The best Dipoles, Dipoles that can do bass?

infinitely baffled

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Artisan Fidelity 301 Statement vs Kodo the Beat

Guys my profound apologies for the delay in responding.
But I've got an excuse....i just haven't been able to tear myself away from my listening position since my new deck has settled in

So there was the post installation, 'just-needed a break' period of a few days, to change the mindset from listening to equipment back to listening to music again, interspersed a light bit of tweaking.
And now it's just every spare moment wanting to hear more

First impressions?
Its a handsome beast, really growing on me looks-wise. I love the soft edges, the proportions and the finish. I adore the way the new armboard, machined from billet, complements both arm and deck. I like the feel of the on / off and speed controls, after the retro clunkiness of the AF 301's controls
My first impression of the sonic signature is that the big woofly throbbiness of the Artisan Fidelity has been replaced by something a lot punchier, kind of like the difference between a boxer with heavy hands and one generating similar power with cleaner technique and more snap. The leading edges of bass notes and transients are much more clearly defined, rhythm sharper, tighter and more infectious, all round PRaT significantly improved over the 301, perhaps with a slight loss of the effortless weight of the 301. It's certainly one to get the feet tapping....hold that cliche, let me tell you whats really going on - I'm sat in my lazy boy, feet shoulders hands and head all in motion in time to the beat and I'm rowing across my living room like a demented turtle.
This thing pounds!

One other first impression. The decay of notes left hanging in the air by the dreamlike brushstrokes of Alt-j have a non mechanical purity that is new to me, with this being my first encounter with a proper direct drive deck. Pianos have a new purity, vocals a subtle nuance that is immensley pleasurable, and there is a more tangible centre image than previously, the 301 being a tad more ethereal.
All in all i feel its going to make a terrific foil to my AF 301 as i play my club thumpers, power and PRaT vs devastating weight.

It should be noted that i have swapped the arm and cartridge from my 301 straight over to the Beat, so i really am just hearing the differences between the decks. It also bears pointing out that this combination of Ikeda arm and VdH Colibri really shouldn't work this well together, they are not destined to be a final pairing as the low mass Colibri is really too light for the Ikeda. The Ikeda is intended for my bass driven electronica accompanied with a Miyabi Fuuga, wheras the Van den Hul cartridge is going to specialise in Alt-j, James Blake and others of an acoustic ethereal nature, and really shouldn't be capable of the sort of mind-warping bass it is delivering now

(Ftr, the Beat is intended to have a Kuzma 4Point with Fuuga, and Schroeder LT with either Colibri or Miyajima Madake.
301 will have Ikeda with Fuuga, and Schroeder CB tonearm and either Colibri or Miyajima Madake, all when funds allow )
 

infinitely baffled

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Ooooh! Great table but I also want to see a pic of the 2 1210s in Battle configuration :D

Wotcha Jack, how are you doing?
Glad we havent lost you, with my needless posting of choons and occasional attempts at suspense:p
So youve spotted my guilty secret....:eek:
They have been gathering dust since practising for a set new year's eve. It was the pain of submitting my precious vinyl to the ditch diggers that drove me to replace them with a pair of proper turntables, so they have served their purpose and will soon be off to a new home. But if you appreciate that sort of thing i suspect the mixer may actually impress more
I promise you a decent pic when I've dusted :p
 

infinitely baffled

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talked to Steve at RMAF last October. he now has three levels of tt's coming out that 'might' replace 'The Beat'. here is a link to his website. as his website does not show his new tt's i'm not sure where that is right now.

http://www.xactaudio.com/

Steve is a friend and knowledgeable as well as helpful.

Hello Mike, how are you?
I have to admit to a double take when i recently saw an old picture of your previous generation vinyl rigs, complete with the Beat and Steve Dobbins 301.
And there was me thinking I'd done something original :D
 

infinitely baffled

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JackD201

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Nice!

Appears we share the same guilty secret! 1210s and 1200s here too but have been digital for the most part in recent years, moved from Pioneer to Denon at that!
 

infinitely baffled

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Indeed.....

Did you not keep an Air Force One?
I thought i was reading on the same thread where Mike posted pics of his Beat that you had one in your sights?
 

Zero000

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Jul 28, 2014
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The Kodo is a lovely TT.

Congrats.

I like this leather bound one I shot a video of at Munich 2014, to match the Absolare gear. Nice.


 

infinitely baffled

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Cheers bud ?

That looks lovely. And I've always liked the looks of Rockport gear
 

Mike Lavigne

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Hello Mike, how are you?
I have to admit to a double take when i recently saw an old picture of your previous generation vinyl rigs, complete with the Beat and Steve Dobbins 301.
And there was me thinking I'd done something original :D

hello IB,

i'm good. yes.....here is that picture (likely from 2010). it was the first production 'the Beat' and it was sweet sounding. I enjoyed all three of these tt's. at this point the Dobbins SP-10 Mk2 and Mk3 had been sold.

the_Beat_joins_the_tt_family_(1_of_1).jpg
 
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infinitely baffled

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Are you still happy with your floorstanding, led turntable lights?
They are on my shopping list :)
 

Mike Lavigne

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Are you still happy with your floorstanding, led turntable lights?
They are on my shopping list :)

yes, very happy functionally. I've seen nothing as good. except for they use SMPS's so have a slight noise penalty (even plugged into my 'dirty power grid'). i'm guessing 100% of LED lights come stock with SMPS's. and so i'm working out how to find linear power supplies I can substitute. my intentions would be to not have any SMPS's in my room.

I can't say I can specifically hear that noise, but it can effect the performance of gear in proximity. when I was working out Ethernet and USB connections for my digital I did discover removing that SMPS did lower noise.

I learned about that noise from Ed and Emile from Taiko Audio, as they have worked on their LPS's for the Tana platforms and are ruthless in dealing with SMPS's.
 
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Folsom

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Do they have small boxes for power supplies or are they built into the lamp? Folsom has small power supply designs with filters on them that reduce radiation, but I'm not sure what the power supplies look like on such a lamp - as in what kind of modifications and such could be necessary. We could make custom ones, if they are very small, but I'm not sure how easily the lamps themselves could be modified if the PSU isn't external to start.

The radiation is the bad part from an SMPS in your situation. It should still be low, but they are right at your gear.
 

JackD201

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Indeed.....

Did you not keep an Air Force One?
I thought i was reading on the same thread where Mike posted pics of his Beat that you had one in your sights?

Yes I did :) I've had it for over 2 years now. I love it.
 

Mike Lavigne

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Do they have small boxes for power supplies or are they built into the lamp? Folsom has small power supply designs with filters on them that reduce radiation, but I'm not sure what the power supplies look like on such a lamp - as in what kind of modifications and such could be necessary. We could make custom ones, if they are very small, but I'm not sure how easily the lamps themselves could be modified if the PSU isn't external to start.

The radiation is the bad part from an SMPS in your situation. It should still be low, but they are right at your gear.

they are a small wall wort kinda deal.
 

microstrip

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yes, very happy functionally. I've seen nothing as good. except for they use SMPS's so have a slight noise penalty (even plugged into my 'dirty power grid'). i'm guessing 100% of LED lights come stock with SMPS's. and so i'm working out how to find linear power supplies I can substitute. my intentions would be to not have any SMPS's in my room (...)

LED lights are arrangements of diodes and work on DC. The included SMPS convert AC in DC - if you could bypass them you could easily use a very cheap linear regulated power supply to power them.
 

Folsom

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they are a small wall wort kinda deal.

If they say "DC output" on them then this is an easier thing to deal with. If they say AC it may be more complicated.

What's tricky about these is that LED's do much better with a constant current source, so I would not recommend the average DC supply to use with them. Often the bulbs try to convert varying sources to a CCS if they have their own mini circuit (very common) because then they can use cheap PSUs. The trick to lowering the noise is to go just under triggering their on board circuitry and provide a CCS to them at just the right current, so that their mini electronics are not spewing RF.

It is possible to diagnose this stuff remotely, but realistically this may be a peculiar job - but a possible one.
 

infinitely baffled

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I've resisted turning this thread into a general blog,
but out of respect for all who have contributed an update is in order.

I made the OP while my power amp, a Boulder 2060, was receiving attention.
This has included some components, including main board, being replaced with 2160- spec items.

At about the time my search for a suitable dipole reached an impasse - the favourites were judged to be either insufficiently robust for the kicking they will receive here, or incapable of plumbing the depths intrinsic to my preferred musical style - the 2060 was returned to me. Also coincident with the delivery of my new tt, Kodo the Beat.

So i restored it to the heart of my system, entirely unprepared for what was to come.
Which was, in word, magical.
The sense that electricity was no longer powering the system, replaced by pure musical energy. That it had returned to action as a force of nature, rolling out a room sized projection of silence, then inhabited by perfectly scaled musicians producing sounds that hung in space and were coherent, top to bottom, no emphasis or restriction.
It left me weak at the knees, powerless to move, transfixed by the beauty and emotional content of any musical performance it was fed. My routine changed, plans were thrown out and redezvous cancelled, all to make more time to spend on another dimensional plane. Suddenly my search for dipoles became academic

And then the unthinkable happened....it stopped working again. Shut itself down and wouldn't come out to play

Gutted

It was at this point that i decided i would buy a new amp. As in, brand new.
And it probably said quite a lot about the performance that despite the breakdowns, a 2160 went straight in at the top of the shopping list

Unfortunately for this thread, a 2160 purchase will put me
out of the upgrade game for about three years.
So my quest for a dipole will go on hold for the time being.
But in return i give you.....a heavyweight amplifier showdown:

Boulder 2160 versus Wavac he 833 mk2
 

bonzo75

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:cool: coming over to give running commentary. When is your kodo going to be all tonearms ready?
 

infinitely baffled

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That's a good one Ked ? Realistically the power amps may have jumped the queue, but any daylight between savings and delivery times will see arms and cartridges acquired.
I had just made the allocation for a 4point and first of two Miyabi Fuuga when the priority changed, and some sacrifices will be necessary to purchase either contender.

'Some sacrifices'....ie no travel, no landscaping, Christmases cancelled and living on beans on toast for the next three years :D
 

infinitely baffled

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