What classics changed your hi-fi life?

[Jac Hawk]

What got me into HiFi was my dads cast offs, an old Leak amp and some wharfedales, but it was when i 1st saw his TD160 and SME 3009 set up and all fabulous looking, then i heard it, WOW it blew my frikin socks off, 5 years later i had one of my very own, and the rest they say..............

[Ergoline]

This is a great thread! I've had a blast reading through everyone's stories.

There's one experience I had when I was seven or eight at my Grandfather's house that I'll never forget. I wish I had more details on the system, but my memory isn't the best (also, at that age, Power Rangers were relevant to my life. Hi-fi gear, not so much)

He had a beastly Onkyo Receiver that was twice as wide as me (and probably heavier). I haven't the slightest idea of the model, but it had a silver face and an amber light-up radio display. The speakers were Bose 601s (gasp!). They were floor standing units with a grill on the front and the top of the speaker, and my Grandfather had them positioned in the corners of the room.



I've been playing the piano since I was six, and at this point I wasn't too good at it, but I knew what a real piano sounded like. My Magnavox boombox at home certainly didn't sound like a real piano. My Grandfather played a CD that I still have today on a multi-disc changer (could have been a Teac, but I'm not sure; my Grandfather had a lot of electronics). The disc was called "Beruhmte Klavier Sonaten" (Beethoven Piano Sonatas) by Dubravka Tomsic on the Pilz label, CD 160 203. I sat down on his tacky old-school couch and he put on the first movement of the "Pathetique" Sonata and cranked the Onkyo.

At first, I was just stunned by the volume and scale of the output. The piano sounded like a huge carnivore, and it was full, rich, and deliciously dynamic. I believe my limited vocabulary at the time only allowed me to express "sweet dude!," but I remember the sound vividly. It sounded like I was ten feet away from a concert grand.

I'm sure that if I assembled this identical system today, it wouldn't be the best sound I ever heard. But it was one of the most eye-opening hi-fi experiences of my life.

[Neil McCauley]

For me it was twin mono Levinson ML6a preamps into the Meridian 107 power amp into Spendor BC3s. Signal source was Radio 3 via my Trio KT-917 tuner.

You can read a bit of background here > http://stereonow.blogspot.com/p/february.html

It brought tears to my eyes for all the right reasons.

[DSJR]

Tee Vee Sound in Hemel Hempstead in the mid 60's with Garrard 401 in one window corner and a Decca tonearm in the other (why were they separate?????)

The Garrard SP25 turntable, which still looks the business in mk1 and mk2 form today I think, closely followed by an uncle's 4HF, which I was given in dire ex-loft condition some years ago .

The Decca Auto Deccalian "88" record player (one of the best of the type I understand) which entertained me so much in my infancy and childhood.

Lastly, the one system which was proper budget hifi for the times and changed my musical leanings forever - SP25mk3/AT66 into metrosound ST20 amp and Wharfedale Denton II's. This setup belonged to a school-mate's Dad and I first heard so many early 70's "prog" LP's on it..

[Macca]

Buying a Denon PMA 250 mk 1 UKSE - the first decent amp I owned after many old Rank Era Leaks, Eagle, Fisher, Prinzsound (remember them?). I have never owned or heard an amp that was more open, clear and sweet in the mid and top - tight and tuneful in the bass, it's only foible was a slightly lean bass.

You know that feling when you set up for the first time, play something and think 'my god that is so good it is untrue. You don't really believe what you are hearing until someone else hears it and says 'wow!' and you know it is not just you.

Not sure what it was about that amp that made it so fantastic but I notice no-one seems to mention them any more? Maybe it is my memory making things rosy but I don't think so. When it packed in I bought the Mk 2 brand new - so disapointing it was just like any other budget integrated. The magic was gone.

I would love to get hold of one or even get the circuit diagram and have one built. I would put money down that it would blow away most contempory SS amps.

[DSJR]

I'll Keep the Grace but chuck the Linn in the bin..

I wouldn't. It's got to be better than a Thorens TD150 (it is) and the Grace NEVER upset the bass either.

In fact it's the Grace 707 which is out of its league these days as it was designed for high compliance cartridges with Shibata type styli - (Grace "Quadmaster")


P.S. Didn't realise how old this thread is and the post I was referring to above. Old LP12's if like my original one will have loose plinth blocks (a totall sonic disaster if this is so), worn main bearings (they do wear and noticably more than Thorens' bearings), the plywood arm board which always boings in the bass (not a huge issue with SME's and Grace 707's but still there).

A TD150 looks an even better bet, as there's little to fracture or wear out, despite the engineering not being so detailed apart from the main bearing.



I quite forgot the first CD player which totally bowled me away and is still good for a couple of grand today IMO -