Some pics of what I'm using and not using right now.

no updates in a long while now since not made any changes. I know how I could improve things and I could do that but not really feeling the need.

Someone commented on another thread that this is a passionate hobby but I don't think that applies to me. I like listening to music but wouldn't say I was a passionate about music, I just like (some) of it.

I'm certainly not passionate about equipment and cables and so forth, or about swapping them in and out and listening for differences. Last time I did that with someone it went on for hours and really came home to me how bloody boring it gets so quickly. It all sounded great so why were we bothering?

I have bought some equipment just because I like the look of it. Like my Philips pre-power -



But again I just like it I am not passionate about it. Hi-fi to me is just engineering - do the things you need to do to make it 'sound good' and then move on to using it for the purpose it was intended for.

I've always been chasing my tail for years trying to fix things I was unhappy with, now I've done that I've discovered I've little or no interest in the constant tweakery. At least not in doing it myself, I still like to read about other people's experiments and experiences.

never been a box swapper, I'm more of a box accumulator. They come in but they rarely go out.


I have been good recently though.

Still looking for a pre-amp.

Decided it must have orange display to match the other stuff.

Was a Denon on eBay before Xmas at a reasonable price, should have gone for that someone has had it away.

Would buy new but they're all so ugly these days

I mean look at this Rotel Michi FFS



Who designed that? Stevie Wonder? What happeend to you Rotel? You used to be cool.

let's see it done properly

I can do the 1st if you want.

Anyway I just found something - from the golden age of Sony ES:

www.thevintageknob.org/sony-TA-E1000ESD.html

The one I've bought doesn't have the end-cheeks.

I might just end up using it on the TV system though. But we'll see.

Digital parametric EQ and adjustable reverb time, spread and density...


I can't do the third mate I'm back in work on the 2nd.

blimey orange display ? what pre amps have orange displays ??

bel canto pre 5 is a stonking pre amp

and moorgate acoustics have some hegel pre amps now discontinued 2495new

www.hegel.com/en/products/discontinued/hd30?fbclid=IwAR0OojYMvjyA-3GpD4uER8MmvFfnsNPQCV1--q_eRn42XXuTmxVnhRSFEz0

Yamaha, some Denon, some JVC  - does limit the options a bit I know.

Bel Canto is good stuff but the looks won't fit in for me.

Hegel is overpriced for what it is, and bland looking.

IME, IMO

It's a handsome beast

It's the same shade of black as the TEAC (can you have shades of black?) so that's good too.

My big test for SQ these days is that snare that kicks in on the extended end bit of 'Why Worry?' on Brothers In Arms.

From memory it's not quite as crystal clear as it is with the DCB1 pre-amp - but it is clearer than with the Philips 'Black Tulip' which does seem to muffle it a little too much.

Got three bands of digital parametric EQ to play with so when I actually get round to using the miniDSP Umik-1 measuring mic I got before Xmas I can do some fine tuning to the room.

PEQ in action:



I left the bass flat, put in a 1dB dip across the mids centered on 1Khz, with a bit of positive Q to reduce the bandwidth it covers. I messed about a bit with the slope on that too (which changes how steeply the cut rolls in) but couldn't hear a difference with that.

Then I put in a 0.5dB boost centered around 10Khz with zero Q for the 'air and space'. That barely shows on the on-screen graph, but it's there.

Handily you can adjust all the parameters, while music is playing, from the listening chair using the remote control.

it's a nifty bit of kit given it's from 35 years ago.

I use digital eq all the time.
My room has an unfortunate peak 200-350hz, easily seen with pink noise and an Android frequency display app. Removing that adds a noticeable soupcon of clarity and focus.

A bit of treble peakiness is also best removed.

these days I am firmly of the opinion that it's better to be enjoying music on your system than to be constantly evaluating the bastard thing. But if you change something, even if you no longer care that much, it's still pretty much inevitable that you go into evaluation mode.

Anyway sometimes it helps to play something you never heard before and see how that comes across. Familiar stuff is all very well, you have an idea of what should happen, but if it's too familair you can already reproduce every note in your brain, so how much is that, and how much is really the system?

So just got this Sheryl Crow album which I've been meaning to get for the last 30 years.




I only know the two singles and never heard it on a hi-fi before. And omg it sounds good! So maybe I am on the right track?

Easier said than done though isn't it?

When I started out in 1985 I had an idea of what sort of level of SQ I wanted to achieve. If I'd known it would take so long I might not have bothered!

No money was a problem for a long time but the main problem was lack of knowledge. I did not find the mags or latterly forums to be much help in that respect, the opposite in most cases.

But I do now actually have something a bit better than what I was aiming at, so it's all good. Still cannot resist tinkering around the edges though. Old habits die hard or not at all

I started the journey in '85 and agree with your sentiments but I was lucky as a few of my friends had reasonable systems that I could use to judge what I was after and afford (the later was very important!).

Also, the dealer I bought my first system from, the guy I dealt with setup his own reselling business from his home in South Manchester and I used to go quite a few times a year to see what was going on in the world of HiFi and a good natter.
It was the first time I heard high end audio also in the '90's at his home - I had dropped the PSU for my Gyrodec and damaged the perspex (I had bought the Gyro package through him, part-exed my Syncro) - he fixed it for free. While waiting he fired up his latest demo kit which included the Audio Note Ongaku - wow - can't remember the frontend or speakers used but what an experience that was.

Alas, life and kids got in the way so not seen him for 20 years plus (I know he ended up working for Audio Note Japan in the end).

Love the kit pic above.