Saturday 14 December 2013

Atlas Mavros interconnect

Atlas cables have been a bit of a revelation. We took on the range about 6 months ago and have been totally staggered by how well they perform. Some of their budget end designs have been winning various, quite prestigeous awards, but for us, it's the top end which has been the most impressive.

Asimi has become our high end cable of choice,  but if you are not at the extreme top end of the hifi world, then Mavros is a substantially cheaper alternative. Mavros uses a lot of the technology found in Asimi, but uses copper not silver .... this is the main reason for the price advantage, but dont be fooled into thinking that this is any more cheaply constructed, the build is exceptional and the quality of the copper second to none.


As with Asimi, Mavros gives music such a sense of 'reality' that it can be quite a shock .... but it doesn't fall into the trap of being open and detailed at the expense of character or soul

You really should try it out for yourself .... Atlas cables are very compatible (unlike a lot of high end) and even sound brilliant with Naim Audio

See the range here :

http://www.cheshireaudio.co.uk/acatalog/Atlas.html

Tuesday 10 December 2013

On the Jig today .. Linn Sondek Ittok / K18ii

In for service recently

This Linn came in with intermittent speed and poor sound .... nice condition for the year, manufactured in around 1985. The normal issue with Linns around this age tends to be a failing Valhalla board, this can be repaired, but as there are a few better alternatives out there we tend to fit either a Hercules board ... or a Heed Orbit kit

In this case we fitted a  Hercules .... this, as well as offering a punchier more musical sound, also gives the option of electronic 33/45 speed change ... quite a bonus on the 33 only Sondek. Linn used to offer a larger 45 sleeve to fit over the 33 pulley to step up the speed, but it was a clunky solution.



The old K18mk2 had to go, as at 18+ years old it sounded dreadful. This has been replaced with a Rega Elys2, which suits the Ittok really well and has a very 'Linn like' presentation

After a full strip down and rebuild, the sound was nicely back to what you would expect ... a well tuned LP12 is still a hard act to follow !

If you have any queries re Sondek servicing/repair ... ring Philip on 01270 582154