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The best sounding piece of kit you've ever owned (or enjoyed the most)

Not the best sounding by any means but the Pioneer stack system I bought as a teenager (in 1989 for £400!!!) gave me hours of enjoyment every day for years. I wore out the tape record head copying endless C90s then it came with me to uni and was a faithful friend for the best part of a decade until I could afford my first mid-fi separates system in my mid 20s.

I think I chose it because the display said 'hello' and 'goodbye' when you switched it on and off. Happy days! :)
 
HP Elitebook 8570p running Linux as digital source and streamer
Planar 3/RB300 with upgraded motor and alloy subplatter
A&R A60
Heybrook HB3 S2
The laptop is still in service - long may it last.
The Rega is still there, but with the alloy subplatter replaced by the Rega part.
The Heybrooks had a retirement forced by a move into a much smaller house & listening space.
The A60 has effectively been retired by the change to different speakers.

Right now the dog's bollocks is the combination of 1992 LS3/5As powered by a Yamaha AX-450 amplifier. Fantastic synergy with the Yamaha's dry bass taming the LS3/5A's notorious mid-bass hump. Dynamics (for a small speaker) & drive aplenty!

The Yamaha also has a very good phono stage that I prefer to the A60's. The factory capacitance of 200pF is too high for many AT MM cartridges but the ceramic caps were easily replaced by polystyrene 100 pF ones that I had spare.
 
ATC SCM50A (driven by an ATC CDA2).

Best sounding not for what the simple combination does right, but because I can now throw any source at it and it does nothing identifiably wrong with any music of the type I have experienced live:
  • Voices - there's nothing unnatural or out of balance with the rest of the soundstage.
  • Piano - if I want I can bring the image close with the volume control and there's nothing to contradict the sometimes startling dynamics of live experience.
  • Orchestra and other complex music - instruments retain their identity and their independence at any believable, varying sound levels coming from other instruments.
 
At the moment it's the new Rega Saturn R CD player.I got it thinking it would be better than my old Rega Planet and Pioneer PDS 801 CD players.
I was astonished how great it is.It sounds like a well set up turntable and I have never enjoyed the CD medium so much.
So much so that since having it the last 5 months have brought a good 500 new CD's mainly from charity shops and E bay.
Before I was really underwhelmed by CD's and just brought vinyl,now can't get enough and have become a CD buying addict
Here is a recent review of it

https://www.avforums.com/reviews/rega-saturn-mkiii-cd-player-review.19774/

And most enjoyment my Magneplaner 1.7i's their just plain bloody brilliant and still amaze even now.A real can listen all day and their transparency is breath taking - detail - transients and naturalness all the tick boxes and just brilliant VFM.
 
QUAD ESL57s 1974 to 1988 in a perfect room. In some ways they were too revealing, squeaky drum pedals were the tip of the iceberg. Resonance between musical instruments on stage was obvious. I had to move so they went. They also showed up the limitations of the CD format far too much. After that I lost interest in HiFi and went flat earth which is a very different presentation.

What does going flat earth mean? Genuine question I'm only a 44yr old whippersnapper!
 
What does going flat earth mean? Genuine question I'm only a 44yr old whippersnapper!
https://tomtomaudio.co.uk/flat-earth-audio/

The ‘flat–earthers’ of the 1970s, as Naim’s customers became known, were a new audio community more concerned with notes than with measurements, emotion rather than location. Their systems could play in time, maintaining the fundamental structure of the musical performance whilst actually holding a tune. Rather than needing to know exactly where the musicians were standing on the stage, they were more concerned with experiencing the passion that drove them to get up there in the first place. That spirit lives on amongst Naim owners today who have no need to justify their systems using tired ‘Hi–Fi’ criteria. Naim rigs actually groove, connecting on a truly emotional level, offering both vibe and drama—words that real people might actually use to describe real music.

We have established the Flat Earth Audio Foundation to carry a torch for the ideals of the Flat Earth Audio movement. The principals established by these maverick designers in 1973 are as relevant today as they always were, and we employ them every day when selecting and setting up ideal audio systems for our customers. As well as the material below, we have built the most extensive collection of classic Flat Earth Audio products which you can experience when you visit us.​
 
https://tomtomaudio.co.uk/flat-earth-audio/

The ‘flat–earthers’ of the 1970s, as Naim’s customers became known, were a new audio community more concerned with notes than with measurements, emotion rather than location. Their systems could play in time, maintaining the fundamental structure of the musical performance whilst actually holding a tune. Rather than needing to know exactly where the musicians were standing on the stage, they were more concerned with experiencing the passion that drove them to get up there in the first place. That spirit lives on amongst Naim owners today who have no need to justify their systems using tired ‘Hi–Fi’ criteria. Naim rigs actually groove, connecting on a truly emotional level, offering both vibe and drama—words that real people might actually use to describe real music.

We have established the Flat Earth Audio Foundation to carry a torch for the ideals of the Flat Earth Audio movement. The principals established by these maverick designers in 1973 are as relevant today as they always were, and we employ them every day when selecting and setting up ideal audio systems for our customers. As well as the material below, we have built the most extensive collection of classic Flat Earth Audio products which you can experience when you visit us.​
Lol, pfffft right back at ‘em.
 
Loudspeakers: Merlin VSM MMs
Amplification: NVA P10H headphone amp, dpa 50S pre-amp, Krell KSA 50 power, Quad 303 (!)
Source: Garrard 301, dpa E-transport and reference DAC

- only have the 303 left.
 
ATC SCM40A’s.

Domestically acceptable, effortless and wonderfully musical speakers. The midrange is stunning and they have surprisingly powerful bass.

I love them!
 
Most recently, my Yamaha NS-1000Ms modified with Troels Gravesen's crossovers. Absolutely superb. I will never want for another pair of loudspeakers for as long as they stay intact.
In a few words if I may ask, what improvements the upgraded crossover brought ?
 
In a few words if I may ask, what improvements the upgraded crossover brought ?
Much better tonal balance and, unexpectedly, more palpable bass. There used to be some stridency in the upper mid / lower treble that I had to use the attenuators to dial down. Not only are the attenuators now out of circuit, they are entirely unnecessary. The end result is a much more cohesive, involving and natural sounding loudspeaker.
 


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