Bottlehead Forum
General Category => General Discussion => Topic started by: xcortes on January 14, 2011, 10:21:00 AM
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I have a non Bottlehead system. This is at the office. A refurbished KLH model eight that is on all day with FM. Complemented by a Garrard 301 (I LOVE these tables!) with a viscous damped tonearm and a Denon DL-102 (Work in progress). Phono preamp is the very rare KLH Model eight preamplifier. I don't have high expectations of this preamp since it is a passive unit, that is, it seems to be a passive RIAA network without any gain before. But then again Henry Kloss wouldn't have released a matching pre for the Model Eight that didn't sound good. Time will tell. Sorry for the crappy cell phone pics.
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Very cool Xavier!
I bet you have the only 301 in the building!
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Thanks Steve,
I've tried everything at the office. In the end is the place where I spend most of my life. The small Nagra with your Decoder and earbuds, big cans, FM with a small pair of Jordan based minimonitors and a Sex amp. In the end the small Model Eight has proven to be the best option. Very small and nice looking, very warm sound and mono is definitely a plus. Stereo is no good because I move a lot. Cans and earbuds are a nightmare with people coming in and phone ringing all the time. With FM I just turn the radio on when I get there and sings all day. There's a very nice classical station here in Mexico City. I even get to listen to live ensembles about once a week.
So having the Model Eight and a decent collection of mono lps for a mono system that never materialized plus the cool tonearm it was only a matter of time before getting a "matching" table (the cream color is very similar in the Garrard and the KLH and I built a matching walnut plinth) for evenings when I stay late or an occasional lunch time. I hope I can have it working before the end of the week.
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Awesome! I am wondering as well what the passive phono would be like. Magnetic cartridges need a pretty good boost in volume. I too believe Hank Kloss knew what he was doing. I lucked up and met the man one day at Advent. He is a personal hero audio wise.
I understand why the cell phone picture. And when you leave I also know so well about getting the all important property pass.
Xavier works for the company I used to work for.
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After reading a KLH leaflet saying that the unit is "fully transistorized" I opened the pre and found a GE Germanium transitor. This most be the first KLH solid state device. I don't know how it is powered. It seems that the cable that connects it to the Model Eight provides some power to it. This cable has two wires and a shield. I thought the two wires were for signal but now I think one is for power and the shield provides for the return path. I'll bring my multimeter to the office tomorrow.
The good news is that it doesn't sound bad after initial tests.
So now my confession is harder: not only the system is not BH. It is SS too!
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The preamp shounds like s**t. It's going to eBay where I hope a crazy collector pays a lot for it! The model eight stays. It does wonders on FM.