Hello everyone in AOS from Montreal!

[kiasmos]

Hello fellow AOS members,

I'm fairly new to the world of hifi and audio systems but I've always been an avid music listener. I've had the opportunity over the years to enjoy many good systems but never have had my own to enjoy. So finally I decided it was time. Time to make the effort, get educated, work within my budget and start building a system. Needless to say the last 6 months or so have been tons of fun, I've learned so much and expect that journey to continue.

My musical tastes are broad, I enjoy modern classical, electronica and experimental sounds. I love female vocals ranging from blues rock, folk rock and indie rock. Americana, psychedelic, classic, post rock, grunge are all good too.

My system is modest and consists of a used Sl-1200mk2 in perfect shape, it's great. I also bought a used HK 730 in perfect shape, also love it. Speakers are used KLH 17's, which have a surprising rich warmth and full sound with solid bass. My cartridge is a budget Audio Technica. The system so far works quite well together but I look forward to making improvements.

To go a little bit further I'm totally into the idea of DIY and upgrading my gear. I re-doped my speakers, switched out the caps and re did the cabinets, this was very rewarding. I rewired my turntable with custom rca cables and also rewired the tonearm with litz, this was much trickery because I've only now gotten use to the soldering gun but it worked out well with noticeable sonic improvements. I would like to replace the caps and some transistors in my amp but need to read more about all that.

Upgrades next will be a better cart and most likely a phono preamp. I've read about Alan Firebottle here on AOS and I'm very intrigued.

As far as I know this would be the best direction to start in, but I would love to hear more from all of the knowledge members of this forum.

Thanks for taking the time to read my intro!

Cheers,
Matthew

[struth]

Very good Mathew... welcome aboard mate. I hope you enjoy your stay. Plenty folk will help you if you need it; just open a thread in the appropriate section.

[archiesdad]

Evening Matthew, welcome to AoS, sure you will like it here.

[walpurgis]

Hello Matthew. Welcome to AOS.

That's a nice system you have there. The HK-730 and KLH 17 speakers are very well matched and should sound lovely together. Well worth hanging onto. I hope you didn't overdo the re-doping on the speakers. The only bit to treat really is the cloth surrounds, as they get porous.

The HK-730 is best checked over before any radical replacement of components. Look for visible signs of aging in caps and resistors and run a meter over everything to check values. A bit of switch cleaner here and there won't hurt. To be honest, if it's basically sound, I'd not interfere with it too much, it's a nice unit and it has a pretty good phono stage too.

If you're looking for a good cartridge for the system, I'd suggest a Denon DL-160 high output MC. It should work fine in the Technics, suit the HK well and sound very nice. The DL-160 is only available as NOS or used these days, but it's worth tracking own a good one.


Enjoy the forum,
Geoff.

[Spectral Morn]

Welcome to AoS


Regards Neil

[kiasmos]

Hi Geoff,
I appreciate the info.
Happy Turkey Day

[Eagle owl]

Hello and welcome Matthew.

Geoff.

[Barry]

Welcome to AoS Matthew.

Nice introduction; just what we like to read.

Enjoy the Forum

Barry