Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Sept 17, 2018 8:57:11 GMT
A spot for the blatant rip-off merchants. Here's one: www.ebay.co.uk/itm/232930218982?ul_noapp=trueSince when is a TD160 Super with an SME 3009 S2 Imp worth seven hundred quid? Not to me it's not. The arm has limited abilty and cartridge could be clapped out, so shouldn't be taken into account for pricing. I'd say this is worth £500 to £550 tops. |
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Sept 17, 2018 14:30:38 GMT
PL-12D for £250.00 anybody? He's got to be bleedin' joking!
TE-M75ED-TYPE-2-CARTRIDGE/112787483439?hash=item1a42a86b2f:g:wg0AAOSw6lRacgR6
|
|
Bigman80
Grandmaster
AA Founding Member & Bigbottle Audio Creator
Posts: 16,152
|
Post by Bigman80 on Sept 17, 2018 14:42:36 GMT
I wonder how long before The Emporium gets a mention  To be fair to them, they do sometimes have a bargain or two as well as some rather “optimistic” prices |
|
Bigman80
Grandmaster
AA Founding Member & Bigbottle Audio Creator
Posts: 16,152
|
Post by Bigman80 on Sept 17, 2018 14:51:25 GMT
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Sept 17, 2018 14:53:57 GMT
I've noticed some of Emporium's offered gear has been pretty shabby looking. Surely it's not beyond a 'professional' outfit like them to deal with cosmetic issues. Maybe they just can't be bothered.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Sept 17, 2018 14:55:37 GMT
I actually know nothing about these. |
|
Bigman80
Grandmaster
AA Founding Member & Bigbottle Audio Creator
Posts: 16,152
|
Post by Bigman80 on Sept 17, 2018 14:59:02 GMT
I've noticed some of Emporium's offered gear has been pretty shabby looking. Surely it's not beyond a 'professional' outfit like them to deal with cosmetic issues. Maybe they just can't be bothered. A mate has visited. Apparently gear is just slung on top of other bits. Not the sort of care he expected. That was a while ago though. I have also bought a couple of bits and been pleased with what I got. I’m kinda on the fence with them. |
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Sept 17, 2018 15:01:22 GMT
Stay away! I've had one before, nothing special. No love went into that CD Player. I'd much rather have a Naim CD5i. S. |
|
|
|
Post by macca on Sept 17, 2018 17:44:00 GMT
Stay away! I've had one before, nothing special. No love went into that CD Player. I'd much rather have a Naim CD5i. S. Hah, just being saying to someone on AoS I thought the original Kandy amp and CD were spot on. That's a mark 3 though, maybe not as good. A lot of people report the amps went downhill with the later marks too. |
|
Bigman80
Grandmaster
AA Founding Member & Bigbottle Audio Creator
Posts: 16,152
|
Post by Bigman80 on Sept 17, 2018 18:15:00 GMT
My only experience was the Caspain integrated and matching power amp. The integrated errr....grated. I never got to adding the power amp. Just awful, like a cross between chalk across a blackboard and sandpaper.
Never tried the CD players.
|
|
|
|
Post by macca on Sept 17, 2018 18:37:02 GMT
Certainly was an etched sound so some personal taste is going to be involved, I prefer that to a warmer, more rounded sound myself, as long as it doesn't go to far.
But it isn't worth a grand, no cd player is worth that amount anymore. To the under-forties CD is just some weird old thing they might recall their parents owning when they were very young. The same way we look at a radiogram. For them, their music lives on and comes out from their telephone, and that's it. (Not that the modern telephone is a bad source, I've heard them hooked up to proper systems and it's more than acceptable for SQ).
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Sept 17, 2018 21:56:20 GMT
The Kandy KA-1 MK3 Integrated was decent sounding. Has a big gutsy sound, plenty enough power for most average sized UK living rooms.
S.
|
|
Bigman80
Grandmaster
AA Founding Member & Bigbottle Audio Creator
Posts: 16,152
|
Post by Bigman80 on Sept 18, 2018 7:02:37 GMT
The Kandy KA-1 MK3 Integrated was decent sounding. Has a big gutsy sound, plenty enough power for most average sized UK living rooms. S. I always thought it odd that the Caspian had a smaller transformer, looked no better inside and yet was a more expensive amp. Roksan always claimed the money had been spent “elsewhere”, presumably on beer and pies, |
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Sept 18, 2018 7:27:55 GMT
Roksan always claimed the money had been spent “elsewhere” By which they probably meant marketing / advertising thus gaining them more sales whilst the purchaser lost out.  |
|
Bigman80
Grandmaster
AA Founding Member & Bigbottle Audio Creator
Posts: 16,152
|
Post by Bigman80 on Sept 24, 2018 12:40:13 GMT
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Sept 24, 2018 15:05:48 GMT
Lets be blunt and raw. The seller is a total C#nt! S. |
|
|
|
Post by macca on Sept 24, 2018 18:45:21 GMT
A bit unwarranted man. Okay he's asking maybe £200 too much but offers are invited.
|
|
Bigman80
Grandmaster
AA Founding Member & Bigbottle Audio Creator
Posts: 16,152
|
Post by Bigman80 on Sept 24, 2018 19:21:49 GMT
A bit unwarranted man. Okay he's asking maybe £200 too much but offers are invited. He’s asking £450-500 too much, I reckon. I’ve bought that pairing for £100 and £150 the last two times. The caps will almost certainly be finished. Not hard to replace but it’s not likely to be an amp you can run for any time without work. IMO the phono stage was pretty poor when new and the volume pot rustled from day one and only got worse. £650 is a piss take IMo. It was £250 new IIRC. |
|
|
|
Post by macca on Sept 24, 2018 19:48:45 GMT
It does say in the blurb he had it uprated just a few years back. You've had this kit you know more than me about it. I just figured a pre plus a phono stage and a power amp would be worth a bit more.
|
|
Bigman80
Grandmaster
AA Founding Member & Bigbottle Audio Creator
Posts: 16,152
|
Post by Bigman80 on Sept 24, 2018 23:08:22 GMT
It does say in the blurb he had it uprated just a few years back. You've had this kit you know more than me about it. I just figured a pre plus a phono stage and a power amp would be worth a bit more. There’s more blurb and pics than earlier.. It’s clear that the Pcbs have been replaced so it’s presumably been back to NVA. Oddly it appears to still have ancient caps. Also the volume pot isn’t original and the internal wiring has been altered. No way would RD use Van Damme. Condition is ready for the skip. I’ve only seen one worse example. The new PCBs partly explain why he's trying for such a high price because he’s trying to recoup his service costs. Never gonna happen cos the amp is a complete dog and he threw good money after bad by having it serviced. I bet he picked it up for under a ton. If he paid more, he needs his head examined. I think I recall RD telling folk not to pay more than £100 for working ones. Don’t get me wrong, it’s still a decent sounding amp, but they almost always need a recap, the ill fitting cases look like a 5 year old’s meccano project, the volume pots are crap and the phono stages are soggy, noisy and more receptive to RF pickup than some tuners. You would do a lot better buying a current nva starter amp and adding a cheap phono stage imo. Better still buy an Exposure X which has a better sound and superior phono stage, more grunt, way better build and no need for a service. The last 2 or 3 have gone for £150 ish. Having had several,examples of both, it’s no contest afaic. Or you could buy a Claymore : Edit: I was right about paying less than a ton. Looks like it was gratis. I know I’d seen it before. www.diyaudio.com/forums/solid-state/289398-help-nva-a60-power-amp.html |
|
Bigman80
Grandmaster
AA Founding Member & Bigbottle Audio Creator
Posts: 16,152
|
Post by Bigman80 on Sept 25, 2018 7:23:35 GMT
So it looks like this guy got the power amp for nowt and it already had the new boards in according to the Diy Audio pics. He already had the preamp which I seem to recall sold on EBay for £50. He’s appealed on DIY Audio for help getting it going. No way of knowing whether he’s sent it to NVA but the new boards were already there so I’m doubtful. Now he wants £650. Looks like Shane may not have been far off the mark. At least nobody is likely to be ripped off because nobody will pay his price.
|
|
|
|
Post by nonuffin on Sept 25, 2018 7:44:10 GMT
I just have to laugh when something is listed on ebay with the word "rare" in the title and priced accordingly. The honest way to interpret that is "I looked on ebay today and couldn't find another one", but usually half a dozen get listed afterwards when others see the absurd price being asked and chance their luck as well.
The item may indeed be genuinely "rare" NOW with very few examples still surviving, mainly because it was a complete bag of shite that nobody back in the day actually bought because the punters stayed away in droves.
On the flip sige of that there is some fantastic kit out there selling for peanuts because it may have a foreign sounding name that doesn't ring any local's bells, or hasn't got the "right" badge on it. When the "right" badge says Musical Fidelity I could weep at the ludicrous prices being asked for it.
|
|
Bigman80
Grandmaster
AA Founding Member & Bigbottle Audio Creator
Posts: 16,152
|
Post by Bigman80 on Sept 25, 2018 9:11:04 GMT
I just have to laugh when something is listed on ebay with the word "rare" in the title and priced accordingly. The honest way to interpret that is "I looked on ebay today and couldn't find another one", but usually half a dozen get listed afterwards when others see the absurd price being asked and chance their luck as well. The item may indeed be genuinely "rare" NOW with very few examples still surviving, mainly because it was a complete bag of shite that nobody back in the day actually bought because the punters stayed away in droves. On the flip sige of that there is some fantastic kit out there selling for peanuts because it may have a foreign sounding name that doesn't ring any local's bells, or hasn't got the "right" badge on it. When the "right" badge says Musical Fidelity I could weep at the ludicrous prices being asked for it. Also daft is “stunning”. One or two traders put that word at the start of every listing, they must be permanently stunned! |
|
|
|
Post by nonuffin on Sept 25, 2018 10:12:07 GMT
I just have to laugh when something is listed on ebay with the word "rare" in the title and priced accordingly. The honest way to interpret that is "I looked on ebay today and couldn't find another one", but usually half a dozen get listed afterwards when others see the absurd price being asked and chance their luck as well. The item may indeed be genuinely "rare" NOW with very few examples still surviving, mainly because it was a complete bag of shite that nobody back in the day actually bought because the punters stayed away in droves. On the flip sige of that there is some fantastic kit out there selling for peanuts because it may have a foreign sounding name that doesn't ring any local's bells, or hasn't got the "right" badge on it. When the "right" badge says Musical Fidelity I could weep at the ludicrous prices being asked for it. Also daft is “stunning”. One or two traders put that word at the start of every listing, they must be permanently stunned! Yep, we can add "stunning" to blatant mis-describing  |
|
Bigman80
Grandmaster
AA Founding Member & Bigbottle Audio Creator
Posts: 16,152
|
Post by Bigman80 on Sept 27, 2018 6:34:14 GMT
|
|
|
|
Post by macca on Sept 27, 2018 7:14:26 GMT
''Whichever cable you choose, though, here’s a little tip. Use it for about half a day or so, then play a specific track, then remove and replace with your previous cable. Play the track again, and it sounds just a little ‘off’. Where before it was cruising in sixth gear, now the timing has gone off the boil, or the engine management needs tuning. In other words, ZenSati Authentica really ties your system together. Highly Recommended!'' 'Sounds just a little off.' Oh no! maybe I need a mains cable that costs as much as I paid for my entire system. Or maybe not. Don't bend it either because you'll break it and void the warranty. 
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Sept 27, 2018 7:39:49 GMT
I find mains cables make a huge difference. Without one, my amp won't work. Other than that, I don't give much of a toss.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Sept 27, 2018 17:59:57 GMT
I find mains cables make a huge difference. Without one, my amp won't work. Other than that, I don't give much of a toss. Which mains cable are you using, Geoff? S. |
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Sept 27, 2018 18:09:04 GMT
Nothing fancy mate. No 'brands'!
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Sept 27, 2018 18:13:01 GMT
Nothing fancy mate. No 'brands'! No name leads. The same lead that makes your morning cuppa....noice! S. |
|
