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Post by Deleted on Jan 31, 2015 20:34:55 GMT
I freely admit that my motives for buying and using hifi are not all sonically or musically based. Firstly, I was spellbound by the products of the mid/late 80s and early 90s. As a young guy living in York, the Sound Organisation was a huge influence. Then I started seeing other exotic kit you just couldn't find up North and I began travelling to hifi shops elsewhere in the country. I was hooked and things like the Penta shows of the era were my equivalent of Disneyland. The nostalgia for this era drives many of my purchases. Closely related is my love for the minimalist design of British kit of the era and the sheer wow factor of the American esoterica. I often revisit things I've had before and enjoy this. It's like welcoming an old friend back into my life. of course it all has to sound good, but I've never been able to choose between three very different ways to make music. Valves and Horns can be so clear and vital, flat Earth systems appeal to me at a fundamental level and Americana is always a joy-ride. i also lurch between buying flurries and an urge to clear the decks. I've also had spells where I've given up on hifi because I've got bored with it. I also like bargain kit that punches above its weight so I love mixing it up. All this his means I have no idea where this thread will go. That's half the fun I guess. I'll probably just post a few pics of the odd bit that passes through together with a few words on the experience. First up are a pair of Neat Petites that I have just refurbed. I've had a few pairs of Petite 1,2 and 3 over the years. I loved them back in the day, but lately haven't really felt the same. This pair won't become my main speakers but are proving to be delightful. All the more so now that they look the part again.       |
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Post by ChrisB on Jan 31, 2015 20:45:58 GMT
Nice!
Great idea for a thread too. I'm looking forward to seeing some more of the kit that's passed/passes through your hands.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 31, 2015 20:57:45 GMT
I have a Naim CDX on the way. I love the CDI so I feel a bit mixed about this one. My only related experience was trying a CD5X which apparently shares a similar output stage. I had a CDI at the time and the CD5X bored me to death to the point that I just had to turn it off. The thing is, it's the only Naim CD player I've disliked so I still wanted to try the CDX.
The CDI causes issues for me because I have limited opportunities to site top loading kit. The CDX has an advantage in this respect. You never know how anything is going to work out but my money is on the CDX having a short stay. I'm wrong about as often as I'm right though, so who knows. I might be onto a winner!
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Post by ChrisB on Jan 31, 2015 21:14:12 GMT
I had a CDI for a lot of years- I had one of the first ones (I'd never have bought such a thing, but I won it in a competition!) and sold it in 2005(ish). I thought it was great and preferred it (in my sytem) to every version of the CDX I ever heard (though admittedly never in my system). I know what you mean about the problems siting a top-loader, I had to buy a second rack to accommodate it.
It cost me a lot to improve on the CDI.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 31, 2015 21:21:53 GMT
I've had a few CDIs and usually got rid of them because of siting issues. I still haven't found anything as good to my ears, so they keep returning. My last one was a CDM9 pro version and I thought it was the best of all. I sold it to a mate along with my walnut SBLs. Boy were they pretty. He still has them and I don't blame him.i think I must've been drunk when I took this pic:  |
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Post by Sovereign on Jan 31, 2015 22:23:29 GMT
I love lovely wood grain i speakers!
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Post by Deleted on Jan 31, 2015 22:32:15 GMT
Me too. I really don't carevfor black ash but it's often hard to avoid.
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Post by southall1998 on Jan 31, 2015 22:46:56 GMT
Good thread, Andrew.
Speaking of Naim CD Players...I've got a CD5si here! Good sounding CD Payer, if just lacking a little bit of grace IMO. But very punchy and detailed though!
I've enjoyed using a ''2004'' built Nait 5i integrated a couple months back. Again, very punchy, musical and lacking a little grace also.
Sometimes I do wish that I'd kept the 5i, because for its musicality and punch.
My Sugden A21a is lacking some of the above. The bass can be a tad light at times through the Sugden!!
S.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 31, 2015 23:19:06 GMT
I don't know a lot about Sugden but I sometimes wonder if it has a "house sound". My only experience of the brand is hearing a pre/power combo at an elderly chap's house with both ESL63s and some large BBC designs that I've forgotten the identity of. As neither are the sort of thing I like, I couldn't really tell much about the Sugdens. I've not had much experience with later Naits either although I did briefly try a Supernait. I don't want to be unfair to it but it sounded a bit ordinary. I think I'm conditioned to hearing the older Naim sound. The new stuff tends to sound less "committed" although I try to keep an open mind. I had a CD5 recently which I did enjoy. In the end I preferred a CD3.5 that I picked up. Strangely, my wife who is an old-school Naim fan preferred the CD5.
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Post by southall1998 on Feb 1, 2015 0:25:31 GMT
Thanks for your honesty. I appreciate it, Andrew.
I'm looking forward to your opinion after spending some time with the CDX. Do you know its exact age?
S.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 1, 2015 3:27:52 GMT
It's an Oct/Nov 2001 model. if I don't like it, I may seek a CDI plus cash in exchange. It's such a minty example so I'm hoping I like it. I'm still not giving up on my CD 3.5 which has a number of mods I can try if I have the courage to take the plunge.
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Post by John on Feb 1, 2015 6:19:46 GMT
Thanks for sharing Andrew
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Post by jandl100 on Feb 1, 2015 7:38:33 GMT
I often revisit things I've had before and enjoy this. It's like welcoming an old friend back into my life. Interesting! I almost always find that re-visiting previously admired kit is a mistake. In the time I shared my life with them and enjoyed them I got to know their particular idiosyncrasies and grew a bit irritated or bored with some of them. On the re-visit, said idiosyncrasies spring immediately to the forefront and I find myself getting very impatient with them pretty much from the get-go!
I suspect we are after very different things from our hifi and/or music - I've tried some Naim kit at home, including a fairly early CDS, and none of it stayed! I have also not a lot of time for the minimalist Brit-kit from the 80s. I guess both of those fall under the Flat Earth banner, and I never succumbed to that particular world view. I do like American esoterica, though!
Still, it's interesting seeing someone else's hifi journey, it being very different from my own adds a certain amount of baffled curiosity!
What sort of music gets played chez-singularity?
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Post by Deleted on Feb 1, 2015 9:32:54 GMT
It may seem unusual to enjoy at least 3 very different ways to make music but I really do. Often my changes of kit have been driven by a wish to change between approaches. I've come to the conclusion that having the space (and funds) to run three main systems would probably stop my wanderlust. Therein may lie the difference because I dont usually get tired of what I have: I just crave something else I also like. For me, it's a bit like the way different artists will capture the same scene. All capture aspects of the reality but in their own particular style. My enjoyment lies in the variety. If I could drive, I'd have an American muscle car, a British sports car and something more practical........ if I had 3 garage spaces. Otherwise I could see me changing cars regularly. I find that I can't hang onto large amounts of spare kit for too long before it wears on me. I feel weighed down by it. That's why I'd need to have it set up properly and in use. I don't know if this is also a. Factor but I move house pretty regularly so there is always the variety of a new room to try a previously owned item in. That can sometimes mean an item I've loved just doesn't work for me and vice versa. Often I find that motivations for being into hifi are taken as a given, but can often be more complex. Thanks for giving me the chance to explain mine as best as I currently understand them  I also don't listen to Classical music at all. If I did, I may be less keen on the flat earth kit. I tend to listen to mainstream 80s and 90s music, albeit with a particular liking for Electronica: Yello, Moby, Nitin Sawhney, Faithless, Roger Sanchez, Chemical Brothers, Afro Celt etc. Some other big likes include Mary Chalin Carpenter, Van Morrison, Jack Johnson, Springsteen, Stereo MCs and anything with a Latin rhythm. |
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Post by southall1998 on Feb 1, 2015 14:06:30 GMT
Indeed, I understand Andrew!
Classical music is very rarely played here. I just simply have no interest. If people say its because my system is not right or good enough....sod them!! But I do like Jazz type music, like Kenny Burrell's ''midnight blue'' album.
If I play a Calvin Harris or a Prodigy CD through the Sugden, it just doesn't edge the bass and the artist's intended attitude for the album. But through the Nait 5i its just so much more ''fun'' and punchier IME.
The Sugden, is a bit like attending a sophisticated and almost civilised dinner party. With the Nait 5i, its like a fast fun bumpy 4x4 ride!
But bearing in mind, the Sugden is pretty revealing amp and can show up a bright/poor recording. I do like the Sugden still!
Having 3 different system in 3 separate rooms can be a good thing!
S.
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Post by MartinT on Feb 2, 2015 7:05:46 GMT
Always interesting to read other members' journeys. I sometimes wonder what I would do if I was young and had to start again. Knowing what I do now, I would have a much better idea of buying wisely from the used market and what to avoid like the plague!
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Post by MikeMusic on Feb 2, 2015 8:18:38 GMT
Looking at my system most wouldn't agree but I'm a poor excuse for a hifi punter
I'd rather have as much music as I can get out of the kit. Which is why it looks a bit Heath Robinson, especially after the recent S1NX upgrades
I have punted around but now almost exclusively go for kit that will make the system allow more music through.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 2, 2015 12:41:23 GMT
I still haven't got round to ordering those foam speaker plinths used in Studios but today I thought I'd experiment. I took some polyethylene packing and tilted the Petites back with it.  Now most speakers I like tend not to fire completely at me, so this may be a personal thing. However, the Neats sound better than ever and not by a small margin. Is it the foam, the tilt or both? I think it's the tilt but will try some more rigid means of tilting and see what that does. I'm one of the laziest people on the planet, so it may take me a while but I will get round to it. Anyone else tried tilting their speakers back? I'd be interested to hear your experiences. |
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Post by Deleted on Feb 2, 2015 13:20:06 GMT
I've been having some real fun playing around with combinations today. I had three amps lying around and two spare sets of speakers so I thought I'd do some switching around and have a shoot out! I began with the tilted Neats and my Exposure 6/7/ Dua 4. It was very good indeed. Big, fast and strong. I then switched the amp to an Exposure X. Surprisingly very little loss of scale and heft. Just a bit of definition. It was very similar and no less musical. Next I tried an amp I've always liked: the NVA AP10px. It was the clearest but had no get up and go with the Neats which have always been power hungry. Volume levels were ok, but it was weak, soggy and depressing. The way I feel on a bleak Winter morning. Next up, I switched the speakers for another inefficient speaker (on paper, at least): Dean Alto 2s. I've always liked Altos but the sound that greeted me made me wonder if they had been damaged. It was barely recognisable. Switching to the X was a revelation. So bold, lively and downright snappy. Finally,,I tried the 6/7 Dual 4 with the Deans. First impressions were of more power but a bit less musicality than the X, which shocked me. Once a few minutes warm up had woken the amps up, they took on a slightly greater degree of realism but perhaps still not as bouncy and vivacious as the X. Now it may seem a big ask for the NVA to drive these speakers due to its low power. The thing is, I've driven other inefficient and low impedance speakers with it before. I think both these speakers just like a bolder presentation. I've heard the NVA beat the Exposure X with other difficult speakers in the same room so this result surprised me. I'm not good at scoring things but it can be fun, so here goes. 1. 6/7/Dual 4 with Neats 8.5/0 2. X with Neats 8/10 3. AP10px with Neats 6/10 4. AP10px with Altos 3/10 5. X with Altos 9/10 6. 6/7/dual 4 with Altos 9/10 for anyone who doesn't know the Altos, here they are:   |
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Post by MikeMusic on Feb 2, 2015 15:28:39 GMT
I'd play, mix and match with the top scorers and (eventually) sell the rest, or set up a 2nd system
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