Mardler
01-07-2012, 21:59
Hi, I'm from England, am retired and have been into hi-fi, sorry music, since I was 15 or so.
Hi-Fi is a means to an end, the enjoyment of music. No system can equal a live performance but, IMHO, some can, for not huge outlay, make a fair fist of the job.
Earliest, half decent, system was a Cambridge Audio P50Mk1/Lowther Acousta-PM6/Thorens TD150-SME3009/2-ADC10E & XLM. This did us proud until we decided that the speakers just didn't provide enough detail or "wellie".
CA R50s replaced the Lowthers, a Mk2 P50 replaced the Mk1 and was itself usurped by a P110 plus T55 FM tuner and then a Lentek Integrated replaced the P110 which I, foolishly, sold.
Before the Lentek arrived the Thorens went and in came an LP12. I used the SME/ADC mm setup for a while but had an itch for an mc front end so a Mission774/Coral777EX was fitted. The cartridge is sitting in a drawer right next to me now! I fed the mc to the P110 by a Lentek MC amp step up. The Lentek Integrated had a built in (and very good) mc preamp.
A year or two later a Marantz CD63KI was added.
We began to think the R50s were a tad "slow" and after hearing Yamaha NS1000s I was going to buy a pair but bought the Sonys mentioned below after hearing their baby sister the 22ES. The R50s were sold with no regrets then or now (we auditioned 2 pairs recently).
After some 20 years the Lentek suffered faults and in 2006 was upgraded professionally with excellent results but recently started to "go off".
Not wishing to spend a vast sum on another rebuild, last December I bought a second hand but professionally refurbished amp off ebay and this now sits alongside the old CA T55 FM tuner/Marantz SA-15CD-SACD player/Sony APM66ES speakers/LP12-Ittok-OC9.
My foolish error has been corrected; a vintage Cambridge Audio P110 is back where it belongs - in the main system and it still sounds amazing though I haven't tried the trench digger yet (it now has an origin Live motor etc.) as I need to put the, refurbished, Lentek mc head amp in circuit and positioning the gear isn't straightforward.
The P110 (and I have to say its "refurbisher") put me on a hunt for further CA gear, including a backup P110, a hunt that is now complete unless I stumble upon a Classic One.
Kudos, too, to Stan Curtis.
Hi-Fi is a means to an end, the enjoyment of music. No system can equal a live performance but, IMHO, some can, for not huge outlay, make a fair fist of the job.
Earliest, half decent, system was a Cambridge Audio P50Mk1/Lowther Acousta-PM6/Thorens TD150-SME3009/2-ADC10E & XLM. This did us proud until we decided that the speakers just didn't provide enough detail or "wellie".
CA R50s replaced the Lowthers, a Mk2 P50 replaced the Mk1 and was itself usurped by a P110 plus T55 FM tuner and then a Lentek Integrated replaced the P110 which I, foolishly, sold.
Before the Lentek arrived the Thorens went and in came an LP12. I used the SME/ADC mm setup for a while but had an itch for an mc front end so a Mission774/Coral777EX was fitted. The cartridge is sitting in a drawer right next to me now! I fed the mc to the P110 by a Lentek MC amp step up. The Lentek Integrated had a built in (and very good) mc preamp.
A year or two later a Marantz CD63KI was added.
We began to think the R50s were a tad "slow" and after hearing Yamaha NS1000s I was going to buy a pair but bought the Sonys mentioned below after hearing their baby sister the 22ES. The R50s were sold with no regrets then or now (we auditioned 2 pairs recently).
After some 20 years the Lentek suffered faults and in 2006 was upgraded professionally with excellent results but recently started to "go off".
Not wishing to spend a vast sum on another rebuild, last December I bought a second hand but professionally refurbished amp off ebay and this now sits alongside the old CA T55 FM tuner/Marantz SA-15CD-SACD player/Sony APM66ES speakers/LP12-Ittok-OC9.
My foolish error has been corrected; a vintage Cambridge Audio P110 is back where it belongs - in the main system and it still sounds amazing though I haven't tried the trench digger yet (it now has an origin Live motor etc.) as I need to put the, refurbished, Lentek mc head amp in circuit and positioning the gear isn't straightforward.
The P110 (and I have to say its "refurbisher") put me on a hunt for further CA gear, including a backup P110, a hunt that is now complete unless I stumble upon a Classic One.
Kudos, too, to Stan Curtis.