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Early 1980s system suggestions

Tony L said:
Thinking about it the 12S/120 is mid-70s isn’t it? Given that’s the starting point shouldn’t it define the timeline? It was certainly long gone from the Naim range by 1980.
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Good point, well made. My 1970s system was so lo-fi that I don't know where to start (AP76, Shure cart, Cambridge AC30, Kef something or other!)
 
That's a late 70s system. I'd suggest LP12 (big red button, no fancy bearing)/Grace 707/F9E or LP12/SME3009/Shure V15. Once properly sorted, likely to sound good with both the AR18s and Kans.
 
I agree with the comments about the Dual. In the early 80's, I had a Rega3, and my girlfriend! at the time,had the Dual. Both fed into Nad 3020s.

She had the same AR speakers , whilst I had Heybrook HB1s. I thought her system sounded dull and lifeless and was sure the difference was due to the Heybrooks being better. I got a shock when we swopped them round, it was the deck that was making most of the difference. I was hooked on the "garbage in...garbage out" mantra after that !
 
Darren said:
Yea.... but... my lust for these players isn't about the sound... its just the fact that early twenties me couldn't afford one
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That’d have been the Linn CD12 for me, then a bank manager T-Boned me at high speed when she failed to stop at a closed junction whilst in her phone and left me with some very real injuries... that paid for a CD12!

Joking aside, I was lucky to survive that, if I’d have been in my Pug 106 and not my BMW 3 series, I probably wouldn’t have... think I deserved the CD12.
 
80s system? Well lovely as it is (really lovely), the NAC12/NAP120 ain’t 80s, the Nait2 or 42/110 are 80s and are great too... no matter. I’d be looking at something like Royd Eden speakers personally, and the Rega TT is a solid suggestion. For CD, an early Sony ES model would be a solid bet.
 
Thank you for all the comments and suggestions. I've now got a 1984 Rega Planar 3 en route, RB 300 with grey K9 attached, which I may need to replace. That'll do for now, as I've had the cost of servicing the 12s/120 in the last few months, as well as servicing the Linto for my main system.
 
Lovely, they’re timelessly cool and highly dependable decks, the K9 was a real favourite on the Planar 3 “back in the day”... I’m pretty sure the new VM95 stylus will fit the K9 body if the K9 stylus is past it... £25 and very competent!
 
Tony L said:
Any of that range fits. I’d personally go higher up to the micro-line. The K9 had a pretty decent tip on it, certainly a lot better than a 95E.
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Agreed, but in a pinch, the 95e is pretty respectable... the 95ML is very good indeed. I always really liked the K9, it was my first really decent cartridge l!
 
In the early 80s, I had an AR Turntable, Pioneer SA-9800 and AR94. It suited my university student lifestyle perfectly. Of the three pieces of kit, I wish I kept the Pioneer.

The rose-tint of the early 80s have not faded one bit for me, because I've been blissfully back in that era hifi-wise for the last five years. Instead of the Pioneer SA-9800, I have the C-21/M-22 combo. Their class-A purity matches ideally with the ruthlessly revealing Yamaha NS-1000M, especially with my 80s vintage LP12. Only my CD-P and streamer betrays the real decade we're in, but they are more ancillary than mainstays.
 
I had a Beogram 4004 followed by a Systemdek II early 80s.

Both of the times and I would have them both back, serviced of course, any time.
 
In 1980 I had a Ariston RD11e (upgraded from an Micro Seiki MB10), a Sugden A48II and a pair of Cambridge Audio L30 speakers. I still have the Sugden (looks scruffy and needs caps) and the speakers (stuck on a shelf somewhere). The turntable was replaced after a couple of years with a P3 and then a Gyro SE, which is still here and probably forever. The thing that struck me reading this thread is that in 40+ years I have only used four turntables in anger, 4 (or maybe 5) amps and 4 pairs of speakers. Needless to say, this house of full of stuff bought for cheap and needing fixing that I will get around to eventually.

But to answer the question, my choice for an early '80s system based on the things I have had are: Rega P3 (forget any Dual), Quad 33/303 or maybe a 405. Speakers? who knows - I always like Rogers Export Monitors and Spendor BC1s, but they were a bit more late '70s than '80s. Or a bit left field, Tannoy Profile 638s - I have a pair of and they are awesome, if ugly, and can probably be got cheapish. The are better than the Precision 6.2s I have now, especially for reggae, but the 6.2s fit in the room so much better.
 
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