Post by macca on May 10, 2020 9:43:56 GMT
Thought I'd try and write down everything I've ever had right from the start. Can't recall some model numbers though.
1988 - Tensai belt drive deck with Fisher 'Studio Standard' amp and Fisher ST70 speakers. £120 the lot from Richer Sounds.
Added JVC tape deck so could tape mate's record collections. My dad said 'why do you need something that big just to play a cassette?'. I still don't know the answer to that.
1989 replaced record deck with a Kenwood linear tracker.
1990 - replaced speakers with Studio Power MC2000 4-way towers. Since found out they were designed by Colin Wonfor. Replaced amp with a Prinzsound something. First hi-fi mistake! Was only £30 though.
1991 - got a Marantz amp at a car boot. Good one with level meters. Was faulty but got it fixed. That's out on loan, been out on loan since 1992. Was still working last time I saw the bloke back in 2004.
1992 - bought a Denon PMA250 UK SE from a second hand shop that sold camera, fishing tackle and hi-fi. My first decent amp. Aquired a Systemdeck IIX with Linn Basik Plus.
1993 - had a builder in doing some plastering, heard the system, bought the Studio Power speakers off me. Needed a stop gap so went to Argos and bought some Wharfedale CRS3 and some stands for them.
System was now Systemdeck IIX - Nagaoka MP30 - Denon PMA250 - Wharfedale CRS3. That was a great system but the lack of bass and 'presence' from the small speakers bugged me.
1994 - borrowed The Loudspeaker Cookbook' and built some big two ways using Audax drivers. 55 litre cabs. Not bad. Fantastic bass response but could not get them perfect through the mids. Also got a pair of Lowther Acoustas, they did not stay long.
Denon amp started failing on one channel. Could not get it fixed so sold it spares/repair. Bought by a mate who had it fixed almost immediately! I wanted it back, he wouldn't sell it as it sounded so good. I bought the latest version of the PMA250 - brand new - but did not have the magic of the old one.
Then went through a shedload of amps, cant remember them all. Creek 4040, two big Teac integrateds in hammarite finish, one blue one green. They came out of dance hall that was demolished. Wish I'd kept them now. Sony, the little 101 series. A Trio/Kenwood receiver. Leak Stereo 30. Must have been some others now forgotten.
1995 - Mission 731LE speakers with a Yamaha sub. Cambridge P70 amplifier. Still had the Systemdeck but had a Goldring Eroica fitted. That was a good system, speakers still too small though. But had it a couple of years with no changes so reasonable musical satisfaction.
1996 - bought a cd player as vinyl no longer easily available. A Sony, bin end from Hyper-Fi. Slippery slope commences!
1998 - Moved house, much bigger room. Replaced the Missions with B&W 601.
2001 - bought some Celestion A2 very cheap. brand new but Celestion had just been bought by the Chinese and they were clearing the decks. Replaced Cambridge amp with a big Rotel. Then replaced that with Linn LK1/LK100 pre-power. So system was now Systemdeck IIX - Linn Basik Plus - Ortofon 540 Mk2 - Linn LK1 - Linn LK100 - Celestion A2. Got some Chord Odyssey II bi-wire cable and Audioquest interconnects. That was my system for a long time until the Sony CD player died. Bought a Cambridge Audio Azur 840C to replace it. Brand new £800! The most expensive bit of kit I had yet acquired. I hated it.
2009 - discover hi-fi forums.
I was not happy with what I had and my mate's system which was my old Rotel amp, Ruark Templar 2 and a Sony SACD player (bin end, Richer Sounds) was a better listen. Advice on the forum was replace the pre-amp so I got a Croft Micro Basic. Certainly different to the Linn LK1! Had always been impressed by my DJ mate's Technics SL1200 so got one of those too. Systemdeck was retired (although I still have it).
This is where it gets difficult as I started buying all sorts of stuff that took my fancy, mostly loudspeakers and CD players, and I can't recall the timelines exactly. Not much of it stayed in the system for long. Had Celestion Ditton 44, IMF TLS50, Technics SLP1200 CD player - originally the BBC broadcast version - that was a top cd player, shame it died.
2010 - tried a Croft Series 7 power amp with the Micro Basic pre. Great sound with vinyl! But I was already becoming disenchanted with vinyl. Did not buy the Series 7 and stuck with the Linn LK100. Started going to bake-offs. I knew there was better out there, at the bake-offs I heard it. But a lot of it was DIY or cost beyond what I could spend.
Circa 2012 - Jerry lent my his Tisbury passive pre-amp. Put it in with the LK100 - suddenly CD sounded amazing! A bit bass-light but this changed my whole perspective. Looked about for another passive and an NVA P90 came up on the forum so bought that and had it upgraded to stepped attenuators. Now I had the clarity and purity I heard with the Tisbury with the bass too. This was a whole step change upwards. Was pretty happy with this set-up. Also bought a Moth record cleaning machine. Went to the Wigwam Scalford show. Not many systems I preferred to what I had but the ones I did prefer were miles better.
Circa 2014 - bought some Akai SW175 speakers off of Westie, formerly of this parish. Preferred them to the Celestion A2 as they disappeared and just gave a big wall of sound. They stayed for several years but in the end they were not suitable for where I had them placed, they needed to be against a wall. Not enough bass in free space. I replaced the Linn LK100 with an XTZ A100D3, just using the power amp section with the NVA passive. Got a Nagaoka MP500 for the Technics as I had fond memories of the old MP30 I had years back. This was to be my swan-song for vinyl, though.
2017 - got a decent pay rise at work, could now spend a bit more without depleting my savings. Started getting serious. Decided I wanted some modern speakers, bought the JM Lab Focal Electras off a top bloke in Sheffield. DSJR was selling his Krell KSA50S, collection only but he was hundreds of miles away so no chance. But he said to me if I wanted it he would ship it. I had no idea if I really wanted it but I thought what the hell and bought it. That and the JM Lab speakers were clearly a great match right from the off. Still some way to go, I was not 100% there, but now had a feeling that I was getting very close.
2018 - Got to know Ollie and I had a try of his interconnects and DCB1 pre-amp in my system. This was where the final bits of the jigsaw came together. System now Sony XB790QS - DCB1 pre - Krell KSA50S - JM Labs. Just astonishing. Everything I listened to was a 'wow' moment. Like listening to playback in the studio. Could not believe that I had access to this kind of sound on a daily basis.
2019 - Did not really have time to get used to it before the Krell started playing up. Krell went in the shop but was taking ages to be fixed and in the meantime Ollie was selling his KSA100 so I bought that. Not the same! Much smoother, less sparkle. Sony CD player starts playing up, replaced with an Oppo, back to the old magic! Don't know how or why but not complaining.
1988 - Tensai belt drive deck with Fisher 'Studio Standard' amp and Fisher ST70 speakers. £120 the lot from Richer Sounds.
Added JVC tape deck so could tape mate's record collections. My dad said 'why do you need something that big just to play a cassette?'. I still don't know the answer to that.
1989 replaced record deck with a Kenwood linear tracker.
1990 - replaced speakers with Studio Power MC2000 4-way towers. Since found out they were designed by Colin Wonfor. Replaced amp with a Prinzsound something. First hi-fi mistake! Was only £30 though.
1991 - got a Marantz amp at a car boot. Good one with level meters. Was faulty but got it fixed. That's out on loan, been out on loan since 1992. Was still working last time I saw the bloke back in 2004.
1992 - bought a Denon PMA250 UK SE from a second hand shop that sold camera, fishing tackle and hi-fi. My first decent amp. Aquired a Systemdeck IIX with Linn Basik Plus.
1993 - had a builder in doing some plastering, heard the system, bought the Studio Power speakers off me. Needed a stop gap so went to Argos and bought some Wharfedale CRS3 and some stands for them.
System was now Systemdeck IIX - Nagaoka MP30 - Denon PMA250 - Wharfedale CRS3. That was a great system but the lack of bass and 'presence' from the small speakers bugged me.
1994 - borrowed The Loudspeaker Cookbook' and built some big two ways using Audax drivers. 55 litre cabs. Not bad. Fantastic bass response but could not get them perfect through the mids. Also got a pair of Lowther Acoustas, they did not stay long.
Denon amp started failing on one channel. Could not get it fixed so sold it spares/repair. Bought by a mate who had it fixed almost immediately! I wanted it back, he wouldn't sell it as it sounded so good. I bought the latest version of the PMA250 - brand new - but did not have the magic of the old one.
Then went through a shedload of amps, cant remember them all. Creek 4040, two big Teac integrateds in hammarite finish, one blue one green. They came out of dance hall that was demolished. Wish I'd kept them now. Sony, the little 101 series. A Trio/Kenwood receiver. Leak Stereo 30. Must have been some others now forgotten.
1995 - Mission 731LE speakers with a Yamaha sub. Cambridge P70 amplifier. Still had the Systemdeck but had a Goldring Eroica fitted. That was a good system, speakers still too small though. But had it a couple of years with no changes so reasonable musical satisfaction.
1996 - bought a cd player as vinyl no longer easily available. A Sony, bin end from Hyper-Fi. Slippery slope commences!
1998 - Moved house, much bigger room. Replaced the Missions with B&W 601.
2001 - bought some Celestion A2 very cheap. brand new but Celestion had just been bought by the Chinese and they were clearing the decks. Replaced Cambridge amp with a big Rotel. Then replaced that with Linn LK1/LK100 pre-power. So system was now Systemdeck IIX - Linn Basik Plus - Ortofon 540 Mk2 - Linn LK1 - Linn LK100 - Celestion A2. Got some Chord Odyssey II bi-wire cable and Audioquest interconnects. That was my system for a long time until the Sony CD player died. Bought a Cambridge Audio Azur 840C to replace it. Brand new £800! The most expensive bit of kit I had yet acquired. I hated it.
2009 - discover hi-fi forums.
I was not happy with what I had and my mate's system which was my old Rotel amp, Ruark Templar 2 and a Sony SACD player (bin end, Richer Sounds) was a better listen. Advice on the forum was replace the pre-amp so I got a Croft Micro Basic. Certainly different to the Linn LK1! Had always been impressed by my DJ mate's Technics SL1200 so got one of those too. Systemdeck was retired (although I still have it).
This is where it gets difficult as I started buying all sorts of stuff that took my fancy, mostly loudspeakers and CD players, and I can't recall the timelines exactly. Not much of it stayed in the system for long. Had Celestion Ditton 44, IMF TLS50, Technics SLP1200 CD player - originally the BBC broadcast version - that was a top cd player, shame it died.
2010 - tried a Croft Series 7 power amp with the Micro Basic pre. Great sound with vinyl! But I was already becoming disenchanted with vinyl. Did not buy the Series 7 and stuck with the Linn LK100. Started going to bake-offs. I knew there was better out there, at the bake-offs I heard it. But a lot of it was DIY or cost beyond what I could spend.
Circa 2012 - Jerry lent my his Tisbury passive pre-amp. Put it in with the LK100 - suddenly CD sounded amazing! A bit bass-light but this changed my whole perspective. Looked about for another passive and an NVA P90 came up on the forum so bought that and had it upgraded to stepped attenuators. Now I had the clarity and purity I heard with the Tisbury with the bass too. This was a whole step change upwards. Was pretty happy with this set-up. Also bought a Moth record cleaning machine. Went to the Wigwam Scalford show. Not many systems I preferred to what I had but the ones I did prefer were miles better.
Circa 2014 - bought some Akai SW175 speakers off of Westie, formerly of this parish. Preferred them to the Celestion A2 as they disappeared and just gave a big wall of sound. They stayed for several years but in the end they were not suitable for where I had them placed, they needed to be against a wall. Not enough bass in free space. I replaced the Linn LK100 with an XTZ A100D3, just using the power amp section with the NVA passive. Got a Nagaoka MP500 for the Technics as I had fond memories of the old MP30 I had years back. This was to be my swan-song for vinyl, though.
2017 - got a decent pay rise at work, could now spend a bit more without depleting my savings. Started getting serious. Decided I wanted some modern speakers, bought the JM Lab Focal Electras off a top bloke in Sheffield. DSJR was selling his Krell KSA50S, collection only but he was hundreds of miles away so no chance. But he said to me if I wanted it he would ship it. I had no idea if I really wanted it but I thought what the hell and bought it. That and the JM Lab speakers were clearly a great match right from the off. Still some way to go, I was not 100% there, but now had a feeling that I was getting very close.
2018 - Got to know Ollie and I had a try of his interconnects and DCB1 pre-amp in my system. This was where the final bits of the jigsaw came together. System now Sony XB790QS - DCB1 pre - Krell KSA50S - JM Labs. Just astonishing. Everything I listened to was a 'wow' moment. Like listening to playback in the studio. Could not believe that I had access to this kind of sound on a daily basis.
2019 - Did not really have time to get used to it before the Krell started playing up. Krell went in the shop but was taking ages to be fixed and in the meantime Ollie was selling his KSA100 so I bought that. Not the same! Much smoother, less sparkle. Sony CD player starts playing up, replaced with an Oppo, back to the old magic! Don't know how or why but not complaining.
