I have a pair of the original cradles, like you say make a big difference, just wondering how to repurpose the original cradles……
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very nice, but what does your wife say about the cable salad? 
She’s very understanding, the only time we fell out was when she cleaned the Devialet’s in my absence! The living room system is much tidier with all wires hidden, this system will be similarly when I get round to having a new cabinet built
Seem to be quite a few of us on here with the Townsend podiums.
The red Focals look fantastic in any room.
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Is a Benchmark sub-section forthcoming? I’ve been looking out for it, but so far not seen it.
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Can’t anyone create it?
You’ve been listening only to colored tube equipment if you think all tube equipment is euphonic, or you’re simply being lazy in your commentary. If a designer is going for that sound (Cary Audio, most 300B SET amps), sure, that’s what you will get but the Line Magnetics, Thomas Mayers, and numerous others, are not. Transparency doesn’t exclude tubes.
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I appreciate that not all valve amplifiers sound “tubey” - much of it is in the design implementation, output transformers etc.
My previous hybrid amp didn’t sound all “warm, lush and tubey”, especially with NOS Russian 6N23P in the input stage. It was very neutral sounding.
Tubes do generally sound different from solid state though. Harmonic distortion is much higher than the best solid state gear and the spread of harmonics is different.
My original response was to someone with a very strong preference for tubes who described Benchmark gear “as characterless and boring”. It’s not IME. It’s measurably and audibly transparent and with the right speakers sounds superb. Someone who says that of gear is clearly listening to tube equipment which has a substantially coloured/characterful presentation.
It depends greatly on the speakers as to how different amps sound as well. A speaker which has a naturally forward presentation might sound pretty dire on transparent amplification, but may fare better with a more “relaxed” sounding amplifier setup.
I wasn’t dissing tubes - I still have 2 tube headphone amps, I also have 2 solid state ones.
Whilst there are differences, the differences are quite subtle.
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Some like vanilla ice cream, some like vanilla bean. It’s all a matter of taste.
You’re mixing scopes. Vanilla ice cream is a spectrum of deliciousness. Vanilla bean is but one variant. You are correct, perhaps accidentally. Sorry for you French vanilla fans, vanilla bean is the only correct answer.
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Very fine set-up. The Stainless wall plates compliment an already elegant system!
Thank you John
I read that if you heat up and then cool the gunked up lamp it will clear up with time (and luck)
Innuos Zenith Mk3 server/streamer,
Innuos Phoenix USB reclocker,
Chord Hugo MScaler upsampler,
Chord DAVE DAC/headphone amp,
Focal Utopia headphones,
Lampizator Callisto USB cables,
Shunyata Hydra Delta D6 Power Conditioner with Delta NR and Venom V14 power cables
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Fantasic chair, what is it?
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No idea. But it looks like it could work on the bridge of a Star Trek starship.
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All the effort for a pure power supply and then a lot of powerful electric motors in the armchair? Can you have both?
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