In this months article, Matt from Audio T Cardiff talks to one of their favourite local customers, Mr Allan Williams, about his passion for music and all things Hi-Fi, and his journey from Audio Excellence to Audio T and building the perfect system.

I first met Allan not long after I started at Audio T, almost two years ago (how time flies). I was out on an installation with our manager Nick to install a rather stunning pair of Spendor D7.2 speakers at Allan’s house in Merthyr Tydfil. It was here that I first got to know Allan and his fantastically eclectic taste in music, which not only aligned with my own, but we also shared a common pursuit of finding the perfect sound.

Now, these days I feel we are both at the end goal, or at least at systems that meet our current needs. But as any Hi-Fi enthusiast will tell you, there’s always room for change and you can always improve your sound. Sometimes it feels endless but once you have got to that end goal the work is done, as we say “sit back and enjoy the music.”

The Journey Begins

Before we talk about where we are with Allan’s system, let’s go back to where it all started…

Allan’s original copy of Dr.hook - sylvia’s mother LP

Growing up, Allan always had a passion for music. In-fact, he was telling me he got his passion for music from his Mum, who was very much a music fan. He explained his fond memories of growing up, and listening to tunes which gave him a good ear, knowing what sounds right.

One of Allan’s most treasured records is Dr Hook and the Medicine Show album “Sylvia’s Mother”, which is in fantastic condition for its age. Some of his other musical influences at the time were bands like Fairport Convention, Jethro Tull, Bruce Springsteen, The Eagles, The Allman Brothers Band and of course The Rolling Stones. There are also classical composers such as Tchaikovsky, but this is just the tip when it comes to Allan’s music taste. There’s so much more in his collection between vinyl and CD format, not to mention the other music he listens to on streaming services such as Qobuz.

Allan’s Hi-Fi history.

The first system Allan ever bought back in the day was from Comet. The system consisted of a Trio turntable, Pioneer amplifier and a pair of Wharfedale speakers. For the time, I’d say that’s not a bad system.

Fast forward to 1982: Allan was reading Hi-Fi Answers magazine and noticed there was a new Hi-Fi shop on Kings Road in Canton Cardiff called Audio Excellence, owned and operated by our operations director, Mr Tony Revelle.

The Kings Road Audio Excellence shop quickly outgrew its premises and between 1982 and 1983, Tony felt there wasn't quite enough room in the old Canton shop for all the fantastic equipment he wanted to stock. That’s when he found our current home know now at 134 to 136 Crwys Road, Cardiff in the summer of 1983 and where we have been happily ever since.

an original nytech CTA 252 tabletop amplifier

After reading about Audio Excellence in Hi-Fi Answers magazine, Allan thought he’d pop into the store and see what it was all about, which is where he met Tony for the first time and bought his first Hi-Fi from Audio Excellence. His first purchase was a bit of a classic setup in our eyes, a Linn LP12 Sondek fitted with an Ittok arm and a Linn Asak moving coil cartridge. The amplification was a Nytech CTA 252 with built-in tuner (Allan has revisited Nytech once again which I will tell you all about shortly). His speakers were a pair of Mission stand mount speakers which Tony came out and installed along with the rest of the system. He also setup the LP12 to perfection!

Not long after having this system installed, Allan decided to go for a much bigger amplification and speaker setup which I would consider at the time to be the Rolls Royce of all Hi-Fi. He decided to go pre-power which consisted of a Naim NAC preamp and a Krell power amplifier, driving a pair of Shahinian Arc floor standing speakers. Much later on when CD players first came into action, Allan even owned a Meridian CD player. All this would have been the perfect system at the time. I would have certainly loved to have listened to that, I bet it would have sounded massive and tone full.

Present Day

In 2019, Allan revisited us at Audio T and went for a fantastic system again, not too dissimilar to mine in some ways. Like me, he went for a Rega Planar 6 turntable originally fitted with a Rega Ania moving coil cartridge, but it was not long before he changed the cartridge (man after my own heart on this one) for a Dynavector 10X5, the same you’ll find on my P6. We both agree how awesome they sound. Anyway, I digress, back to the set up… Allan opted for a Naim Nait 5Si integrated amplifier and a pair of Spendor A4 floor standing speakers, a great little setup indeed.

Moving forward Allan wanted to experiment further with his system. He was happy with his setup but he thought “How can I make this sound even better?”. In July 2021 Allan decided to part exchange his previous system and started on the journey to building his “ultimate system”, and this is where I joined his story.

The system as follows at the time:

Rega Planar 10 fitted with a Benz Micro Ebony moving coil cartridge.
A Trichord Dino+ phono stage with upgraded power supply.
Nytech CP202 pre-amplifier.
CPA 402 power amplifier.
Leema Elements CD player
Leema Acoustics Elements Streamer
Spendor D7.2

As I mentioned before, Allan owned one of the original Nytech integrated amplifiers and had fond memories of its sound, so much so that he wanted to revisit the brand. Nytech does offer a blend of vintage and modern Hi-Fi sound which I think suited Allan’s set up perfectly.

On the digital side of things, Allan had an introduction to a great Welsh brand and his first dabble at streaming music. The digital part of the system was a Leema Acoustics Elements Streamer which works well and sounds phenomenal.

Last but not least the speakers, the Spendor A4 loudspeakers were swapped out for the Spendor D7.2 in one of my favourite finishes, walnut!

Of course, the system would not be complete without some cables and furniture to get the best performance. At the time he opted for Chord Company, with a mix of Shawline and Epic. As for furniture, he decided on the lovely Hi-Fi Racks Podium Slimline rack finished in Walnut to match the colour of the Spendor D7.2

“The times they are a changin”

As Bob Dylan once sang, “the times they are a changin” or in this case you guessed it was time for the system to change and evolve yet again…

Planar 10 - isoacoustics dleios - benz micro wood cartridge

Sticking with the Rega planar 10 and Benz Micro combination as the main source, we added a IsoAcoustics Delos isolation plinth which tightened things up sonically and presented even more transparency in the music.

At this point, Allan also upgraded his phono stage from the Trichord to a Rega Aura MC phono stage. He also took the opportunity to upgrade the main preamplifier and decided to go with another favourite of ours, the Leema Acoustics Pyxis.

Of course, we can’t have a preamplifier without talking about power, and in this case a pair of monoblock power amplifiers. A pair of Cyrus MONO X300 signature power amplifiers to drive Allan’s speakers.

Now onto speakers. Allan loved the Spendor D7.2s but curiosity got the better of him and he wanted to try a pair of Spendor D9.2. To look at his room you’d think they would be overkill but believe you me they sound perfect, especially since we added IsoAcoustics Gaia feet.

The Digital Source Components

Over time, Allan felt he was missing something when listening to his CD collection, so in 2022 he decided to upgrade from the Leema Elements CD player. We talked about what he felt he was missing with the presentation from the CD player and we came to the conclusion that the Audio Note 3.1 X ll CD player with its valve rectifier circuit would be the perfect balance of analogue and digital. Whoever thought a CD player could sound so warm and natural?

As mentioned previously, Allan had the Leema Acoustics Elements Streamer and he enquired how could he improve on the streaming side of things, so we arranged for him have a home demonstration of the Naim NDX2 streamer. He found this gave a huge uplift in quality when streaming from Qobuz and not only that, we also added one of Naim’s outboard power supplies, specifically the Naim 555ps DR. People ask “Do power supplies really make a difference?” I’d say in this case, it’s one of the biggest changes in sound I have ever heard on a streamer, everything sounded clearer with a lot more detail and control.

The most recent modification we made to Allan’s system was changing out the speaker cable. Some say that cables don’t make much of a difference… The simple fact is, they do. I suggested going with a brand we have recently taken on, a fantastic cable company from Italy, Ricable. I personally own some of their Magnus speaker cables myself and I can happily say it does make the right sort of difference. Allan went for the Invictus speaker cable and wow, it transformed the sound of Allan’s system from great to awesome! This really is the cherry on top! More clarity and separation in the musical instruments and even bass sounded more controlled. The couple of tracks we played while I was there were:

Bruce Springsteen - The Ghost of Tom Joad
Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band - Against the Wind

The tracks used were “Betty Lou’s gettin out tonight” and “Fire Lake”. The piano on Fire Lake sounded full with control and detail. In short, yes this cable made one hell of a difference.

System Synergy

You’re maybe thinking there’s quite a mixture of different brands going on here, but when I think of system synergy I feel we have achieved near perfection. I don’t think I’ve ever heard a Hi-Fi system sounding better than this. It has the perfect combination of all the right things -

Low noise floor - The turntable is virtually silent as Allan says it almost CD quality.
Clarity and detail - This system definitely has it this and can be heard with every genre of music from classical to folk country and rock. Believe it when I say this Allan listens to all of it.
All about that bass - As we know, bass can be a bit of a problem and can be unruly at times, going back to the size of the Spendor D9, the amplification in this instance keeps them perfectly under control such a great combination of Cyrus and Leema who would have thought the two would work so perfectly together.

Lastly, and some would argue the most important, timing. This system has superb timing, you can hear perfect separation between the instruments, especially when there’s a lot going on in a piece of music, such as Bob Seger’s “Betty Lou’s Coming out tonight”. From the guitars, to the vocals, drums and keys I could hear the space between them all, allowing your mind to place the sound stage with ease.

We have certainly had a lot of fun building this system with Allan, but more importantly Allan’s not just a good customer but also a good friend. I always look forward to going up to see him and help him with his system and talk about music and other subjects such as Lord of the Rings, another favourite of Allan’s. Will there be more changes to Allan’s system? Maybe, but until then I’d say this system is perfect.

Thank you Allan for giving us the opportunity to guide you once again on your hi-fi journey.

Thank you for reading

Matt, Nick and Kerrin - Audio T Cardiff

If you have any questions about any of the equipment featured in this article, or any other Hi-Fi or home cinema enquiries, be sure to Contact Us.

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