What was the last bit of gear you bought in 2026?

I am with you Dan, spend and enjoy…..we should have had more air conditioning installed last year…..to be rectified……almost certainly after the heatwave.:joy:

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Sometimes life brings unexpected surprises. Until now, I’ve had an all-digital setup and didn’t own any vinyl records. Unfortunately, my brother-in-law passed away a few months ago. He left me about 150 vinyl records (mostly classical, some jazz and rock). At first, I wasn’t sure whether I should get into vinyl as well. Then I saw a Technics SL 1300 G with a Hana MH cartridge on a Swiss sales platform—it came from a second system that had been used very little. I’d only ever heard Technics turntables at hi-fi shows before, but after reading positive posts here on the forum, I decided to buy it. The seller also gave me a phono preamp to try out (Lehmannaudio Black Cube SE II Sven Väth Edition). With the Hana MH (MC 2mV high-output) cartridge, the Technics works well even on the MM input of my Nait50. However, the Lehmann is in a league of its own. The soundstage is much more detailed and, above all, more present in the upper mids and treble. We haven’t negotiated the price yet, but I think the Lehmann is here to stay.

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I had one after I sold my Ekos in the mid nineties. It was rewired with Cardas cables and at least on par with the Linn arm. As I was looking for a step up, my dealer took it back as a trade-in for a Graham 1.5. I still have some good memories from the time spent with the Zeta.

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I had the Zeta from the early 80s and was lucky to be able to use it with a variety of cartridges as I was working in hi-fi retail at the time. It really came alive for me when I partnered it with a Koetsu Rosewood. Now that was an arm/cartridge combination! The Koetsu is now worn out of course, but I remember that a decent cut of a 12” single sounded staggeringly good.

Tyr 2 XLRs between DAC and Amp here. Also live them. Smooth, lots of space and very holographic

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Wow this looks so much more modern in black! Gorgeous table.

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Just for information, Koetsu is back. Read a review recently by Michael Fremer on tracking angle. They can retip yours.

He might, or maybe no? :joy:

I’ve listened to some Ansuz cables on an Axxess system. Personally I’m not a fan of them, I should try them on systems I already know pretty well to really evaluate them correctly.

@Emrah unluckily I’ve never heard anything above the Freys, I wonder how the Tyrs sound like. I’m sure it’s very rewarding. No doubt you love them! The Norse series has a staggering resonance control and the holographic sound is amazing.

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Hope the seller doesn’t read this, might cost you more. :rofl:

Tony

I don’t see any risk there. I’m going to tell him anyway that I like the Lehmann phono stage and would like to keep it.

I’m only kidding.

Pleased that you found some kit that you really like - sounds like a great buy.

Enjoy the music :grin:

Tony

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Interesting. I was under the impression that Koetsu (the original company) would not retip their cartridges, but instead offered a (presumably much more expensive) rebuild option. Is the new iteration of Koetsu offering a retip service, now?

I had talked with my local dealer about retipping the Rosewood, but he was fairly unenthusiastic about the option, suggesting that the suspensions harden and that a retip obviously wouldn’t resolve that. I’m not convinced that he’s a big Koetsu fan anyway - I think he prefers the Lyra.

Much as I like the Hana ML, I do miss the sweet euphonic sound of the Koetsu (assuming, of course, that such memories can be relied upon!)

For the current world economic cycle the Tyr2 are my end game XLR :grin:. Never heard the Freys 2 interconnects but I can imagine that they have the same sonic DNA. I can only compare to Audioquest Earth XLRs and Vertere Redlines, both of which are great cables. But the Tyr2 have a holographic sweetness paired with punch where needed, which is really nice in my system. The AQ Earth were great for vocals and imbued more emotion into some songs. But still prefer the Tyr2 by a large margin.

I wonder how the Frey2 and Tyr2 work as speaker cables

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Tyr 2 is where the “magic” starts..

Hook it up and you won’t want to unhook either one of them.. :laughing:

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Michael Fermer reviewed the top Koetsu recently, and hé was very very entusiastic.

I felt he found it the best cartridge he has ever reviewed. And he is not a lyer.

The company was bought one year ago and is reborn.

Try to contact them, it would be sad to not rebuild or retip yours, and i doubt they can’t do it

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I may be getting a Boulder amp on home demo in the next month or so. I am going to audition the 1110 preamp, and a power amp (I already have the 1108 phono-stage). I’m not yet sure whether to consider the 1163 power amp or the 1151 monoblocks (either way, pure Class A to peak power). I retired two years ago and may be cashing out my share in the company. I thought I’d have to wait a while, but it looks like it will happen this year now. Time for an audio windfall!

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Awesome JDP, why not I say. I have been working 7 days a week myself, so have a bit of cash to spend too. After work tomorrow I am visiting my new found dealer, see if I can home demo one of his preamps. Angela Gilbert Yeung is the manufacturer here in Canada, a bit of a genius.

To me, visiting an Audio dealership is like Christmas morning as a kid.:grin:

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A CD555 DR power supply to finally unlock the nDAC’s full potential.

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I’m sure this isn’t the “last bit of gear I’m thinking of buying” thread​:thinking: