Hello from Cambridge

[dim_span]

Hi everyone ... am new here ... based in Cambridge UK ... someone on another thread asked me to introduce myself here as I am new on this forum

recently started aquiring a hifi again (had to sell my previous system as was without work, and had bailiffs knocking on the door) ... sold for peanuts, but thats life I suppose ... miss my IMF TLS80 speakers the most (but am eying the old Ditton 66's now and possibly may get a pair next year aswell as a decent amp to drive them)

so, with a limited budget, have started aquiring some older gear ... over the last 4 months, have bought the following:

Pioneer SA-9800 amp ... £275 off ebay

Marantz CD 63 MKII K1 signature cdp ... £130 off ebay

B&W DM2a speakers (1st version handbuilt 3-way transmissions) ... £50 off ebay

Silver High Breed Coherence interconnect ... £30 new off ebay (new)

Hitachi ssx 102k lc-ofc speaker cable ... £25 off ebay

so total spent = £510 and am delighted with this sytem, but will be upgrading the cdp shortly

also bought a soundstage 5 tier hifi rack for £70 off ebay

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also have a 2nd system in my bedroom

Pioneer A400 amp ... £70 off ebay

Pioneer SX-700L receiver ... £10 off gumtree

Pioneer PD-S702 cdp ... £3 from a carboot sale (mint condition, boxed etc)

Leak Sandwich 200 speakers .... £10 off ebay

Silver High Breed synergy2 interconnect (free when I bought the coherence IC)

not sure what speaker cable I am using as has no name, and bought a box full of old speaker cables from a guy who refurbishes restaurants (paid £8 for the whole box)

dont laugh at this system ... actually sounds very good! (for the £101 paid)
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I will continue to upgrade and keep the better seperates and sell off the crappy ones ... I will definately keep the Pioneer SA-9800 amp and the B&W DM2a speakers ... they work very well together and the speakers were a real bargain ... use the same tweeters and supertweeters as the old Spendor BC1's but have better bass as they are transmission speakers ... my next upgrade on my main system will be the cdp and will look at a good second hand one up to £500 (may possibly have it lampasized as have been reading on google ... very interesting site that)
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my music tastes are very varied and I have a vast cd collection ...(not into vinyl as I do not wish to start buying lp's as it will become very costly) ... enjoy blues, rock, some classical and lately getting into jazz ... (latest 2 cd's bought this week are jazzy ones ... Ernest Ranglin (Below the Bassline) and Dave Bubeck's greatest hits ...I tend to buy 3-4 cd's a week and must have over 700 cd's now

I also listen to spotify and will look at connecting spotify on my pc to my hifi later next year

am a senior design engineer (mechanical) ... and am married with 3 children .... originally from south africa and been in the UK for 9 years now

[Marco]

Great introduction and thanks for popping in to say hello!

Just one thing, what's you're name, mate?

Marco.

[The Vinyl Adventure]

Welcome! I do like a good intro! That 703 pioneer is suposed to be good for having modded ... I'm sure the people in the know about these parts would advise you on that front ...

[dim_span]

Hi Marco ... my name is Dimitri ... but see there is another Dimitri .... so just call me dim ...

Hamish ... I will be looking at possibly having my cdp modded by a guy in Poland ... been reading about this ... here is his site (posted this on another thread about the chinese amps)

http://www.lampizator.eu/

[Marco]

Pleased to meet you Dimitri the 2nd!

Marco.

[The Vinyl Adventure]

hi dim
yeah, i have come across that website before, goes a bit over my head to be honest so im never sure what to make of it all.. id be interested to hear how you get on if you go down that road!

[Themis]

Welcome to another Dimitri ! So there will alway be a Dimitri active on these forums !!!
Nice system(s), I particularly like the 63 MKII K1 signature Marantz CDP, it marries very well with tubes, btw.

[DSJR]

Welcome from a VERY old IMF fan

DM2a's could be very good as I remember, but watch bass with some amps, as with the IMF's you once had, it can get flabby very easily.

Ditton 66's or 662's as they became (?) could be stunning as long as the bass was kept in check (do I note a trend here? ). Another "sleeper" could be the B&O 5702 (in the UK), which has the same drivers I think, in a more compact cabinet. You know, B&O collectors are fine with speaker re-caps (they need to be IMO), but the old 3800 and 5702 models from the early seventies are actually very good as long as the amp will take a 4 Ohm load..

Anyway, ditch that 63KI sig ASAP please and get another old machine such as an Arcam Alpha 3. This can go to Avondale for a significant re-vamp for not too much and Avondale's Les also has replacement mechs should you need one.....

Alternatively, take a trip down the M11 to hifi dave outside Saffron Walden and get a listen to a new Rega Apollo, which is back under £500 and a very good little machine by all accounts.....

[Spectral Morn]

Welcome to AOS Dimitri


Enjoy yourself and have fun


Regards D S D L

[Themis]

Anyway, ditch that 63KI sig ASAP please and get another old machine such as an Arcam Alpha 3.

Yeah, sell the 63KIsig on the bay, Dave needs one...