I've had the 'bug' for hi-fi since the '70s really and it has never left me. I've bought loads of stuff over the years but to this point, the majority of it has been pre-owned.
A while back, I started looking at classic '70s kit (especially turntables) but recently developed an itch to partner those vintage vinyl front-ends with speakers from the same era. I've considered, Wharfedales, Celestions, Tannoys and Leak. The other day I spotted some Leak 2060s for sale among a job lot including a Leak tuner and a Sony amp (all early/mid '70s stuff) on Marketplace. Originally £160, the seller had discounted to £130. I guessed the speakers alone were worth that, although the ad clearly stated "untested". I saved the ad and ruminated for a few days, by which time the price had dropped to £100! The seller was obviously a house clearance specialist and just wanted to get rid.
I thought I'd make a cheeky offer of £80...which was accepted! I picked up the goods during a quick diversion on our way back from Somerset on Sunday. It all looked in good condition, considering it was over 50 years old!
As soon as I got home I started messing with it and after sticking a piece of copper wire in the aerial socket, I was soon listening to warm, smooth sound courtesy of FM radio. I've started cleaning the speakers up and I rotated the large 30cm woofer cones 180 degrees as a precaution (voice coils can sag over time), sorted some little cosmetic issues and will probably change the binding posts for something more substantial but overall they're pretty much without issue.
The amp is a nice little unit that I may be able to move on for around £30 and the tuner is probably going to fetch around £20 without too much effort so I've got myself a well regarded 'floorstander' monitor speaker of 60ltr volume (weighing 23kg) for the price of a night on the ale!
I've just organised collection of a perfect pair of period stands from Oatby, Leicester which, at 12" high will position the Leaks at optimum height. I can't wait to run through some classic '70s sound once they are in position. They do look huge but the wife has given consent!
I may run them for a while and move them on, unless I really love the sound, in which case the may be 'keepers'.
(https://i.imgur.com/CMtfW3I.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/emlmHS0.jpg)
I have a pair of Mordaunt Short speakers from about 1983. I've retired them two or three times over the years but have returned to them each time and they are still the speakers of my current set up. They really are built like tanks, sound as good as the day I bought them and look like hopefully going on forever.
I did have a nice HiFi setup when I lived in London, with a Numeral Pink Triangle CD player, Arcam amp and Mission floorstanding speakers. These days I mostly use my PC - I have an outboard desktop DAC / amp connected to two Paradigm monitor speakers. But I mostly use headphones. Sennheisers, but I keep meaning to treat myself to an improperly expensive pair.
Lovely set David. Nice job of getting it at that price.
Myself I am happy with my Denon pma-1600ne that has a full analog setting bypassing the digital stage. I play LPs 99% of the time anyway.
When I was younger I had a set built by my father who was a hifi enthusiast and built all of his own equipment. Amp, speakers, even a pair of headphones with volume knobs ;D only the record player was store bought.
Quote from: Slim on March 29, 2023, 11:07:36 AMI did have a nice HiFi setup when I lived in London, with a Numeral Pink Triangle CD player, Arcam amp and Mission floorstanding speakers.
Found a review of my old Pink Triangle that I wrote myself, 24 years ago. Still online, third one down. It's still in the loft somewhere.
http://www.audioreview.com/product/digital-sources/cd-players/pink-triangle/numeral.html
Quote from: Slim on April 02, 2023, 07:26:41 AMQuote from: Slim on March 29, 2023, 11:07:36 AMI did have a nice HiFi setup when I lived in London, with a Numeral Pink Triangle CD player, Arcam amp and Mission floorstanding speakers.
Found a review of my old Pink Triangle that I wrote myself, 24 years ago. Still online, third one down. It's still in the loft somewhere.
http://www.audioreview.com/product/digital-sources/cd-players/pink-triangle/numeral.html
Nice review. I see you had an Arcam Alpha 9 amp. I too had Arcam stuff for years around that era. Presumably it was the black series with the very unique styling (rounded edges....'wavy', I'd call it).
My 'real' hi-fi journey started with a Rega Planar 2 TT, Rotel RA 8020 amp and a pair of Heybrook HB 1 speakers. There came a point when I felt I could no longer resist buying a CD player(!) and at that point I went with an Arcam Alpha 8 CD with an Alpha 8 integrated amp which I teamed with Acoustic Energy AE109 floorstanders.
The amp got a partnering Alpha 8P power amp before too long (bi-amping was all the rage!). I wasted a bit of money upgrading the CD to 'SE' spec. Essentially, allowing the playing of HDCD (44Khz/20-bit) CDs. They never really took off so there were very few CDs available in this format.
I liked the Arcam stuff though and lived happily with it for many years. I don't think it owed me any money when I finally moved it on.
Been toying with the idea of sprucing up my Technics sl 1200 TT. I love the thing, solid as a rock but I much prefer the look of a wood plinth. I can get a custom built one where I just drop the TT in to have that vintage look.
Doesn't do anything soundwise of course.
Still, when funds allow I might take the plunge.
Quote from: Thenop on April 02, 2023, 07:19:55 AMLovely set David. Nice job of getting it at that price.
Myself I am happy with my Denon pma-1600ne that has a full analog setting bypassing the digital stage. I play LPs 99% of the time anyway.
When I was younger I had a set built by my father who was a hifi enthusiast and built all of his own equipment. Amp, speakers, even a pair of headphones with volume knobs ;D only the record player was store bought.
Building hi-fi amps and speakers was very popular back in the '70s supported by the likes of Hi-Fi World magazine. Must have been quite a thrill to listen to your favourite music through self-built kit. Of course, the advantage of this approach was to obtain equipment of high quality much cheaper than you could purchase.
I have just put the Sony amp up for sale on a few sites. After doing some research, I thought I'd chance my arm and ask £100 for it. I've cleaned it up a little but it didn't need much. It's a great little unit with a lovely warm sound. I tested all the inputs and everything works as it should. I do get rather attached to this sort of stuff but I've already got three Audiolab amps up in the loft!
https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/992484158801939/
Quote from: Thenop on April 02, 2023, 09:28:06 AMBeen toying with the idea of sprucing up my Technics sl 1200 TT. I love the thing, solid as a rock but I much prefer the look of a wood plinth. I can get a custom built one where I just drop the TT in to have that vintage look.
Doesn't do anything soundwise of course.
Still, when funds allow I might take the plunge.
Or you could just replace it with a 'period' piece ;D
Quote from: David L on April 02, 2023, 09:34:30 AMQuote from: Thenop on April 02, 2023, 09:28:06 AMBeen toying with the idea of sprucing up my Technics sl 1200 TT. I love the thing, solid as a rock but I much prefer the look of a wood plinth. I can get a custom built one where I just drop the TT in to have that vintage look.
Doesn't do anything soundwise of course.
Still, when funds allow I might take the plunge.
Or you could just replace it with a 'period' piece ;D
Nope. This thing runs so solid. I love it.
Funny thing though, when I went looking for a new one I first went in for a done up old one. They had one but in the end I found it too much work to keep that running.
So I bought a new Technics. Never looked back. Changed the stylus recently. Have an AT VML740 on it. Supersmooth.
Quote from: Thenop on April 02, 2023, 09:55:39 AMQuote from: David L on April 02, 2023, 09:34:30 AMQuote from: Thenop on April 02, 2023, 09:28:06 AMBeen toying with the idea of sprucing up my Technics sl 1200 TT. I love the thing, solid as a rock but I much prefer the look of a wood plinth. I can get a custom built one where I just drop the TT in to have that vintage look.
Doesn't do anything soundwise of course.
Still, when funds allow I might take the plunge.
Or you could just replace it with a 'period' piece ;D
Nope. This thing runs so solid. I love it.
Funny thing though, when I went looking for a new one I first went in for a done up old one. They had one but in the end I found it too much work to keep that running.
So I bought a new Technics. Never looked back. Changed the stylus recently. Have an AT VML740 on it. Supersmooth.
They are great...and, as you say, built like a tank!
(https://i.imgur.com/yEso1DL.jpg)
My current audio set-up.
Vinyl:
Belt-driven 'granite' TT (personal design) fitted with Acoustic Signature TA-1000 12" tonearm with Ortofon Cadenza Bronze MC cartrige feeding a Thom Evans MicroGroove phono stage
Pioneer PL-530 direct-drive fully automatic TT fitted with Shure M95 MM cart feeding an Angle audio phono stage.
(A third TT, a Thorens TD150 MKII, is stored in the loft at the moment)
Digital
Primare DVD30. For streaming (Quobuz), I use an iPad with an Arcam iDock into a TEAC DAC
Amplification provided by a Primare Pre 30 feeding a Primare A33.2 stereo power amp. For headphones (Focal Elegia) I have a Graham Slee Solo headphone amp.
I also have a Cambridge Audio DAB tuner but it's retired as I can stream radio from the iPad if necessary.
The rack is absolutely rammed and the wiring behind is like a bowl of spaghetti!
Speakers are Monitor Audio PL100 on dedicated stands (soon to be put into semi-retirement once I have the stands for the 'new' Leaks)
I have a very understanding wife ;D
I bought these beauties last night!
(https://i.imgur.com/cqGIoBb.jpg)
I've been on the lookout for a decent pair at a sensible price since I borrowed a pair from my friend JJ (he has two pairs!).
The NS1000M were manufactured through the 70s and 80s and are a three-way, closed-box design utilising beryllium mid-range and tweeters with a 12" paper cone woofer. Designed mainly as studio monitors (hence the 'industrial' appearance) they also found favour with audiophiles and were noted for their accuracy. The potentiometers allow tweaking of the mid-range and tweeter response. In today's money, you'd probably be looking at £4-5K. They work well in my lounge where thy have to be close to the rear wall. Despite the looks, the wife is unfazed by the introduction of these behemoths!
JJ got the heads-up on these through an owners/enthusiasts forum. They were on Marketplace at £750. They were far better and cheaper than any of the other half a dozen or so pairs already up on Ebay etc (the best were over £1500).
Situated in Oakham, Rutland, they were within reasonable distance and I made arrangements for me and JJ to pop up there last night straight from work. So, with £750 cash in my pocket, we excitedly set off up the A43 towards Northampton, Kettering and via the A6003 to Oakham.
The weather was absolutely foul! 'Stair rods' for a lot of the journey, it was slow progress. We got there in around two and a quarter hours at which time the rain had eased. The guy selling them was pretty clueless but had a lot of stuff in his garage that he was selling on behalf of someone he does work for on the basis of a fifty-fifty split. The NS1000s were by far the best items.
I would've probably chanced buying then untested but JJ suggested he took an amp with an iPod and some speaker leads........good idea. The mid-range on one of them was not working. Luckily the guy allowed us to remove the driver and prove that the issue was with the wiring or the crossover - phew!
On the basis that they needed a little work, I kocked him down to £700 - we were both happy! We celebrated with a curry at The Rutland Balti House before heading back with the goods. The drive back was less tense due to improved weather.
My good friend has offered to give them a good 'fettlin' when he's finished working on his second pair.
An absolute bargain and at that price they'd have probably been snapped up before the weekend. I'm a very happy chappie!
Excellent score that, and a good and sensible friend you have. I have the tendency to accept things easily as well, too easily sometimes. So having someone there that ios a bit more detached helps.
I presume a strict protocal has been set what to play first, second and so on?
What an extraordinary company Yamaha is. They make guitars, they make motorbikes, they make keyboards, they make outboard motors for boats and they make HiFi equipment.
Quote from: Slim on October 04, 2023, 07:20:18 PMWhat an extraordinary company Yamaha is. They make guitars, they make motorbikes, they make keyboards, they make outboard motors for boats and they make HiFi equipment.
Don't forget they make top of the line drumkit. The recording customs sets are top of the bill and you find them in many recording studios because of their versatility and warm sound.
Quote from: Thenop on October 04, 2023, 08:05:06 PMQuote from: Slim on October 04, 2023, 07:20:18 PMWhat an extraordinary company Yamaha is. They make guitars, they make motorbikes, they make keyboards, they make outboard motors for boats and they make HiFi equipment.
Don't forget they make top of the line drumkit. The recording customs sets are top of the bill and you find them in many recording studios because of their versatility and warm sound.
Didn't Cozy play a Yamaha kit?
They do make lots of different 'things' and, in my experience, all with one defining feature..............quality.
I saw a nicely restored FS1E moped for a shade under £8K the other day 😲
Quote from: David L on October 04, 2023, 09:38:01 PMQuote from: Thenop on October 04, 2023, 08:05:06 PMQuote from: Slim on October 04, 2023, 07:20:18 PMWhat an extraordinary company Yamaha is. They make guitars, they make motorbikes, they make keyboards, they make outboard motors for boats and they make HiFi equipment.
Don't forget they make top of the line drumkit. The recording customs sets are top of the bill and you find them in many recording studios because of their versatility and warm sound.
Didn't Cozy play a Yamaha kit?
They do make lots of different 'things' and, in my experience, all with one defining feature..............quality.
I saw a nicely restored FS1E moped for a shade under £8K the other day 😲
He did. But the Yamaha kit you heard most is the one John 'JR' Robinson played in the 80s up to the late 00s. Look him up. It's hard to have missed him on drums. He's the most recorded drummer in history...
Quote from: Slim on October 04, 2023, 07:20:18 PMWhat an extraordinary company Yamaha is. They make guitars, they make motorbikes, they make keyboards, they make outboard motors for boats and they make HiFi equipment.
They also appear to have a heart, which is something of a rarity in commerce. I found this story quite touching when I first heard it.
"In an unprecedented gesture of good will, Yamaha Corporation and its President, Takuya Nakata, have granted possession of the Sequential brand back to its original owner and company founder, Dave Smith. "To say that I'm grateful would be putting it mildly," said Smith. "Generosity at this level is almost unheard of in today's corporate climate."
Like the other pioneering American synthesizer manufacturers of the late 1970's and 80's, Moog and Oberheim, Sequential's fortunes declined when digital instruments eclipsed their analog counterparts. All three company founders subsequently lost the rights to their own company name. When Sequential ceased operations in 1987, its name and assets were acquired by Yamaha. For a number of years following that, Smith worked as a consultant for Yamaha and Korg, and was largely responsible for Korg's successful Wavestation series of vector-synthesis-based instruments.
Instrumental in restoring the Sequential name was Roland's Founder, Ikutaro Kakehashi, a longtime colleague and friend of Smith's. "I feel that it's important to get rid of unnecessary conflict among electronic musical instrument companies," said Kakehashi. "That is exactly the spirit of MIDI. For this reason, I personally recommended that the President of Yamaha, Mr. Nakata, return the rights to the Sequential name to Dave Smith. And I'm glad to see such a wonderful result—a new product with the Sequential name."
Vinyl better than digital?
Objectively, as a means of reproducing audio signals, digital has the ability to do the job better than vinyl and the standard CD format does this. It's more accurate. "High resolution" audio isn't a real thing, it's just marketing bollocks.
It comes down to whether you like the "sound" of vinyl (or the fun of owning the medium and the packaging). There are other variables as well obviously like the quality of the source - a badly recorded or mastered CD could sound "worse", whatever you take that to mean, than a well done vinyl record, despite the compromises inherent to the latter format.
Quote from: Slim on December 20, 2023, 09:46:10 AMObjectively, as a means of reproducing audio signals, digital has the ability to do the job better than vinyl and the standard CD format does this. It's more accurate. "High resolution" audio isn't a real thing, it's just marketing bollocks.
It comes down to whether you like the "sound" of vinyl (or the fun of owning the medium and the packaging). There are other variables as well obviously like the quality of the source - a badly recorded or mastered CD could sound "worse", whatever you take that to mean, than a well done vinyl record, despite the compromises inherent to the latter format.
Yes, that's right. In this case sounding 'worse' is the compression of musical dynamics. I'm really surprised that there's still an insistence to compress at the mastering stage for digital. The last few Rush albums suffered terribly from this approach. Listen to their '70s and early '80s albums and they clearly have far more dynamic range than their last few records. It's a case of commerce trumping art.
The whole compression thing is to make it all sound the same for the streaming market. Music owners (record companies are a thing of the past - it now seems an investers market) don't want their 'product' eclipsed by something that is LOUDER.
It's the equivalent of a market salesman shouting loudest at the weekly fair to sell their goods. Doesn't make it better.
Quote from: Thenop on December 20, 2023, 10:32:34 AMThe whole compression thing is to make it all sound the same for the streaming market. Music owners (record companies are a thing of the past - it now seems an investers market) don't want their 'product' eclipsed by something that is LOUDER.
It's the equivalent of a market salesman shouting loudest at the weekly fair to sell their goods. Doesn't make it better.
Yes, because dynamics are lost if you are listening in the car, on a phone or with (most) earbuds. Making music more 'impactful' is a better goal for the businessmen.
People that care about audio quality get a raw deal.
Does someone like Steven Wilson have a say in how his material is streamed, or is it purely a technical industry decision?
Quote from: The Picnic Wasp on December 20, 2023, 12:25:35 PMDoes someone like Steven Wilson have a say in how his material streamed, or is it purely a technical industry decision?
No idea. I'm sure he'd have a lot to say on the matter. At the end of the day it depends on how much power is in the hands of the artist. Having said that, they themselves may agree to compression if they feel that benefits the experience of the majority of listeners ergo helping their own career.
In the case of SW, it would fly in the face of his reputation as an artist that cares deeply about sound quality.
Quite a fascinating subject
In the 1980s I had a reasonable sounding set-up. Technics separates which suited my budget, paired with hefty Mordaunt Short speakers which I still use. I've pretty much been left behind by audio innovation and really need to play catch-up now. My Technics amp still works after all this time, at least I hope so as it's currently stored away. I wonder whether I should use this plus the speakers and just add some bits and pieces. I suppose the amp might be the weak link if it's approaching the end of its useful life. I really would like to buy a bit of vinyl again from time to time, as well as playing a few that I couldn't resist on eBay over the years but have never played.
Amps, especially older ones, are not difficult to service. if it's the analog sound you want, with the record player set up a good cleaning would probably do the trick. It's not difficult, there are may Youtube tutorials showing you how. But there's always the local handyman that could do it for you at a good price.
Never been a fan of MS speakers, they sound a bit harsh to me, but if they work for you - great.
A record player then (assuming you have a phono in on the amp) does need a bit of maintenance if not used for a while. You said Technics so it'll be a direct drive, that saves you replacing a belt but a bit of cleaning would surely help.
I'm probably going to pull the trigger on an Ever Solo DMP-A6 soon to replace my aging iPad/rDock/Teac DAC set-up for streaming. Great reviews. I'll probably wait until the new year to see if it is discounted anywhere
https://www.eversolo.com/Product/index/model/DMP-A6/target/7abWHw%2B%2BoHhKKmVViAFMcQ%3D%3D.html
I love how they try to win you over with nonsensical terms in ads like these.
deeply tailored system is my favourite here I think.
Anyway, enjoy, new piece of kit is always nice.
I've just bought myself a pair of Sony WH-1000XM4 Noise Cancelling Wireless headphones.
I had a hearing test the other week and, unsurprisingly, my high frequency hearing has tailed off somewhat. This is a classic age-related issue and is not helped by subjecting your ears to prolonged exposure to, among other things, loud music. I've always been fairly sensible when it comes to volume levels but loud gigs have probably played their part too. I resisted the offer of some electronic assistance at this time and the audiologist agreed that was OK if I was not too bothered about it at the moment. I have found myself increasingly struggling with 'quiet' or 'unclear' voices but I suppose I'm not ready for a pair of 'deaf aids' just yet!
Having discussed my listening habits with the audiologist, I decided it would be a good idea to try a pair of noise-cancelling headphones to help reduce my listening levels to try to help slow the deterioration a bit.
I have been using ear buds for some time whilst exercising on the treadmill and there's no doubt that I'm turning the volume up considerably to overcome the background noise. Ear buds are a poor choice, it turns out, as they direct the output directly into the ear canal (potentially) causing far more damage than 'on ear' or 'over ear' phones. Also, having recently struggled to listen to in-flight entertainment with the crappy phones supplied by the airline over the drone of the engines, I thought the investment would be worthwhile (we'll hopefully be flying more frequently, possibly long-haul, now we are retired). And I love buying audio kit ;D
I already have a pair of wireless Sennheisers (RS120) that work on a radio connection rather than bluetooth. They are the second pair I've owned and have been great. I had them connected to a headphone amp so can listen to any music source and the TV. I listen to the TV using the w/less phones every night so as not to disturb the wife who retires to bed long before me. The good thing about the RS120s is the range is fantastic and I can wander all over the house and even work all around the garden and enjoy listening to music, radio etc. Bluetooth has always been rather limited in range but, after doing some research I thought I could probably equip myself with ANC and replace the RS120s. Bluetooth has developed to the point that the compromises in audio quality have largely been overcome and range can be increased with a decent Bluetooth transmitter.
So today I completed the change, fully, to Bluetooth. Along with the Sony phones, I've set up a 1Mii B03Pro+ Bluetooth Transmitter/Receiver. This excellent fag packet-sized bit of kit allows the Sonys to use a high quality LDAC Bluetooth connection for best audio quality and improves the Bluetooth range. Connected to my headphone amp via the transmitter's 3.5mm 'aux input', I've now got all the functionality I had previously. The BT Transmitter sits on a small glass wall-mounted shelf where the RS120s were located. It really is a neat solution with a small LCD screen on which you can see all the connectivity info.
The Sonys have a good number of adjustments via the app and the ANC works well when required. So much better to listen to music now when the wife is watching TV in the same room. I haven't yet tried them when I'm running on the treadmill but one of my biggest concerns would be that they would be too loose on my small bonce but I'm confident that won't be an issue.
I decided, also to buy a really neat two-headphone bracket to hang both the new Sonys and my wired Focals on - a really neat solution to storing both sets close to my hi-fi rack.
I'm pretty chuffed tbh. the only issue I've found is that when the Sonys are not 'paired' to the 1Mii B03Pro+ I get a low squeal of interference over the speakers, if amp volume is up, every minute or so. However, I guessed that this was the transmitter searching for a BT- connectible device so turning the transmitter off sorted that out. Luckily the transmitter has an on/off switch on the side so no unplugging necessary and pairing to the phones is super easy and quick when required.
I'm in headphone heaven :D
Nice,
I love headphones, I had a pair of these and donated them to my wife when I bought my Focal Bathys. I have had 2 pairs of Sony's (XM2 and XM4) a Dali IO-6 (good but not good enough) and now the Bathys. I commute by public transport so it is a must have, plus I am not a fan of IEMs.
LDAC is a great audio codec, quality is fantastic.
For exercising I am not sure this works, even though the Sony's ANC is unrivaled the constant up and down motion makes for a 'thump' that is clearly audible. That might just be something you need to get used to of course.
Enjoy!
After having been a Sennheiser guy for nearly 2 decades, I have now ordered a Fiio FT7.
It's a different beast, a planar type set so I am curious to find out what this will do for me. I have read may reviews, seen some even on YouTube and they nearly all describe this one as a giant killer. Meaning headphones far more expensive do less for reviewers.
Of course a 14 day return policy helps as well, if it sucks (it won't) I can return it. It's an investment, for home use but consdiering I was contemplating a Senheiser HD800s or even an 820, this is much better value for money it seems.
Roll on delivery day!
Nice.
I've got a set of Fiio FT1 Pros myself. Part-exed my trusty old Grado 'phones in Richer Sounds a few months ago.
Love 'em. Open back planar.
It's in! First impressions count and I am not disappointed.
A few observations:
this set comes with 2 sets of earpads, the leather ones are on it as a standard but the treble is overwhelming, the fabric pads smooth that out a bit and considering I have been Sennheiser-ing (and Focal-ing on the road) this amount of treble is easily mistaken for unconformtable. It is not, the longer I listen the less I notice it.
What is very noticeable immediately: it is unforgiving. A bad mix is very quickly spotted. This may sound strange but a lot of speakers and headphones are designed to mask that. They do not pull apart the frequencies, they smear them together. These open back planars don't do that. it's like listening with the window open and letting the air in. It really is quite remarkable.
I will however keep my HD660s on hand as well because, well, metal is notoriously badly produced. Which is not strange considering the volume and distortion levels that need taming, so that needs a little more smoothing over ;)
So far I am happy, and like with every new piece of kit I am re-discovering my music catalogue. Lovely.
After a long search, I've just ordered a new phono stage. I currently have two TTs, a Pioneer PL530 with a Shure MM cart and a self-designed deck with an Ortofon Cadenza Bronze MC cartridge. I'm using a Tom Evans Microgroove for the MC and a cheap (but great) Angle Audio MM stage. Both connected to my Primare Pre30 amp via two RCA inputs.
My aim has long been to employ a phono stage that has two (or more) TT inputs that can be configured for MM or MC with a balanced (XLR) output. I have a spare balanced input on the amp and this should be the optimum connection for both TTs.
I finally settled on a Musical Fidelity M6x Vinyl phono stage based on price/features and reviews. I'm buying the phono stage from Peter Tyson who currently have it on offer and are prepared to accept a pair of Monitor Audio PL100 speakers in part-ex (replaced by a pre-owned pair of Yamaha NS1000s a while back). They're giving me a good price which will help greatly towards my new purchase.I'm hoping this will scratch the itch and also provide a quieter signal from the MC which suffers from a slight hum, although not noticeable at the levels I listen at.
I've lived with the Sony WH-1000XM4 headphones for a couple of months now. I'm very happy with them. Along with the 1Mii B03Pro+ bluetooth transmitter, they provide everything I was looking for in a noise-cancelling headphone.
I can now listen to my music in the lounge with no audio interference whilst the wife is watching TV. They also work very well on the bike trainer and treadmill, where I pair them with the iPad positioned on the integral bracket. With the 1Mii B03Pro+, range is great too! Combined with comfort, a great upgrade. Looking forward to trying them on a flight in the future.
Quote from: David L on February 17, 2026, 10:03:33 AMI've lived with the Sony WH-1000XM4 headphones for a couple of months now. I'm very happy with them. Along with the 1Mii B03Pro+ bluetooth transmitter, they provide everything I was looking for in a noise-cancelling headphone.
I can now listen to my music in the lounge with no audio interference whilst the wife is watching TV. They also work very well on the bike trainer and treadmill, where I pair them with the iPad positioned on the integral bracket. With the 1Mii B03Pro+, range is great too! Combined with comfort, a great upgrade. Looking forward to trying them on a flight in the future.
Handed them to my wife. She wore out the XM2 and I wasn't using them. I have my Focal Bathys.
Quote from: Thenop on February 17, 2026, 11:52:07 AMQuote from: David L on February 17, 2026, 10:03:33 AMI've lived with the Sony WH-1000XM4 headphones for a couple of months now. I'm very happy with them. Along with the 1Mii B03Pro+ bluetooth transmitter, they provide everything I was looking for in a noise-cancelling headphone.
I can now listen to my music in the lounge with no audio interference whilst the wife is watching TV. They also work very well on the bike trainer and treadmill, where I pair them with the iPad positioned on the integral bracket. With the 1Mii B03Pro+, range is great too! Combined with comfort, a great upgrade. Looking forward to trying them on a flight in the future.
Handed them to my wife. She wore out the XM2 and I wasn't using them. I have my Focal Bathys.
I use my Focal Elegias for 'serious' listening :)
I am considering getting a pair of Wharfedale Linton Heritage speakers. If anything to just compare them to my much more modern sounding Dali Oberon 7s.
Matching them with my amp and habit to play vinyl I am curious to hear how it sounds. Lush and 70s I suppose. Forgiving like the speakers of that era were.
Will have a think, maybe sell some things first.
Quote from: Thenop on May 14, 2026, 07:49:55 AMI am considering getting a pair of Wharfedale Linton Heritage speakers. If anything to just compare them to my much more modern sounding Dali Oberon 7s.
Matching them with my amp and habit to play vinyl I am curious to hear how it sounds. Lush and 70s I suppose. Forgiving like the speakers of that era were.
Will have a think, maybe sell some things first.
I had a vintage itch to scratch and bought some pre-owned dirt cheap Leak 'Sandwich' 2030 speakers a while back. They were large sealed cabinet speakers and pretty good. They've now gone, swapped for (again pre-owned) Yamaha NS1000 monitors. I'm really happy with them but they are probably not a 'classic-sounding' vintage speaker like a Wharfedale, Celestion, Kef etc.
If you're really looking for a different presentation, I'd go pre-owned, vintage for authenticity. There's a movement among manufactures to re-create the look of those speakers but, I'd guess, the sound is more modern than the originals. And, of course, they carry an inflated price tag.
Might be worth looking at Celestion Ditton range. Buy them, try them, move them on if you don't appreciate them. There are bargains to be had in the pre-owned vintage market.
I let the vintage itch for what it is. I focused on my headphone obsession and how to get the best out them.
I was playing my Fiio FT7 through a small ifi stack designed for the Sennheiser HD660, but ever since I have been using the Fiio I felt something was off.
Clearly enough - and I should have thought of that - the Fiio being an open back planar type, need a lot of power (or gain) to drive them properly. Although the little stack (actually a combo of a DAC and a headphone amp, lovely stuff, good looking showpiece on my desk :-)) in principle has enough power to drive them it bordered on overkill. The higesht gain setting gives the power (duh) but that means you start at +18 dB so there is a big chance on distortion and the lack of headroom bothered me a little bit.
While the Fiio should have lightning fast bass response, it did not come really to life.
Being happy with the ifi brand (they're British you know..) I looked a bit further and found they have a line that's bit above what I had, and I plunged in.
The Ifi Neo iDSD2 (too much words) drew my attention and I had been waiting a while for it to drop in price. Not too long ago the 3 was introduced with all sorts of features I have zero intrest in, but it did what it needed to: it made the 2 drop in price.
Received it this afternoon and plugged it in. It has a whopping 5,551 mW (@ 32Ω) and the Fiio operates at 25Ω so I have a ton of headroom and it really helps keeping those deep bass tones in check and make sense of complex and busy recordings.
So, now the fun starts, I asked AI to come up with a playlist of 20 tracks, outside of the known audiophile territory (I know Pink Floyd sounds great, I am not interested in classic rock perse, especially not when testing new gear), I gave it some parameters and it came up with a great list:
Amon Tobin - Sordid
Lorn - Acid Rain
Malika Zarra - Houaria
Alva Noto & Ryuichi Sakamoto - Duon
Tigran Hamasyan - The Court Jester
Colin Stetson - Spindrift
The Comet Is Coming - Summon the Fire
Nils Petter Molvær - Khmer
Gojira - The Art of DyingT
ool - Chocolate Chip Trip
Devin Townsend Project - Kingdom
Ne Obliviscaris - And Plague Flowers the Kaleidoscope
Karnivool - Simple Boy
Porcupine Tree - Anesthetize
The Mars Volta - Inertiatic ESP
A Perfect Circle - The Package
David Sylvian & Holger Czukay - Plight (The Spiralling of Winter Ghosts)
Ali Farka Touré & Ry Cooder - Gomni
Mark Lanegan - Bleeding Muddy Water
Talk Talk - The Rainbow
Browsing and listening now. and thinking of my playlist that I will curate for this purpose.
Excellent, I hope it delivers. I see you've got some Alex to listen to on that list ;D ;)
Yeah Porky Tree is there. Might replace it with Pineapple Thief, everything seems a mirror image as well. White Mist perhaps.
pffff, so my new amp/dac sounds fantastic but has an issue with the Xmos chip that is built in, bit of a tech thing I don't really nuderstand (has to do with signals going back and forth to my iMac and the 'closing' of USB ports that do not 100% match with the signal from the amp).
The good news: the solution lies in the new firmware,the bad news: this company has deciced in all its wisdom to make this device compatible with Mac when selling, but firmware updates are only possible through Windows.
Very annoying and disappointing. The only thing I hate more than to fix these things is to send it back - whoich I won't.
So, found a helpful neighbour and did the update.
Still stupid to include a .dmg in the firmware download with no way to upload it through an iMac.
Quote from: Thenop on July 07, 2026, 07:53:17 AMSo, found a helpful neighbour and did the update.
Still stupid to include a .dmg in the firmware download with no way to upload it through an iMac.
Yes, that seems to be an oversight that will cause many unnecessary stress.
It's an increasing feature of audio equipment that updates are regularly required. It seems that products are now being brought to market that would appear to be only partly-developed. My streamer has had numerous updates since I bought it.
I wouldn't be at all surprised if internet connectivity is required for new turntables in the near future!
Bought a pair of Mission 700 speakers with stands. Hopefully they'll be here tomorrow. Wanted to try them, as an alternative to my Dali's.
I consider it an upgrade, nbut also a vastly different listeing experience. Pondered on the Wharfedale's but they'd just be more of the same and then some over the Dali's. Plus they need space to fully develop. The Mission ones less so.
Fun fact I discovered: they are both designed by the same engineer: Peter Comeau
Quote from: Thenop on July 30, 2026, 06:10:27 PMBought a pair of Mission 700 speakers with stands. Hopefully they'll be here tomorrow. Wanted to try them, as an alternative to my Dali's.
I consider it an upgrade, nbut also a vastly different listeing experience. Pondered on the Wharfedale's but they'd just be more of the same and then some over the Dali's. Plus they need space to fully develop. The Mission ones less so.
Fun fact I discovered: they are both designed by the same engineer: Peter Comeau
Iconic looking speakers - enjoy!