Prattlin' Dave's HiFi Rambles...

[synsei]

I have an existing thread in The Gallery somewhere, but I neglected to subscribe to it and now I can't find it, so I've decided to begin another ... (I'll add as much info and photos as I can in stages)

I've been a music lover as long as I can remember thanks to my late father. It was he who also piqued my interest in Hi-Fi when he brought home a very expensive Marantz separates system back in the early 1970's. I remember the massive argument between him and my mother very well

My adventures in Hi-Fi began around 1980 when I acquired a Rigonda Corvette TT, a Sony TA73 integrated amp and a pair of Videoton Minimax speakers. The story behind this system is documented elsewhere on the forum, so I won't repeat myself here, only to say that if anyone knows of a pair of Minimax's up for sale to PM me please as I'd love to acquire another pair.

After an extended period out of the Hi-Fi game, I rediscovered the bug again early in 2010 when I won a system on eBay for £120. This consisted of a NAD CD524, a NAD 3140 integrated amp and a pair of Mission 773's.



I added a Thorens TD316 fitted with a Linn LVX+ tonearm and Linn Basik cart fitted with an ATN95e stylus, a Cambridge Audio 540p phonostage and the vintage Sony ST73 tuner you can see in the pics. The Sony MD player I owned already. The system it came from couldn't really be defined as Hi-Fi so I haven't included it on here. All the above were picked up on eBay for the princely sum of £125.

[Tim]

Wow, £120.00 for that was a real bargain - got you back on the road too, that's a great days work on eBay

[synsei]

Yup Tim, I was a very happy bunny that day I can tell you...

[Marco]

Hi Dave,

I have an existing thread in The Gallery somewhere, but I neglected to subscribe to it and now I can't find it...

Would it be this, with all the pictures now deleted from your Photobucket account:

http://theartofsound.net/forum/showthread.php?t=7837



Marco.

[synsei]

After fixing one bass/mid and replacing another I decided the Mission's weren't really doing it for me, so I began to browse eBay again for something a little more suitable. That's when I found the Hafler...



This I won for £95 plus £8 postage from a reclaim centre, which was a result. I've had it open since and someone has spent a lot of money on this amp to keep it up to and beyond spec. To begin with I used the pre-amp section on the 3140 to drive the Hafler, but this combo never really gelled.

The day after I won the Hafler I noticed these on eBay with 12hrs to go and no bids. they were on a 'Buy It Now' for £165.



After a crafty, pre-emptive phone call I secured the LS55's for £120 (seems to be my lucky number).

[synsei]

Hi Dave,



Would it be this, with all the pictures now deleted from your Photobucket account:

http://theartofsound.net/forum/showthread.php?t=7837



Marco.

Could be?

You can delete it if you wish Marco, I'm starting afresh anyhoo...

[synsei]

Two months on and a trip to Peterborough later and I arrived home with an Audiolab 8000c pre-amp for, you guessed it, £120 after another cheeky phone offer...

This was a huge improvement over the 3140 and got even better when I bought SatanFriendly's (Chris) TD160 mkII, SME Series III and Goldring G900IGC and some new IC's.

[synsei]

After that came the Beresford Caiman pre-fitted with a 'Gator board direct from Stan, the only new component currently in my system and another step up on the Stairway To Heaven.

That brings me to my latest addition, although perhaps that is a bit pre-emptive as I've yet to pay for it

With many thanks to Mark (Reid Malenfant), I am currently trying before buying his Classe Audio DR5 pre-amp. This is an astonishingly capable piece of kit that has totally transformed the sound of my system. The lack of bass extension and definition that has been the bane of my system since the early days is no more. If one ever needed a demonstration of how just one component can change the entire characteristics of a system, pop around to mine one day before I offload the Audiolab and I will eagerly demonstrate it to you...



I will post better pics tomorrow...

[DSJR]

I wonder if Stan could make a cheap line only multi-input preamp based on the current Gator board, or would it cost too much to tool up for this?

Pleae could you remind me the mat combo in the Thorens?

[synsei]

I wonder if Stan could make a cheap line only multi-input preamp based on the current Gator board, or would it cost too much to tool up for this?

Pleae could you remind me the mat combo in the Thorens?

Hi Dave,

I suggested a similar thing in one of my posts on another thread. As I discovered, the little Caiman is very capable when used as a pre-amp for digital sources. My suggestion was to design a modular input system for the Caiman so the user could pick and chose what inputs they might need for their system. For example, I don't use the optical input on my Caiman and would swap it for a line only input in a heartbeat if I could. Mind you, now I've heard the DR5 I couldn't go back to using the Caiman, as the DR5 is several 'Classe's' above it in the scale of its delivery, not to mention that I can now use my Thorens...

There is an Acrylic mat and a thin, Sorbothane mat on the TT. The thinner mat is supposed to sit under the Acrylic one to prevent slippage, but I find the Acrylic mat sits firmly on the platter with no problems. I use the thinner Sorbothane mat on top as I find many of my records do slip if the combo is reversed.