are you equipped?

[marlon]

Originally Posted by dbailey

Pre loved Linn Genki go for about £450 on Ebay.
Pre Loved Linn Ikemi go for about £1000 on Ebay

Or any of the Cambridge Audio CD players available from Richer Sounds make a beautiful noise. CA stuff starts at about £100 and is terrific value for money.

I set both my sons up with Cambridge audio systems and Eltax or Mordaunt Short speakers. all bought from Richer Sounds.

Ah Richer..

In many ways they cornered the market, particulary the budget end, and caused the closure of the small independents, but in hindsight glad they did because they have proved big enough to withstand the shift away from hi-fi to the mp3 based systems. Richer is now the only outlet in most cities for any 'hi-fi'.

Still have my Mordaunt Short MS10s, have given nearly 20 years of good service, now in my dining room on my back up system.

The Linn is way more than I would spend on principle - hi-fi at that end doesn't offer enough of an improvement on the like of the lower end Cambridge, Teac, Marantz, etc, imo, whereas the basic seperate sytem made up of those brands knock spots off the equivalent priced all in one systems from the likes of sony, philips, JVC, etc. Just a pity that Richer is about the only place you can go and actually listen before you buy (at least where I am anyway).

[dbailey]

Originally Posted by marlon

Ah Richer..

In many ways they cornered the market, particulary the budget end, and caused the closure of the small independents, but in hindsight glad they did because they have proved big enough to withstand the shift away from hi-fi to the mp3 based systems. Richer is now the only outlet in most cities for any 'hi-fi'.

Still have my Mordaunt Short MS10s, have given nearly 20 years of good service, now in my dining room on my back up system.

The Linn is way more than I would spend on principle - hi-fi at that end doesn't offer enough of an improvement on the like of the lower end Cambridge, Teac, Marantz, etc, imo, whereas the basic seperate sytem made up of those brands knock spots off the equivalent priced all in one systems from the likes of sony, philips, JVC, etc. Just a pity that Richer is about the only place you can go and actually listen before you buy (at least where I am anyway).

Yes I believ that Mr Richer has done a terrific job, he also rescued a few brands that were going to the wall.

Your point on £0000 systems only sounding a bit better than £00 systems is known as 'the law of diminishing returns' in that above a certain point your spend has to increase massivley to get a small improvememt.

Youngest sons system which is CA plus Elax cost £300 and sounds very musical.

Oldest sons CA plus Mordaunt Short cost £600 and sounds musical plus has real diffinition, spacing and wallop.

My system which is part new, part ex dem, part preloved would have cost £5000 had I bought it all brand new and sounds sublime, but side by side with either cheaper system, there is not a lot in it and I could enjoy music on any of our systems.

Anybody want to talk about portable mp3 or headphones?

We have about 6 mp3 players between us and about 14 pairs of headphones.

[haldane4]

I use a Grundig RTV820 tuner-amplifier and attendant Grundig Audiorama speakers (remember those globes on chrome stands?). This system dates from 1971 when Grundig really spared no expense in design quality and hi-fi components. I searched long and hard for a vintage system that catered for my bass bias without having to go down the sub-woofer route, and this system matches the best bass units. The mids to highs are pretty well represented too. I've been through some expensive hi-fi's in my time, from Naim to God-knows, and none of them gave me the happy listening experience I get from my current system. Long may it continue - I'm always worried about the age of these things

My turntable is a Dual CS-505 but, unfortunately, it doesn't get much use as most of my vinyl is in storage. I have lots of cartridges - never really settled on one that sounded special though I am fond of some of the Audio-Technica carts from the 70's.

My CD payer is a Nakamichi CD4 - it sounds okay, nothing special. Nakamichi were famous for tape decks - once they went out of fashion the brand seemed to suffer. I'd really like to track down one of the early Philips CD players with the toploading tray.

For headphones I use Sansui-SH15, and they're amazing.

Thanks for a great great thread.

[haldane4]

Originally Posted by dbailey

Anybody want to talk about portable mp3 or headphones?

We have about 6 mp3 players between us and about 14 pairs of headphones.

Is there really that much of a difference in sound quality between the different high-street MP3 players? They're reading the same digitally compressed file - how much information can they extract? I was using an MPMan player which got broken so I switched to a cheaper Goodmans model I bought at ebay and I must admit I am not enjoying the experience.

And do headphones make a big difference? I've been in the market for a set of high-quality ear-buds for a while now; I've been looking at Sony and AKG monitor standard buds, but you can't try before you buy, and that really deters me from forking out.

[eelcat]

Sounds like there's some pretty good gear getting around to ensure the best possible listening pleasure.
My set up is not as high end as some of you guys but I'm happy with it.
I have a Dual CS503 turntable, a 70's vintage Sansui AU-4900 amp with Sansui floor speakers and 70's Marantz tape deck. I have a Rotel RP1000 as my backup turntable.
I do have a cd player and tuneras well. Everything was bought secondhand from various shops.

[dbailey]

Originally Posted by haldane4

Is there really that much of a difference in sound quality between the different high-street MP3 players? They're reading the same digitally compressed file - how much information can they extract? I was using an MPMan player which got broken so I switched to a cheaper Goodmans model I bought at ebay and I must admit I am not enjoying the experience.

And do headphones make a big difference? I've been in the market for a set of high-quality ear-buds for a while now; I've been looking at Sony and AKG monitor standard buds, but you can't try before you buy, and that really deters me from forking out.

1 Yes there is a big difference in the sound quality of MP3 players. Quality of components, power of output amplifier, DA converters all have an effect.

For a full discussion on all the brands other than ipod, the following forum can tell you all that you need to know. it looks as though the best for SQ at the moment are Cowon, Iriver, Zune, Creative, and Samsung machines

Anything but ipod.com

2 There are many ways to create MP3 files from WMP or windows media player to lossless codecs, Ogg, Vorbis and many others. Even WMP can build files at several different levels of compression and information loss. What is taken out in compressing can never be returned by the hardware.

I use WMP at 350mbit variable which is the higest quality obtainable on WMP.

3 Headphones and inner ear monitors can add a huge quality to the sound.

Stick to true high end brands by major players fo the best performance.

Sennheiser, Beyerdynamic, Audiotechnica, Denon, Westone, Shure, Grado, AKG

For more information try Headfi.com forum

[blondifan]

Originally Posted by eelcat

.... I have a Rotel RP1000 as my backup turntable....

I have one of these too. A local shop was doing a special on them back in the seventies.. all were fitted with a Grace tonearm and a Stanton 681-EEE cartridge which was okay, but sounded much better when the Grado brothers fitted a different stylus years later...
I have a good mate who got one of the Denon (something?) 1000 reissue turntables back in the eighties ...
that was a serious quality item and I was very envious.

Sadly I'm lamenting the recent demise of my Luxman amplifier, which I've also had for thirty years, and I really feel is a part of me.. I'm keeping it in the hope of eventually finding the parts I need, having just very recently missed an identical one on eBay.

Can anyone suggest a Good 5.1 system - with a phono section?
I don't play records often, but it's nice to have the option..

[les1917lie]

My pride and joy?
Marantz CD17 mark 2
Creek P43 passive pre-amp
2 bridged Creek A52SE power amps(as monoblocks = 250 watts per channel)
Tannoy Eyris speakers

lots of high quality transistor watts to "grip" speakers like "iron fist in velvet glove"

[dbailey]

Originally Posted by les1917lie

My pride and joy?
Marantz CD17 mark 2
Creek P43 passive pre-amp
2 bridged Creek A52SE power amps(as monoblocks = 250 watts per channel)
Tannoy Eyris speakers

lots of high quality transistor watts to "grip" speakers like "iron fist in velvet glove"

When you listen to your music, do you find that all the lights in the neighbourhood dim just a little?

[Xexemedes]

Well, I'm supposed to be cleaning my house for Thanksgiving in two days so of course I'm here instead.

I run a Dynaco 416 Amplifier


With the C-100 power unit (its essentially a series of 10 batteries that triples the 200watt 416 output for crescendos- ohhhhhh yeaaaaaaaaa! feel the neighbor's house shake during Dark Side of the Moon)



These units are circa 1974 and together provide the most superior sound I have ever heard. To maximize my listening enjoyment I have two (circa 1968) KLH Research X speakers.



Yea they're big: though excellent in the highs and mids, they are very breathy and rather lacking in the lower frequencies. My reciever is a Denon DRA-625R (circa 1989). The Denon acts as a preamp for the Dynaco but is also a 4 channel amp that powers two sets of Infinity speakers: RS3001 and SM 105. The RS3001 are very tight and punchy; they have excellent mid range and high end capabilities-makes the snare drum sound like its in the room with you. The SM 105 provide power in the base frequencies and are surprisingly smooth across the mids and highs. I also have a powered sub woofer (I found it in the trash [its true]) that rounds out the bottom of the low end.

I have a 200 disc Sony CD changer (non vintage) and a Techniques linear tracking turntable which has about three inches of dust on it (I am supposed to be cleaning after all)-under the dust I see The Rolling Stones "Their Satanic Majesties Request"

Any other vintage stereo nuts out there or is it just me???

Xexemedes