Fredrik UK Visit - 19th May South and 20th May North

[Ozzzy189]

I had the pleasure of hosting Fredrik, Chris and Neil on the evening of Wednesday 20th of May, we had three guests including our vey own forum member Donuk ( frome downtown sunny york ! ).
I'm in a different property these day and the listening room is far better than my last place when Chris visited, Neil too had also heard my system previously. The room is around 5 metres long and almost 3.4 wide with the speakers at the bottom end across the narrower wall with the sofa at yon end, (as we say up 'ere) about 4 metres from the speakers. All evening we used Linn Majik 109's on 109 stands.
First of all we playd some music on my set up. This was Linn ADS1 , Lejonklou Sagatun stereo, Lejonklou Tundra stereo and aforementioned speakers.
Chris immediately gave me that look, i knew exactly what he was thinking and i said, 'absolutely blows the old room out of the water doesn't it mate'? He nodded with a grin, 'wow' he said.
I'd installed a dedicated mains spur and the rear wall had had a pair of french doors in it. it was a solid block and render construction which i was delighted to see upon renovation as i knew it would provide me with a lovely solid thumping bass, so i made sure i blocked up the doorway with the same materials as the existing and re-plastered it. anyway, i digress....
My system does sound vey good, there's no denying that. It's fast clean and musical but i'd heard better over the years, usually at hiddensystems, and i wondered how things would change as we added upgraded components.
We used a variety of music tracks over the evening, including Eric Bibb- Too Much Stuff, and the Dave Brubeck Quartet- Unsquare Dance , Tears for Fears- Woman in chains and Song Sung Blue by the legendary Neil Diamond amongst others.
The first change was the introduction of sagatun 1.1
Immediately it was obvious that the music just seemeed to hang together more coherently. It was not a subtle difference. Niiiiiice as they used to say on the fast show.
Fredrik swapped it back to my sagatun 1.0 so we could re assess, Don had questioned the bass quality. It's always a fantastic opportunity to get different opinions at these kind of things. Once 1.1 was back in the mix it became obvious that there was a definite improvement and a level of solidity that wasn't there before.
Next up, swapping out tundra 1.2 for 2.0.
This was a significant improvement here, as expected but this time there was a texture to vocals that simply wasn't there before. This gave the music more emotion and feeling and the tune seemed to flow with greater ease. It's at this point i may i have got the Don/bass query wrong. It was either sagatun 1.1 or Tundra 2.0 , i'm sure York's finest will chip in to assist with my poor memory !!
Then we had a discussion about the source. (was it at this point?- here we go again ! I had wanted to take a few notes but drifted away lost in the sound and whole event !)
Now please correct me if i'm wrong, but now we either went to KDSM1 of Sagatun monos......hmmm..... Right, i think i remember. We added the KDSM in at this point and kept sagatun 1.1 and tundra 2.0
Immediately there was a huge shift in the presentation. Neil Diamond was bloody amazing, all of a sudden the guitar and backing singers were no longer a bit of background noise and became a full part of the song, like they'd stepped forward to be heard but at no detriment to neil's fabulously layered voice. Bugger !!!! Not what i wanted, i was very happy with the ADS1 !!!!!!
Sagatun monos were added and the Dave Brubeck clicky stick song was incredibly good. Rhythmn, timing and speed became exceptional. It was fast and clean. The other tracks were so bloody good. Solid. Powerful. Purposeful. Commanding. Musical. Truly a testament to Fredrik and his meticulous approach to get things right. This was ridiculously impressive. These were Majik 109's for crying out loud and they sounded more like a 5k speaker.
One more change before we went for a well earned Curry and a Cobra.
Tundra mono 2.0 was introduced .
Ok, in my original review of the monos i'd been brutally honest. Some may think i only ever wax lyrical when it comes to Lejonklou equipment, well maybe you should cast your eye over the forum and do a bit of digging and take a skeg at my review of tundra mono 1.0
I intially enjoyed them but couldn't bring myself to say that they were a leap above the admittedly good tundra stereo 1.2 In my ears they just weren't. However these babies are the nuts. The dogs bollocks.Top Banana. Numero fookin Uno.
The level of detail, texture, solidity, rhythmn and timing and musicality was through the roof. I'm not talking BS when i say that this is quite simply one of the finest systems ive heard anywhere. We put the intro to 'Trust' by Megadeth on to give my friend Pete a boost, poor sod hates all the stuff we'd been using to dem the kit ! OMG, (sorry to use that, but here it's a necessity), it sounded epic.
It was instant. The instruments had this fabulous 'stop/start' quality where you'd expect and this was with Linn Majik 109's on the end....... I'll leave it there. I was flabbergasted, these speakers just can't sound like this i said.
Fredrik, you really are THE MAN, i was stunned, and you know what, this is me reigning it in. Respect my friend, you absoluetly nailed it. I'll say it again. This kit deserves to be heard.
THANK YOU SO VERY VERY MUCH.
Ozzzy

[Ozzzy189]

You know, it's always strange writing about hifi, especially when it's something impressive. It's much easier to slag something off! It's almost like when you are describing the improvements it suddenly sounds like 'well it must've been shite before then', no, not the case at all. Sometimes improvements are subtle, there may be one, two maybe more and together they help improve the musicality and convey the musical message which helps the listener become engaged to the tune.
My speakers weren't moved around, I had no proper rack and space was turned off as I don't like it. But what we achieved was special and it's something I'll always remember.

[HIDDENSYSTEMS]

Yes, we went from KK/2 to Sagatun to Sagatun Mono to direct from the KDSM/1. And then back to Sagatun Mono.

Differences were very clear and obvious. I did point out that it's very easy - and common! - to mess up this particular demo by not giving the preamp optimal conditions. Bad interconnects, wrong power cord, wrong outlet or position for the power cord, bad support, not disabling the digital volume etcetera.

Fredrik, you simplify the complex into musical fun. Hope the flight was as smooth as my driving today covering the whole of England. Scotland and the South West of England awaits....

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[moog_man]

Enjoyed reading that, Ozzzy - cheers

[rowlandhills]

Sounds like a fun evening!

I look forward to hearing the Tundra 2.0 in my own system, and at some point I also want to do a proper demo of the Sagatun as I may well be moving away from AV and back to a stereo only system.

[Charlie1]

Glad it went well Ozzzy and thanks for the detailed write up. Sounds like you have a great system/room there, no doubt about to get even better with an upgrade to Tundra 2.0.

[macrotech2]

Thanks from me too Ozzy. Perhaps it should be some form of Monos on the horizon too?

[macrotech2]

Sounds like a fun evening!

I look forward to hearing the Tundra 2.0 in my own system, and at some point I also want to do a proper demo of the Sagatun as I may well be moving away from AV and back to a stereo only system.

Or you could daisy chain multiple Sagatuns!

[rowlandhills]

I look forward to hearing the Tundra 2.0 in my own system, and at some point I also want to do a proper demo of the Sagatun as I may well be moving away from AV and back to a stereo only system.

Or you could daisy chain multiple Sagatuns!

I could (and it might well be an option I go down), but I would then need something to decode the audio, as I currently use my Exotik+DA to handle all TV audio and streaming video as well as BluRay.

[tokenbrit]

I look forward to hearing the Tundra 2.0 in my own system, and at some point I also want to do a proper demo of the Sagatun as I may well be moving away from AV and back to a stereo only system.

Or you could daisy chain multiple Sagatuns!

I could (and it might well be an option I go down), but I would then need something to decode the audio, as I currently use my Exotik+DA to handle all TV audio and streaming video as well as BluRay.

An Oppo will do that for you, but you might find that much improved stereo, especially via Monos, is a more satisfying system.

[rowlandhills]

An Oppo will do that for you, but you might find that much improved stereo, especially via Monos, is a more satisfying system.

Can you connect other sources to the Oppo for it to decode?

Apologies for the thread creep - please feel free to split the thread...

[macrotech2]

An Oppo will do that for you, but you might find that much improved stereo, especially via Monos, is a more satisfying system.

Can you connect other sources to the Oppo for it to decode?

Apologies for the thread creep - please feel free to split the thread...

Yes you can and I do. I was also going to suggest this but was also worried about thread creep. Might be too limiting for you though. PM me if you want.

[jakez]

This is great! Thanks for all the reports and comments! Looking forward to an upgrade!

[u252agz]

Great to read the reports.

It is rare to come across 'proper' comparisions done with so much care and attention, and with so many tuned ears, all giving largely consistent verdicts.

A fantastic resource for those wishing to upgrade or even start with musical systems.

Has got me thinking that perhaps I should just get on with Sagatun1.1 and not wait for version 2.

[Ozzzy189]

Can't believe no one has mentioned my wallpaper! ☺

[moog_man]

Can't believe no one has mentioned my wallpaper! ☺

ha hah!! I did make a mental note....

[WIJI]

Can't believe no one has mentioned my wallpaper! ☺

Just because nobody has commented doesn't mean it went un-noticed :)

[ThomasOK]

Great to read the reports.

It is rare to come across 'proper' comparisions done with so much care and attention, and with so many tuned ears, all giving largely consistent verdicts.

A fantastic resource for those wishing to upgrade or even start with musical systems.

Has got me thinking that perhaps I should just get on with Sagatun1.1 and not wait for version 2.

You could be waiting a long time for version 2. If Fredrik could have made a bigger upgrade he would have. The 1.1 is very inexpensive as upgrades go and definitely worth doing.

[tokenbrit]

Can't believe no one has mentioned my wallpaper! ☺

Been busy trying to adjust the monitor to get the image to look right... should we be able to see a dolphin, or a sail boat? Does weed(ing) help? :)

[Ozzzy189]

Haha, it's dragonfly dance by Osborne and Little.

[tokenbrit]

Sounds like 2 good evenings with well presented comparisons of Lejonklou pre & power amp upgrades... Any more views on Sagatun & Sagatun Mono 1.1, and/or Tundra & Tundra Mono 2.0 ?

(no more views needed of the wallpaper - sorry Oz :)

[donuk]

Well, I have been asked to add my comments about the Lejonklou evening in the north of England, chez-Ozzzie. I will never match Ozzzie’s restrained style of reportage, but I will do my humble best.

Firstly a few things to get out of the way. Fantastic host and tolerant family. Great cosy listening room, and the speakers excelled. The wallpaper was nearly as loud as the music, but only God is perfect. And Ozzzie’s favourite AC/DC recording was the only challenging distortion I was to hear all the evening.

I had never met the celebrated Mr L, and it was a pleasure. Rarely will you meet somebody with so much enthusiasm for his subject, and with an ability to make it infectious. Somebody who checks out the torque on the loudspeakers before connecting his equipment is thorough. One wonders whether Julian and Ivor were similar in their youth, before accountants and market trends caught up with them. Frederik never change.

As the evening progressed, I became aware I was in the presence of a serious player in the world of hifi. I have been purchasing and building hifi, reading magazines, haunting shops, and attending shows for decades. Mr L’s equipment is seriously world class.

I will not systematically go through how the stereo preamps and then the power amps were replaced by monos. The resulting sound progressively got better. Only once did I feel that the bass sounded better on a lesser system – but that might have been because I had learned the tune of it previously.

One of our test tracks was Unsquare Dance by Dave Brubeck. An over-assertive salesman would have had to tap his toes at 7/4 to be convincing – a challenge for most of us. Early in the evening, playing this quite loud I fancied I heard some muddling of the percussion and a smearing of the loud piano chords. I assumed the speakers had quite reasonably reached their limits. At the last run through with full mono Lejonklous and the KDSM the music ran through perfectly smoothly. Somebody once said something about Source First.

Yes folks, I did reflect on our recent discussions about Tunedem during the evening. I was expecting to be chided about my limitations in this area, but the Swedes are nothing if not a tolerant race. What I can say is that I was totally able to understand the progressive improvements to the sound throughout the evening, and took the same joy as others present when it came to noticing things like the improving attack and decay of notes and the ability to hear the tunefulness that the artists intended. (Except AC/DC of course!) Eric Bibb, one of my favourites, became ever more present in the room.

Not only did the Lejonklou kit excel itself, one felt that the digital medium has very much come of age. Both the ADS and the KDSM (wheeled in at later stages of the evening) showed themselves to be excellent source engines.
I look forward to the Lejonklou factory visit.........

Donuk, sunny downtown York

[Charlie1]

Enjoyed reading that, thanks Don. Wish I could have been there. I could have experienced the wallpaper in full technicolor 3D too.

[Ozzzy189]

Wow, thanks don. I can only dream of writing like that. I just get too excited I think. Like a 12 year old catching his first fish. Lol
That was a great read.

[HIDDENSYSTEMS]

Thanks Don. Enjoyed your review. Indeed seriously world class.