Entertainment For Lively Minds
Hi-Fi
Posted by Johan on 18 June 2009 - 4:13pm.
Prompted by the chat on the podcast about hi-fi, I was reminiscing about the days when I owned a decent separates system. Back in the 80s, I had what was a bit of a classic budget system:
Dual CS505 turntable
NAD 3020 amp
Mission 70 speakers
Audio Technica cartridge (can't remember which one).
It sounded wonderful!
So what's the best setup you've ever had?
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Well, since you asked:
Linn LP12 with Ekos arm + Asaka cartridge + Lingo power supply
Krell integrated amp (with a phono stage for the record player)
Marantz special edition / Ken Ishiwata cd player
Linn Kaber speakers
Sounded pretty good...
My first one
(whatever that was)
Comet "hi-fi"
When Comet (yes, Comet) did separates, I bought my first hi-fi: Pioneer PL12D turntable, Solavox (Comet's very own, I think) PR40 speakers and a Trio (became kenwood)KA3500 amp. I obviously thought it rocked, but it was probably guff. I always aspired to Linn nirvana, but never quite made it (I had a secondhand pair of Linn Index speakers for a while!)
Oh dear
As sure as
summer follows spring, any mention of hi-fi brings out the NTNON sketch!
Still very funny though.
An average Rotel turntable ...
... an Australian Audio Reflex Amp that I have never seen anywhere since, and the jewel in this Hi-Fi crown - huge Cerwin Vega speakers. I remember that they took up all the room in my VW beetle when I bought them as a gauche 17 year old. They were huge! I can still remember that when the volume was cranked up a bit it was possible to imagine that the helicopter on Pink Floyd's The Wall was about to touch down in my bedroom. Happy days!
As discussed on the other hi-fi thread...
http://www.wordmagazine.co.uk/content/podcast-101-hifi-issue
QUAD ESL57s (not consecutive serial numbers sadly)
Matched QUAD II amps
Used to have an LP12 until I ditched vinyl
Oops,
didn't see that thread.
Stimpy, Stimpy, Stimpy why did you forsake vinyl ?
Surely the compulsory accompaniment to being a hi fi buff is a love of analog over digital.
Maybe because I'm not a hi-fi buff :-)
As I said in the long hi-fi thread, I don't *care* about the gear itself; hi-fi is just a machine to deliver the sound to my ears with as little effect on the sound as possible.
I go with Peter Walker's description of the perfect sound reproducing equipment - "a straight wire with gain".
My fridge keeps my beer cool, my dishwasher cleans the dishes, my stereo plays my music.
Hi-Fi peak..
...was a Meridian 200 CD transport(re-clocked but can't remember the name of the upgrade),into a Pink Triangle DAC(which I've also forgotten the name of..it might have been Cardinal).A Michell Iso pre-amp with Hera power supply,Meridian 205 monobloc power amps,and B&W 805V speakers.Sounded fab but foolishly sold the lot except the CD transport,which I then hooked up to a pair of Meridian DSP 5000 active digital speakers.The result was a sonic disaster,the speakers just didn't work in the space available at the time.Eventually gave up and sold everything,taking a huge financial hit,and bought a more modest but still decent system.This has been in boxes since my son was born six years ago,snd now I can't persuade the GLW to let me resurrect it.Can't stand the clutter and anyway when would I have time to listen to it etc,etc,etc....
Ho Hum.
Turntables it's all what it's all about
First Garrard SP25 MK4 then the wonderfull Pioneer PL12D (see above) next came Thorens 160D with SME arm and then Nirvana arrived with various and better versions of the Sondek,currently Ekos and Denon cartridge. God it's good.
My First!
My first proper set-up is probably the one I remember most fondly:
Revolver turntable in red crackle "Hammerite"!
Linn Basik arm and a Goldring 1042 (I think!)
Mission Cyrus 1
Heybrook HB1s on dedicated stands (Peter Comeau was/is a genius - these nominally cheap speakers took a lot to beat)
It sounded very natural and neutral, and as I bought more expensive kit (usually second hand or ex-demo) that was always what I was chasing - "closest approach to the original sound", as Mr Walker said.
Quite surprised there's so much past tense here
so what do you all listen to music on these days, ipods?
My stereo features Linn Sondek/Linn Ittok/Ortofon MC10 turntable, Pioneer PD801 cd player, Meridian 101/104 preamp and tuner, Linn LK280 power amp with Linn Spark power supply, all into Dali 350 loudspeakers. The whole thing sounds fantastic, very natural and has been evolving for 30-ish years to my best ever set-up. I suspect it'll do me for life.
These days
All my music is stored as LAME-encoded 320kpbs mp3s on a server in the loft, served up over Airtunes onto a couple of MacBooks running iTunes.
One room has a Quad II/ESL57 setup - as discussed earlier, with a home made interface box. The other room contains an old Cyrus II/Kef Carltons.
In the office I have Harmon/Kardon Soundsticks hanging off a Mac Mini.
Not that I understood everything Stimpy
(Airtunes, Soundsticks)but can't accuse you of TMI, got the drift anyway: you've got high-quality, multi-room stereo controlled by various Macs. Sounds like quite a high-tech solution for someone not into the paraphenalia of music reproduction (wire with gain, above) or are you so PC-literate that this doesn't even count? I, for one, would be fascinated to hear a little more detail on the decisions which led you on this particular path. How about it?
About 5 years ago, one of the guys in the studio
showed me a server -> laptop -> stereo setup and I was blown away - no CDs, no records, no clutter - just the music he wanted, instantly.
I asked him to set one up for me and he sorted it out - initially just in one room. My only consideration was that any computer equipment be Apple and it all be compatible with the existing amps/speakers.
These days, it all seems a bit 'bitty' and clunky when compared to some of the commercial multi-room systems that are available but I've sort of grown attached to it and it's nice to be able to take a laptop or phone anywhere around the house/garden and listen to music.
As for the Airtunes stuff - it's all Apple so it just works, to the point that when I wanted to extend the system into another room it was a plug-in-and-go solution. I'm pretty good with a soldering iron and an oscilloscope but know all but nothing about PCs - I try and avoid them whereever possible :-)
Hi-Fi
LP12 with Ittok VII, a disappointing Goldring cartridge, Exposure XV amp, micromega leader cd player, linn keilidh speakers. Plus now worthless Nakamichi cassette recorder!
The sexiest thing in 9 and 1/2 weeks
was the Nakamichi tape deck in Mickey Rourke's loft apartment.
It was a Nakamichi RX wasn't it?
(the one that turns the tape over rather than reversing the direction of play)
Phwoar ...
Think that's the baby Stimpy
The movement of the tape flipping was just so unbeliveablyy hi-tech back then - not to mention erotic