View Full Version : Student friendly hi-fi.
awkwardbydesign
13-07-2014, 13:44
I had an idle thought, what hi-fi would survive students? The Mordaunt Short Carnival 3s (from 1984) survived falling down my loft ladder, and being sealed box would probably stand having the bass turned up, but I wondered if anyone else knew of equipment that had survived similar mishaps.
My grandson is off to uni soon, so this might be relevant. Especially as he is into vinyl!
Pal of mine once had a Lowther Acousta cab come off the roof of his car at 70mph and bounce away down the M6. It ended up on the hard shoulder and he went around and got it back. The only damage was a slight ding to one corner.
I didn't have any mishaps as a student with my kit - since I had no money to replace it I was very careful with it. I think that applied to most of us who were into our hi-fi back then.
All equipment has to be "beer-proof" as well as bomb-proof. :lol:
Actually, I wouldn't really know what to suggest these days; when I was an undergrad some forty-odd years ago, I used a Garrard SP25 Mk. II(?) with an Audio Technica AT66 cartridge, a home built Mullard 5-10 amplifier and a Wharfedale Super 8RS/DD driver in a 1.2cu ft. distributed-port enclosure (DIY but following the instructions in Wharfedale's construction leaflet). Initially it was mono only, however shortly afterwards I built a second 5-10 amp and another, identical, speaker for stereo
I don't know what budget your grandson has, but I would suggest an integrated amp, with some reasonably compact bookshelf speakers. As regards the TT/cartridge - well I'm not really sure what's out there these days. If it were me I would have a good look at what's available second hand. How about a Thorens TD150 TT, with a Creek or Ferrograph amp and some small B&W or Mordant-Short Pagent speakers?
One of the more powerful Chinese mini amps with a couple of analogue inputs and a built in DAC could be just the ticket. Add an Angle Audio MM phono stage and a Techincs SL5 linear tracker turntable (which is very compact plus new stylii for the supplied cartridge are only 12 quid), a pair of Mission 760i's and your grandson would have a robust, kickass system with a very small footprint ;)
If your grandson wants a system that he can use to party - or par-tay as I believe they say nowadays - better get something on the large size speaker-wise and an amp with a lot of power. Been to a few student parties where the little speakers blew their drivers attempting to replicate a PA system at full chat: 'But it says on the back they are 100 watts power handling and my amp is only 35watts! How can it blow up the speakers?'
The Mission 701's or 702's (I think) from the early noughties go loud quite cleanly for not much input so will make the best of a less powerful amp. I got good results with a Denon D-M30 series kind of CD-receiver.
Not sure how a Thorens springy deck would survive student parties unless VERY carefully sited, but if that wasn't an issue, you could add an AR EB101 to the list of decks.
awkwardbydesign
13-07-2014, 19:55
Sorry, but I think you're all missing the point here. Except Macca. And Lowthers are hardly likely to make many student shortlists! I have enough bits and pieces for a system, but wanted to know what has survived. This is NOT a serious thread. :doh:
Well serious threads get daft replies so a not serious thread should in fairness have some sensible ones.
They weren't Lowthers anyway, it was just the cabs with some Audax units fitted.
Just give your son your cast offs and tell him that if they don't all come back as good as they went away you will f*kin kill him. Or stop sending him money. Or whatever you do nowadays. He should be pathetically grateful. If he's not direct him to this thread. :)
Well let's turn this around and ask what "bits and pieces" you do have. Then perhaps we might be able to choose those that are sufficiently robust to survive.
walpurgis
13-07-2014, 20:13
Something indestructable or disposable is what's wanted. It's hardly Hi-Fi, but a pair of active DJ speakers with a master volume control, fed by an MP3 player should be just the ticket.
Well let's turn this around and ask what "bits and pieces" you do have. Then perhaps we might be able to choose those that are sufficiently robust to survive.
I like this 'survive' thing. It is like he will be exploring the Amazon not going to university ;)
I had an Aiwa midi system for my first year at college. And I bought that myself. But if I had a son going now I could offer him a choice from a veritable smorgesboard (I don't know how you spell it properly) of kit that I have lying around. I could probably kit out several students and have stuff left over. I should have been my own son. Might be possible with time travel....
I like this 'survive' thing. It is like he will be exploring the Amazon not going to university ;)
I had an Aiwa midi system for my first year at college. And I bought that myself. But if I had a son going now I could offer him a choice from a veritable smorgesboard (I don't know how you spell it properly) of kit that I have lying around. I could probably kit out several students and have stuff left over. I should have been my own son. Might be possible with time travel....
:lol: I should have added "survive the rigors of student life", i.e. parties. That is why I suggested in my first reply, the equipment should be "beer proof".
Nothing is beer proof . Hence my prevention is better than cure approach to the problem.
awkwardbydesign
13-07-2014, 20:56
Well serious threads get daft replies so a not serious thread should in fairness have some sensible ones.
They weren't Lowthers anyway, it was just the cabs with some Audax units fitted.
Just give your son your cast offs and tell him that if they don't all come back as good as they went away you will f*kin kill him. Or stop sending him money. Or whatever you do nowadays. He should be pathetically grateful. If he's not direct him to this thread. :)
OK, fair point. Be sensible then, see if I care! And it's my GRANDSON! I'm not actually going to give him anything, he can get off his lazy arse and get a job! But I still want to know what has actually survived attempted destruction.
Son, Grandson. No matter. I know at your age things can get confusing ;)
Anyways you started this thread so come on what delights have you got that he can pick from? I can't wait to do this with my nephews and nieces but the eldest are only four years old.
PaulStewart
13-07-2014, 21:31
Back in the day, the student system of choice was Dual 505, JVC JAS11G and a pair of Videotone MiniMax "Bookshelf" speakers. These could be improved by substituting a Richard Allen dome tweeter for the horrible paper cone one the speakers came with. Not indestructible,. but a balanced tough system. Modern equivalents, Celestion F 1s these can be had cheap enough, Tannoy Mercuries or maybe Gales Mini Monitors. Plenty of good second hand amps around from Nad, Denon etc. and maybe a Pro-Ject to round it off. Add MP3 player, laptop with a cheap chinese DAC or CDP to taste :)
I owned a pair of Minimax's with that mod Paul. Wish I'd kept them as they were lovely sounding speakers and I have very fond memories of them. I was young and impetuous and small speakers were passé within my circle of friends, most of whom had 'house' sized speakers the majority of which came from Tandy (Mach 1's?):)
awkwardbydesign
13-07-2014, 21:51
Son, Grandson. No matter. I know at your age things can get confusing ;)
Anyways you started this thread so come on what delights have you got that he can pick from? I can't wait to do this with my nephews and nieces but the eldest are only four years old.
Watch it, sonny! He already has a system in the loft, but it will have to stay there for the other kids. He can have a little JVC micro system as I have two of them. But only after I've thrown it down the stairs.
. He can have a little JVC micro system as I have two of them. But only after I've thrown it down the stairs.
Yeah make sure he is there when you do it though.
The Barbarian
13-07-2014, 22:44
Back in the day, the student system of choice was Dual 505, JVC JAS11G and a pair of Videotone MiniMax "Bookshelf" speakers. These could be improved by substituting a Richard Allen dome tweeter for the horrible paper cone one the speakers came with. Not indestructible,. but a balanced tough system. Modern equivalents, Celestion F 1s these can be had cheap enough, Tannoy Mercuries or maybe Gales Mini Monitors. Plenty of good second hand amps around from Nad, Denon etc. and maybe a Pro-Ject to round it off. Add MP3 player, laptop with a cheap chinese DAC or CDP to taste :)
I had a JVC 'JAS11G' Amp & Garrard 'GT35' Turntable when i was at school. Sounded ok enough. I remember having a Teac 'V9' cassette deck, the level meters were like Blackpool illuminations :D
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