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wack61

wack61

I've got an itchy hatch
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For years I've used a B&W Zeppelin which I've been happy with but spotted a hi fi at a boot sale that I couldn't pass up

I watched it coming out of the car, guy in his 30s it was his grandads

Asked him what he wanted (£25)and snapped his hand off

I had the speakers and CD player already but my god is this amp good , I'm going up in the attic to dig the LPs out next

It's got a button missing and is a bit crackly When you adjust the volume but get it settled and it sounds fantastic, clear as a bell , I can't get it above 4 as the floor starts shaking

I think a Zeppelin is for sale

I've got a Bluetooth adapter for it now so we'll see what it does with an ipod
 
Nice!

If I remember right, those big old Technics are well regarded.

Get some isopropyl alcohol and squirt a bit into the volume pot and give it a good twisting. That'll sort it.
 
i used to love my hifi and had a passion for quality since the 70's but over the last 10 years or so iv'e just not had the time or opportunity just to sit down and listen
i still have some half decent equipment but it's sadly going to waste it just doesn't get listened to as it should be
i did a lot of chopping and changing through the 80's but my listening tastes were different back then i finally settled with meridian cd / amplification and kef reference model 4's speakers which iv'e had for some years now





iv'e considered getting another pair of mono blocks and running the speakers active but considering the little use they get nowadays the idea has been put on the back burner but it might happen one day :)
 
That does look nice, my wife would like that, she's not so keen on the aesthetics of this but it sounds good enough to win the argument, especially when I tell her how much it'd cost to get the same sound with something modern

You can tell there's a problem when the kids ask you to turn the music down
 
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I've still got (tuner in use daily) my old JVC separates system that I bought about 30 yrs ago. Don't use the double tape player or turntable these days though. :) I think I paid around £250 then.


How about this:


:LOL:

.
9gvxpx.jpg
 
cosmicma said:
i used to love my hifi and had a passion for quality since the 70's but over the last 10 years or so iv'e just not had the time or opportunity just to sit down and listen
i still have some half decent equipment but it's sadly going to waste it just doesn't get listened to as it should be
i did a lot of chopping and changing through the 80's but my listening tastes were different back then i finally settled with meridian cd / amplification and kef reference model 4's speakers which iv'e had for some years now





iv'e considered getting another pair of mono blocks and running the speakers active but considering the little use they get nowadays the idea has been put on the back burner but it might happen one day :)
Click to expand...
Nice. I used to like Meridian. Their active home cinema speakers were absolutely awesome.

We go rid of most many moons ago when the children were very young. Basically because we couldn't listen to it at reference volume.

I'm looking to get back, funnily enough it was my wife suggesting that now the girls are older we should get some floor standers again, and she was eyeing up Arcam as it looks pretty and sounds decent ;)
 
I used to own a hifi shop a few years back.
Had loads of hifi to listen to:banana:
 
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wack61 said:
For years I've used a B&W Zeppelin which I've been happy with but spotted a hi fi at a boot sale that I couldn't pass up

I watched it coming out of the car, guy in his 30s it was his grandads

Asked him what he wanted (£25)and snapped his hand off

I had the speakers and CD player already but my god is this amp good , I'm going up in the attic to dig the LPs out next

It's got a button missing and is a bit crackly When you adjust the volume but get it settled and it sounds fantastic, clear as a bell , I can't get it above 4 as the floor starts shaking

I think a Zeppelin is for sale

I've got a Bluetooth adapter for it now so we'll see what it does with an ipod
Click to expand...
I've got one of those amps in my loft
 
dejongj said:
Nice. I used to like Meridian. Their active home cinema speakers were absolutely awesome.

We go rid of most many moons ago when the children were very young. Basically because we couldn't listen to it at reference volume.

I'm looking to get back, funnily enough it was my wife suggesting that now the girls are older we should get some floor standers again, and she was eyeing up Arcam as it looks pretty and sounds decent ;)
Click to expand...

i always fancied a pair of meridian DSP6000 active speakers but the harsh truth is i could never afford a pair :(
iv'e not kept up with recent HIFI offerings but what i have noticed is the price seems to have gone through the roof
it always has been expensive but some of the stuff on offer i just cannot see where the price tag comes from and some stuff i have had the chance to listen to certainly doesn't deserve the price

i'm going to stop there my lust for photography gear is enough if i start looking at HIFI again my wife will definitely divorce me :(

i think you hit the nail on the head about children my audio equipment shares the living room and trying to get a free hour or two with no interruption is nigh on impossible
 
Bobsyeruncle said:
I used to own a high shop a few years back.
Had loads of hifi to listen to:banana:
Click to expand...

nowt do with the music room was it they had a branch in glasgow ( i think it was glasgow ) i used to visit the manchester branch quite a bit in the 80's

edit...

looks like the music room in glasgow is still going the one in manchester closed years ago
 
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OldCarlos said:
I've still got (tuner in use daily) my old JVC separates system that I bought about 30 yrs ago. Don't use the double tape player or turntable these days though. :) I think I paid around £250 then.


How about this:


:LOL:

.
9gvxpx.jpg
Click to expand...
Would £500 buy it
 
cosmicma said:
i always fancied a pair of meridian DSP6000 active speakers but the harsh truth is i could never afford a pair :(
iv'e not kept up with recent HIFI offerings but what i have noticed is the price seems to have gone through the roof
it always has been expensive but some of the stuff on offer i just cannot see where the price tag comes from and some stuff i have had the chance to listen to certainly doesn't deserve the price

i'm going to stop there my lust for photography gear is enough if i start looking at HIFI again my wife will definitely divorce me :(

i think you hit the nail on the head about children my audio equipment shares the living room and trying to get a free hour or two with no interruption is nigh on impossible
Click to expand...
Yes we used to love to just sit down and truly listen to the music. I especially liked going through boxes of unknown stuff. It helped a friend of mine worked for a record company.

I miss those days, but they will be back soon.
 
cosmicma said:
nowt do with the music room was it they had a branch in glasgow ( i think it was glasgow ) i used to visit the manchester branch quite a bit in the 80's

edit...

looks like the music room in glasgow is still going the one in manchester closed years ago
Click to expand...

Was called laser audio in Kilmarnock, then audio with vision in Ayr.
We also had a website called hificablesandaccessories.co.uk
 
Been there and done that myself buddy. Same with home cinema in the early days of progressive scan and superbit DVDs etc. no different than photography as well by chasing the sharpest lens and all that.

I think I've grown out of that now and just take it for what it will be. And actually enjoy the subtle imperfections.
 
Once you stop listening to the system and believing all the hype you can put together some serious music making kit for a darn good price.
 
wack61 said:
That does look nice, my wife would like that, she's not so keen on the aesthetics of this but it sounds good enough to win the argument, especially when I tell her how much it'd cost to get the same sound with something modern

You can tell there's a problem when the kids ask you to turn the music down
Click to expand...

if you ever get the chance have a listen to some meridian HIFI i think it might surprise you how good it really is but cost can be a factor
 
simon ess said:
Once you stop listening to the system and believing all the hype you can put together some serious music making kit for a darn good price.
Click to expand...

i think once you get to the level of companies like meridian , naim , krell , linn etc it's more about expectations rather than hype and differences become very subtle and preference starts to come into play
for example in the 80's i preferred a forward in your face sound and loud that sounded very impressive for 20 minuets and then got tedious and i had a system that did just that
the components for those with any interest was Linn LP12 turntable with alphason HR100s arm and audio technica cartridge , mission cd player , doxa 04 preamp and Perreaux PMF 1150b power amp connected to a pair of Acoustic Research 9LS speakers. the biggest problem with a system like that is it had to be driven to get the best out of it
in the 90's my preference was for a layed back sound with nothing missing at low volumes, something that wasn't easy to achieve the closest i came to the sound i was looking for was using meridian amplification and KEF reference 107's which i listened to for a good few years until i replaced the 107's with the kef model 4's which give me a slightly more open sound but i miss the true bass that the 107's gave

and there's the problem right there i'm talking about the system and not the music :(

i'l shut up now.....
 
I'm with you though, being able to truly hear everything from an arrangement and get the subtleties out. Sometimes when we sat down we heard passages I've never heard before. The depths an organ in an arrangement can get to was like a barbarella moment. But unfortunately, a hum can really spoil such a moment when you are into the music.
 
cosmicma said:
i used to visit the manchester branch quite a bit in the 80's
Click to expand...

"Do you want Dolby with that, grandad?" (youngsters might not understand!).

I have an old JVC amplifier and Acoustic Research AR-4xa speakers. Usually with just a CD player connected although that's currently sitting in my live PA rack.

EDIT: Here it is...



Steve.
 
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I have a 28yr old Technics system, probably hasn't been used in around 20yrs. It currently sits hidden behind a pile of DVD's
 
This £25 hi fi came with a pair of celestion speakers but they've been left in the damp, I've dried them out but haven't got round to plugging them in to see if they work

They're not knackered just need varnishing

It's whether the damp has affected the speakers inside
 
This may reduce the crackling.
With the unit turned off, quickly turn the volume control from low to high a dozen or so times.
 
I used to be 'into' hi-fi (as much as my meagre income would allow), then I decided to end the upgrading, fiddling, twiddling and tweaking and simply buy some bits I could live with and just leave it all alone (except for buying CDs).

So, sticking with the thread title, here's a snap from 7 years ago...

View attachment 44055
 
Lovely :) and very clean as well, my wife hates the dust on the black shelves. I don't mind as she cleans it :)
 
Best HiFi I have ATM is a Bowers and Wilkins set up in the car! Even that is sort of hobbled by me using it to play an iPod through, or CDs.

Played the chasing (so called) perfect sound game and came up against the law of diminishing returns so now have a relatively budget Cambridge Audio CD based set up through an old pair of Technics speakers. Plenty loud enough for a suburban semi and plenty good enough for my ageing ears! Don't have the space to have a dedicated audio room which really top end stuff needs to be heard at its best anyway.
 
Anyone heard of the little chinese t-amps? I bought one last month with a built in dac, along with some compact monitor Audio bx1 speakers for a compact setup for my kitchen. For the peanuts paid for it, it blows any dock or bluetooth type speakers out of the water.
 
I have used a T-amp. As you say, remarkable.

I now use a Temple Audio Bantam Gold digital amp.

My Sugden A21a is in the loft.
 
Bobsyeruncle said:
This may reduce the crackling.
With the unit turned off, quickly turn the volume control from low to high a dozen or so times.
Click to expand...

But before you do that, go to Maplin, buy Servisol contact cleaner, spray it inside the controls.


Steve.
 
rjbell said:
Anyone heard of the little chinese t-amps?
Click to expand...

Only the power amps for live sound which are sold by Thomann.

156557.jpg


This one is 1200 watts per channel which might be a bit excessive for home hi-fi.

Do they make hi-fi amps as well?


Steve.
 
The t in t-amp stands for Tripath which is the name of the chip used. Its a class-d switching amplifer. They are tiny 12v low watt amplifers so need to run sensitive speakers. You can pick them up as little as £20. I bought a Topping tp30 mk2 because it had a usb dac and supports android. I just plug my phone in and it converts the digital signal.
 
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Looks like there are two companies using the t.amp name then.

EDIT: I see the difference now. one is t.amp, the other is t-amp.


Steve.
 
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Nothing really to special for me, just a lovely sounding and looking 1978 SANYO DCA 611 (got it on Kijiji for just $80) and a new U-Turn Orbit turntable, with a Grado Black1 cartridge. The sound comes out of a pair of Pioneer SP-BS22-LR bookshelf speakers.



 
That's a nice looking amp , I think my meters are supposed to be lit but they're not , I had a jvc amp years ago that was lit and it looked great

I've got a wharfedale receiver amp in the attic I might dig that out
 
I used to be a HIFI fan, started out about 20 years ago with some of the Musical Fidelity stuff with some nice big TDL-3 speakers.
Moved on to Meridian and had a 506 CD and the 501 Control unit and a 506 power amp, also a pair of B&W CDM2 speakers on Atacama SE24 stands.

However about 7 years ago I just had a change in direction and found myself just not feeling the love anymore and started being more outdoors than indoors.
It was when I met the wife so I think that played a big part.
So I sat on it for a year then decided to sell it all (apart from the speakers) and go portable and that's been my salvation.

I have an Astell and Kern player and some Shure 535 in ear monitors for outdoors and if I feel the urge indoors I still have the speakers wired up to a denon mini system which to my 46 year old ears sounds pretty damned good.
 
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