Gaurav - Just WoW...WoW !! Great going buddy! happy for ya...
Thank you sir!
Hi shaizada,
thanks for posting those pictures. They look really nice and am sure it sounds brilliant too. I can see you have mounted your old clearaudio cartridge in the new tone arm. So how much difference did you find. The colour of vinyl is really bautiful makes a nice contrast with the blue colour of Kontrapunkt.
Hopefully with 99.9% probability MY VPI will arrive next sunday. This week I will be only listening to CDS so that I will be completely overwhelmed when I will play some vinyls in VPI Classic.
Thanks.
P.S: Do you know if I ship this Nighthawk to UK do I need to pay any duty? Is there any good choice of british made solid state phono stages available?
Actually, I never needed to mount the Clearaudio Accurate again because I already have it setup in the original armwand. It is setup almost perfectly and I don't want to change that
The Kontrapunkt B is setup in the new armwand and and singing like the most beautiful Nightingale at a starry night overlooking the ocean waves on a mountain top.
The Kontrapunkt B is sounding so good that I wouldn't miss listening to the Clearaudio Accurate. The sound is extremely refined, laid back and flows with ease. All the details are there, but presented with this naturalness and flow that lets you sink into the most beautiful female singers arms
The Clearaudio Accurate is just a super dynamic monster that digs EVERY SINGLE DETAIL from the groove and presents it vividly for your ears to hear. Both sides of the spectrum are extended further and it demands to be heard. The vividness and strong german gestalt is very obvious with the Clearaudio. It will not mask any flaws of the analog equipment, the recording or your system setup. It will take it all and multiply it by a factor of 100 so that you can really see.
The Accurate is a fine single malt scotch on the rocks while the Kontrapunkt B is a velvety smooth tasting exquisite red wine sipped slowly and enjoyed. A perfect contrast to the Accurate and a joy to have around.
I was leaning towards getting a Shelter 501 MKII, but now that the Kontrapunkt B is already mounted and playing happily, I have no desire to look at other cartridges even if they might be superior in a way or two. Some other day and some other time. For now, I'll "settle" for the German engineering perfection and the Danish finesse.
Finally, I have NO clue if duty will be charged on the Nighthawk. Request Ray Samuels to mark the package as a gift. Even if you have to pay some duty, just do it. I mean, if the item was not worth the trouble sure....but the Nighthawk is probably going to be your last piece for YEARS to come. The cost of the duty will get lost in the pleasure you consume from its use. Just pay it... since when did we start rationalizing music related purchases. God knows where I would be in my journey if I started to really rationalize the expenditure. I just let my heart lead the way and you know what.... I'm a happier and better person for it. Even my wife agrees with that!
In general, as long as you're not sacrificing food for your baby or compromising the needs of your family, go ahead and indulge! You could be spending money on much worse things in life!!
:thumbsup: Very nice and more importantly, it matches the arm's color!
hyeah:
Thanks! That was just a lucky happening. It looks like the Kontrapunkt B is just an extension of the tonearm, the way the color matched up. Almost meant to be.
