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Thread: What kit did you aspire to own when you were young and poor?

  1. #11
    Join Date: Jun 2018

    Location: Dublin, Ireland

    Posts: 36
    I'm Joe.

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    I lusted after What HiFi? 's reference system:

    Audiolab 8000A
    Marantz CD63 Ki Signature
    I can't remember the speakers as I simply didn't have room for floor standers at the time (or actually until 20 plus years later which was only last year!)

    I am stuck in the past as last year I was about to buy "new" speakers in the form of Mission 753 that were 20 years old! :-)
    I didn't in the end, I'm still thing that maybe I should have.....

    After a few amp upgrades I eventually got the 8000A which over 20 years later I still have today as my main amp. I could never stretch for the KI Signature so ended up with a CD67 Special Edition, which I also still have to this day!

    And even in later years when I could afford more/ better I stuck with what I had as I was very happy with it.

  2. #12
    Join Date: May 2008

    Location: Surrey

    Posts: 7,099
    I'm Rob.

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    As a teenager and an avid disco and club go-er I wanted to recreate the sound I heard in the clubs. I wanted it loud and hard! An Eagle 15w amp, Garrard SP25 MkIII and some so so speakers didn't really do it. I bought a disco set-up from a custom builder, twin TT's with a built in amp and mixer and some 12" Fane based speakers. I always thought that the speakers were the weak link as the sound was a bit...er...weak. After the amp went phut in the middle of a party I was doing and I took a look at it and the "quality" of construction I think any integrated amp of the day could have done better.

    However, the need for crisp treble and palpable bass has always stayed with me.
    Buy Bose...And get your parking validated!.

    https://youtu.be/ZCBe7-6rw4M

    No Highs...No Lows....It Must Be Bose!

  3. #13
    Join Date: Oct 2008

    Location: Glasgowshire

    Posts: 9,651
    I'm Gary.

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    Good thread!

    Always slabbered after big Mackintosh amps and mahoosive Infinity IRS V’s.
    Beastly.


    Bit more realistically as a young’un, nose pressed against fhe cold glass of a Glasgow hifi shop window, always had a thing for the black n bronze Gyrodec the Music Room had on display.




    Nakamich CR7-E not the Dragon for me, seemed too old school.


    What else...big set of Wharfedale E90’s or Mission 770’s.
    AC POWER
    Hardwired 10kVA balanced mains powering entire system
    AMPS
    Meridian 557 power Amp (Modded) / PS Audio BHK Preamp (Modded)
    SPEAKERS
    Wharfedale Evo 4.4
    DAC
    PS Audio Directstream (Modded)
    TURNTABLE
    Pro-Ject X8 balanced output via XLR / Ortofon Quintet Blue cartridge
    PHONOSTAGE
    Pro-Ject DS3 B balanced Input (TT and Phonostage powered by Pro-Ject Power box RS2 linear psu)
    DIGITAL
    OPPO 203 (Modded: Linear PSU, i2s output to Dac) - Roon Endpoint, HDMI input used for all things Streaming/ PS5 /AppleTV ... also good for movies apparently?
    MUSIC PLAYBACK
    Tweaked AP-Linux based Roon Server into Oppo 203 as Roon endpoint
    Ipad Roon Remote.
    Apple Music/ YouTube via AppleTV, fed to Dac via Oppo HDMI input/i2s output to Dac.
    SPEAKER CABLES
    Biwired: Duelund DCA10GA (Bass) Duelund DCA16GA (mid & treble) Duelund 12DCA used as jumpers (On
    "Blackcat Cable" Chris Sommivigo's advice - yup, even with biwire it sounds better - and it does)
    INTERCONNECTS
    All Balanced: Ghost+ recording studio XLR cables

  4. #14
    Join Date: Jan 2009

    Location: Essex

    Posts: 31,775
    I'm openingabottleofwine.

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    The Wharfedale E Series? Admittedly they sound raw and alive, but I couldn't live with them and they are poles apart from the Mission 770s which I thought were good.
    Barry

  5. #15
    Join Date: Apr 2011

    Location: cheltenham

    Posts: 745
    I'm matt.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Smoking Joe View Post
    I lusted after What HiFi? 's reference system:
    IIRC It was Audiolab pre with monoblock power amps and Monitor Audio 20se. Are you sure the reference cdp was a Marantz CD63 sig? - Thought It would have been something more expensive.

    I lusted after that system too but had to make do with a Marantz CD63 mk2 cdp, Arcam Alpha 6+ amp into Kef Coda 8 speakers.

  6. #16
    Join Date: Dec 2012

    Location: Stoke on trent

    Posts: 956
    I'm Steve.

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    Ruark equinox's,...my heart used to ache when I visited my local dealer. He had a rosewood pair as dem models for years. Ive still not had a pair..

  7. #17
    Join Date: May 2016

    Location: Notts

    Posts: 2,734
    I'm Geoff.

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    A Dukla Prague Away Kit!

  8. #18
    Join Date: Oct 2008

    Location: Glasgowshire

    Posts: 9,651
    I'm Gary.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Barry View Post
    The Wharfedale E Series? Admittedly they sound raw and alive, but I couldn't live with them and they are poles apart from the Mission 770s which I thought were good.

    Never heard any of ‘em!
    Would’t give them houseroom now, But hey, I was young.
    AC POWER
    Hardwired 10kVA balanced mains powering entire system
    AMPS
    Meridian 557 power Amp (Modded) / PS Audio BHK Preamp (Modded)
    SPEAKERS
    Wharfedale Evo 4.4
    DAC
    PS Audio Directstream (Modded)
    TURNTABLE
    Pro-Ject X8 balanced output via XLR / Ortofon Quintet Blue cartridge
    PHONOSTAGE
    Pro-Ject DS3 B balanced Input (TT and Phonostage powered by Pro-Ject Power box RS2 linear psu)
    DIGITAL
    OPPO 203 (Modded: Linear PSU, i2s output to Dac) - Roon Endpoint, HDMI input used for all things Streaming/ PS5 /AppleTV ... also good for movies apparently?
    MUSIC PLAYBACK
    Tweaked AP-Linux based Roon Server into Oppo 203 as Roon endpoint
    Ipad Roon Remote.
    Apple Music/ YouTube via AppleTV, fed to Dac via Oppo HDMI input/i2s output to Dac.
    SPEAKER CABLES
    Biwired: Duelund DCA10GA (Bass) Duelund DCA16GA (mid & treble) Duelund 12DCA used as jumpers (On
    "Blackcat Cable" Chris Sommivigo's advice - yup, even with biwire it sounds better - and it does)
    INTERCONNECTS
    All Balanced: Ghost+ recording studio XLR cables

  9. #19
    Join Date: Jun 2014

    Location: Chorley Lancs

    Posts: 14,515
    I'm Steve.

    Default

    In the late seventies I heard Fleetwood Mac's "Rumours played through Yamaha NS1000M's at my local Laskys. They were so handsome and sounded amazing, so much so that I immediately bought the album. Got it home and played it through my BSR McDonald/Rotel RA-712/Wharfedale Dentons. Didn't quite sound the same. I aspired to buy those Yams, but then got into motorbikes.

    Looking at those NS1000M's on custom stands in Private Exhibitions, they're still handsome buggers.
    I just dropped in, to see what condition my condition was in

    T/T: Inspire Monarch, X200 tonearm, Ortofon Quintet Blue. Phono: Project Tube Box CD: Marantz CD6006 (UK Edition); Amp: Musical Fidelity A5 Integrated.
    Speakers: Zu Omen Def, REL T9i subwoofer. Cables: Atlas Equator interconnects, Atlas Hyper 3.0 speaker cables

    T'other system:
    Echo Dot, Amptastic Mini One,Arcam A75 integrated, Celestion 5's, BK XLS-200 DF

    A/V:
    LG 55" OLED, Panasonic Blu Ray, Sony a/v amp, MA Radius speakers, REL Storm sub

    Forget the past, it's gone. And don't worry about the future, it doesn't exist. There is only NOW.

    KICKSTARTER: ENABLING SCAMMERS SINCE 2009

  10. #20
    Join Date: Jun 2018

    Location: Dublin, Ireland

    Posts: 36
    I'm Joe.

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by fatmarley View Post
    IIRC It was Audiolab pre with monoblock power amps and Monitor Audio 20se. Are you sure the reference cdp was a Marantz CD63 sig? - Thought It would have been something more expensive.

    I lusted after that system too but had to make do with a Marantz CD63 mk2 cdp, Arcam Alpha 6+ amp into Kef Coda 8 speakers.
    From memory they always a relatively affordable 1000 pound per separate reference system. Anything higher would always be beyond my reach. Yes the KI Signature was in their reference system for about 6 years as far as I remember, and that was unheard of before them keeping a CD player for so long. I wonder do they list their reference systems from over the years?
    I threw out all those years of mags about 6 years ago. I regret it now as I have been browsing old hifi and it's near impossible to find a contemporary review of them now.

    I used to laugh how the 1000 pound bench mark was for the budget gear and that was near a months wages back then for me!

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