I started off with,
Micro Seiki MB10, AR Cambridge A60 and Mordaunt Pagent speakers in the late 70's.
Linn LP12, Naim Nait 2, TDL2 speakers in the 80's
From around 2001, same LP12, via Naim Nait 3 and Monitor Audio 7's to end swapping out the amp and speakers for Naim pre & power 90/110 with flatcap power supplies, Naim cable to Dynaudio Audience 42's on Atacama stands filled with kitty litter of all things.
All working fine from the 80's and 90's. Only thing new was the LP12.
Loads of tweeks and cables and cartridges along the way
Anybody have a similar journey to share ?
Comments
Started off in 1980 with a very basic all-in-one Waltham turntable/radio/cassette system.
Then bought an Akai system in 1985 that I added a CD player & graphic equaliser to.
Replaced that in the mid 90's with Technics separates.
Soon after that I'd started to work and with my parents away on holiday I traded in the existing stuff for a beautiful Dynatron system. I thought that my folks would be well pleased when they returned, but all mum could say is, 'Where's my little record player?' To be fair I hadn't even given it a thought, I'd upgraded the family set up, but as she said 'What happens when you move out, how am I going to play my records?'
Anyway for all the quality of that system - and it was quality - it seemed my Dad struggled to appreciate the finer nuances and concepts of loud rock music. He never really got Led Zep, Deep Purple or the Stones. To make matters worse he was a night worker and constantly yelled out, 'Turn that noise down' as he tried to get a bit of kip. In fact I'm almost certain that Chas and Dave must've been passing my house when they came up with the song bearing the same name - so accurate are the lyrics.
Over the years I visited Richer Sounds and bought various bits of kit, some of which remains in the loft. I presently have a NAD system that sits in the corner unused and all my vinyl is newly relocated at my son's house.
Since the Dynatron I have been on a downhill slide - all very sad. I do have a Spotify account and get Alexa to play my stuff for me. One thing though, I did get a second Alexa speaker, worked through prompts on the app and have regained a stereo sound. History repeating itself!
They were a very rewarding project
Did all the separates to death during the late 80's and 90's, then went along the Ruark type route, now outside of records I have mostly for nostalgia it's all streamed. Sonos are a good eco system if a tad expensive. The Ikea Sonos speakers aren't bad value TBH.
recently splashed out on a Naim Uniti Atom, rega pre-amp, rega planar 8 with the fancy stylis and a pair of bowers and wilkins 600 series bookshelf speakers.
sounds amazing and no idea how input up with the sonos etc speakers and iphone combo for so long
Back in 1988, I remember it well, my Dad went to Richer Sounds in The Cut and brought back his Technics separates.
I was tasked with setting it all up. Dad bought 4 giant speakers. Well, giant compared to the Sonos speakers of today. And he got two small ball shaped surround sound speakers.
I've never heard sound like it. Simple as that. Metallica's Black Album (circa 1990) sounded absolutely magnificent on it. The opening bars of Sad But True shook the house on its foundations.
Obviously, when Mum & Dad went out, the system got tested properly, especially when we knew our neighbours were out.
Until one day it was so bloody loud, we didn't hear Mum come back in and she hit me so fecking hard as she said she'd heard the bass about 3 streets away and she had to come back! Ah the teenage years.
Dad's just got a couple of Alexa/Sonos speakers through their house now they've downsized. The technics separates are still up in his loft. One day they'll see the light again
However, I now have a car which has a surround sound 17-speaker Bowers & Wilkins system knocking out 1280W. It also has some algorithm thing called Clari-Fi which attempts to get your MP3s back to the original waveform. I must say it is superb and has made me think that I need something better indoors too. But no idea what.
I've had a number of machines since then (obviously), my first proper one was a Hitachi 140. I then got an upright record deck. I'm not really sure why I wanted it other than because it was different. I think the theory was that your records would last longer because they didn't have the weight of the arm pressing down on them. Ultimately it was just frustrating though, because to play a record you had to wait for the door to open. Have since gone through Akai and Technics set ups. Currently use my computer, for the most part Spotify just on the internal speaker. If I want a little louder or better quality sound I bluetooth it to a pair of PreSonas studio monitors.
Amp Nad C 370 (over 25 years old now still sounds amazing)
pre-amp Nad PP 2e
Cd Nad 521i
Turntable Nad C558
Cass Yamaha KX-580
speakers Kef cresta 2 (about to be replaced by Acoustic Energy AE300)
second set up
Yamaha amp R-N500
Yamaha cd-N301
Yamaha tuner T-D500
Speakers Wharfedale Diamond 220
Turntable Audio Technica
I also have 2 vintage Fidelity turntables, a sony discman and a panasonic walkman.
Never downloaded a song and wouldn’t know how to.
I have an Onkyo RZ 820 AV amp and use a A9070 amp as a power amp for Bi-wired Acoustic Energy Radiance 3 speakers also have matching centre speaker and sub woofer. I have 6 Cambridge Audio Minx 22 for the rest of the Atmos setup. I want to add a streamer soon, probably the dearer Eversolo or the cheaper end of the Hi-Fi Rose range.
Thing is, it's all about the law of diminishing returns. As you climb higher up the audio food chain the improvements become smaller and are you actually any happier given the outlay. I have reached my limit, don't need anything else especially as the ears are getting older by the minute.
Cambridge amp
Can’t remember the speakers but the sound is great.