[table manners]

a fellow b&w man.the name gear looks really good on that stand.im running stereo too at the moment but its all good.ive heard a top b&w/naim set up before and was blown away by how good it sounded.im sure you will enjoy it for many years to come.big thumbs up

[arf005]

Yup Kenny - Rob Ritchie's is still going strong!! It was Rob snr who came round to install the kit, and he's helped us both out at all of our demo's in Montrose, as well as young Robbie too.......in fact it was Robbie that sold me the Rotel gear for up in our Den.

Couldn't ask for a more helpful and obliging dealer!!

Thanks table manners - I really can't believe it's actually in there!!

Sounds fantastic, each new disc has a new WOW factor that I didn't hear before......and I've only just scratched the surface of the cd collection!!

Right, time to get on the phone to the advice agency to see how I stand with John Lewis and the lack of SXRD...........

Cheers,
Ali

[Kenny Glasgow]

Only been to RR's shop twice and that was at least 5 years ago. A good mate of mine bought a Chord power amp from him and as we had travelled from Glasgow he made us feel like kings. Great guy

He played us the 805's via the Naim amps of the time and done a great demo of comparing a £300 Rotel CD player which knocked the pants off the a Linn £1k plus machine. He also let us hear how much better the Naim speaker cable was compared to a more costly one

Does he still have the hi-fi above the TV shop?

[arf005]

Yup, there's a spiral staircase in the corner of the main room downstairs (the one with the main door and till) at the top there's a landing with a couple of tv's and a few separates set up, but you go past his office into the demo room proper.....I, and subsequently we (gorgeous other half and myself), have spent many an hour there listening to the Naim entry level stuff up to where we've ended up, and the musical journey has been great fun to say the least, albeit a long drawn out affair!!

I've been lusting after this stereo for about four/five years now........

Started off with a CD5x/112/150 and the old nautilus 805's

Things moved on to the updated 112x/150x with CD5x and updated N805S's

Then tried power supplies into the cd player and amp via the flatcap2x

Jumped up to the 202/200 still with the CD5x

Then, at the last demo when we were there, Rob plugged in the CDX2 202 200 and boy things started to get exciting......at the end of it all my gorgeous other half said...... "well I guess we're going for that CDX2 thingy then aren't we......" at which point I almost crashed - we were driving home at the time!!

Her logic was simple......

Start at a level we would be happy with for years, and save money on the upgrades - that everybody over on the Naim forum seem so obsessed with.

Sounded great to me and we haven't looked back since!!

Cheers,
Ali

[arf005]

Some more pics.....

Me farting about with the zoom in the dark......

Cheers,
Ali

[dunks517]

Originally Posted by Kenny Glasgow

Ali

I take it Robert Ritchie is still going strong then!

Funny old thing, thats where I got my B&Ws from also!!

[arf005]

Cool - I'm going back there this week.......taking back the CDX2, speaker stands and cables.........and exchanging them for new ones!!!

Oh, and on Friday we finally got our KDS 55A2000 from Sony!!!!!

Here's how it went......

The box was almost as big as our futon!!!!

Feet on so I can move the dam thing once it's built......

This bit in the instructions was as clear as mud - I think I used the wrong bits of polystyrene but I got there in the end......

This bit made more sense and went in no worries.....

There - all ready to go!!

This set it massive!!!!!!

Finally all hooked up ready to go.......

Must say, even though we haven't got any HD sources (yet) I still notice a difference in the picture quality compared to the old 3-LCD Bravia we had. Can't wait for the PS3 and full 1080 HD gaming!!

Cheers,
Ali

[arf005]

Just updating my profile.......

I'm back off-shore now, on nights, and found some time!!

We had a visit from Rob (snr) the other week, unfortunately the day before I came back out here!! He installed the new CDX2, built and filled the new stands, and provided slightly shorter lengths of NACA5.......now got to pay for the dam thing.......

At least it will have the two weeks while I'm out here to settle in and gel with the rest of the kit......

Can't wait to get home!!!!

Cheers,
Ali

[Kenny Glasgow]

[Synchro]

You work offshore? On the oil rigs?

[arf005]

Yup.....I'm stuck on this rust bucket for two weeks every month for my sins....

Cheers,
Ali

[Synchro]

I work in the North Sea also. Not been on the Cormorant though. I move from rig to rig, on the drilling side of things.

[arf005]

Don't think you will either Synchrouk...not for a while anyway....our Drilling has been curtailed until August next year, if we're lucky, only the rig mechanics and sparks are onboard at present.
Why, because we managed to totally blow our budget this year, oh, that and the fact we are all up for sale at the moment too!!

Must be a few more oilies on this forum, but I don't know of any.......

Cheers,
Ali

[Dynaudio Desire]

Stunning hifi!

[Tribeless]

Sorry to go off topic, but I've always wanted to know what it's like on those huge oil rigs. Are the living quarters comfortable? Warm? Dry?

Or are they how they look: hell on the sea?

[arf005]

No worries tribeless.

It might be hell at sea for some, but I guess (like most things) it's as good or bad as you make it.......although some things are harder than others....

The two weeks, sometimes three, away from family friends and loved ones is hard. But the time off at home makes up for it.....

The 12, sometimes 15, hour shifts are a struggle, but we do get time off to try and chillout.....

The accommodation on here is ok, fairly modern in comparison to other platforms, and the facilities aren't too shabby either - free food three times a day (they do the dishes too) and your laundry, gym, sauna, cinema room with two pool tables table tennis etc, tv dvd and vcr player in your cabin - which ruined the social aspect of off-shift time (everybody sits in their own wee box) but they are handy at the same time.....

The main problem at the moment (apart from being up for sale) is the equipment - complete lack of maintenance and investment over the years is taking its toll.......in a big way!! Trying to operate when the place is falling apart around you is quite a challenge, to say the least, but you've got to laugh......otherwise you'd be jumping over the side!!

Bottom line is - the main thing that attracts people into this industry is the time off and money......

I don't know how people who work a 9-5 seven days a week find the time to do anything!!

And I feel very lucky to be where I am.....you just need to look back on this thread to see the "stuff" we can afford.......

Will post some pics to give an idea of what we do.......

Cheers,
Ali

[arf005]

Taxi off-shore consists of the following.......

Fixed wing, 45min flight up to Shetland in this.....

Then a 40 odd min (wind dependant) ride out to the platform in one of these...

Here's the pilot, probably going for a quick pee......

......and the unfortunate passengers just arrived off-shore, probably with hangovers!

I'm a sparky by trade, so look after the generation and distribution of electricity on the platform, but also run other oil & gas production operations - Utilities (compressed air, diesel, potable water, hvac etc) Water Injection (motor and turbine driven pumps) and Export (pipeline pigging operations, oil export pumping and metering etc).

Here's an inter-platform pipeline pig being pulled from the trap.......a messy job!!

That 20" pig came from the Dunlin platform, about 40 miles away from us.....here's what a clean one looks like, and it's the biggest we deal with at 36" although this one was damaged......

Same again, the Sullom Voe 36" pig that we send to the oil terminal in Shetland.....quite a beast.....and yeah, that's me for a sense of scale.....

It can get rough out here in the winter though....here's the Brent Charlie....

But we get nice weather too, here's the North Cormorant - my old platform...

Nights this time of year is ok too - at least we get to see daylight unlike during the winter months!!
Here's a couple of weather pics from out here.....

Environmentally friendly.........

........my arse!!!

Cheers,
Ali

[Tribeless]

Cheers Arf, that's really interesting. How everyone else lives

[Pezerinno]

Arf does it move about a lot when the sea is rough? I always assumed it was completely stable however my neighbour who works on the rigs say they can move a fair bit when it is bad weather - I couldn't think of anything worse!

Two lovely setups by the way

[arf005]

Rather alarmingly this place (Cormorant Alpha) with its concrete legs moves around a heck of a lot more than my old platform (North Cormorant) with its steel jacket structure!!

One year while playing the Christmas pool competition the balls were rolling around on the table.......made it quite interesting to say the least.....

Apparently it's deliberate though, and the structural engineers among us will know why, if the legs were built so they were solid and didn't flex (to a certain extent) then during the rough weather - try 70/80 mph winds and 10 metre seas - the legs would collapse!!

......personally I'm glad they've over-engineered these things......

Cheers,
Ali

[albriscoe]

Hi Ali

I think your thread is brilliant and I love what you have done to the house. I can`t blxxdy wait while mines done and just be able to sit down again and relax in my HT.

You`ve certainly spent a lot time and effort and I`ve no doubt dosh and the result is brilliant.

Very well done, I love it

Allan

[Miniholic]

Hi Ali,

That's one hell of a commute you have there. And to think I get fed up with my 20-30 minutes in traffic.

Love your two channel set up, those B&W's would be on my list too, although if I had the choice (OK cash) I'd probably go with Sugden for the electronics.

I'm not realy too familiar with Naim, but I did listen to a Naim system at the manchester Hi-Fi show last year, and came away very impressed, can't recall what the speakers were though, certainly weren't a mainstream brand.

[arf005]

Thanks guys!

Allan - that's quite a compliment......thanks!! I say so 'cos I've only just discovered your thread via your signature............have you given Kevin McCloud from Grand Designs a call yet - it might be a bit late actually you look to be almost there!! That seriously impressive.....
Some of the fittings that you, and Ian for that matter, have been installing are lovely - especially the bathrooms......must show my gorgeous other half, for if we get this rust bucket sold and get a decent payout we're hoping for a bit more decorating!!

Good luck with the rest of your house Allan, I must admit to just skimming through your thread - mainly checking out the pics.....
You looked very happy and relaxed in what must have been stressfull at times....??

[arf005]

Ian - you're right about the commute.....worst of all is coming off of two weeks of nightshift (6pm to 6am) and there being delays.....not being able to sleep during the day 'cos you don't know when the flight's coming or even if it's going to make it at all......
Then getting home and being a zombie for three days as you try and swing your body over again to the land of the living......
But hey, at that point you're home and that's all that matters......

In fact, if we get home on time this Thursday, it'll be the first time in about 4 months......seriously!!

As for the stereo, cheers!
Like I keep saying - I can't believe we actually have it!!!

Here's an interesting thing though......

Just out of curiosity I lugged my CM4's down from the Den while we were demo'ing the kit......I know I know, the speaker cable loops......it was only for an hour.....

Not really a fair comparison - £1600 N805S's (already broken in) vs £900 CM4's (7 year old so definitely broken in) but it was interesting all the same....

What struck me most was the more powerful presentation.......it almost felt like the NAP200 had gained more power......but gone was all that lovely detail and warmth of sound, especially in the treble.......that'll be the de-coupled Nautilus tweeter then.....

The sound seemed more aggressive, actually it's quite hard to describe, but it wasn't to my liking.....the bass was less defined and not as clear or true - if that makes sense...... For example, if you listen to Massive Attack's Teardrop from the album Mezzanine you'd think it was all big thumping bass and that's pretty much what it sounded like through the CM's, but it's not.....I know because it sounds totally different when played through the 805S's.
Saying that, the 805S's can do the low stuff too, and totally blew me away with Reverence by Faithless......

It also didn't matter what I played though....the difference was huge.....no surprises there then......

So, back up the stairs the CM's went, and don't get me wrong - I think they're great at what they do for their price.....and they've served me well for years, and still will. They work really well with the Rotel's and are probably more suited to the thumping soundtracks of movies......although the Den might be a wee bit on the small side for them.....

Lessons learnt, curiosity satisfied.

Cheers,
Ali

[arf005]

We've moved things around a bit......

Speakers further apart - making it a heck of a lot easier to get to the cd's!!!
And, a lot easier to sort out the NACA5 speaker cable....which is a bugger to bend....

Plus, it actually sounds better....
Produced a wider soundscape, opening things up a bit and I'm quite chuffed to be honest....

A new hiding place for the NAPSC.

Cheers,
Ali

[albriscoe]

Hi Ali

just thought I`d give your thread a bump, it still looks ace

Allan

[arf005]

Thanks Allan, haven't been on here in a while - your house is looking great btw!

Some nice new set ups on this thread too......

[rustyman1]

Great setup you have there. Been saving for a while to get me a rotel rb1080 amp and RSX1057 (might be used for movies as well) as pre with the B&w 805s. I instead of the cm´s have b&w 602s3 matched with seven years old sony es receiver. I just hope this saving leads me to better sound as i have only heard 805s once and was blown away by it´s sound. Just have to say it once again. Congrats on your setup. Looks great.

[arf005]

Thanks rustyman,

Rotel and B&W is a combo I've loved for years, at various levels....Naim and B&W sound pretty good too!!

I need to update this thread with more pics - the PS3 has made quite an addition up in our Den, and we've redecorated the front bedroom, but I was too busy hooked on Oblivion last time home and didn't get round to it.......

I've also added some led strips from ikea, two behind the tv and one behind each speaker (again up in the Den) and it creates a nice atmosphere.
All the house plants seem to be dead or dying though.......

Will hopefully get round to more pics when I get off of this rusty prison - it's minus 9 degrees with the wind chill out here at the mo......

Cheers,
Ali

[Mr X]

As previously said... a great transformation throughout

Love the look of those B&W's and bet they sound as good as they look!

Tob job!