Well a week after the event I feel I need to report. A week ago my vinyl front end was a 1999 QC Orbe SE bought for £1700. It replaced a Gyrodeck which had itself replaced a stolen Pink Triangle Export. By 2006 it had an SME V arm and a Lyra Argo cartridge on board. As many of you would admit - a fine front end. Many a contributor has discussed the merit of a good dealer and this is true in my story. I have dealt with both Doug Brady Hi-Fi in Warrington and increasingly Midland Audio Exchange in Belbroughton, Worcs. Both are excellent dealers although John and Martin are probably more hi-end than Doug Brady and their premises are simply superb. Back to the upgrade. Three weeks ago they phoned to say that they had a Roksan TMS1 (11/2000) in MINT condition available second hand since the owner was going digital:D . Was I interested? Was I hell:p So down to Belbroughton and a long session with a superb Audio Reserach / Martin Logan set-up. Both turntables had an SME V and a Lyra Argo fed through a top of the range Roksan £1500 phono stage. My Michell was superb, dark, brooding, accurate (I thought) and detailed. We stuck the Roksan on - I was surprised. My Orbe sounded slow and compressed in comparisson. We tried Daniel Lanois, Bach, Kate Bush, Steve Winwood but there was no dening the superiority of the Roksan. However, prior to purchase I felt that I needed a home trial which was Ok by John. Two weeks later the transaction was complete. With my Sugden Masterclass Monos and Pre the sound quality simply astounds. Realism is of a degree that the Michell could only attempt. I never thought my Orbe could be outclassed to such an extent. The cost of upgrading was £1000. My Michell in P/Ex against the TMS1 with a top of the range Roksan power supply. In my view this was my best ever £1000 upgrade. What would Zero Gain members have done with the money?
