Hi all

[drrdf]

Hi to you all. I am a new member, a life-long Hi-Fi buff (so many years now that I dread to even mention them). In the original days I built my own stuff, including amplifiers, tuners and even reel-to-reel tape recorders. Now I have a mixture of factory-built vintage stuff, including 2 dual capstan cassette machines, two reel-to-reel recorders, a direct-drive turntable with assorted catridges and an Onkyo CD player, with a vintage NEC 820E amplifier and also a Marantz 80W per channel tuner-amplifier.

I am an Indentured Electronic Engineering Apprenticeship-served buff, having also done further Engineering study to tertiary degree level later; for the second half of my career I moved into Finance and Banking though (to earn some money!). However, my Engineering knowledge does still help in supporting my Hi-Fi mania, and in other ways too sometimes.

I am also into MIDI and have two synthisizer keyboards; I play keyboard a bit, but not as much as I used to do. I adore more serious music ("classical") though not much Baroque. I like generally the Romantic period through to Reiger, Prokovief and Shostakovich, but cut off just before Stockhousen and later Schoenburg. I am a fan of Jazz (mainly Trad jazz) and like some earlier easy-listening music (Sinatra, Bennett, Peggy Lee etc.). I also like Whitney Houston, Diana Ross and a few like that.

Hope that defines my profile. I hope to now contribute here.

[walpurgis]

Hello Ronald. Welcome to AOS.

You sound like a keen Hi-Fi hobbyist. If you have some interesting equipment and system photos, we'd love to see some in our Gallery section.

Have you any projects on the go? We like to see what people are putting together.

What speakers are you using?


Enjoy the forum,
Geoff.

[Eagle owl]

Hello and welcome Ronald.

Geoff. :wave:

[drrdf]

Hello Ronald. Welcome to AOS.

You sound like a keen Hi-Fi hobbyist. If you have some interesting equipment and system photos, we'd love to see some in our Gallery section.

Have you any projects on the go? We like to see what people are putting together.

What speakers are you using?


Enjoy the forum,
Geoff.

Hi Geoff,

I am quite keen, and mainly like vintage equipment (but then I am getting on now and that probably makes me a bit of an old codger!). I have a collection of something like 1000 LPs, quite a lot of CDs and tapes, and also am a collector of older DVD movies.

The only active project I have on the go at present is the repair of my Marantz 2500 series tuner amplifier which has just given up working. I have two speaker sets which I designed and built myself. I am a fanatic for true stereo infra-bass and my largest set has a -3db point of around 15 Hz (essential for organ music as well as much other serious music). I have sketched a new design (with the same performance) taking up less volume in the house, since these are a bit big, and make my wife angry! (She does not like the infra-bass, which does shake the house a bit! She would of course be angry anyway with the new design as well.)

Ronald

[drrdf]

Hello and welcome Ronald.

Geoff. :wave:

Hi Geoff,

Thank you for your welcome.

Ronald

[Barry]

Welcome to AoS Ronald.

Nice introduction - so you built your own reel-to-reel rape machine? Now that is some advanced DIY! :stalks:

Where in Chelmsford do you live - I live in Great Baddow, perhaps we should meet up?

Welcome again - enjoy the Forum

Regards
Barry

[drrdf]

Hi Barry,

Yes I built my own reel-to-reel machine, but of course a few years ago now, and I was an Electronic Engineer. I even made a nice vinyl-covered case for it myself. The main reason I built it was for experience and because at that time reel-to-reel machines were very expensive (unless you earned a whole lot of money of course). In those days I worked for Marconi at Great Baddow, so I know Great Baddow quite well (although it has changed a lot now of course). I now have two Akai machines and sold the one I built some 3 years after building it. One of my near neighbours is an Electronic Engineer who works for what is now the very minimized remmnant of Marconi - BAE Systems - in Chelmsford.

I used Chelmsford as a location because that is the nearest large city to where I live, which people would recognize. I actually live in Rivenhall, Witham; but go to Chelmsford from time-to-time so perhaps we could meet up as you suggest, if you PM me with a suitable date and time. Thanks for your welcome.

[Barry]

Hi Ronald,

I also worked at the (then) Marconi Research Laboratories in Great Baddow, for nearly thirty years (from 1977 to 2006). My field of work was in microwave communications and radar, specialising in filter research and design. The labs have changed enormously, both in appearence and in the work done there, since GEC-Marconi was bought out by British Aerospace to become BAE Systems.

It would be good to meet up sometime. Perhaps some time in February - I'll PM you to arrange details.