Post by nichth on Jan 3, 2023 2:42:32 GMT
I've been fascinated by Hifi since the early 70s, when I bought my first system, A Lindsley Hood kit amp, Celestion DItton 15s and the then-ubiquitous Pioneer PL12D. I lusted after the Transcriptors Reference turntable, after having seen A Clockwork Orange, but couldn't afford it. After a long hiatus I rekindled my interest a few years ago and, with a very large house (ex hotel) to fill, I started collecting second-hand equipment. The current lineups are as follows - although I swap stuff around quite a bit
Main Lounge Surround system :
Amp: Pioneer LX87
Speakers: ATC SCM20SL, ATC SCM12, B&W ASW1000 sub
Sound: Huge; the amp is plenty powerful enough to drive all four ATCs, which are notoriously inefficient. The speakers pack real punch and slam and their wide off-axis response makes them great for a larger audience. The sub is a bit slow, but provides good support all the way down
Second Lounge Stereo:
PC streaming through Chord mojo
Amp: Chord CPA3200 and SPM1200C
Speakers: Wilmslow Audio HSM
Sound: Very detailed: the amps are still a class act. The HSMs are slightly warm, with outstanding soundstaging; filling a room that is 6m x 5m. They can still be bought new, although I see that the parts alone are now over £1k. They are a complete bargain secondhand, incidentally.
"Kids Room" Surround System
Amp: Pioneer LX82
Speakers Naim SBL, JBL dipoles
Sound; The SBLs are terrific for cinema, provided they arent run too loud, because the bass in some action movie sound tracks can over extend the mid/bass driver. The dipoles provide a diffuse surround, quite different to direct speakers. I have found that this makes the speakers very forgiving of placement, which is quite important in the real world of people's homes
Office Stereo
PC streaming through Chord mojo
Amps: Naim Nac 42.5 and Avondale-modded SNAPs, Avondale-Modded NAP110, NAP140
Speakers: Naim IBL
The amps are very fast and enthusiastic; the IBLs equally so. The NAP110 recently went to Avondale for upgrades and can now stand toe to toe with amps costing five times the price, even at fairly high volume. However the IBLs make this setup an acquired taste, not for everyone. But once one's ears have become accustomed to the idiosyncratic sound, subtle details can be revealed that my other systems simply miss.
Music Studio
Sources eg synths with their own preamps
Amp: Meridian 205 monoblocks; Denon AVR4306
Speakers: Eclipse TD510, Eclipse TD508. Epos ES14
The monoblocks are still fighting fit after 32 years, having a laid back sound compared to the Naims, with somewhat better bass. They ship with an idle cutout circuit to prevent them using a lot of juice, as they are biased into Class A. But this circuitry used to produce an audible click when the amps cut back in so I had it removed from both blocks. The Denon has a really good power amp stage so I keep it for the piano.
The Eclipses are unlike any other speakers I have heard. They use only one driver to cover all frequencies, which means they dont need crossovers. They are definitely one-person only speakers, because the sweet spot is extremely small, making them very fussy about placement. But once you hit the sweet spot, the timing is so good its like wearing a musical head-vice. It's now hard for me to listen to some instruments, particularly the harp or classical guitar, on any other speakers. Both speakers do midrange very well; the 508s, with their smaller driver, trade low bass for a sparkling treble, whilst the 510s. which are considerably bigger, do the opposite. Interestingly John Williams, the classical guitar virtuoso, uses Eclipse speakers at his gigs.
The Epos ES14s dont have crossovers either, having been carefully designed so that the main driver rolls off naturally at the crossover point. The bass can be overblown so they have to be sited a long way from the wall, but when you get the positioning right the imaging is practically three dimensional
If I had to trim this lot down to one system, it would be the Chord DACs, Chord amps, and the Naim IBLs
Main Lounge Surround system :
Amp: Pioneer LX87
Speakers: ATC SCM20SL, ATC SCM12, B&W ASW1000 sub
Sound: Huge; the amp is plenty powerful enough to drive all four ATCs, which are notoriously inefficient. The speakers pack real punch and slam and their wide off-axis response makes them great for a larger audience. The sub is a bit slow, but provides good support all the way down
Second Lounge Stereo:
PC streaming through Chord mojo
Amp: Chord CPA3200 and SPM1200C
Speakers: Wilmslow Audio HSM
Sound: Very detailed: the amps are still a class act. The HSMs are slightly warm, with outstanding soundstaging; filling a room that is 6m x 5m. They can still be bought new, although I see that the parts alone are now over £1k. They are a complete bargain secondhand, incidentally.
"Kids Room" Surround System
Amp: Pioneer LX82
Speakers Naim SBL, JBL dipoles
Sound; The SBLs are terrific for cinema, provided they arent run too loud, because the bass in some action movie sound tracks can over extend the mid/bass driver. The dipoles provide a diffuse surround, quite different to direct speakers. I have found that this makes the speakers very forgiving of placement, which is quite important in the real world of people's homes
Office Stereo
PC streaming through Chord mojo
Amps: Naim Nac 42.5 and Avondale-modded SNAPs, Avondale-Modded NAP110, NAP140
Speakers: Naim IBL
The amps are very fast and enthusiastic; the IBLs equally so. The NAP110 recently went to Avondale for upgrades and can now stand toe to toe with amps costing five times the price, even at fairly high volume. However the IBLs make this setup an acquired taste, not for everyone. But once one's ears have become accustomed to the idiosyncratic sound, subtle details can be revealed that my other systems simply miss.
Music Studio
Sources eg synths with their own preamps
Amp: Meridian 205 monoblocks; Denon AVR4306
Speakers: Eclipse TD510, Eclipse TD508. Epos ES14
The monoblocks are still fighting fit after 32 years, having a laid back sound compared to the Naims, with somewhat better bass. They ship with an idle cutout circuit to prevent them using a lot of juice, as they are biased into Class A. But this circuitry used to produce an audible click when the amps cut back in so I had it removed from both blocks. The Denon has a really good power amp stage so I keep it for the piano.
The Eclipses are unlike any other speakers I have heard. They use only one driver to cover all frequencies, which means they dont need crossovers. They are definitely one-person only speakers, because the sweet spot is extremely small, making them very fussy about placement. But once you hit the sweet spot, the timing is so good its like wearing a musical head-vice. It's now hard for me to listen to some instruments, particularly the harp or classical guitar, on any other speakers. Both speakers do midrange very well; the 508s, with their smaller driver, trade low bass for a sparkling treble, whilst the 510s. which are considerably bigger, do the opposite. Interestingly John Williams, the classical guitar virtuoso, uses Eclipse speakers at his gigs.
The Epos ES14s dont have crossovers either, having been carefully designed so that the main driver rolls off naturally at the crossover point. The bass can be overblown so they have to be sited a long way from the wall, but when you get the positioning right the imaging is practically three dimensional
If I had to trim this lot down to one system, it would be the Chord DACs, Chord amps, and the Naim IBLs
