13 hours ago, dcathro said:

Hi Clive,

 

Would love to come and pay a visit and hear what you have done!

 

Cheers

 

David

No worries David, I've just sent off a PM to you earlier this morning. 🙂

Many of you appear to be jaded by my system thread nowadays, going by the fewer comments l see . 

But l will persevere regardless, for those interested! 🙂

 

Another important chapter in my hifi  journey, and one of the most significant has just officially closed.

After a gruelling sales campaign, l have managed to find a worthy new owner for my Astor's! 

They have just left the building, yes they are that legendary! 😂

 

Anyway, they have gone to a SNA member interstate and l hope he enjoys them even half as much as l  did - my wife told me over and over that she was happy to see them stay, but it was divorce if l kept both them and the Duke's! 🫤

I packed them fairly well protection wise, before Pack and Send collected them just in case.

 

Anyway it is now all about solely focusing on the Duke's, and some recent power cable purchases have made a massive improvement to all aspects of the level of performance.

Imaging, dynamics, noise floor, tonality and pinpoint wide soundstage is now noticeably better, and l believe my guests coming here will be in for a very nice surprise. 🙂

45 minutes ago, evil c said:

Many of you appear to be jaded by my system thread nowadays, going by the fewer comments l see . 

But l will persevere regardless, for those interested! 🙂

 

Another important chapter in my hifi  journey, and one of the most significant has just officially closed.

After a gruelling sales campaign, l have managed to find a worthy new owner for my Astor's! 

They have just left the building, yes they are that legendary! 😂

 

Anyway, they have gone to a SNA member interstate and l hope he enjoys them even half as much as l  did - my wife told me over and over that she was happy to see them stay, but it was divorce if l kept both them and the Duke's! 🫤

I packed them fairly well protection wise, before Pack and Send collected them just in case.

 

Anyway it is now all about solely focusing on the Duke's, and some recent power cable purchases have made a massive improvement to all aspects of the level of performance.

Imaging, dynamics, noise floor, tonality and pinpoint wide soundstage is now noticeably better, and l believe my guests coming here will be in for a very nice surprise. 🙂

Great outcome Clive !!

10 minutes ago, Mendes said:

Great outcome Clive !!

It is indeed Steve !

It should have been one of the easiest to sell, but big ticket items thin out the herd! 😉

I was concerned there would be sellers remorse, and while sad to see them go - the Duke's are outstanding in every aspect, so the path ahead is a very defined and satisfying one. 🙂

Congrats Evil, they were terrific speakers that will serve the new owner extremely well.

Jaded?  Not me.  Always happy to see you change and improve your system.

 

Congrat's on the sale.  Do let us know when the Astors arrive safe and sound at their new home - which isn't mine, unfortunately.

Massive day yesterday here, with the Annual Xmas feast and festivities and probably one of the largest held for many years!

And we had a great range of dishes and beverages to enjoy.

@illusion @tubularbells @Black Orange and billnotathome " hey guys, over here smile!! 🫤

 

@PonyTail Sam, Doug, Kunar, Bill, and @ZEN MISTER falling asleep with the riveting conversation!

@betty boop and my youngest boy, with @SimonS just in pic.

 

 

Some of the spread we enjoyed! 🙂

 

My view trying to take it all in, after a few reds! 

@RussB @Bill Katz Mrs evil, Andrew (facing away when l pointed the camera), @qik_shift and @Russell Berg sitting at table. @tubularbells @frednork@Assisi @betty boop @illusion & @Black Orange

 

Annie, Scotty evil , moi and Ravin 

 

 

And that is about all the pics l took, none inside or of the system.  My thanks and appreciation to everyone, for making it another magical Xmas party  in 2025 ! 🙂

 

Melbs fine Summer weather (yeah it rained) couldn't dampen the spirits of those in attendance. Great afternoon of fine food drink and naturally music. Another job well done EvilC 👍

 

Didn't take many pics but here's a few more...

 

 

 

 

 

And my fav. Lexi the doggy keeping any floor spills under control 🤣

 

Nice pics TB ! 

Lexi has always been the best at making food disappear! 😂

 

2 minutes ago, evil c said:

Nice pics TB ! 

Lexi has always been the best at making food disappear! 😂

 

Little wonder she follows me around with my eating habits.😜

What a wonderful arvo at Evil springs. So much food and drink and amazing conversations... I just surfaced after 24 hours. 

 

The system has taken another step up.  A former power cable sceptic like me is now convinced  on the difference they make with the sunyatas weaving thier magic. 

 

 

Thank you so much Clive and family for hosting the wonderful Xmas. Your hospitality and generosity has no bounds. 

Thanks to everyone else for their contributions too. 

 

Wishing you all a wonderful Xmas and New year. 

 

13 hours ago, Black Orange said:

What a wonderful arvo at Evil springs. So much food and drink and amazing conversations... I just surfaced after 24 hours. 

 

The system has taken another step up.  A former power cable sceptic like me is now convinced  on the difference they make with the sunyatas weaving thier magic. 

 

 

Thank you so much Clive and family for hosting the wonderful Xmas. Your hospitality and generosity has no bounds. 

Thanks to everyone else for their contributions too. 

 

Wishing you all a wonderful Xmas and New year. 

 

Thanks for your lovely words, Kunar!

The spread was exceptional this year, with a lot of delectable food brought by everyone 😋 

 

The system sounding even better?

Finally someone has publicly acknowledged the fact! 😂

Plenty heard the difference. 

 

For those interested, l recently purchased some shunyata Venom cables and fitted one from a dedicated wall outlet to the power amp.

Other went from my PS Audio P10 Power regenerator to the CJ GAT preamp.

 

It made a phenomenal improvement, the Hulgich Duke's are now faultless in their level of reproduction- l am beyond ecstatic with them now. 🙂

 

Thanks to Maggie and yourself for the hospitality last Saturday.  An enjoyable social experience with like minded people.  Your setup is very pleasing.  

John

Yes, thank you Clive and family for a great day on Saturday.  Lots of great chats and banter and I met some new people.  I have barely eaten since!  Your system was most impressive Clive and a considerable step up in sound quality from when I last heard it.  No doubt the new Dukes are a big part of that.  

 

Edited December 8, 2025Dec 8 by zenikoy

Looks like DaVinci's Last Supper.Doug would be St Peter which would make me Judas.     

7 hours ago, zenikoy said:

 

I should frame that, and put it in the Pool room!

Hang on,  they're actually in the pool room, the table is underneath all the food  and booze ! 😂

Very apt! 😉

A superb afternoon at the house of evil .  Many thanks🙏 to you and your fam for putting up with us and also for all the hard work that went into it.  Food was amazing, good company , and great tunes. The system has definitely gone up a few notches and as for that pic above, love it!

13 hours ago, zenikoy said:

 

This picture should be a part of collection of National Gallery of Victoria.

10 hours ago, evil c said:

I should frame that, and put it in the Pool room!

Hang on,  they're actually in the pool room, the table is underneath all the food  and booze ! 😂

Very apt! 😉

 

I couldn't resist the composition and content of that photo, very "Dutch master tavern drama". So I cropped and used an AI "Rembrandt" style convertor. I was quite stunned with the outcome myself.

 

https://bylo.ai/features/gpt-image-generator

 

Nice to see your both still alive and enjoying spending coin to further improve your sounds system, pity though about your hearing failing though mate, old age is a bastard trust me I'm older than you.... Did I get you? haha Ross

3 hours ago, agelessgoodguy said:

Nice to see your both still alive and enjoying spending coin to further improve your sounds system, pity though about your hearing failing though mate, old age is a bastard trust me I'm older than you.... Did I get you? haha Ross

Lol actually l did have a nasty incident around the covid period, where l endured a period of Tinnitus and distortion in my right ear!

Thankfully it eased over time, and while I'm down in hearing above a certain frequency level on the right,

my listening experience is still very enjoyable.

I can still hear subtle changes in my system! 🙂 .

Or is that a placebo effect?? 😉

Edited December 16, 2025Dec 16 by evil c

The brain is a remarkable machine, and it can compensate for changes in hearing, even when the ear is potentially not even deciphering the real signal any longer. My advice is NOT to get a hearing test. Sometimes you are just better off not knowing what you can't hear, and enjoy what you either can / or think you can hear.

3 hours ago, Marc said:

The brain is a remarkable machine, and it can compensate for changes in hearing, even when the ear is potentially not even deciphering the real signal any longer. My advice is NOT to get a hearing test. Sometimes you are just better off not knowing what you can't hear, and enjoy what you either can / or think you can hear.

Very true Marc, l sought Medical advice as soon as my Sudden Sensorineural Hearing Loss, (SSNHL), occurred and my GP referred me to an ENT surgeon which was going to be a few weeks until l could see them.

Dr refused to prescribe Steroid treatment that l requested, until l saw the specialist and by then it was too late l found out.

ENT glanced in one ear briefly with an Otoscope and that was it.

Lot of very average Quacks out there! 🤔

Fortunately for me, after around 6 months my hearing settled.

I went to a concert at Rochford, around a year later and stupidly agreed to go closer to the front.

Suddenly distortion returned in my right ear, and it took around 6 months again to disappear.

I occasionally get slight episodes, but overall very fortunate l can hear both channels of my hifi equally in volume levels and can discern the majority of the full frequency spectrum.

But moral of the story is, treat your ears like your eyes - with protection and caution when necessary, and insist on getting appropriate medical treatment as a matter of urgency if required. 🙂

1 hour ago, evil c said:

Sudden Sensorineural Hearing Loss, (SSNHL),

This is what I suffered, from too many double ear-infections back to back. It was too late for steroids for me also.
I wasn't as lucky as you as I have documented elsewhere. But I don't want to hijack your thread. I maintain, as long as you can still hear people talking and can communicate properly, then let your brain do the compensations it can do to enjoy your audio world. Once you have a bit of paper in your hand that factually tells you that you can't hear certain things - then you start realising - and not hearing - what you can't hear. For an audiophile, that is a death nail in one's journey (and we have seen it countless times in the classifieds over the years). Sometimes ignorance really is bliss.