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NAD 3020i amp
Luxman D322 CD Player
TDL RTL II MkII Speakers
(treble dial turned down a smidge)....
Bought the amp 1/2 price from Richer sounds in '94 for £80.
The CD player in '96 (I think) again half price for £100 from Richer Sounds, and
the speakers were erm, 1/2 price from Richer Sounds, £140....
The speaker cable (Cable Talk Talk 3) wasn't reduced.
coolhandluke - MemberSpeakers in office, daughter playing whilst listening to Massive Attack.
You win the award for the most toed-in pair of speakers that I have ever seen!
room correction systems, that work well in the bass although you wouldn't want to use them for elsewhere
actually, when a mate had a bunch of special foam bolted to his home studio walls, the biggest improvement was in what is I guess might be referred to as the mid-highs, it was quite surprising and impressive, the lack of bright reflections made an amazing difference. I secretly love teasing audiophiles about their ridiculous purchases but would argue room treatment is by far going to make a bigger real world improvement than any russ wotsit cable weaved from virgin's pubes, it just won't give you the same sense of virtual superiority.
I really miss having a decent hifi system, but I had to sell everything before I emigrated...
What is the general consensus on the Sonos systems? I am interested in a "Connect" amp and a pair of half decent bookshelf speakers (maybe Klipsch or Polk). I don't own a single CD or record as all of my music is on iTunes now... Any opinions?
Sonos is a cracking system compromised at price point only by bit rate (and you control that),you'll love the user interface but speak no more of it on this thread or you'll be flamed...
No pics.
I think this lot still sound wonderful so I've changed nothing.
Cyrus IIIi amp
Cyrus dAD3 CD
Dynaudio Audience5 Speakers
The CD player transport failed a few years ago but I managed to get the part and replace it with a soldering iron (my sausage fingers and [url= http://www.cyrusunofficial.co.uk/ ]cyrusunofficial[/url] ).
Sony 7700ES DVD as a CD player (has dedicated optics and DAC)
Sonos Faber surround speakers
REL subwoofer
Onkyo home cinema amp (it was the only one that would fit in the cupboard!)
Source is important, but speakers really make a difference. I've always spent most on the speakers, and Italian Walnut is SWMBO-friendly. Had a Music Fidelity A1, but that really couldn't fit into the home cinema setting.
Now thinking of a Sonos Play 5.
Technics Sp10/OL RB250/Denon DL304/Michell ISO Hr
Oppo DDP 83 DVD player as CD player or Hush ATX computer/LynxTWO soundcard
Videologic DAB tuner
Music First Classic and/or Tact 2.2x pre-amps
Quad 909 mono power amps
Stirling Broadcast 11ohm LS3/5as with external Cicable crossovers
IF Tallis stands
M&K MX70 subwoofers soon to be replaced with Stirling Broadcast AB-2s
Apogee WydeEye digital interconnects
Musical Fidelity interconnects
Kef speaker cable
Marantz CD52 mk2 SE – bought when I was at uni many moons ago
Arcam 6 integrated amp – thanks John-L – still going strong
Revo wifi radio – for millions of channels – very cool and works well, I just never use it
BBC LS 3/5a speakers – made by my Dad many many years ago when he worked there – still sublime,,
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Just bought these
DT880 – always fancied them and we had a pair when I was a kid
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Always been semi into hi-fi as my Dad was in the business, but never heard anything to justify spending more. As mentioned the room makes a huge difference.
Fancy some quad 33/303's one of these days.
Maybe some big speakers to preserve the 35's
Oh and buy the way quad used to wire their demonstration speakers with mains cable, and laugh at anyone who suggested there was a difference.
Oh and buy the way quad used to wire their demonstration speakers with mains cable, and laugh at anyone who suggested there was a difference.
More fool them - my Quad amps can be quite sensitive to speaker cable, depending on the exact speaker load they are driving.
No photo but:
Home cinema is used more often than straight stereo
Yamaha DSP-A1 used as pre-amp / DAC for everything
Audiolab 8000S - drives a B&W LCR600 centre speaker
Audiolab 8000P - Drives a pair of B&W CDM7's
Audiolab 8000CDM / DAX for cd's - never used
Mission dipoles driven by the Yamaha amp used as rear speakers
I've had all of it for years and I worked in a hi-fi shop in my youth
The surround amp could do with an upgrade but I wouldn't change anything else
never heard anything to justify spending more. As mentioned the room makes a huge difference.
Fancy some quad 33/303's one of these days.
Maybe some big speakers to preserve the 35's
Steady the buffs... 😯 😆
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Panny 42" Plasma.
Meridian 101 Pre Amp
Peyroux 1150B Power amp (being used whilst the Meridian amp is in for a refurb)
B&W DM604 S2 Floorstanders.
Speaker Cabling: £1 per metre PA cables
Interconnects - Custom made as 5 pin dins are pretty hard to find these days.
All running from a custom built HTPC:
AMD E350M1 Mobo, Fan voltage regulation where I could not go full passive, Coolermaster CMedia case, 128gb SSD, fanless picoPSU, rubber grommets for vibration insultation. The whole thing runs completely silently for ear straining listening sessions.
Center speaker is now gone as was somwhat surplus to requirements.
Scheduled upgrades:
Bigger house.
External DAC.
Meridian Repaired.
Might invest in an AV receiver as long as I don't have to compromise on quality and can afford it!
and Woppit, for all the banter about cables, that is a lovely system.
Quad 99CDP, 909 power amp and PMC TB2s in the lounge.
My Grandads 1974 (same age as me) B&O Beogram3000 and Beovox3500 speakers (monsters!) in the office. Source is just itunes off the PC. The speakers need a service, but then I might think about a USB DAC...
Just went downstairs to take a photo of mine, only to find my boys (school closed) have filled the room with a 'den' and I can't even see it!
never heard anything to justify spending more. As mentioned the room makes a huge difference.
Fancy some quad 33/303's one of these days.
Maybe some big speakers to preserve the 35's
Steady the buffs...
Well thats not to stop me lusting after something that was the dogs dangleys and unobtainable back in the day.
Just need a big lounge to justify the grunt on a beefy set up..
Agree with an upgraded Quad 303 but I would aim for a better pre-amp - Quad power-amps are a lot better than most of their pre-amps allow...
Mate of my brother bought a micromega system. Can't remember what speakers but it was second hand stuff & still quite expensive.
I went round for a listen and though it sounded crap. Hollow & tinny with virtually no bass...hmmm...asked him if I could fiddle with his set-up.....looked at speaker cable, swapped one set around and BOOM! Sounded 100x better. He had been running his speakers out of phase.
He had owned the system for 3 weeks and had been perfectly happy with it. To me it sounded worse than a £99 midi system 'til I sorted the cables out.
Should have charged him a few quid for the privilege...!
and Woppit, for all the banter about cables, that is a lovely system.
I'm having second thoughts about the formica "fireplace effect" wall decoration though.
No pics, but in my study;
Marantz MCR603
Monitor Audio Bronze BX1
Some spangly cables that the nice shop did me a deal on. No idea what they are, but it all sounds very lovely.
Acoustic Energy Neo One v2s on target stands (sand filled) hooked upto to laptop or phone via 3.5 jacks.
Teac ag10 av amp.
Did have surround, but stereo so much better. Did have a nad 3020 until one channel went
Old house and the Linn Ikemi has been swapped for an Linn Akurate
[url= http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8238/8401743387_601c0d4525_c.jp g" target="_blank">
[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/84134869@N08/8401743387/ ]HiFi 1[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/84134869@N08/ ]HowarthPWL[/url], on Flickr
This thread lacks sub woofers, you just cant beat the feeling of a pressurised room 😉
I gave up on HiFi a long time ago, not enough money to make me happy, although I really don't think any amount of money would of had me finding the holy grail as I think it's a bottomless pit 🙁
No pics at the moment but:
Main (study) system:
Linn LP12/SME arm/Shure cartridge on a stage 2 Mana wallmount
Home brew 2-box phone stage
Naim CD3.5 CD player on a stage 2 Mana table
Naim NAC32.5 pre-amp
Modified SNAPS power-supply
NAP140 power-amp
Amps on a Mana rack
Naim Credo speakers
I've got a Naim IXO to go active but need to get around to buying another NAP140
Bedroom system:
Micromega Leader II CD player
Cyrus Straight-line amp
Target rack
Mission 731LE speakers
Living room system (work in progress at the moment):
Pioneer DV-535 used as a CD player (both my spare Arcams having packed in)
Arcam Alpha 5+ amp (my Audio Note Oto having decided to only run on one channel)
On a lovely looking but crap performing Stands Unique rack
Triangle Titus XS Speakers on Target stands
We've got a home cinema set-up as well - Optoma HD project, Denon receiver, Acoustic Energy Aegis speaker package, REL sub, Pioneer DVD, Sony BluRay
Is that a magna dynalab tuner I see up there? ( may have got the name wrong)
Sorry Mr Woppit, can't do pics. ...
The most mixed system?!
Bel Canto CD
Nuforce preamp
Vincent power amp
Amphion speakers
M+K 5000 subwoofer
Chord cables
Isotec mains conditioner
All bought at px prices. Good to see other people's stuff. Don't feel so alone now!
This is mine..
Arcam FMJ CD37
FMJ P38
FMJ A28
Linn Axis deck
B&W CM9 speakers
Black Rhodium mains leads, Atlas speaker cabling, mains conditioner.
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[b]Family room/kitchen[/b]
Naim Uniti
Rega RS5 floorstanders
Apple Tv (optical to Uniti)
Samsung 42" LED tv above in wall recess
Soundcast thingy for the outdoor Dalek
[b]winter lounge[/b] has on open fire you see and carpet
Naim UnitiQute
Totem Dreamcatchers
36" Samsung LED TV
[b]Server cupboard[/b]
8TB NAS (Raid-5) running Twonky MS
Fibre broadband into 1GBPS Cisco 6509 switch
Patch panel
[b]Office[/b]
Random Denon Amp
Mission m60 floorstanders which are funkin loud
Spotify !
My old office shared with the Naim distributor - can you tell.
Of course all my systems are powered directly from a multicore cable connected to Hobbiton, facing in the right direction. Speakers are connected using only pure gold bar.
Speakers are connected using only pure gold bar.
What carat?
24, of course.
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The soundbar (and its sub-woofer) is only used for the TV - not for the music stuff.
CD: Sheng Ya CD-S10
Amp: Cyrus Straighline
Speakers: Triangle Titus XS
Others: Stands Unique stand, Target speaker stands, QED headphone amp, Sennheiser HD565 Ovation headphones
Just opened this and WOW.
The Swedish Chef is my new hero. Are you actually in Sweden?
The soundbar (and its sub-woofer) is only used for the TV - not for the music stuff.
why???
why not put the TV through the HiFi as it is all set up around it anyway - seems perverse.
molgrips - MemberJust opened this and WOW.
The Swedish Chef is my new hero. Are you actually in Sweden?
I'm especially jealous of his JM Labs (Focal) Electra 937 Be speakers.
I havn't heard much of the other stuff outside tricky hi-fi hotel rooms, so It's hard to imagine.
I've put a fair few hours into all the different JM Labs speakers though.
The Electa Be stand mounts would be high on my vaguely realistic upgrade possibilities list though.
why??? why not put the TV through the HiFi as it is all set up around it anyway - seems perverse.
The Sky box is connected up to the amp. It's the music side of the setup that can't be used with the soundbar etc. ('cause there is no need).
I'm especially jealous of his JM Labs (Focal) Electra 937 Be speakers.
I'm more jealous of his house and the view, he appears to be in the middle of a Scandinavian forest. *sigh*
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Naim Supernait, AV2, NAPV175, Sonos, Mac Mini, OPPO SE Bluray, Spendor S5e/C5e/SR5 speakers and REL Stampede Sub. And a lovely custom made rack from Maple and Rose.
I think I will win the 'best use of budget kit' award, but you'll only be able to see it not hear it 🙂
My set up...
Muscial Fidelity A3.5 Amp and CD
Gyrodec with Technoarm and (currently) a Denon 110 after the Sumiko cart got broken
Graham Slee Era Gold V Phono stage
Sonos ZP90
Naim Ovator s-400 speakers
Merlin cables, Tellurium Q Black speaker cable
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Question for any vinyl junkies out there... I need to replace the cartridge and was going to go for the same Sumiko Blue Point Special Evo III... is there anything else in the same sort of price range I should be considering? Ideally a high-output MC or at least something that'll match the phono stage (2-10 mV)
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This is the system in my study:
Turntable: Linn LP12, SME arm, Shure cartridge
Phone amp: Custom built 2-box
CD: Naim CD3.5
Pre-amp: Naim NAC32.5
Pre-amp power supply: Naim SNAPS
Power-amp: Naim NAP140
Speakers: Naim Credo
Racks: Mana Acoustics
The Mana racks are proper dust traps and going by the photo it looks like they're badly in need of dusting!
Naim + Mana - there's a 100-page thread in just that one photo 🙂
(edit: I just googled Naim and Mana and this thread is on the first page - how do STW do it!)
Hmm, some nice eclectic gear on this thread, lovely.
Yes I live in Sweden, in a forest.
The Focal's were quite outstanding speakers but [i]could[/i] be bright if partnered badly. Matched to the Unico and the Copland they were brilliant, however a sub 8KG cross bike and tubs were needed…….
Yes I live in Sweden, in a forest.
Do you need a cleaner or live-in bike mechanic?
I think I will win the 'best use of budget kit' award, but you'll only be able to see it not hear it
Secondhand Denon amp and CD for £100 off ebay, to replace my old QED A230 which died last year.
Goodmans Mezzo SL speakers that I got for free fifteen years ago and still sound great.
Speaker cables are 2.5mm twin-core automotive power flex... I did actually spend the mythical 10% 🙂
I'm sure I could have a slightly better sounding system if I spent 20x as much on it...
Do you need a cleaner or live-in bike mechanic?
Nope, sadly not, although I'll need a builder/carpenter in a few months when the snow has gone
Naim + Mana - there's a 100-page thread in just that one photo
I've contributed to a few of those myself - on the Naim and the (long defunct) Mana forums! I'm not a Mana believer - I just think they're decent racks, nothing more.
I just think they're decent racks, nothing more.
I have heard that mana racks are actually supposed to ring a bit, thereby adding to the sound. that would make them not so decent.
I have heard that mana racks are actually supposed to ring a bit, thereby adding to the sound. that would make them not so decent.
Not from what I've experienced, and definitely not as much as some racks I've used (including a reasonably expensive Stands Unique one that's in my living room - looks nice but not the most effective).
The wall-mounted Mana table made a big difference to my LP12 - however that was due to footfall issues when it was on a rack so I think any wall-mount would have done the same.
I've heard some crazy suggestions from Mana accolytes and been to have a listen to some of their systems (where more money had been spent on the racks than on the kit it was supporting) and the guff about the "Mana Effect" seemed like a load of bollocks to me. One chap thought that a cheapo £100 CD-player would sound better on phase 4 Mana than a £1000 player on the floor. I went to listen to that system, taking a couple of my CD players, and it most certainly didn't!
I am quite tempted to get rid of the Mana racks (but not the wall-shelf) though as it catches the dust and takes up loads of space. I've got a heavy Target rack in my bedroom system and to me that's as good as the Mana racks and better looking.