During a recent visit to Steve and Ray at VAS Audio, my attention was caught by an amplifier I built in the early 2000s. This is one of the very few I released into the wild.
My initials and the date are underneath, which are obscured but should read 1/02. Those who've serviced and updated the amp added their own inscriptions later.
The original Sprague Atom and Cerafine caps held up very well. It's been updated to run on DC filaments and rewired for 6J5s.
Here's the JE Labs SE10 amp before leaving my man cave in the mid 2000s sporting Tango/Hirata OPTs. Scroll down this link for more info. Last March I also saw and heard a pair of SE10 mono blocks I built using Hashimoto H20-14U OPTs in collaboration with Harana Audio. Those amps are now driving a pair of G.I.P. Laboratory Monitor 1s. It's been a reunion year for SE10 amps I've built!😊
SPU-G, Miyabi and Ikeda
However, the main reason I was the VAS Audio shop was to pick up three phono cartridges owned by friends in Manila. I brought them back stateside for repair last spring with specific instructions to restore them as close to their original state as possible. As usual, the father and son team did a great job bringing these cartridges back to life!👏
This particular SPU-G has had a harsh life since it was found in a junk shop in Manila sans cantilever. VAS cleaned it up, fitted a new aluminum cantilever + a nude mounted conical stylus. Now it's singing!
After the internals were cleaned and one channel resurrected, this Miyabi sounds sweet and silky smooth. The presentation is my preferred mid to back hall perspective, which engulfs the listener.
In stark contrast, this Ikeda 9Gss fitted with a new diamond captivated me with a front row seat viewpoint. It extracted lots of detail from the groove, yet was non fatiguing.
Since the Miyabi and Ikeda are phono cartridges way above my pay grade 😉, the experience reminded me of the welcome party my audio buddies hosted last March where bottles of Cos d'Estournel and Château Palmer were served. Cheers guys!🍷😊
Very enjoyable music. I’d love to build some similar equipment but I know from experience that my soldering skills are just not good enough.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you liked them, thanks!
DeleteVAS/ Steve Leung modifies a Denon 103 into a mono cartridge by removing one set of coils and reorienting the remaining set for horizontal groove content. I have one and it sounds better than a Ortofon DG25MKIII. Are you familiar with this modified cartridge and if so, what are your thoughts ?
ReplyDeleteI haven't heard his "mono'ed" DL103 and I'm not familiar with that particular Ortofon but have experienced the SPU mono in a familiar setting.
DeleteFor more than two decades, I've been enjoying my vintage mono LPs tracked by period GE RPX and VRII variable reluctance cartridges from the 50s and 60s and for mono reissues, the Denon DL102.
I'll be visiting Steve soon to pick up my SPU-GM and drop off a few other cartridges.