Notes about notes

Astonishment!

[rising to the bait]

So, you ditched the ATCs and the Mana then?



jtc

 

No, I discovered how to set Mana up properly, including how to deal with the boards. This being probably the most important thing to be posted on the Mana forum ever.

CDP & preamp are at phase nine, Troughline at eight, and LP spinner at phase nine on a wallshelf, fingers crossed but it hasn't fallen off yet, ho ho.

The ATCs are now at seven. I'm very happy with it.

 

Before this gets silly again, that's enough about Mana

Michael.

 

John, {shhhh} don't tell 'im about the mains...

Marco.

 

Wallshelf roulette

Give it time... I made it to Phase 8 on my wallshelf before the brick crumbled (when I had my house renovated in 2002 we discovered that a lot of the bricks were somewhat dry and crumbly, which didn't help keep the Mana off the floor, as per your quip...

That's a lot of Mana by the way. Glad it's working for you. Controversial opinion follows: Look away if you don't like controversy. Look away if you are easily offended...

Switching from Mana was one of the most positive things I ever did for my musical enjoyment, though of course we're all different and what works for one won't necessarily work for another.

Safe to look again

I did end up getting that 52/SC though. Very nice it is too...

jtc

 

TC,

You should've heard 'Late junction' last night. Verity Sharp was about 400 yards away as the crow flies & I had a coat hanger on the roof pointed straight at her.

You set it up wrong.

 

Right offended; so I am!

Grrrrr... (and all that)

Marco.

 

Setup and all that jazz...

Oh no I didn't... (cue the Mana panto script up, please, Marco!)

Actually, to save you typing, dear Lucifer, The Horned One, I'll fill in the gaps:

Mr Devil: Oh yes you did. Mana works for me therefore if it doesn;t work for you you must have set it up wrong.

Me: Ah, but I took time, didn't overtighten, inhale and I chalked the necessary pentagrams on the wooden floor. With a bit of incessant chanting I got it to work under the LP12, but no amount of goat sacrifice could get it to work under my (non Naim) amps at the time.

Mr Devil: Ah, but you must have set it up wrong. [repeat]

etc.

...and so it goes on. What I know is that I did indeed set it up correctly, but I ultimately heard its flaws and flogged the lot, and never looked back.

The irony is that now I am back with another LP12 and that's the one thing that Mana does work well for... along with speakers.

jtc the underling imp

 

If it had been set up correctly, it wouldn't have fallen off the wall! For starters.

And the board tension thing, which wasn't publicised at the time you had Mana.

 

Maybe he's just not too handy with a drill...

It's dem cheapo B&Q rawplugs, innat right, TC?

Marco.

 

Rawlplugs etc.

Crumbly bricks. My ex-house was built by Miller Homes therefore they skimped in every way possible. I admit to using Rawl Plugs, but big ones and 5" screws.

So, the board tension thing. Hmmm... sounds like an excuse to me

jtc

 

I know it sounds like an excuse, but actually it isn't. If you can set it up without any torsional tension in the boards, the performance is transformed. Honest!

 

Hello everyone.

I joined Zero Gain recently and it is nice to see the variety of systems that everyone has.

I am very happy with my curent system

Exposure XVII
Exposure XVIII
Epos ES-14
Naim CDI

What would you guys suggest that I consider replacing next. I have thought about Naim amplification but I am a little concerned that they will take away the warmth that my current system has.

I bought the CDI at the back end of last year and am still finding it hard to comprehend the difference that it has made.

Should I bother upgrading or shall I just continue like last year and buy another 180 + CD's ?

Thanks

Paul.

 

He's right, TC.

It makes a huge difference.

Marco.

 

"I am very happy with my curent system...........What would you guys suggest that I consider replacing next."

Nothing.

Ta, Marco.

 

Paul...

If yer happy and you know it clap yer hands...

Whhoops, wrong script.

Seriously, now, if you are as you say "very happy with (your) curent system" then leave well alone, save your cash and just kick back and enjoy.

I can state for the record that I've heard Naim systems sound ear-bleedingly harsh and others that have sounded sweet as you like. My own 52/SC/250 system is light years away from harsh, but I suspect that is as much down to my room, my mains, my cd player/turntable, my speakers and my furnishings as it is my Naim.

The 52/SC is a *very* special preamp, and should you really want to up the ante then that would be what I'd recommend you aspire to at least trying/hearing.

jtc

 

OK...

I need to know: what's this torsional business all about. I mean, I'm beginning to wonder how one might bestow torsional tension into a Mana board in the first place.

Still think it's an excuse, btw...

jtc

 

Hi again TC. Next time you are over here, pop in if you would like to.

Look here for details.

I originally called this the Jong-Satan method, as James Jong was the first to describe the centre-lift method on the frames, and I was the first to apply it to the boards as well, and describe the whole method. Since JW fell out with me, history has been re-written.

If you don't use this method, you can get a small amount of torsional stress in the boards because they have a bit of 'give' in them, and are often supporting a fair amount of weight from above.

 

Well you need a lot less happiness, that will start the upgrade bug big time so I'd suggest a lot more Naim and some Mana, Bub needs a new convert ;->

Cheers

Jason

 

The Jong-Satan method...

James,

I don't see how that's any different to the way that I set the stands up, but never mind. With the wall-shelf, of course it wasn't possibly to get it completely true due to the flex inherent in the iron frame, but what you've taken obviously a good bit of time to detail is more or less the way that I, and if memory serves, most other people I've spoken to over the years, used. In fact, I don't know if you'll recall Damien who used to work for Mana - that was the method he described to me over the phone way back when I bought my six-tier stand around the tail-end of 1999 or early 2000.

The 'torsional tension' thing doesn't seem to be clear when I read that - if one sets up any stand true to itself, you avoid any tension surely - why would the centre lift make much of a difference anyway? So long as everything is as true as it can be from the lowest level up, and so long as one doesn't over-tighten the bolts and ensures that spikes don't embed into the boards, then you'll achieve the same thing, surely?

Nope, don't see it. I can't see any difference in the way that your method differs from the way I used to do it. And others, too.

The 'double glass' thing I concede to as something I never tried, and I'm willing to believe that that might have an effect, and the use of dumpies as a replacement for blue-tac under speakers where the stands are used I claim for my own discovery (which is what I always did with my Neats) and that had a positive effect, but what you're describing ain't the better mousetrap I was expecting...

jtc