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Post by Mr Whippy on Sept 5, 2017 20:29:43 GMT
And it's no good - it's no good saying: "It's the best sounding kit I've ever had."
I'm limited to a Technics SL-P1200 CD and Sennheiser HD 424 headphones, despite having a mountain (and I really do mean a mountain) of gear stashed away, most waiting to be repaired.
I use the Technics because it's an enjoyable listen, and I love the design. There's always that sense of wanting to interact with it. Not in any perverse way, I should add.
The Sennheisers. I had a pair in the late '70s/'80s. Quite liked the overall balance, if lacking somewhat in the bass. Pretty comfortable to wear for long periods.
This first pair lost a driver, and I never got round to replacing it. The past few years I've been on a bit of headphone hunt. Some Audio Technical ATH 7 Electrets were agreeable when using an amp (A & R Cambridge A 60). As were some Sharp HP 400s Skullcrushers. Actually, they're pretty comfortable to wear for quite long periods. Anyway, another pair of 424s came along, and were a really good match with the 1200.
And so that is what I use. Have a Stax Basic combination, but would rather listen with the Sennheisers.
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Post by MartinT on Sept 6, 2017 6:35:50 GMT
It's been a long journey of trial-and-error, some great buys and some dead ends. Probably the same for many others.
The best successes for me have been with speakers.
1. I started with a pair of Wharfedale Chevins as that was all I could afford as a teenager.
2. I then bought a pair of Cambridge R40 cabinets from liquidation stock, purchased the KEF drivers and crossovers from Falcon and built them into finished speakers. They were superb and lasted me many years.
3. My first proper purchase of a finished speaker was a pair of JBL L-100T. They were really excellent. I went for a listen in a shop on Tottenham Court Road and fell in love with their dynamic presentation, sense of excitement and ability to move air.
4. Back to kit speakers, I followed up with a pair of IPL S-5TL transmission lines, with the cabinets lovingly built by my Dad. They needed more amp welly but could go deeper and had a more transparent midrange.
5. Then I went into the 'high end' and bought a pair of JM Lab (now Focal) Mezzo Utopias. These were a serious step up in transparency, detail and dynamics. When driven from my then amplifier, a Chord, they were a great slice of heaven for me.
6. Finally, I went up to a dealer in Birmingham to listen to a pair of Usher Be-10 after reading a rave review of the Be-20 by Chris Marten in The Absolute Sound while I was in Houston. The Be-10 were amazing, truly open and detailed with the most fantastic midrange quality on voice. I had to have them, but I kept thinking 'these will be my last speakers - make it a good purchase'. There were no Be-20 in the country to listen to, but based on what I heard in the Be-10 I ordered them blind and they were made for me in Taiwan and shipped over. I knew my room at the time was not big enough for them, but I also felt that one day I would have the perfect place for them. And now I do!
So, six speakers between them have defined my music playback over the years.
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Post by jandl100 on Sept 6, 2017 6:48:21 GMT
I enjoy trying different things.
A box swapper, just for the fun of it.
My electronics are just what I currently have and enjoy. A thing of the moment, which will change repeatedly as I continue to explore on my hifi journey.
My source has been internet streaming for the last two and a half years, a real game changer for me as it has fundamentally changed the way I listen to music, with such an unimaginably vast music catalogue at my instant beck and call.
My speaker swapping halted a bit over 7 years ago when I made the deliberate decision to invest in what for me is the ultimate speaker. Quite a lot of soul-searching happened before I decided that I would end my speaker swapping as I really enjoyed it.
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Post by puffin on Sept 6, 2017 16:51:02 GMT
I get a real kick out of getting great sound out of what would probably be classed as rubbish in the audiophile sense. A lot of my stuff is DIY (Amps, some speakers and Dacs) and some stuff has been tweaked. If it makes music and you want to listen to it do you care what anyone else thinks?
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Post by MikeMusic on Sept 6, 2017 18:16:26 GMT
I am where I am now due to hearing better kit and accessories.
Be very happy to have the system hidden and shout out the music I want to hear.
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Post by ant on Sept 6, 2017 20:37:24 GMT
I have what i have because about 12 years ago I was shit bust skint and had to sell everything I had system wise ( musical fidelity xray, xplora, xlps a3 x24k lp12 and kef q55s). Kids on the way and suddenly being made redundant made it a no brainer, but a painful thing to do when you have worked hard for years to buy it all.
Over the last 12 years I went the diy route, interspersed with some nice jap 60s and 70s kit. a really nice rotel ra 212 amp stands out, and a yamaha pf800 turntable really stands out. I wish I hadnt sold it on as it was utterly superb.
Ive wound my own way since then, havent been in a dealers in years, havent bought a single accessory and have gone with my gut and ears.
Its become something of a habit of mine to look at everything hifi from the 'can I build that myself?' point of view.
My speakers are the only pair of this particular design, and are not the same as the original design, the Tt is number 3 of 5 built and the arm is a one of a kind too.
As a whole it sounds how I want it to sound, and as I know exactly how and why the bits are built the way they are, I know where to tweak if i want to rather than stumbling around in the dark buying for the sake of it. If i want to try something design wise, i can.
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Post by John on Sept 7, 2017 4:17:59 GMT
I gone through a long journey and have quite a radical set up
I think the first step was moving away from traditional floorstander I had quite a few to open baffles(Hawthrones) I kept these for quite a few years until I heard my friends radical no baffle speakers and just loved what they did so went down this route. I think part of this journey was that for a good few years I had to be careful with money so I had to find alternative means of upgrading my sound.
I was also one of the first people to use a computer to play music Before I had a souped up NU Vista 3d CD player. Spent about £2000 on audiocom mods on it. Onc moving to PC I just had a natural progression to where I am at now.
With regards to the Black Tulips I tried a lot of different amps and liked reading what Jerry was saying abut them so took a risk on them.
I would also say the sound I enjoy comes from 3 reasons
1) Playing guitar so I am quite senstive to tonality
2) Going to over 2000 concerts so live music has been a big influnce
3) My taste in music so enjoy a mixture of music that's quite heavy but also enjoy a lot of music that mixes world music with Jazz
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Post by MartinT on Sept 7, 2017 7:36:21 GMT
I realise I didn't exactly answer the question asked.
I have what I have because I value the quality of human voice above all else, so midrange quality and transparency are paramount. Any system with poor midrange is complete junk to me, no matter what its other attributes. After that, I want huge dynamic range, limitless headroom and subterranean bass when it's in the music. Not much to ask! I have all of these to a high degree, so I'm very happy.
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Post by John on Sept 7, 2017 7:45:04 GMT
As for the sound I like I want it to have a live feel so huge soundstage
It needs to do kick drums well and capture micro dynamics I want to be in the music as much as I can
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Post by Chris on Oct 29, 2017 9:12:30 GMT
I have what I have as I've always had a hankering for valves and the AVC offered excellent vfm. Getting it modded by Eduardo was also essential to me - I wanted the individuality of that. I've always had a thing for Audio Note and when the ANKs came up I couldn't resist them.
The Acoustic Research came up for sale whilst the make was being discussed here so that's how I ended up with that and I'd always wanted to try some horn speakers so when a decent set appeared I put in an offer that was accepted and haven't looked back. They're very good.
To summarise I kind of wanted to stop having lots of mid range kit and what I have now is my forever kit. There's not much going anywhere!
As for the sound I want - accuracy is important to me as is speed and I seem to have that. I like things to sound just as they should and I enjoy the perfection of music.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 29, 2017 12:07:46 GMT
My setup has been limited for years: Firstly because of funds (10 years in education) Then it was room size. Then I got a bigger room and more resources but was planning the move abroad, so I couldn't get anything too big or heavy to carry on a plane. Then the acoustic abroad was utterly shocking, even though the room is huge and open-plan. Now I've cracked the acoustics part but I don't want the room looking like a hifi shop and I have to be more careful with spending because if I spend too much I might have to work again and that would mean going back to Britain! I have two modest but very decent sounding systems plus I've discovered how much fun headphone listening can be. I'm therefore very happy to live with my "boundaries" for now  |
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Post by Deleted on Oct 29, 2017 13:24:15 GMT
I have what i have because its the sound i like to hear, Its the Equipment i like to own, Its not about Money, impressing fellow forum members, Badges or getting one up on the Jones
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Post by Deleted on Oct 29, 2017 18:51:32 GMT
I've always hd a need for the kit to please me aesthetically. If it's beautifully built, beautifully designed, a pleasure to use or any combination thereof, it's always pleased me. Of course, the sound is important but I simply wouldn't own anything flimsy or generic. Things like modern Cambridge Audio or Project just wouldn't interest me at all. Nor would any computer audio concoction.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 29, 2017 18:54:15 GMT
Do you sit & look at the Stereo more than anything then?  |
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Post by Deleted on Oct 29, 2017 19:02:24 GMT
I look at it quite a bit and I always have. I also like the feel and pleasure of use, so things like controls are important to me. As a for instance, I love Naim CD players because they are tactile. I once had a Beresford DAC that was pretty good but appeared to have made all its compromises on external build and feel in order to provide best VFM. I can't argue with that but it wasn't for me. The volume pot felt horrible. Even replacing the knob with a heavyweight one wasn't enough to sway me and it had to go. I just hated looking at the thing and it was (literally) a turn-off for me so it was sold quickly, despite sounding good. It's important to know yourself and what you seek from hifi. There's often an assumption that it's all about the sound but I've never subscribed to that. I think many people buy with their eyes whilst others buy to impress or gain social credibility. It's complex, which is why this is an interesting thread to me.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 29, 2017 19:10:49 GMT
Just wondered cos i have a mate who has a very very expensive American Hi-End system that i thought sounded horrid, He also realises it does after loosing his Wife & House over it, still he refuses to sell it even today, answer being because of what it is & how it looks . Basically sits & looks at it.
Im fussy over build quality, But refuse to pay for that pleasure these days for two reasons. Todays gear has absolutely no character to it & the sound quality is not what i call good to my ears.
If i look a plonker owning old gear i could not give two hoots. The build Quality & sound i like are both there & that is all that matters to me.
On that note people that call old gear a bit long in the tooth really piss me off.
The only way forward i will entertain is File based pooter. Reason being i do not want a CD player in my system. If Computers break down you bin them & buy another , they are just soundless controllers to me as long as your outboard Hard Drive has a back up your always good to go. I personally believe the best sounding sources are file based sourced.. i have proven this to myself many many times thru experience at a massive cost.
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Post by Tim on Oct 29, 2017 19:30:23 GMT
If it makes music and you want to listen to it do you care what anyone else thinks? Amen to that |
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Post by Barrington on Oct 31, 2017 13:27:29 GMT
I have an OPPO UHP-205 , its an universal player , thats why I have it and not a streamer , HD player , CD player , SACD player , DVD and Blu-Ray player. |
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Post by speedysteve on Nov 1, 2017 13:28:53 GMT
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Post by Chris on Dec 18, 2017 4:53:49 GMT
Meant to add I use Bluetooth as finding a dac to work with istuff proved technical,expensive and generally difficult. MIGHT add one later if my patience allows.....
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