Goodbye Rega Brio-R, hullo Sonneteer Campion

Discussion in 'Audio Hardware' started by raferx, Nov 17, 2013.

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  1. Bubbamike

    Bubbamike Forum Resident

  2. raferx

    raferx Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Vancouver, Canada
  3. Harvest Your Thoughts

    Harvest Your Thoughts Forum Resident

    Location:
    On your screen
    Now we don't have near identical setups. I guess I'll have to get one too. :confused:
     
  4. raferx

    raferx Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Vancouver, Canada
    What are you running? I can't see your profile.
     
  5. Gene Zucker

    Gene Zucker Forum Resident

    Location:
    Georgia
    Is it true that the Campion has been discontinued?
     
  6. Harvest Your Thoughts

    Harvest Your Thoughts Forum Resident

    Location:
    On your screen
    I didn't know my profile was blocked! No offence intended.
    I have a brio R and RP6
     
  7. Art K

    Art K Retired but not tired!

    Location:
    Corvallis, Oregon
     
  8. raferx

    raferx Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Vancouver, Canada
    All good! No worries, now I see where you're coming from :)
     
  9. raferx

    raferx Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Vancouver, Canada
    You should order an Alabaster!
     
  10. MacGyver

    MacGyver Forum Resident

    Location:
    IRRIGON, OR. U.S.

    hmm, learn something every day. thanks... :)
     
  11. Haider-Sonneteer

    Haider-Sonneteer Well-Known Member

    Hi Guys, Just catching up on this thread. Firstly, thank you for all the kind words.

    The Volume pot thing is an interesting thing and our experience goes back about 20 years here. In a separate incarnation as a designer for another very well known Hi-Fi company I was heavily involved in testing hundreds of volume pots form a very well known potentiometer manufacturer that are found in most high end hifi products today. The important fact here is that we are talking stereo and left to right tracking. If you read the manufacturers own specification you will notice an upto 3dB gang error in the first half of the cycle. There was clear improvement in the second half of the cycle. This was also very clearly a fact in most cases after measuring the tracking of several hundred of them. The main reason for this testing was because most of the amplifiers we designed at this said larger hifi company were subject to fierce competition from a number of other brands at their price level where most sales relied on an, at best, 5 minute listening and usually to amplifiers sitting side by side on a shop shelf. So what happens is, in truth, the 'loudest' always wins. So everyone made sure the sensitivity on their inputs was a little bit higher and, in the case of CD players, the output was just a little bit higher and so on and so forth. There are three very big prices to pay here: 1. Left to right balance is going to get worse and worse, 2. resolution is down the drain and the amplifier simply clips early with nothing but distortion beyond 12O'clock on the dial, and 3. in the case of the CD player outputs particularly there is a serious chance of overloading the input of the next component due to a lack of headroom. But hey, it sells boxes quickly!

    Hence at Sonneteer we really don't like that very much and we did design the original amps to sit in our own homes and recording studios so we like to get the very best out of all the bits we use.

    I hope this is helpful.

    Haider
     
    Shiver, Bubbamike, raferx and 3 others like this.
  12. Haider-Sonneteer

    Haider-Sonneteer Well-Known Member

    Just for the record, I have never worn one. I can not vouch for my colleagues though ;-)
     
    TimArruda, raferx, dhoffa85 and 2 others like this.
  13. Art K

    Art K Retired but not tired!

    Location:
    Corvallis, Oregon
    Wonderful feedback, Haider. Thank you.
     
  14. Gene Zucker

    Gene Zucker Forum Resident

    Location:
    Georgia

    Haider... Thank you. I found what you have been doing so interesting that I decided to run your idea by someone who has a great deal of engineering and design experience. I was surprised and pleased with his response. Here is some of what he said in response to your potentiometer settings.


    I use a Nikko Beta 1 preamplifier from the 70's for my system. It is a high voltage SS Fet circuit capable of 16 volts into 100 ohm load, so ridiculously over powered. I use a pair of my own design 4:1 step down transformers after the preamp, just to get the preamps film pot up into it's linear amplitude change region. These are "audio" taper pots so the greatest voltage gain, by percent of change, is in the first 25% of rotation.


    Gene
     
  15. raferx

    raferx Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Vancouver, Canada
    Great to see you on the forums Haider, thanks so much for taking the time to respond.
    –Rafe

     
  16. raferx

    raferx Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Vancouver, Canada
    Also want to add that I cannot believe the amount of detail I was missing out on the last few months because of the motor noise in my old RP6.
    My replacement RP6 arrived Monday (and with it, a silent motor) and I've been shaking my head pretty much non-stop since I've set it up and started spinning LPs.
    Upper harmonics, transient details, micro-phonics, trailing-edge detail/plucks in strings, cymbal decay/shimmer, background vocals and instrument separation – you name it – a lot was buried under the "whump-whump" of that bum motor/PSU. It has given me a new found respect for what this TT/cart combo is capable of delivering and has stayed my hand at selling it for a Well Tempered TT for at least a while.
     
  17. Art K

    Art K Retired but not tired!

    Location:
    Corvallis, Oregon
    Glad to read that you have your RP6 sorted and that it sounds great. You have a wonderful system. Time to kick it and enjoy the music.
     
    raferx likes this.
  18. raferx

    raferx Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Vancouver, Canada
    Indeed, it was really frustrating dealing with a number of issues on that particular RP6.
    And HiFi here in Vancouver was very helpful.
    Moving forward... just picked up two of the Grundman Dire Straits remasters (Dire Straits and Love over Gold), the MoFi Candy-O, ordered the Diana Krall Live in Paris ORG 2x45rpm remaster and pre-ordered the MoFi 2x45rpm KOB... heading to the RS tomorrow to grab the MoFi 'Round about Midnight and I pick up my Okki-Nokki tomorrow as well... kick it indeed!
    Thanks Art, appreciate your guidance on the forums as always.
    Cheers my friend
    –R
     
  19. Harvest Your Thoughts

    Harvest Your Thoughts Forum Resident

    Location:
    On your screen
    Does the Campion come with a remote?
     
  20. Bubbamike

    Bubbamike Forum Resident

    No remote for the Campion nor the Alabaster.
     
  21. Roland Stone

    Roland Stone Offending Member

    I was hoping to see a follow-up sale of the Brio!

    I love those small UK company amps/lines.
     
  22. Harvest Your Thoughts

    Harvest Your Thoughts Forum Resident

    Location:
    On your screen
    Damn. It's not that I'm lazy, but it's really handy to adjust volume and input from a listening position.
     
  23. Art K

    Art K Retired but not tired!

    Location:
    Corvallis, Oregon
    Never had a need for a remote in my 2 channel setup.
     
  24. Art K

    Art K Retired but not tired!

    Location:
    Corvallis, Oregon
    My Brio-R is happily residing in my wife's setup.
     
  25. Harvest Your Thoughts

    Harvest Your Thoughts Forum Resident

    Location:
    On your screen
    It's good for flicking between inputs between phono, CD/BD/digital and TV audio signals and also adjusting the volume to the exact level without having to move the pot a millimetre to get it right
     
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