Edited August 5, 20205 yr by Cardiiiii

For my 1000th post on SNA I have news most exciting. 

 

Ever since I heard these speakers at the HiFi Show in 2017 I've been smitten. For me these were the best sounding speakers of the whole show. I've waxed lyrical about them since making it public that I would eventually own them one day. 

 

Well that day isn't quite here but the first step has been taken. I've been in conversation with @HA_Nick for a while now and we eventually settled on the Maestros. It's been such an easy and pleasant process dealing with Nick and I cannot wait to finally have them in my system. 

 

So, coming soon to a house that hasn't even started construction yet due to the lockdown, the Hulgich Audio Maestro II! 

 

 

 

Edited August 16, 20205 yr by Cardiiiii

To celebrate a 1000th post with an announcement like that is a beauty. Well done on both counts.

 

Cheers.

On a side note, I picked these up from @EGM Audio via @Geoff@HeyNow Hi-Fi. Speaker hiss has pretty much disappeared even at full volume. A relatively inexpensive tweak to wring out maximum performance from your current gear. 

 

Edited August 16, 20205 yr by Cardiiiii

8 hours ago, Cardiiiii said:

For my 1000th post on SNA I have news most exciting. 

 

Ever since I heard these speakers at the HiFi Show in 2017 I've been smitten. For me these were the best sounding speakers of the whole show. I've waxed lyrical about them since making it public that I would eventually own them one day. 

 

Well that day isn't quite here but the first step has been taken. I've been in conversation with @HA_Nick for a while now and we eventually settled on the Maestros. It's been such an easy and pleasant process dealing with Nick and I cannot wait to finally have them in my system. 

 

So, coming soon to a house that hasn't even started construction yet due to the lockdown, the Hulgich Audio Maestro II! 

 

 

 

cant wait for your impressions on these beautiful speakers and see pictures of your setup.

Beautiful work mate. Those Huglich speakers sure do seem to be the business. Can I ask what those EGM Audio tablets are? 

22 hours ago, unclemack said:

Beautiful work mate. Those Huglich speakers sure do seem to be the business. Can I ask what those EGM Audio tablets are? 

Hey Mack, those are the RCA, XLR & banana stoppers for the free ports of your equipment. Should have taken photos but was impatient to hook them back up. 

Latest TT tweak... 

 

On 20/08/2020 at 7:22 PM, Cardiiiii said:

Hey Mack, those are the RCA, XLR & banana stoppers for the free ports of your equipment. Should have taken photos but was impatient to hook them back up. 

Thanks mate. And what are they supposed to do apart from keeping dust out of the inputs? Also, what’s the analog disc sheet?? So many questions...?

4 hours ago, unclemack said:

Thanks mate. And what are they supposed to do apart from keeping dust out of the inputs? Also, what’s the analog disc sheet?? So many questions...?

Well the most obvious thing I noticed was the hiss from the speakers were gone. But this was at volumes way above my usual listening volume. So I guess the backgrounds are blacker. Of course YMMV depending on your environment. Decent outcome considering the relatively inexpensive outlay. 
 

As for the disc, it’s a platter mat for the TT. Not exactly cheap, but interesting. I will be giving it an extensive listen this weekend and will share my thoughts. 

Newest addition to the clan. 

 



Edited September 6, 20205 yr by Cardiiiii

So I thought I'd share some thoughts on the SPEC Analog Disc Sheet, it's just a fancy term for a platter mat.

 

Firstly, it's really well made, it is made in Japan, so that probably explains it.

 

I put it on and played a few records. I thought it sounded different, I didn't know what it was, but records I have played many times before just sounded different. On some records, I thought the sound was actually a bit thin compared to what I was used to. After a few days with it, and many records later, it finally hit me. 

 

I don't have a particularly high end table at the moment, it's a Music Hall MMF7.1, which I would think is a half decent TT. The mat was effectively, for a lack of a better explanation, cutting out all the unnecessary characteristics of sound and what was left was pretty much what the record was meant to sound like. By cutting out the excess bass especially, what was left was a much clearer, accurate soundstage with voices sounding so clear and as natural as they ever have, it's acting like an EQ. The records where the bass was a bit boomy,  are now much tighter and accurate and bass decay is excellent. It pretty much ensures every last detail that your tonearm/cart is capable of extracting is extracted from the grooves and the resulting sound is very neutral but very musical and I have grown to appreciate and love it 

 

Obviously it's not exactly cheap for a platter mat, but if you've got a high end TT, it might be a tweak worth trying.

@Cardiiiii The evolution of your system has come a long way Joe, very impressed seeing the journey! .  Can only imagine the eargasms being experienced..haha!  I remember having went from Rega RP3 modded to a Kuzma Stabi/Stogi combo.. noticable difference there.  But similarly when i upgraded to my current woodpecker 2 from the Stabi S, brought along another level of improvement but not substantially so.  With the improved TT, the need to upgrade to a better cart.So i.jumped from ZYX R100 to a Lyra Delos.   Kept the same tonearm for now, until some coin come my way for a 4point!.

1 hour ago, MrBurns84 said:

@Cardiiiii The evolution of your system has come a long way Joe, very impressed seeing the journey! .  Can only imagine the eargasms being experienced..haha!  I remember having went from Rega RP3 modded to a Kuzma Stabi/Stogi combo.. noticable difference there.  But similarly when i upgraded to my current woodpecker 2 from the Stabi S, brought along another level of improvement but not substantially so.  With the improved TT, the need to upgrade to a better cart.So i.jumped from ZYX R100 to a Lyra Delos.   Kept the same tonearm for now, until some coin come my way for a 4point!.

Thanks mate, it's been both time consuming and financially draining. Having said that, the journey is always rewarding, usually! I do have a TT upgrade sitting here, need to sort out the tonearm once lockdown is over, which doesn't seem like any time soon! 

Latest tweak is the updated all black DC Blocker from @Aussieamps. Build quality is top notch as you'd expect. Looks right at home with the rest of the components. Will give it a spin in the evening. 

 

 

 

 

We have lift off. IsoAcoustics Orea Indigo. 

 

 

The latest addition to the system. Finally set it up. All I can say is wow. F me, this is exceptional sound reproduction. All of a sudden the digital front end which all this while sounded good to me, is no longer cutting it. 

 

On 08/09/2020 at 1:49 PM, Cardiiiii said:

Latest tweak is the updated all black DC Blocker from @Aussieamps. Build quality is top notch as you'd expect. Looks right at home with the rest of the components. Will give it a spin in the evening. 

How did you find this DC Blocker affected the sound of your system?

8 minutes ago, Aperalim said:

How did you find this DC Blocker affected the sound of your system?

When I put it in, didn't notice much. When I took it out, that's when I noticed a difference. Less instrument separation, the soundstage was less clear in terms of accuracy, and the background was less black. It's a subtle upgrade for sure, but worth it in my opinion if you're looking to extract the last bits of performance from your current set up. 

8 minutes ago, Cardiiiii said:

It's a subtle upgrade for sure, but worth it in my opinion if you're looking to extract the last bits of performance from your current set up. 

OK thanks for the feedback.

Can you describe how it is connected within your system?

3 minutes ago, Aperalim said:

OK thanks for the feedback.

Can you describe how it is connected within your system?

Wall socket to DC Blocker to Aquarius. 

On 18/07/2020 at 10:45 AM, Cardiiiii said:

.....moving the anti skate from the recommended second notch to the first pretty much eliminates any distortion. Guess what, the wise gentleman was correct. I did the same and my TT has not sounded this good before. So for anyone who has a 7.1/7.3, you might want to try this at home. 

Hi.

Just want to confirm with this.

The 'first' notch to move the antiskate to, is that the notch toward the front of the TT ?

Thanks

4 hours ago, eman said:

Hi.

Just want to confirm with this.

The 'first' notch to move the antiskate to, is that the notch toward the front of the TT ?

Thanks

Yup, the inner notch. 

30 minutes ago, Cardiiiii said:

Yup, the inner notch. 

Thanks .

I just put an IKEA block under it.

Not much difference at all. Just a tiny bit more open. 

 

Are the above TTs level?