Upgrading CD

i recently move into a new house and setup the system on a sound org 'till i was ready for the mana to be setup. you don't want to know what the system sounded like.

Mr devil, i would never preach the mana word but all i can say is that there are some of us that are just missing out...big time.

the ninja makes a big difference, not a standard LP12 by a long way. in fact what you have is a JW system sans 52 mod.
i know where you're coming from.

I remember JW saying a guy called James did it, and I think he is also the James behind ECS? never made the connection before but it is all falling into place now. I'll call them on monday.

I really don't have any more height for mana but i will borrow this whest audio thing over the weekend and see how it sounds. i'm pretty open minded and think i know when somethink sounds right. i'll keep you posted.

where did you get the stealth heatshrink from? it looks like the stealth cable heatshrink.

 

Yes it is the Stealth cable heatshrink. My TT was used, believe it or not, to check the spirit levels at the Mana factory! This seemed like a bit of a waste of a lovely TT to me, and JW was kind enough to let me have it. He also gave me a Stealth cable for CD to preamp duties (much better than the Naim thing I was using before) and Stealth cabling for supercap to ATCs.

Glad you know where I'm coming from, it's a very nice system.

Yes it is the same James, btw.

 

Ahhh

i use stealth cable throughout. changed the 135 interconnect (3 core mains cable) to stealth and that was a major improvement.
i've also had the internals of the 135s rewired and rebiased.

please don't say your system is very nice when it's awesome. nice is an understatement.

i'll find out what James charges for an 82 mod.

i heard there are only 3 ninja LP12s out there. that's pretty rare. i know what it sounds like compared to a standard LP12 as JW played me the difference when I picked up 4 stages years back.
you wonder why Linn don't do the mod or Naim the 52 mod.

 

The 52 mod is interesting, I don't really know what difference it makes TBH. Have you ever heard standard vs modded in the same system?

JW's system with isobariks is very interesting, it's amazing what Mana stands do for the briks, totally unrecognisable compared with the Linn stands.

I think there are more than three Ninjas about, more like eight or so.

 

mmmm

I just typed a whole thing out and pressed submit and nothing!

Anyway, like I said before and was crashed out...

James has left ECS for more design and recording work etc so we will never know what's done in the 52. I've spoken to a few people in the past at shows that have said it makes a substantial difference and clearly leaves the standard one standing.

The great thing about this week was that I took your advise and borrowed a Whest audio unit. This thing is amazing. The improvement in the system is MASSIVE. I can only compare it to adding 12 levels under a CD player but with more detail.
OK. Bass - goes lower and has more detail with no overhang

 

happened again....

anyway as I was saying, the midband is WOW and the treble is as sweet as a sweet nut. soundstage has improved 10 fold and everything else 20 fold. I've thought about going to more levels and the bottom line is my CDI is only a CDI at some point I'll find a better machine. The CDS2 compared to the CDI was not worth the difference in MHO and the mana can only do so much. I really think you should give it a listen, keep an open mind. If someone told you 20 years ago that a support table would radically change the sound quality of your system you probably would have said *uc* o*f. This Whest audio unit is the same. It is stunning.

There is a review coming out in HiFi News that says the unit is stunning. Anyway I'm having one.