You’re on the roller coaster now Mike 
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More the road to perdition
Ian
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Comparing vinyl with digital is so much more than the hardware. If you start to dig deeper in different releases of vinyl and digital you will enter a DEEP rabbit hole. You rarely compare the same master and that is a major difference in most AB tests people make. More so than the equipment used.
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When I first ventured into Hoffman I had little idea of the varying pressing plants, matrices etc (I went by label differences) and their effect on sound quality of a release…it’s a rabbit hole I’m glad I fell into, on the whole.
CD pressings I’m still very ignorant of - tend to go by year.
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What stands are those for the Falcons Graham ?
Hi, Bevo, they’re from an Italian company called Solid Steel.
I see, from reading the manual just now, that Falcon makes a dedicated stand for the speaker - which I didn’t know, otherwise I suppose that I would have bought that. No matter - the stands that I have are fine.
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Yes there is a dedicated stand for the Falcons but they cost heaps Graham but meant to be very good . I prefer the look of yours though
Here in Australia Falcon stands are very expensive although evidently there is a special on them dropping the price from $1,700 to $1,000 at one of the main dealers
All that I’d say is that the speakers produce remarkable sound from such tiny enclosures - it doesn’t seem possible!
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Incredible how we all hear sound differently Graham
I had a pair of Flacon LS3/5a a few years ago and they just didn’t do it for me, so they were sold on . You may have the gold badge ones with some updates from the ones I had .
I’m much happier with the Neat Petite 30th anniversary’s speakers on the end of the LP12 ARO and Nait 50
Cheers
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Normal service has resumed folks. My mate who has a LP12 popped round this morning and we ran some checks. First up was levelling, which was a bit out, so we fixed that and it’s now bang on - he had an electronic level that helped quite a bit.
We then had a look at the cartridge, without removing it, using a mirror placed on the platter and queuing it up and using an electronic magnifying camera played through a TV. So, the cantilever is nice and straight and there are no obvious defects, though we couldn’t look end on. As the deck is sounding okay, we didn’t have any concerns:
We also checked the tracking weight with a stylus pressure gauge and it was spot on.
We ran a few recordings between the LP12 and hi-res versions on the ND555. The findings were that the ND555 is much quieter and cleaner - no surprise there, but the LP12 conveys more spacial depth and tends towards a more natural presentation - though the recording themselves are a big factor here. Detail retrieval was similar through both sources.
He is firmly of the view to leave the LP12 exactly as it is, it is sounding really good and is pretty much a mint vintage LP. He runs an Armageddon on his with a Wand arm, and does say the off-board power supply was a big upgrade, but he also has original bearings and sub chassis. He said either leave it as it is, or only add a Lingo 4 - but that is 3 times the cost of what I paid for the LP12 so it’s a value for money decision probably. Given the ND555 will always be the quietest and cleanest presentation there is a good case for sticking with the Valhalla as it is, for a presentation that naturally goes with my 70/80’s vinyl. It is just really musical.
We did both conclude that given my record collection is old, the thing to do is to get a record cleaning machine, so I will probably grab a Humminguru as my next step.
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Good one Mike well done
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Yes, Bevo, mine are the Gold Badge version.
That’s a fascinating read 
Thanks for sharing.
Wish we all had friends like that…
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I found it a difficult decision whether to bring my LP12 up to date and can understand why you are keeping yours as is. However, when I had all the upgrades done the uplift in SQ was marked and began my shift back to playing much more vinyl again. With the 222 streamer, like you do with the 555, I do enjoy the silence and lack of clicks etc. On the other hand, now I have the NVC & NPX TT the LP12 is a better source than the streamer to my ear. A few weeks ago someone asked how many LPs I buy a month now, off the top of my head I said a couple. I realised last night looking through banking statements, so far this month I have bought 6 and it was 4 last month, all but one were new releases from current bands and the exception was a PJ Harvey LP of a CD already had.
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There can be little doubt that an up-to-date LP12 is very much better than an older one.
(As long as you give Mr Ive’s monstrosity a wide berth.)
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Agreed, without reservation…
A caveat might be it ends up sounding different.
Maybe better, but at the same time different.
Some prefer the original presentation.
Food for thought
R
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Yeah, he’s a good old Kiwi bloke. I meant him by chance a few years when he was selling a CB 250 and I noticed he was in the same suburb of our town. He had a NAC 72 and the CB 250, both of which he has sold and has been playing with tube and Class D amps. He’s an electronics engineer by trade so has heaps of knowledge. He is currently building some open baffle speakers. He really likes my speakers, but he’s not having them.
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Well, I think this is the conundrum, and there is no right answer here. Having a top vinyl set up would be great, no doubt about it, but I went heavily cost wise into a top streaming set-up and can’t (currently) justify the same with vinyl. There is a certain nostalgia element to my thinking; streaming for top quality and convenience (and many bands I like don’t do vinyl), but getting that classical vibe with an LP12 and my 70/80’s collection is a lot of fun. I’m sure my thinking could evolve over time, but it’s a nice conundrum to have!
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Yep no right answer Mike
I’m the opposite to you having invested very heavily ( maybe too heavily perhaps ) into two top flight Sondeks
And really only got into streaming over the last 12 months at NDX2 level.
And of course I still enjoy playing CDs through the CD5XS as transport via NDX2 dac
Streaming/CD for pure convenience, if I hear something I like on those formats I’ll search it out to buy the vinyl.
Whether I go further above the NDX2 level in the future I don’t know at this stage
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Thanks @Mike_S for your LP12 story so far. Your findings are interesting and confirm my own feelings about vinyl replay.
I got my one and only LP12 almost 3 years ago and have brought it up to near Klimax level. The main things that happen with the upgrades I’ve done is dropping the noise floor hugely and detail retrieval has improved. However, the boogie factor, the soul of the music, the engagement with the music has not diminished one little bit. If anything it’s all improved. I now use my LP12 more than my CD player.
The caveat to what i’ve said is that I have never heard an intact early example of an LP12.
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