Synergistic Red Fuse ...

Oregonpapa   &   Charles1dad

We briefly discussed the LINN turntable a few days ago.

I will never forget the first time I heard the LINN. A friend of mine invited me to his house to listen to his system which consisted of the LINN turntable and Magnapan loudspeakers. He played a direct to disc LP named "FOR DUKE "  by BILL BERRY & THE ALL STARS. I have never been the same
since that night.

The sound Stage was not just wide and deep but there was realistic height
like I had never heard before. There were musicians blowing horns so I knew they were standing, and the pianist was sitting, Ray Brown's bass was also emanating from a lower level like it should. It was all there.  And the Dynamics were unbelievable.

At that time I had a THORENS TD-160 turntable. It had to go. That was  when I decided to get the LINN. 

Have either of you ever heard this "FOR DUKE" record?

Oregonpapa

I am warming to the idea of owning the Von Gaylord interconnect you made reference to in an earlier post. The fact that you purchased a pair (or two)
is the highest possible recommendation.

When I make the purchase will probably depend on the cost of my wife's up coming dental expenses. I went on the internet and was surprised to learn  Von Gaylord manufactures complete systems including amplifiers and loudspeakers. Why do they hide their lights under a bushel?

I lived in London for 5 years in the late 1960s and was convinced I was aware of the most important audio manufacturers. But I had never heard of RADFORD. I had always believed QUAD (The acoustical manufacturing Company) was the cat's pajamas. And then I heard a RADFORD system.
RADFORD was a relatively small company not prone to advertising but maintained  very high design and manufacturing standards. Their products were the best I ever heard in England.  It now appears Von Gaylord is similar to RADFORD in many ways. Thanks again for letting me know about them.

Hey, I know that name! Von Gaylord makes those cool liquid filled tube amplifiers, right?

Nyame,
The "For Duke" recording was often cited as a reference standard by many reviewers in the early 1990s but I have not heard it.  What you say about the LINN is true and it was a standard bearer for generations,  yet I still found the Well Tempered table better in my system. 

My familiarity with Von Gaylord is through their highly regarded line of amplifiers and preamplifiers.  I wasn't aware of their cables until Frank mentioned them in this thread. 
Charles, 

Nyame ...

I have the "For Duke" album. Its a sock knocker-offer. :-)  

On the Linn turntable:  The first time I heard one was at an audio store in Van Nuys, CA.  There was a tech there who modified Dyna MKIII mono amps and Dyna PAS pre amps. His name was Michael Frazier.  He knew how to eke magic out of those Dyna products. Anyway, he had a setup consisting of his electronics, a pair of little Linn "Kan" speakers and the Linn turntable. Michael and I sat there after the store closed for a couple of hours just immersed in great jazz. I still remember one recording featuring John Coltrane that put Coltrane's tenor sax right there in the room. It was amazing. 

On the Von Gaylord cables ...

What I look for mainly in an audio system is a natural sound to the instruments.  If the instruments aren't tonally correct, what's the point? I've heard systems costing in excess of 100K that don't get this part right. 

While attending audio shows, I always seek out systems/products that get the tones right --- the rooms that play music. That's what drew me to the Linn demo rooms in years past.

Well, this past June, at the Newport show, My friend Robert and I spent time, as we always do, in the Harbeth demo room listening to their great 40.2's.  That was one of the best rooms at the show from a natural sounding standpoint. The Harbeth speakers are truly great in this regard. I could listen to them for hours on end.

After the Harbeth room, my friend Robert and I wandered into the Von Gaylord room. It was just the two of us and the designer Ray Leung. Here, we had just left the Harbeth room listening to the 40.2's at $16,000 a pair, and walked into a room with small speakers costing $6,000 a pair making music at least as good if not better than the big Harbeth's. We couldn't tear ourselves away from Ray's room. It was that good.  The speakers, electronics and cables are all Ray's designs.

After the show, I tried one pair of Ray's IC's. They went between my turntable and phono stage.  That's all it took. I was hooked. So, now there's another pair of Von Gaylord IC's (balanced) between the amp and preamp. A pair of Von Gaylord bi-wired speaker cables are in the system now too. All of these cables replaced some highly regarded cables in their own right. The improvements attained with Ray's cables are, in a word, stunning. Highly recommended. 

Here's a link to Ray's Von Gaylord site:  http://vongaylordaudio.com/beta/

If you take the time to talk with Ray, you'll find him to be a perfect gentleman with a ton of patients.  Check out the reviews. 

OP