this is what the complete rack looks like now



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phono stage at the moment is a bel canto which is only on loan

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and cart is the ortofon Jubilee

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Hope to learn from you guys here as i am finding with vinyl even the smallest of tweaks seem to make a difference.
JohnAng
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Postby Alec124c41 » 25 May 2009 04:25

With a set-up like that, you get no sympathy from me! :wink:
Very nice indeed.

Cheers,
Alec
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Postby JohnAng » 25 May 2009 05:11

Thank you, Alec,
i think :D
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Postby bauzace50 » 25 May 2009 07:36

Goodness! What a lovely system!
Enjoy in the tranquility of having NO equipment shortcomings!
Regards,
bauzace50
As I watched the stars in the sky I wondered where the ceiling had gone.
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Postby davidsss » 25 May 2009 12:09

Hi John

Welcome to the home of the Dark Side, a few of us two time over here as well!

Enjoy.

DS
My System: Micro Seiki BL51 Turntable, Stax UA7 Tonearm, RCM Sensor Prelude Phono Stage, Ortofon MC15 Super II Cartridge, Rotel RCD865BX Cd Player, Melody I34R (Astro Black 40) amp and Osborn Epitome Speakers.
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Postby Blue Angel » 25 May 2009 12:36

I'm with Alec :lol:

I'll have to pawn my wife, dog, house and whatever else I have.

Nice system! Enjoy. We only live once.

blue angel
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Postby Satch » 25 May 2009 12:38

That's a beautiful system. Can you tell something about those loudspeakers? They look very impressive.
I don't know where I'm goin', but I can't wait to get there.
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Postby JohnAng » 25 May 2009 13:49

thanks to all for the kind words

DS, i think it may have been you who pointed me here in the first place :lol:

Satch, will give you some infor about the speakers tomorrow as now i have to go to work.
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Postby davidsss » 25 May 2009 14:54

I'll leave it to John to give you the full details of the SGR speakers. I have heard another pair quite a while ago and they are fabulous. They are active speakers made in Australia, expensive but not ridiculously so.

Often referred to as Daleks as they do have a passing resemblance!

DS
My System: Micro Seiki BL51 Turntable, Stax UA7 Tonearm, RCM Sensor Prelude Phono Stage, Ortofon MC15 Super II Cartridge, Rotel RCD865BX Cd Player, Melody I34R (Astro Black 40) amp and Osborn Epitome Speakers.
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Postby DevillEars » 25 May 2009 16:30

Welcome John,

Congratulations on what looks to be a sublime listening experience looking for time to happen...
(apologies, but I just don't seem to be able to get excited about the video aspects...)

I would also like to hear a bit about those SGR speakers as they don't seem to have made a successful voyage across the Indian Ocean from Oz to SA....

Now that you've got the VPI, the obvious question is "do you have enough software to enjoy it?"

If not, may I be so bold as to suggest a few "gotta haves"?

A turntable/arm/cartridge combination like yours deserves to be fed some 12" diameter, 180gm virgin caviar!!

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"Water Falls" (Sara K) - on Stockfisch direct to metal master pressing

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"Knockout" (Charlie Antolini) - on Jeton direct to metal master pressing

These are just two examples of the albums available from two German audiophile labels that are BOTH great listening AND absolutely stunning pressings with very low surface noise, good dynamics and excellent tonality.

Just the kind of "audio caviar" your new vinyl rig deserves to make it feel completely at home in your listening room!

:D :D
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Postby JohnAng » 26 May 2009 01:19

thank you for all the kind words

Now about the SGR speakers.

They are a small Australian manufacturer based in Melbourne.
The speakers are completely hand build and take the good part of around 3-6 months to be completed. (i believe this has blown out now)

the bottom section comprises of 2 x 10" drivers in a sealed enclosure.
the drivers are custom made by lorantz.

the top section, sits on a suspension system to isolate it from the bottom section.
It comprises of 2 x PHL midrange and the revelator tweeter.

they are an active speaker with all crossovers and amplifiers supplied
(currently they are working on the new amps and new crossover / line stage which will also include a phono stage.
These will be given to all current owners once completed

Weight around 100 kilo per speaker
Painted in colour of your choice. Mine are a black blue colour.

they were personally delivered and setup. In room measurements were flat down to 20Hz

Cost is $40k AUS as a complete package. Just add source


DevillEars, i am not a video fan either. My wife enjoys watching movies.
As for software, i am slowly building up the collection.
Have been ordering around 15 per week.
This should hopefully slow down shortly.
Thank you for the recommendations. I have the Sara K one on cd and its a beauty. Will definately hunt it down on vinyl
JohnAng
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Postby blue-starfish » 19 Jun 2009 11:39

A gorgeous looking system that must sound awesome. If the SGRs sound as great as they look, then it must be a bargain at AUD40k.

This is the first time I am hearing about SGRs, and I am not far from Oz land. I am in Singapore

Some poweramps alone cost $40k here and speakers like Kharma retail here start close to $40k per pair too.

Is there a SGR showroom in Melbourne? I will be spending some time there next year when my daughter starts uni at either RMIT or Monash
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Postby JohnAng » 20 Jun 2009 06:38

Blue Starfish

thank you for the kind comments.

Regarding SGR, there is a place you can visit them in Melbourne.
http://www.sgraudio.com.au/

contact details are in the link. Their website unfortunately is not up and running as yet.

The octagons are an older model and they now have the mt3

this is a friends system in Sydney with the MT3's

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Image

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you can have them in any colour you like, but i think there is around a years wait on them now.

what do you get for your money

the speakers of course, the amps 3 in total.

i big dual mono for the bass unit and 2 smaller mono blocks for the top sections.
you also get the crossover and line stage

these will be coming shortly and are all included in the price.

If you would like, PM me when you are in Melbourne and i can organise for you to visit them
JohnAng
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Postby blue-starfish » 22 Jun 2009 03:25

Dear JohnAng,

Thanks for the link. Will drop by when in Melb next year when the university academic year starts.

Is that a Basis turntable with Vector arm inthe background?
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