And it's Hello from me.

[Andy]

Hello everyone, I'm glad to be here and hopefully to benefit from all the wisdom and experience on this forum.
As for me, I'm married to a lovely wife, have two fabulous daughters and an attention seeking cat (currently sitting between me and the keyboard). I live in the Land of Song, Rugby and rain (but not in that order) Wales. (though I'm probably as unWelsh as they come, I cant sing, I prefer football to rugby and I fall asleep after three or four pints :cool: ).
I spend most of my time being a family bod and when time allows doing something with football - watching it, reading about it, writing about it, playing it...on the pc ;)
I've tried to avoid getting back into hi-fi for many years. When the sproglettes arrived my mish-mash of bits and pieces went up into the bedroom and stayed there, more or less mothballed. I played it occasionally but - as you can guess - it was never ideal.
And then recently my amp - a cheapie Rotel integrated - lost a channel and I began to think about replacing it. The Beast that is the hi-fi bug began to stir inside me.
I was going to settle on the Yamaha AS500, but by that time the Beast Within had woken up. I'd seen amps, decks, other people's systems, even.... even.... even Valves! Oh lordy lordy, even before I knew anything about hi fi I loved valves. Until now, I never knew just how much!
Anyway, the Beast was fed and still requires feeding, and that I guess is why I'm here. If anyone knows a way of defeating this addiction, this constant craving, please tell me. But I know there's no way, it's too late.....:eek:

Anyway, I've written more than I thought I would. If you've stayed with this drivel so far, thanks for your patience. This seems to be a friendly and informative place to be, so with my confession complete, lol, I'm going to have a better look around this place.

Cheers

[Ali Tait]

Hi Andy,and welcome. There is a cure- just keep buying stuff!

[Andy]

Hi Andy,and welcome. There is a cure- just keep buying stuff!

Thanks, lol yes that's true, I'd better get the money printing press plugged in....:)

[Ali Tait]

Get into DIY, it's much cheaper and more fun.

[Alex_UK]

Hi Andy - welcome to AoS.

So, what sort of music do like playing on your newly resurrected system? AoS is as much about the music as it is the gear - you'll be spending money on both before you know what's happened! ;)

Enjoy the forum. :)

[The Grand Wazoo]

Hi there Andy,

Warm welcome to AoS from me too.
Cheers

[Andy]

Thanks guys, it's good to hear the sites as much about music as the gear. Thats what its all about really innit?
It's probably quicker to say what I dont like - I hope it doesnt offend anyone if I say I just cant cope with 80's disco music, I dislike it even more than boy bands:eyebrows: I dont much like rap or drum n bass either, but tbh I've only heard what's available commercially, so I guess like most genres there's good stuff out there somewhere. Cant say I've ever heard it though.
I was bought up on Jethro Tull, Led Zep, Deep Purple and their ilk. I really do like prog rock, the more overblown and self-indulgent the better, providing there's some intelligent thinking behind the music and/or lyrics.
I was blown away when I heard (and I hate using this word, but until someone comes up with a better one...) Krautrock. I adored Faust, Can and Tangerine Dream and enjoy bands like Kluster, Popol Vuh etc. I went through a phase of seeking out the more weird and obscure stuff (guess I still do sometimes) and even got into Stockhausen. I knew it was time to stop when I looked forward to listening to Bird of Passage (enjoyed it -never really understood it, but enjoyed it)!
I dont know much about classical music - I love Beethoven (imho the Deep Purple of his time:scratch: :)) and Liszt, but not really listened to much else. Being a bit of a pleb, I find most of it too smooth and mellow. I put it down to not being refined, or something like that! I know I should listen to more, but I keep telling myself I will "one day...."
I dabble a bit in blues and jazz - that's listening, not playing (obviously). I sort of went from Mahavishnu Orchestra, through John Coltrane and Miles Davies into more traditional jazz, though I admit I prefer the Weather Report/Larry Coryel stuff more than the Duke Ellington/Sarah Vaughn sort of stuff.
It'd be really hard for me to pick my top bands - Tull would have to be there. Also I've been into Shawn Phillips since a friend played me his first album back when I was in school, centuries ago, so he'd be there. Others would come and go as the mood takes me I think.
Well, I've rambled on more than usual (sorry!). I tend to do that talking about music (and football). Thanks for sticking with it ;)

[Reid Malenfant]

Hi Andy, what a superb introduction! Welcome to AoS & i hope you not only enjoy your stay but make a well informed decision to clear your amplifier woes ;)

Is there a cure for this addiction? Yes, rigor mortis unfortunately :eyebrows:

All the best :cool:

[Andy]

Hi Andy, what a superb introduction! Welcome to AoS & i hope you not only enjoy your stay but make a well informed decision to clear your amplifier woes ;)

Is there a cure for this addiction? Yes, rigor mortis unfortunately :eyebrows:

All the best :cool:

Lol , so I'm doomed then? Dooooomed!!!
Cheers Mark, my god you're a friendly bunch on here and quick off the mark too!
I think I'm managing a quick fix that should tide me over until I decide to spend some money. I've dug out an old Audiolab pre amp and dusted off an ageing Quad 33 power, so I just need to get a bit of cable with a din at one end and the usual sort of plugs at the other, and - if they dont explode - I'm in business.
Then it'll be a question of transistors or a cheapie(ish) valve amp. Hmm, on the other hand, wonder if I can sell my kids....:lol:

[Reid Malenfant]

I'm not that into valves (but oh boy do they look seductive :)), before possibly embarking on the valve route you might like to let us know what speakers you'll be driving (apologies if you have already mentioned this). The amp/speaker interface is just about the most important & while there are a good many valve amps out there that will drive most speakers, others are more problematic ;)

I'm sure you'll get much better advice on here if you fill in those in the know :smoking:

[Andy]

Nice one Mark. See - I'm learning already.
Reading stuff on this site has bought back a lot I thought I'd forgotten (way back in the early 80's I used to gorge myself on hi-fi mags and at one point I knew a fair bit about all this).
I've forgotten more than I know now though (does that make sense?) so I feel I'm starting as a total newbie.
The good (???) thing is, my equipment is from the 80's and early 90's, so I may be beginning the slow process of changing everything apart from my deck (Michell Gyrodec) which I love and is my baby....
I've got the Gyrodec and a Rotel RCD965BX CD, my dead Rotel something-or-other integrated, which I used to (*sob) alternate with a Quad 33/303 and Acoustic Energy Aegis One standmounters.

[Reid Malenfant]

Oh boy, keep the Gyrodeck - lovely bit of kit ;) I have a feeling that you may well get suggestions about alternative speakers though, not because they are difficult to drive i might add :cool:

I'm sure all will become clear given a little bit of time, once again welcome to AoS, otherwise known as the nuthouse (by those that love the place) :lol:

We are here to help you spend your money, but on good balanced kit :champagne:

[Andy]

Thanks mate. I've stuck with the AE for so long because of their imaging (If I had to choose between sound quality and imaging I'd always go for imaging), but I really do need to bring amps and speakers up to par. That'll cost, though, so I'm back again to selling the kids :lol:
I need to get a lot of advice from you folks and also get quite a few listens of different bits of kit. I feel like a fish out of water at the moment, but I'm sure soon it will all start to come together. :):cool: