Your audio earth journey - where have you been?

Flat earth, round earth, horn fanatic, tube head, vinyl only, digital only etc.

Where did you start, what happened along the way and where are you now.

What influenced you and how have your priorities and aims changed, if they have.

 

Well, you did ask...

My starting point was aged about 13 listening to A Question Of Balance by the Moody Blues on a friend's dad's system of TD-125, 3009, V15III, Quad 33, 303 and huge Celestion Ditton 66 speakers. I never realised music sounded like that, and from that moment wanted a decent hi-fi. My own system at that point was a 1950s vintage mono valve radiogram, a Bush RG71, and that was far better than most of my friends had as it had two 8” or so Celestion speakers. The deck was a bit brutal though, I literally wore some records out.

Two or three years later I came into a few hundred quid when an aunt died. I used it all to land a second hand Lenco 75, Quad 33, 303 and a pair of JR149s, which are a canned version of the LS3/5a. That was a great system for a 15 year old, it saw me through the late 70s and early 80s. I quickly added a second hand FM3 tuner too, which I still have. This was the post-punk / new-wave era so I was mainly spinning Factory stuff and Echo & The Bunnymen, Teardrops, Magazine, Dalek I etc. I have very fond memories of this system and would love to revisit the 149s at some point.

Next I started reading the magazines, and learnt that my idler deck, Quad amps and BBC derived speakers were all utter crap and needed replacing immediately. I started with the deck, replacing it first with a cheap Leak 3001, which was crap, and then with a Ariston RD80 / LVV which was little better. I replaced the horrible Linn arm with an Audio Technica AT1120. The cart that sticks in my mind the most from that period was a FR101, but I went through quite a few and have owned many of the MMs now regarded as classics. I started playing with cables too, I remember having the Quad / 149 system hooked up with solid core twin and earth for both speaker and mains. It was a nightmare soldering it to the mini-Bulgin plugs!

I went through a lot of kit changes in a short while, almost always blaming the speakers for booms and honks that in hindsight would have been caused by poor set-up and poor deck positioning. This was a big learning curve. Passing through: Kef 101, Tannoy M20 Gold, Gale 301, Musical Fidelity A1 and a small mountain of cartridges.

By about 1985 I'd moved around a bit and ended up living in a flat in Liverpool, where, predictably, within a year or so I was burgled and had my system nicked. I was insured, and with the insurance money I bought a very early Roksan Xerxes, RB300 and Onix OA21, the burglars had left the Gales. This was a good system. I really rate the Onix.

In 1988 another aunt died so I had some more hi-fi money. I bought a Naim 62, HiCap, 140 and a pair of Kan IIs. I ran this system for 8 or 9 years without doing anything more than changing cartridges (Stilton modified ATF5 for much of the time) and adding a CD player, a Rotel RCD965BX.

By 1995 I'd retrained from being a semi-employed bass player / sound engineer or whatever to computing, and had started contract IT work in London, and had way more money than ever before, some actual disposable income. I went and bought second hand the system all the mags had told me I wanted back in the 80s when I was skint: LP12, Ittok, 32.5, HiCap, 135s and Isobariks. It was fun, and folk would laugh out loud if they saw the minute London flat I had it squeezed into. I didn't keep it that long as, even when I'd moved it to a bigger room, I still couldn't get the bass as well controlled as I like, it could sound wonderful on some things, but completely over-powering on others. I eventually swapped the Briks out for a little pair of ProAc Tablette 50 Sigs. I bought a Rega P9 too as I was sick of 33rpm only.

I realise this is the most boring post ever placed on the internet, but I'm only up to the late 90s, so I'll keep going. In 1999 I moved back to Liverpool in order to buy a flat (couldn't afford to buy anywhere I liked in London). The Tablettes didn't work in the room, just boomed and farted, so I bought another pair of Kans. In fact I bought two pairs in oder to see if I preferred MkIs or IIs (I prefer IIs).

I'd bought an ex-dem Dynavector XX1L cart whilst still in London, but I didn't like it much. I found someone who really wanted it, but didn't have any cash, so I swapped it for a Nait 1 and a Ortofon MC10 Supreme. I plugged the Nait in and was amazed by how good it was. Sure, the 32.5, HiCap, 135 was better, but not by much at the comparatively low levels I listen at. I decided to keep it and flog the big Naims. I ended up with a system of LP12 (yes, I went back to it as I never really got on with the P9), TE Microgroove, Nait 2 and Kan IIs. During this time my OCD took over and I bought and sold about 12-14 LP12s in order to build an absolutely perfect one. I did too, with a Zeta arm and a clone Armageddon PSU made by a friend. A beautiful Linn. I made good money in the process too. I also made some good cash out of Nait 2s – I'd stuck a wanted ad on hi-fiforsale for one, got offered about 6 and bought them all, they went for about twice the buy-in price on eBay!

The next changes were when a pair of stupidly cheap Harbeth Compact 7ES appeared on the pfm forum, which I'd started in 2001 or 2002, can't quite remember. They were priced at least £250 under what they were worth, so I landed them with the view to revisit a BBC type monitor and flip them at a profit in a month or so. I just loved them, within a week it was clear they were going nowhere. I kept them for about 6 years! For the first time ever my system would play any type of music without bias. Also around this time a Spacedeck and Densen Beat 100 appeared. Yes, I was sick of 33rpm only again! And I didn't need to keep fiddling with the bloody deck setup.

The two final phases, and where I am now: the first a result of the huge amount of internet buzz about Lencos and the nagging feeling I've always had that I 'got it wrong' with my old L75 – there was something I loved about that deck that went when I went to the RD80 etc, really it took a Xerxes to get back, and maybe only partially, even if other things were hugely improved. Anyway I landed a cute 1963 vintage L70, flung a cheap Pickering MM into the comedy arm, plonked it on the floor in front of the Spacedeck and spun a record. I burst out laughing as it had no f***ing right to sound as good as it did. Ok, the Spacedeck did the 'hi-fi' stuff better, quite a bit better to be fair, but that Lenco just boogied like a bastard. I bought a 301 and a 124! I've still got the L70, in fact I have two.

The final thing I learnt is that I love high-efficiency loudspeakers. My first exposure was to a pair of Klipsch Heresy. Despite not being the most subtle transducer on earth they have an agility and speed I've never heard out of inefficient speakers and big amps. A flea powered tube amp will fling them around in a most satisfying manner. I have a pair in my TV / office system. I also lucked-out with an amazing eBay buy it now that meant I landed a pair of 15” Tannoy Monitor Golds along with a TD-150, 3009, Quad 33, FM2, 303 for 130 quid the lot! I'm driving the Tannoys with a Prima Luna tube amp and that can fling them about in a tighter and more agile manner than I ever got / have heard from the likes of Isobariks, but with similar weight, it's that high-efficiency thing again. I suspect whatever I change from now on in I'll remain conceptually with solid high-torque decks and large high-efficiency speakers. The 303 that came with the Tannoys has been for a service and is now partnered with a passive pre and is driving the Heresys in the TV system.

I think I'm done, but I have actually missed a fair bit out!

Tony.

PS pictures of all my current stuff on my flickr account here.

 

I have listened to HiFi for the last 30 odd years on Sugden and Quad kit.

I bought a Sugden A48/T48 in 1978 instead of a Quad 33/303. I had a Technics direct drive deck. The Sugden drove a pair of 10" Tannoy Dual Concentrics till 20 years ago when (while in Germany) I bought a pair of Quart 980s loudspeakers which I still use.

I bought my first CD player about the same time - a Philips CD204, if I remember correctly - and ditched the deck and the LP collection. Too much to carry around the world on army trucks!

In 1996 I bought a Quad 77 CD player and Integrated Amp and shortly afterwards the tuner. I still have that kit.

A few years later the Sugden was in use driving a pair of Goodmans' Maxims attached to the PC (with Audigy card) in the Study. Only a cou[ple of years ago did I sell it to someone who could give it the care needed.

I have known for a number of years that an Audigy card would outperform the ageing Quad CD player, and I now stream FLAC.

The main systen isnow in my Nicosia bungalow. A Squeezebox drives a Beresford Caiman DAC into a Quad 405-2 bought on eBay and upgraded by 405man. It drives the Quart 980s tower loudspeakers which still sound extremely fine.

The Quad 77 Amp, CDP and Tuner are now in my flat in Southampton driving the Maxims. Those Maxims will have to go! Harbeth?

I have never been into box swapping or fooling with cables.

 

I suppose I have always been on a flat earth, but with corners. Various Rega decks from Panar 2 throughto P9, amps have either been Sansui or Rega. With the exception of a copland CD player, that did not stay long, CD players have been Rega as well. Speakers, Goodmans, Royd, Mission (in and out quickly), Rega and spendor. The spens will probably give way to Rega or Neat at some point.

The one thing that has always been in my mind when changing kit has been music first, and hi fi a very distant second.
________
How To Roll A Joint

 

Will try to keep this concise!

Dad was to blame of course. He came home one day after work with a copy of the 1975 HiFi Yearbook. Being all of 7 years old the pictures of exotic wonderments contained within it's pages fired my imagination and I think I was more excited than him when he finally brought home his first system. It consisted of a Goldring Lenco GL-78 with the G800 Cartridge, a Sansui 310 Receiver and a pair of Celestion Ditton 15's. I inherited his Fidelity record player, a simple device with a BSR autochanger and plastic speakers. He gave me a small box of 45's to get me started. I must have played that thing non stop for the next 3 or 4 years

Upgradeitis got to Dad as it does us all and the Lenco and Sansui were eventually replaced with a Sansui SR-525 DD turntable and a JVC AX-3 amplifier. Did I want the old items? Of course I did! With Christmas money and generous relations I acheived my first proper system in 1982, consisting of the Lenco (now shod with an Ortofon FF15EMkII), the Sansui receiver and a pair of Wharfedale Shelton XP2 speakers. I loved it!

By 1986 (18 years old) the press had persuaded me to replace the lovely old Lenco with a Thorens TD166MkII / Linn K5 cart and the Sansui with a Rotel RA-820BXII amp. I then destroyed the Wharfedales by playing my bass guitar through the system and replaced them with some B&W DM110's. A Yamaha CD-X5 CD player arrived in 1986 as a Christmas present. This system survived college and saw the addition of a Technics Cassette, soon replaced with a better Aiwa item.

I kept this system unchanged until 1995 (except for replacing the Aiwa tape deck with a later Aiwa unit as it had expired). Around this time I started earning some proper money and so the dreaded bug bit once more. Firstly a Musical Fidelity E10 amplifier replaced the Rotel. I managed to ignore the fact that this was an obvious downgrade and convinced myself it sounded better. I then replaced the speakers with some enormous TDL RTL3's after hearing a friends pair filling his huge house with groovy sounds. The Yamaha CD player started making clicking noises so a Cambridge CD-4 replaced it. This served me for a while until walking past Sevenoaks one day I saw a 2nd hand Exposure XV for sale - £350 in immaculate nick. This drove the TDL's much better than the mushy MF amp and for a while I was content.

Unemployment hit for a while in 2001 and the amp was sold to pay some debts. A cheap Arcam Alpha 7r (clearing out sale in Richer Sounds) replaced it and while it wasn't a patch on the Exposure it made pleasant enough music. A new job saw me add a 2nd hand Alpha 8p power amp to the mix to bi-amp the TDL's. this made some difference but ultimately I wanted that Exposure sound back again.

2005 rolled on and I finally found the dream ticket - an Exposure XXVRC for £320 on ebay in a sealed box from a German dealer. The as new amp sounded fantastic and I celebrated by replacing the aging TDL's with some Focal Chorus 714's sourced from IceHockeyBoy. These sounded great in my lounge except my CD sound was now too bright. Experiments with valve buffers and NOS Dac's eventually solved this problem. The ancient Thorens turntable got replaced by a Pro-ject 6.0 and an old but very low hours Goldring Excel MC sourced from a friend found it's way onto the arm. This combination was fantastic I have to say.

3 years ago I moved house and my previous set up that had sounded so good in my big old lounge now sounded bloated and horrible in my new living room, which was about 1/3 the size. Wholesale changes ensued, firstly the speakers went to be replaced by some Mission 751's. The Arcam was replaced by a Pioneer multiplayer and the NOS Dac by a Meridian 203. Then I saw the Horn Shoppe horns on ebay - an experiment with some Audio Nirvana full rangers had convinced me that this was the way to go. The Horns were never going to work well with my beloved Exposure so it was duly sold and a meridian 201 / Audion Sterling combo took it's place. I rather enjoyed this sound but constant nagging about the colour of the Horn Shoppe speakers combined with missing the bass eventually saw them replaced with Tannoy DC-2000's and then my current SD Acoustics SD-5's. No problem with bass on either of these boxes . The Pro-ject gave way to the Technics SL1210 with an SME III arm and a V-15 III cart. The Pioneer gave way to a cheap Denon multiplayer and then last week to a DVD2900. The tape deck became a Nakamichi CR-2E somewhere along the line and a couple of Minidisc decks also came and went. A Denon 5.1 receiver and some extra speakers were sourced from a kind wammer on SOTW and we are now up to date.

Thanks for making it all the way!

 

god I just cant remember it all. I've had over 50 valve amps here over the years, over 20 pairs of speakers. CD players only about 5, and turntables and phono stages only about 3 each.

Biggest ''this is really me'' moments were ..
1) first pair of Tannoy DC's - ''sixes'' in the 90's.
2) Ear 834p - aha! my record player now finally sounds good.
3) a memorable demo of Altec VS Tannoy vs Vitavox (all horn systems) some 10+ years ago.

I've been sold on horns and large drive units ever since, and in recent years exposure to TAD and JBL compression drivers have shown me I can have all the dynamics, without the peaky vintage response you often get.

Its a constantly evolving learning process, a journey not a destination and a pleasure and never a chore.

 

I spent years of no money drooling over hi-fi magazines and being mightily impressed by a mates setup - Pioneer CD, Pioneer A400 amp, Mission speakers - then finally scraped together enough for a pretty decent starter system.

Based on reviews (I know, I know) I got an Audio Note Oto EL84 integrated and some Heybrook Quartet speakers. I then got off my lazy backside and went auditioning CD players. I didn't expect to find any differences between players at similar price points and was proved completely wrong. A Mission Cyrus sounded a bit shrill and trying too hard, a Meridian sounded bland, and a Quad 67 sounded lovely. So I got the Quad.

At the same I got a Nakamichi DR2 tape deck which, on decent metal tapes, made recordings that were hard to tell from the CD. No kidding.

And everything was great for a while until I started to feel that the bass was a bit timid. Chopin sounded really nice. And Allegri sounded really nice. But so did AC/DC. And Motorhead. Hmm. Not good. Digging around in the mags and on the net offered a possible solution: the Border Patrol power supply. This beefed things up a treat.

Everything was was now pleasant enough sound-wise, but it didn't really rock. Swapping in an old pair of KEF 104's confirmed my suspicions - the Heybrooks were detailed and well mannered, but far too constrained. So I went completely nuts and auditioned a big feck-off pair of three way horns. Klipsch La Scalas. They've got a face only it's mother could love, but the sound was so big and effortless, so immediate and alive, that I slapped the cash down quick. I was very, very happy indeed when I bought them ten years ago, and I still am.

Not long after, a mate and fellow audiophool got a Gyrodec. I was stunned at the sound quality and got one asap, along with a Michell Iso phono stage and a Dynavector DV10X2 cartridge. This sounded even better than my mates setup.

But. There's always a but. I got a bad attack of upgrade-itis. The amp was still too polite for full-on rock. Cue the Amp Search.

I tried a Canary Audio EL34 integrated with an off-board power supply. Weird. Sound quality was excellent, but no matter what I played everyone in the band sounded like they were playing separately. It was as if they'd all recorded their parts in different studios without ever having met or heard each others contributions . Tube-rolling improved sound quality even further, but still no band ever gelled and sounded like a band. The Canary went back.

Next was a Rogue Audio valve pre-power. RAWK! Motorhead sounded as propulsive as they should and Garbage bounced along manically. But the classical and baroque chaps were uninspiring, and the amp put too much hum into my super-sensitive speakers. The Rogue went back.

Then I tried an Art Audio Quintet (EL34 integrated). No hum. Great. Chopin's Nocturnes were almost enough to make me cry. I'd never heard timing and delicacy like it. It was beautiful. But so were the rock numbers. Sigh...... But, I was learning. Border Patrol power supply into the Quintet and WEY-HEY! :banana: Now I had everything. Rock stuff rocked. Classical had weight and scale and poise and detail.

And that's the way things stayed for about five years, until I decided to try a DAC just for the heck of it. I ended up with an MSB something or other which made things sound even more detailed and alive. Fantastic.

And that's the current state of play. Apologies for the extended ramble, I originally intended a few short paragraphs. I suppose I've done more chopping and changing than I realised.

 

My Hi-Fi Odyssey started in 1982 when I was idly daydreaming upstairs on the bus on my way home from school.

WHOP!

Big smack on the nose. Followed by 10 minutes of terrorisation from the local glue-sniffing bully.

He got arrested. I got enough compensation to buy an LP12/BasikLVX/Rega R100, Creek CAS4040, Heybrook HB1's. Nice result.

My dealer told me that I'd bought "The best turnable in the World." A statement that I've since found out was rather less than accurate.

My dad told me that I was crazy for buying a soon to be redundant record player when CD had just come out. Over the years he's been great for advice. Listen to what he says then do the opposite. Never fails. Has always served me well.


For 20 years my system basically remained the same except for some upgrades to the LP12 whenever the sound went badly off. Ittok LVIII... Cirkus... Lingo. It got a lot of use. My LP12 must have rolled enough miles to take me to the moon and back a few times. Faithful servant.


In 2003 I discovered ebay. The foam surrounds had gone on my HB1's so I bought a pair of Saras, then Isobariks, plus a Linn Karma.

With the addition of an Avondale amp I'd achieved my childhood dream hi-fi system. LP12/Ittok/Karma, Naim 250 equivalents, Briks. Supposedly better than the top system in the Popular Hi-fi magazine buying guide of November 1982.


In 2007 I discovered online hi-fi forums. Where a certain Mr Richard Dunn organised a turntable bake-off where an LP12 was beaten by inexpensive Japanese direct drive turntables. Interesting. A turning point in my hi-fi life. So there might be alternatives to the Linn Naim stuff after all?


Over the last year I've been aiming for a maxed-out sytem where each component is swings and roundabouts, near as damnit, about as good as it gets.


The LP12 has been replaced by an EMT. The Briks by a pair of bi-amped Bozak Symphonys. Amplification above 400hz by a pair of Coincident Frankenstein 300b SET monoblocks, with the Avondale relegated to bass amplification duties only. This little lot out Flat-Earths my dream Flat-Earth system. Out Round-Earths it too.


I'm on the look-out for a pair of large American inexpensive vintage high efficiency speakers to go with my SETs. I suspect that these will give me better midrange than my Bozaks but worse bass. Maybe I'll end up with a Bozak / horn hybrid speaker?



So I'm now an idler drive, SET valve / ss bi-amp, monster vintage speaker man. Oh, and also an ex-Radio Station tt, no traditional pre-amp, DIY / freebie cable man.


I still listen to my system a lot.

 

Lindsay, I think you should try some DIY. It's the only way (IMHO) to get large, efficient speakers for a working man's budget.

Pi 7 corner horns are a good kit (have a google), Tannoy's bought and made into horn loaded cabs, duplicates of TAD and JBL statement speakers all give you huge bang, mediocre buck.

 

i started(as my days in school) with my first t/t a garrard sp25, sincair kit amp, celestion ditton 15's, later upgraded the amp for a rotel 1970's model, great amp it was, t/t went for a goldring gl 78,speakers for wharferdale linton 3xp's when i came into money's i bought my first pair of dream spkrs, tannoy devon's then i started working in retail my wages only existed for hi-fi and records, if i did not go that route i could of have `1oo houses, but hey what a beautiful experience it wass, would never turn back the hands of time,
nando.

 

Bottleneck, you could well be right about the DIY route. That could be where I'll ultimately end up.

The Tannoys that I've heard so far haven't been for me - although I can understand why other people like them a lot.

 

I really only noticed music when my parents bought a grundig stereogram in about '70...for which I bought my first and last single ...moldy old dough by lt pidgeon !!!

gawd takes you back !

this not in chronological order .........

my first foray in real stereo ...rather than hifi as it wasn't.

Ram bookshelf monitors feed from an akia reciever with a wedge shaped cassette deck from awia with led level meters in bright green and yellow..

This was followed in short order by a nad3020 and then a thorens bc 160 with a adc alt1 arm and vms20e cart ...and chartwell pm110mk2 speakers

a couple of years passed with the tt having a helius standard arm and a dynovector 10x then at33 and dynavector ruby [using a jeramiah braithwaite head amp ...still in use ].

The amp was then swapped for a nytech ca252 and matching tuner ....

next to go was the thorens ...which by then had been converted to a super .....you just could not believe the sound difference once you had removed the foam from the springs ... I demoed all the usual suspects lp12 rega etc but settled on the logic dm 101 mkii as it trounced all the rest in my price range ...
swiftly swapping the helius for logics own datum s arm and there electronic psu .

I discovered speaker stands and tt tables ...even then people claimed they made no difference ! ...sound familiar ?

the speakers were next ...swapped the chartwells for ruark broadswords ...which meant the amps went shortly after for an mf a100 and then within a year to a quad 606 which had the balls to drive the ruarks ...cd then arrived and a philips front loader that had 3's 7's in the model number...

a series of cdp followed sony denon and finally a quad 66 with a 66 pre ..remote control at last .

at which point it was clear tt was superior in everyway ...the logic was swapped for a n Alphason sonata with atlas psu and keeping the datum s ....I had this fantastic tt for about five years till it was stolen ...well the psu was as they could not lift the tt ! unfortunately this was replaced by a girodeck which just didn't do it for me ...as I'd been spoilt by the sonata ..

amps were upgraded a long the quad route 77 ...99 707 909 etc .....

speakers were changed to martin logan aerius i's

then I discovered dac's arcam black box mk1 was used with the early philips to good effect ...these went through various guises todate .....cambridge dac magic nos ah daclite, behringer src 2496 till I discovered the audio synthesis dax decade ...which I've had since as nothing I'ver heard gets close ..

slighly before the dax came an sb3 which banished my cd's to the loft along with a quad 99 cdp2 ..
The amps went to valve with a cheap dynavox that showed me the way ahead this was changed for a pair of consonance cyber 800 run from the dax ....

the system has remained static for the last five years as I've not heard anything better at sensible prices ....

so that forty plus years of audio !

 

First system (before the advent of CD):
Dual CS505 II
Maplin 25 watt mosfet amp
Home made 2 way speakers (no science went into driver and crossover choice)

Evolved into:
Marantz CD 72se (volume control via remote)
Rotel RB970 power amp
Some large Mordaunt Short standmounts.
The above setup educated me in the merits of accuracy, CD straight into the power amp so no controls other than volume.

I then plugged a 2 channel AV amp into the system to listen to TV and use a turntable, a Revolver Rebel. It was ok for TV but piss poor for vinyl and it all but killed my vinyl listening. I then spiralled off into AV, surround sound and switched my attention almost entirely to DVD, buying more DVD's per week than I did CD's per year.

My interest in music was restored with the advent of multichannel music which fitted in with my AV habit. However I just couldn't get it to the point it made me happy as my old Marantz/Rotel/MS system had. After spending a lot of time and money trying to get to a happy place I conducted an experiement to see if money was better spent in the stereo arena. This resulted in:
Cambridge Audio Azur 840A (Mk 1)... £100 cheaper than my well regarded AV amp.
ProAc Response 1SC... Retailing for the same as my surround speaker package cost.
Benchmark DAC1 transferred over from the multichannel rig.
Denon DVD2900... The hangover from my multichannel days.

In my relative lack of experience I could not have predicted the difference this made and I lost all interest in my AV rig virtually over night. I have since made vinyl my primary source again, realising that most of the things I considered negatives with vinyl vanished when you spent the right sort of money in the right places.

Consequently my journey has been a circular one, but my circle eventually became a spiral upwards and I am happy with the course it has taken.