Small voice from behind piles of STUFF: Hello!

[OldenHoard]

Hi everyone,

My name's Nick and... well, my handle says most of it: I love music and I love buying STUFF and I have too much of both, from many years of irresponsible buying!

Music-wise, I listen to classical, from medieval to modern, with special love for 17th & 18th Centuries and contemporary (spectralists, Birtwistle etc.). I also collect 78s of historic chamber music & early music recordings.

Kit-wise, I have turntables, CD players, FM tuners, integrated amps and separates, ¼" reel to reel deck, streaming system (bought mainly second-hand but some new)... and lots of kit lying unused in boxes which I must deal with!

I found this forum while searching for info about an unusual Technics CD players I've had in store for many years and wondering what to do with. Thanks for letting me join!

Hope to learn and get advice from fellow-members and maybe pass on some of my stuff to new homes.

All the best,

Nick

[struth]

hello Nick. Welcome to AoS. I hope you enjoy the forum and get involved in the discussions.
cheers G

[Floyddroid]

Interesting musical taste Nick. Welcome.

[Spectral Morn]

Welcome to AOS Nick


Regards Neil

[walpurgis]

Hello Nick. Welcome to AOS.

You are not alone. We have some notable hoarders here, me included.

Do you have a main system you're using. We'd like to hear about it. And if you have some interesting bits we'd certainly appreciate photos in 'The Gallery' section. You'll find other areas dedicated to just about every Hi-Fi topic.

If you have questions, just ask. Somebody will have an opinion or info.


Enjoy the forum,
Geoff.

[shane]

Definitely one of us!

[Barry]

Welcome to AoS Nick,

So a self-confessed hoarder? Don't worry, we have several members who who collect and possess far more items of audio gear than they can actually use. But you have made the first step on the road to recovery: you have stood up and said "My name is Nick, and I am a hoarder". :D

Seriously though, we would love to see some photographs of (some) of the gear you use to play your broad tastes in classical music. How do you play your 78 rpm recordings? Do you use a wind-up gramophone?

Welcome again - enjoy the Forum

Regards
Barry

[Andrei]

Hi from NZ.
Classical music: specially welcome in my book.

[OldenHoard]

hello Nick. Welcome to AoS. I hope you enjoy the forum and get involved in the discussions.
cheers G


Interesting musical taste Nick. Welcome.

Thanks very much!

I fell in love classical music at 14 (I remember the day) and I've spent the... (gulp) 40 years since, obsessively exploring it. Still a lot left...

All the best,

Nick

[OldenHoard]

Hello Nick. Welcome to AOS.

You are not alone. We have some notable hoarders here, me included.

Do you have a main system you're using. We'd like to hear about it. And if you have some interesting bits we'd certainly appreciate photos in 'The Gallery' section. You'll find other areas dedicated to just about every Hi-Fi topic.

If you have questions, just ask. Somebody will have an opinion or info.


Enjoy the forum,
Geoff.

Hi Geoff,

Thanks! Yes, I was just thinking I should post some photos - I don't mind admitting the look of gear makes a difference to me!

Thing is, there's almost not enough room to stand far back enough to get it in shot... I'm going to work on it this week, I simply must clear come space.

I suppose my most used system is the one at my work desk: Sony CDP-2700 CD player, SlimDevices Squeezebox and Windows 7 PC (playing out through Roland Cakewalk UA-25 EX - great little unit), Revox B150 integrated amp, Revox Evolution flat-panel speakers (space-saving!) and Sony MDR-F1 cans (love them, have several pairs, dead and alive).

All the best,

Nick

[OldenHoard]

Definitely one of us!

Thanks Shane! I'll try to live up to it...

All the best,

Nick

[OldenHoard]

Hi from NZ.
Classical music: specially welcome in my book.

Hi Andrei!

My other half's from NZ - we visited Napier a few years ago, very fine city! I found some NZ World Record Club LPs in an op shop, very pleased.

All the very best,

Nick

[OldenHoard]

Welcome to AoS Nick,

So a self-confessed hoarder? Don't worry, we have several members who who collect and possess far more items of audio gear than they can actually use. But you have made the first step on the road to recovery: you have stood up and said "My name is Nick, and I am a hoarder". :D

Seriously though, we would love to see some photographs of (some) of the gear you use to play your broad tastes in classical music. How do you play your 78 rpm recordings? Do you use a wind-up gramophone?

Welcome again - enjoy the Forum

Regards
Barry

Hi Barry!

Oh dear, I'm ashamed to admit I don't play my 78s - yet...

I do have an old HMV portable which belonged to my grandfather - makes a creditable sound but obviously it's nothing compared to the EMG I've heard at a friend's (or a demo of a modded Revox playing through a Front End...). What about you?

At the present count, I think I've got three modern turntables that can play 78s: one's a Fons, with varispeed, sitting disconsolately in its box, waiting to be set up. I also recently acquired a Goldring Lenco from a house-clearance, which is looking a bit grimy and I'd like to have checked over.

The third, a Technics, is set up and working but a) it doesn't have varispeed, b) I don't have the necessary range of styli and c) I don't have a pre-amp with switchable EQ. Oh, and since I use this machine mainly for LPs, it's set up for that, and I don't fancy constantly switching styli - it doesn't have a removable headshell and I don't find changing the stylus assy on the Ortofon Concorde-shaped cart very easy...

I also have an Okki Nokki record-cleaning machine.

I can't decide whether to get a second-hand Elberg pre-amp (discontinued), a Vadlyd, or a KAB USA... Any thoughts?

It all fuels my chronic indecision!

So at the mo I have to go round to a friend's house to hear my new purchases (he has a Vadlyd and a fantastic new Keith Monks cleaner - cost a bomb, different league from the Okki Nokki).

To be honest, my aim isn't to accumulate 78s (and cause subsidence in my road) but to document them (I do discography), hear them, get them transferred and cleaned up if need be, add them to my digital library and then donate the originals to the British Library Sound Archive, if it doesn't have them. So that's more of an archival / historical project, though I certainly get lots of enjoyment out of it too.

For my day-to-day listening, I mainly buy CDs and downloads, obsessively (but always looking for deals). I would buy more LPs if I wasn't running out of space - and also if I was happier with the sound coming out of my Technics-based chain. Something's not right...

Sorry to rabbit on!

All the best,

Nick

[Andrei]

Hi Andrei!

My other half's from NZ - we visited Napier a few years ago, very fine city! I found some NZ World Record Club LPs in an op shop, very pleased.
All the very best,

Nick
So it was you who was the bastard that beat me to it at the op shop! One interesting snippet re WRC. The older ones are better than the newer ones, 'newer' being from the 80s. It was surely some accountant who was responsible for the brilliancy of breathing new profits on an old medium by calculating that the thinner the LP the less the financial outlay required for the vinyl. Well, if I ever get to Blighty we'll have a pint.

[Eagle owl]

Hello and welcome Nick.

Geoff. :wave: