The Gliding Dutchman

The Gliding Dutchman

Hello, I am known throughout cyberspace as The Gliding Dutchman. My real name is Dewald Visser and I live in a small town called Lydenburg in the Highlands of South Africa.

For as long as I can remember I have always had a passion for good music. I taught myself, from a very young age to play piano and the moment my father showed me how to solder I since then have fiddled with old radios and turntables.

I have been introduced to proper high fidelity systems by a friend of my father. He demoed his all-Technics system to me and I was hooked. I can remember he had a very heavy Technics linear-tracking turntable with huge speakers – probably not the best sound but I didn’t know better at the time. Soon after that I managed to borrow a NAD C310 amplifier from a cousin. My father helped me to construct a set of crude loudspeakers from a set of car speaker-units. I was on my way…

In late 2000 I walked into a 2^nd-hand store and found a nice B&O Beogram 1102 turntable with a few records for +/- $10. That was the start of my vinyl journey. I laid my hands on every single record I could find and many turntables came and went.

In 2006 I was invited to a local sound expo after the organizer saw my modified Lenco L75. I told him to give me a moment and I quickly designed and constructed a whole turntable of my own – the "Moxey". Initially I didn’t realize what I have gotten myself in – it is certainly not that easy to develop a world-class turntable. At the moment the Moxey Project is on hold until I have better resources to continue. Currently I am toying with moving coil cartridges and modifying them.

My current system:

	Cartridge: Ortofon MC Rondo Blue
	Tone-arm: SME 3012 Series II
	Turntable: Thorens TD125 mkI
	Attachment: Watts Dustbug
	Attachment: Achromat (5mm black)
	Phono-stage: Pro-Ject Phonobox II
	Amplifier: Valve Audio Exclame 100
	Loudspeakers: Bowers & Wilkins Preference 6
	Cables: Nordost, Van Den Hul & DIY

Past gear included:

	Technics SP-10 mkII broadcast turntable with Audio Technica ATP arm
	Pro-Ject RPM 9X turntable
	Bang & Olufsen Beogram 4002 linear tracking turntable
	Lenco L75 turntable with custom balsa-wood arm
	QUAD ESL57 Loudspeakers
	QUAD mkII Tube Monoblock amplifiers
	Proton AP-1000 pre-amplifier
	Kenwood KA-8300 amplifier
	Electrocompaniet Preampliwire II pre-amplifier
	KEF C55 monitors
	KEF 203 bookshelf speakers
	Pioneer SA-502 amplifier
	NAD 5080A direct-drive turntable
	Thorens TD524 broadcast turntable

I am fascinated by recording studios and how music is recorded. I don’t see myself as a passive listener of music – I like to know the technical background of albums and recording procedures.

I loathe tone-controls or any unnecessary devices in the audio-system chain that can possibly degrade the signal. The amplifier I use is one of the most simplistic units on the market and that is how I prefer it. I want to hear the music in its raw form. If the speakers is up to it (and let me assure you, my B&W P6’s are more than capable) then the music will speak for itself.

My latest turntable is a very nice Thorens TD 125 machine with a NOS SME 3012 Series II tone-arm. I still cannot believe that the SME arm, which came with the bundle that I bought, sat quiet in its box for 36 years! It is now installed on the turntable and performs like a dream. I have plans to replace the SME 2000 plinth the TD125 came in with a super-sturdy MDF plinth.

Future upgrades? Well, the phono-stage is a good candidate. Maybe a DIY tube unit… Different MC cartridges are also in the pipeline.

I have a high regard for vintage audio equipment and immense respect for the QUAD II tube amplifier. It is a serious piece of electronic equipment and a symbol of perfectionism.

My music tastes include the following: Diana Krall, Sara K, Fleetwood Mac, Pink Floyd, Dire Straits, Chris Rea, Jack Johnson, Norah Jones, Joni Mitchell, The Beatles, ABBA, CCR, Steely Dan, Donald Fagen, Phil Collins, Classical, Female Vocal Jazz, Piano Solo & any good, acoustic music.

Currently I act as an administrator on Vinyl South Africa’s Forum and publish a monthly e-zine titled The Analogue Groove which focuses on vinyl gear and equipment for the vinyl culture.