They’ve always made great looking kit. Even if better sounding could be had for the money still worth considering for the design.
Beautiful red !
Gosh, you don’t see many Environmental Sound decks around these days. Looks rather like the JBE, although rather different so I believe. Was it any good?
I recall the Environmental Sound specialised in speakers that were disguised to look like tables other pieces off furniture.
Hi mpw.
I’d already had the original Xerxes for 20 years and I’d spoken to my dealer and agreed a deal on the deck with a black finish (same as the old one) subject to a successful demo.
When I arrived the demo deck was in this Rosewood finish. It looked absolutely beautiful and I was won over immediately. It was quite a bit more but worth it for the long term pleasure I’ve had from it.
I think the finish gives a “wow” to what is a simple and understated design.
Regards,
Steve O.
Beautiful deck Steve.
If you have the opportunity, it’s interesting to play a Xerxes 20+ and a Vertere MG-1 in a joint demo. They have so much in common when it comes to their design principles. And yet …
Best regards, BF
Yes…it sure does…
My Lenco L75 has a Ferrari red finish too…it’s on this thread somewhere…!
You have nice gear…enjoy !!
How is the Artemis TT. What kind of TT did you had before you decided for this model? I own a DPS3 with a Schroeder 2 arm, but was always tempted by the SA-1
Another DPS 3 here. Had my now for over 9 years. Stepped up from the basis model to the 3 version. It was equiped with the Bauer modified Rega and changed some years ago against the Schroeder 2.
Nice, I have never seen one with a rainbow finish I had the Schröder reference for a few months but never ended up with an acceptable alignment. Not directly attributable to the arm, but it’s so much easier for a right-handed person to set up. For me, being left-handed, tightening the counterweight always screwed my efforts (pun intended).
Hi Bluesfan.
I’ve heard many positives about the Vertere stuff but I’m one of those guys that doesn’t listen unless I’m in the market for something.
If I was going for something new now though, Vertere would be top of my list to audition.
I’m a big fan of Touraj and have had long conversations with him on several occasions. I phoned Roksan once with a question and Touraj stayed on the line and talked me through the problem while I worked on the deck. His passion was amazing.
Unfortunately Roksan is no longer the same company without him. A couple of years back I rang them because I couldn’t get the anti-skate on the Artemiz to work properly. All I got was “all you need to know is in the manual”.
Regards,
Steve O.
Hehe…the evening sun fell on the deck creating this lovely rainbow effect and I thought it was a pic worth…Didn t had the punds for the reference and a 2nd hand opportunity came up for a No2 model. 3 years ago i visited Berlin to rewire the arm and delivered it to Mr Schroeder in person to his manufacture. Great service and what a phantastic and inspiring place.
I understand your problem - the phantom must be easier to set up and is a grat arm. Would love to hear a Koetsu one day home.
Richard
I didn’t listen to it in my main system, it was fitted with a MM cartridge (AR P77) and I only have a MC phono stage.
From what I remember it sounded pretty good, very strong and punchy bass. Given that it was supplied with a good quality arm (SME3009), you’d expect it to sound OK.
The guy who manufactured the Environmental Sound, also manufactured the JBE turntables. The ES plinth was hollow, made from what looked like a thick acrilyc sheet, stuffed with what looked like polyuthethane foam. The JBE’s had a solid plinth.
When I ordered my new TT I also ordered a red mat, which wasn’t in stock but which arrived today. It gives a nice splash of colour and goes nicely with the picture above.
Have you upgraded the belt yet Nigel?
I can recommend the blue one.
I’m not sure if you are trying to be funny or not. The P6 now comes with the new EBLT belt, as used on the P8 and P10 and is in itself an upgrade on the white belt.
It is the job of turntables not only to sound good but to look good as well.
They are the icing on the HiFi rack after all .
Sorry Nigel, was not aware. My RP6 had the standard belt. The price difference is very big for a reason I guess. The RP6 equates to the new 3 I guess.
Ah, interesting. I didn’t know Rega had new belts out. I currently have the Rega white “Upgrade Drive Belt” on my RP6, which is now getting a bit loose and thought I’d perhaps investigate an alternative, or even a (twin) pulley / belt upgrade.
Thoughts?
This will need some context so might get a bit long.
I had a Townshend Rock mk2 I bought around 1989, I used a Rega 300 on it and, after a disaster with my Goldring Eroica L, a Dynavector 17D2. This did me until 2008 with a couple of cartridgewhen the purchase of a CD5x made it sound rather grey in comparison. After a great deal of pondering and harvesting opinions from the staff at my local Audio T I decided a unipivot was the way to go. I found a 1 year old Aro, attached the arm rest to a small block of wood blu-taced to the deck and after some experimentation ditched the damping paddle and trough.
Meanwhile, I’d changed from a Sansui AU217 which I’d bought in 1980 and had used until around 2002 via an unsuccessful dalliance with a Nait 5 to Rega Cursa/Maia by the time I bought the CD5x. This was followed by a flatcap 2x to which I attached a 282 and a superline before buying the Aro. A hicap took over the 282 and then a 250 joined in. The CD5x went for a CDX2 and then a 555ps was added. Speakers went from mission 700s on the Sansui to Thiel cs1.6s with the Rega to NBLs after the 250. Then a supercap arrived and I thought I might be finished.
A couple of modest legacies on top of a paid off mortgage meant temptation however and resulted in a 500 series system, it probably helped that I don’t drive and there’s only so much I could spend on motorcycles and still fit them in the garage.
The Rock was still just about holding its own but the recent belts I’d bought were taking a set when they cooled down when then led to wow next time the deck was used. My local dealer around this time was getting into Well Tempered and had sold his Radikalised Linn for a Versalex and a dynavector VX1t.
This was sounding rather intriguing in the shop so I arranged a home demo of the Versalex and tried my recent Proteus on it. The result was only an improvement over the Rock in parts, with a bit more time I may have got more from it but I had to return the Versalex and anyway it barely fitted on the Fraim.
Shortly after this I was browsing one lunchtime at work and came across an ex demo Artemis SA-1 for sale by Cool Gales in Bath. I had been used by Frank Schröder for shows and came with the offer of jumping the queue for one of his Reference arms. I remembered the reviews of the SA-1 when it came out and I’d liked the thinking behind it. I thought Imight see if I could get my Aro to fit but it transpired that there was only an armboard for a Reference a available. Ivan at Cool Gales agreed to take the whole thing back for the purchase price if I didn’t like it once the arm had been made so I went for it. The arm still took 4 months, I had the fine VTA and VTF options and I find them very necessary to get the best out of it. The effective mass is declared as 13g with an aluminium cartridge plate which was about right for the Proteus but that’s now over the hill and no longer available ( though Ana Mighty Sound in France say they can rebuild it) so I started thinking of a stopgap with the hope I’d find something that is more viable long term with retirement close. The SPU Royal N for a grand with a rebuild cost of ~£600 looked a possibility if I changed the ali plate for brass bringing the effective mass of the arm up to 18g or so. This has been installed for 6 weeks now.
I have a couple of albums that help greatly with set up, one is an 80’s Robert Plant, Shaken “n” Stirred, it’s got that 80’s digital sound that is very prominent when the back of the arm is too high but mellows out when getting it about right, quite a narrow window but very audible. Anyway after about a month I was pretty much there. There has excellent flow and interplay, good dynamics and the best treatment of piano I’ve heard in my room as well as the largest orchestral scale. Where it loses to the Proteus is a bit of leading edge but it’s only when listening for it, the music matters more.
Here’s a gratuitous picture or two.
I will look into a heavier counterweight as I think this ones a keeper. I wonder if the mounting plate and spacer can be combined to tidy it up a bit.
Before I placed the order for my Reference arm I spoke with Mr. Schröder and remember him as a nice person. Nothing wrong with his tonearms, too. My dealer sold several dps/Schröder tables and I was the only one with this particular problem.
When it comes to Graham, I actually prefer the older Series 2 over the first generation Phantom (which is the only one I tried and owned). I think the Series 2 is lighter on its feet, the Phantom seemed dull and overly controlled. A brighter cartridge might have given different results, but that’s what I heard back then.
Right now I’m tempted to buy the Bauer arm and the white top plate, simply to change the look a little.