A trip to Cheltenham

It was nearly a week ago but I want to say thanks to Tone (WM) for playing the host with the most (well, certainly a cup of coffee and some fine gear) last Tuesday.

The purpose of the visit was for Tone to check out my Bel Canto eVo2 to see if he could suss out the pop that happens when you fire it up and to check that it is performing as one would expect.

First impressions of Tone's pad - Christ, it's terraced - he must have understanding neighbours!

Anyway, we swopped his eVo4 for my eVo2 and fired it up - pop went the Meadowlarks! However, apart from the sound the eVo2 did a fine job and drove the Meadowlarks very well indeed.

I took a Spirit of the West CD with me that has a track featuring one of the best recorded bass guitars I've ever come across - it sounded excellent. Tone said it's interesting when people visit because they bring music that he's never heard before and I think he quite liked the SOTW CD, if nothing else, as a musician himself, he appreciated how accomplished the players on the CD are.

Anyway, the eVo2 was receiving power through a standard extension lead. He then swopped it for power from his (costly) mains conditioner. Wow - a fair step up in quality - the bass guitar was now clearer, almost as if the bass player had dragged his amp into the room.

We then switched to the (modded) eVo4 in bridged mode. Big step up again - the bass guitarist had put a new set of strings on his guitar and the notes were now complete. On top of this the whole soundstage was wider and yet more focused.

The final trick was the green pen for the CD and some snake oil for the surface of it. Tone could hear the difference but I struggled to - maybe I could hear something was different but I couldn't put my finger on it. I think the problem was that after two notable changes, something so subtle was difficult to detect. I wouldn't discount it though and would give it another try.

We (well, Tone) then had a look inside the eVo2 and everything looked fine. The pop on fire-up would seem to be a relay not delaying the signal. Easy to resolve but, as I keep it on all the time, probably not worth the bother at this moment in time.

So thanks to Tone for an interesting visit and no thanks to him for making me want an eVo4 now!

What was nice was that when I got home and put the eVo2 back in place, my system sounded fantastic which is not what I thought would happen having spent some time listening to a system costing several times more.

Matt.

 

Matt he's not a musician he's a drummer, they are just guys that like to hang around with musicians.

 

That's true - and don't you hate the way they expect you to help them bring all their kit into the practice room!

Matt.

 

Well you guys just don't appreicate the talents of the skinsman, unlike some
Thanks to Matt for making the quick blast up superslab 5 last week good to put a face to a name Wm

 

Drummer jokes

-- Ian

 

A great band with a bad drummer will always be a bad band, hmmm

 

if a great band has a bad drummer, then by logic its flawed anyway , therefore not a great band, unless the guys a complete animal, in which case the stage persona wins over the crowd, not that its ever happened to me

 

Didn't stop the Beatles

Zak's not half bad though

 

Who are the Beatles?

 

A good drummer woulda been wasted on the other 3

 

just like bullets...

 

Interviewer: (to John Lennon) "John, do you think that Ringo is the best drummer in the world?"

Lennon: "He's not even the best drummer in The Beatles!!!"