Your road to audio serenity

[Joe P]

Big old Tannoys with valves.

There, I said it.

Joe

 

[Craig B]

Hey Joe,

Didn't you score an old Garrard from an antique shop over your way?

Or, am I remembering it wrong and it was that the Tannoys?

Craig

 

[Joe P]

Craig,

You are remembering right. I just never got around to getting it serviced, popped into a nice plinth with a fancy arm.

It'll happen ... one day.

Joe

 

[s1h1]

Did you try an Accuphase, Joe?

 

[Swamp Thing]

sound of a mono cone flapping

 

[misterdog]

Or a mono Quad 63.
My 989's appear to have given birth.

 

[robs]

sound of one cone flapping

LOL - back in the 70's when I was a young 'un and first decided I wanted to get into hi-fi, my first purchase was a NAD3020...with the proceeds of my newspaper round and pocketmoney. Took a long time.
I had no speakers. I had no source. Dad had an old speaker cone in the garage (gawd knows where from..), and my first experience of true hi-fi was with said speaker cone with a book on top to weigh it down on top of the Guinness book of records and a mono portable battery powered radio with an earphone socket fed into the amp.
Bliss.

Lived with that for several weeks, maybe months. Then begged and begged and hooked up the family 'stereogram' (it was not oft used) and for Xmas got a pair of Wharfedale Sheltons. Heaven.
A little later a Dual CS505.

A lot later... a Squeezebox, LP12, XS & SBLs, with quite a few boxes in between.

 

[Joe P]

s1h1,

Did you try an Accuphase, Joe?

Not yet. Another customer has it on loan at the moment.

Joe

 

[Cereal Killer]

New kit that doesn't exist anymore with a bit of DIY thrown in for good measure ;-).

 

[Tw99]

Not reading audio forums is probably a good start on such a road.

 

[darrenyeats]

New kit that doesn't exist anymore with a bit of DIY thrown in for good measure ;-).

Glad you're finding audio serenity CK! (At last ... ha-ha!)

I'm still on the journey, the bit I'm exploring at the mo' is the source/format end!

 

[Tony L]

Big old Tannoys with valves.

There, I said it.

That’s pretty much where I am and I’ve not changed anything for a very long while now. I do love having two systems though as I like mini-monitors just as much as huge full-range speakers in their own way. Again that system (Marantz SACD, Leak Stereo 20, JR149) has been unchanged for several years now (i.e. since I finished refurbishing it). I’ve got myself to the point now where I have close to mint perfectly restored examples of the classic audio kit I want to own, I even have complete units as spares in most cases. I honestly think I’m done now as with both systems I’ve taken them to their logical conclusion and anything beyond that would mean not using a component I really like and that balances the system well. I guess if the opportunity arose I could be tempted to swap my Monitor Golds out for a mint unmolested pair of Reds just to fully restore my Lockwoods back to their original ‘60s studio spec, but I really can’t see it happening and I’m not actively looking. I’m certainly not chasing ‘upgrades’ anymore!

 

[guey]

Moving from a middle floor flat to a solidly built end of terrace.

 

[Seanm]

Ironically I'm at a point where I can't imagine things sounding any better and the only thing getting in the way of serenity is curiosity about the sound of big old Tannoys with valves.

 

[awkwardbydesign]

Not reading audio forums is probably a good start on such a road.

Oh yes.

 

[Rosewind]

+1. But I do read hifi fora.

These items are what I will keep in my personal Audio Nirvana: Quad ESL 57s. EAR 516 (but a Radford STA may beckon?). Thorens TD 147 Jubilee (however, I may change the arm and lose the automatic lift). Cables: I will keep what I have - QED speaker cables, Cardas Clear USB, Epiphany Acoustics RCAs, Mark Grant RCAs, etc. etc. Bang &Olufsen Beocord 6500 (Cassette Deck).

- Preamp: undecided but will take delivery of a Herron VTSP-2 on Monday. Is that a keeper?
- Phono stage: I fancy a Paradise, a hotrodded Croft RS, or just a pre with a great phono stage. For now I have an Arcam rPhono which will be fine for the time being.
- DAC: I have the Line Magnetic 502CA which in its design has incorporated some degree of valve goodness (=benign distortion) that I fancy. I run it with Mullard valves, Tung Sol rectifier and a Burson opamp. Will I fancy something else in the future?

Tuner system:
Leak Stereo 70 + Leak Stereofetic FM Tuner + JBL LX-310 - keepers.

Livingroom: AVM C6M + active LBM (Audiosmile actives, I may change those to passive speakers again).

 

[radamel]

I think that I got to the end of the road myself, at least in terms of amp and speakers.

GamuT Di150LE, Monitor Audio PL100 II and a pair of REL R528SE subs.

 

[Marchbanks]

Enjoying the music and not worrying too much about the equipment.

That and big old Tannoys with valves.

 

[Nagraboy]

Despite having a great time demoing the Dutch & Dutch 8c monitors a few weeks ago, if I end up not buying a pair, I’ll still be happy to continue my longterm relationship with my Leben/Harbeth-based system. They’re just lovely, even more so since moving from a thin-walled new build house to a more solid Victorian-era building.

As for sources, I’ve added a Roon Nucleus/Sony DAC/iPad combo this year and feel like digital is done for me too.

It’s only vinyl playback that keeps nagging at me - I’ve got a Pro-Ject The Classic/2M Red/Croft RIAA right now but I’m looking for something a bit better. I’ve had a few good setups over the years but always end up selling them for some reason, usually telling myself I only need one source for music. The SME 10 and TD124 are my favourite decks. I’ve owned two of each in the past and find myself looking at them again now! I’d love to get a TD124 up and running but in the past I’ve ended up moving them on before I could finish the project. I can see myself getting a bit lost trying to renovate a TD124, and that’s what draws me back to the SME 10, but the cost deters me a bit. The new Rega Planar 8 has got me interested too, and I’m curious about the new Aurorasound VIDA Prima as a substitute for my Croft RIAA. Then there’s the Leben RS30EQ I used to own...

So I’m mostly happy as is, it’s just that pesky vinyl bug!

 

[bencat]

This is hard now as things have changed recently . Think I will stick my neck out and say the following - Amplifier - Krell KSA50 (80's early model) , Pre - Concordant Exhillarant , Source SBT Clone , DAC Metrum Quattro , DSP MiniDSP 2224 with DIRAC Live , Quad ESL57 (being revitalised as we speak expecting great things from them in the new year) .

I doubt if this will stay forever but you never know .