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Martinblueboy
10-04-2014, 19:03
Hi Everyone,

I'm really glad to be on board; I'm Martin from Hyde in the sunny North West (well it is at the moment anyway!) From what I've seen this seems a really nice friendly place with sensible and constructive discussion...unlike some other boards I could mention!!

I come to the Art of Sound as a result of a conversation/thread on a super little Facebook group dedicated to listening to albums. The AoS was suggested to me by Rich B after a nice little chat that took place after a picture of his all Rega system appeared in one of threads on said Facebook group. I know of course that Rich is hear and I think one or two other members of the Facebook group are too; as I said it's nice to be here.

As for my system, well my main system is made up of a Roksan Kandy K2 amp. It's fed by a Project III Xpression turntable with the standard Ortofon 2M red cartridge. The other sources are an Audiolab 8200CD player/DAC. I have a Squeezebox Touch feeding into the Audiolab via coaxial cable. Interconnects are from Chord; Chameleon between the Audiolab and amp. The Squeezebox to the Audiolab is also a Chord interconnect (Prodac VEE3 I think though not entirely sure). Oh and I nearly forgot the small matter of the speakers....Kef R500's.

I have a second system at the moment too made up of older kit that I've dragged down from the loft based around my PC. Cambridge Audio 640A and 640C (both V2 versions), an Arcam RPAC to connect them to the PC via USB and I listen to that through cans Sennheiser HD595 and Focal Spirit One's).

As for the most important part, the music, well I suppose classic rock/prog rock and metal were always my first love. I'm a complete Hawkwind freak, god only knows how many times I've seen them live! Something of a Led Zeppelin nut too. I love most of the 70's and 80's rock greats, Rush, Tull, Purple, Floyd, Yes etc etc. More modern bands that I love would include the mighty Porcupine Tree (and Mr Wilson's offshoots), Riverside and Opeth - though I'm not a fan of growly vocals as a rule. However, the last few months of being a member of the Facebook group, has really opened my eyes to new music outside my usual tastes. I've started to listen to a lot more folk/folk rock; bands like Fairport, Trees, Steeleye Span, John Martyn (alright maybe not folk). Its branched out into the world of electronic music too - Tangerine Dream being a new discovery. I also like some classical music too when the mood takes me. The only downside to being exposed to so much new music is that it's hitting me hard in the pocket....but that's a good thing, right?

Anyway, I suppose I've waffled enough, as I said at the outset, it's nice to be on board what appears to be such a nice group of like-minded people.

Martin

keiths
10-04-2014, 19:10
Hi Martin, great intro post - welcome to the forum :wave:

Lots of folks here are into prog and the mighty Tangerine Dream have a few fans too. Hope you enjoy the forum.

The Grand Wazoo
10-04-2014, 19:11
Hi Martin,
Welcome to AoS. Thanks for a great first post.
There are plenty of tips for new music here, so you probably came to a place that's going to make you spend even more! Take a look, especially at the Spinning Today thread and the Album Club sub-section in 'Musical Compositions' (http://theartofsound.net/forum/forumdisplay.php?12-Musical-Compositions) for starters.

Cheers

mr sneff
10-04-2014, 19:28
Hi Martin, welcome to AoS :) I've found that Spotify is a fantastic way of discovering new music and, for less than the cost of a CD per month, relatively inexpensive and compatible with your Squeezebox.

archiesdad
10-04-2014, 19:38
Hey Martin, welcome to AoS I'm sure you'll fit in braw. Guess what my name is too?

Martinblueboy
10-04-2014, 21:54
Hi all,

Thanks for the warm welcome. It's very much appreciated :).

Keith, I'm slowly learning more and more about TD. I thought there were a lot of Hawkwind albums, but I don't think even their output compares to TD's back-catalogue. A lot of catching up to do! Mr Wazoo, thanks for the recommendation on where to look for new music on the forum - I'll definitely delve further into that. David, yup I have a Spotify premium account which has probably saved me money and cost me money in equal measure! I do use Spotify quite extensively and more often than not if I like what I'm listening to then I'll go out and buy the original - CD, vinyl or hi-res FLAC if available. I know that artists make very little from Spotify in and of itself, so I do try to support them further in whatever way I can. Martin, it's always good to meet another Martin - thanks for the welcome :).