hi to all

[grayfair0]

hiya all. newbie here to this site and to electronics in general. i`m a music lover of all kinds really. everything from holst planets (all time fav) to black sabbath lol so my tastes are quite diverse. my saying is it doesn`t matter what or who it is, if it`s good i`ll listen :). mind you i`m not so struck on rap lol but then again rap has it`s moments lol (run dmc with aerosmith is good lol walk this way!).

over the years i`ve had all kinds of budget amps and equipment but always tried to get the best my budget could afford. two amps i really liked were the cyrus 1 amp and exposure pre/power. always thought arcam cd players were good. but a few years ago i bought a chinese yaqin integrated tube amp mainly because i liked the look of it lol. the sound blew me away and then started the tube rolling!!! that knocked my wallet for 6 lol but loved every second! had it married to a musical fidelity nuvista cd player and quad 12L2 speakers! i just fell in love with the sound specially with the tune up via tube rolling. it completely caught my imagination and fascination. had to sell it all though due to moving but now i`m trying to get another system together based on music streaming. i started with a mingda mc7r pre which i`m upgrading bit by bit using info off the internet and i`m just loving every second of it. at 52 years old i think i`ve found a new passion. never too late i guess lol. wether it works or not is another thing lol but it will be part of the steep learning curve i`ve set myself. a major inspiration is someone you all may of heard of is lukasz fikus of lampizator fame. it`s his site that really made me catch the bug!!! so be prepared for question time at some point in the future and make sure you have patience and a very thick skin lol.

anyway it`s great to be here and i really look forward to plenty of chats about hifi, tubes, electronics, music and life in general

gray

[walpurgis]

Hi Gray. Welcome to AOS.

You certainly sound very keen. You'll find loads to interest you here.

I use a MingDa pre myself, the rather obscure MC-9. They make very good stuff.

If you like add some equipment pictures to our Gallery section. We always appreciate them.

Are you planning any change to your system? We like to hear what people have in mind.



Enjoy the forum,
Geoff.

[grayfair0]

hiya geoff,

oh yes extremely keen! i know of the mc-9 but not heard one. not even heard my own mc7r yet lol i just bought it after reading loads and loads of threads and narrowing down a system that can be upgradable. plus mingda generally has a very good reputation amonst the chinese stuff.

i`ll certainly add piccies in the very very near future on what i have and parts i`ll be using in the upgrades.

trawling through different sites and threads i`m actually planning a huge change for the mc7r but my lack of experience in even describing the upgrades will be a challenge lol but i will certainly do my best. it`s like i keep finding different info and taking the best of them all and will be applying them to the pre. things like taking out feedback loops and the like in the input stage. what i really like is people go to great lengths to explain things easily with the help of pics. i also plan doing a lampizator dac and using a squeezebox as a transport. but i wont be attempting stuff like that till i get a good amount of confidence in what i`m doing. in a way its kind of scary but i know help will never be far away and that, i`m very much looking forward to. all i hope is i`m not biting off more than i can chew!

[Barry]

Welcome to AoS Gray,

I'm sure you will find much to interest you: we have a few fans of Ming Da here as well as fans of Quad speakers.

Any questions you may have, feel free to ask away - we don't bite!

Enjoy the Forum

Regards
Barry

(PS where in the "united kingdom" do you live? We don't want to know your exact address, the town or county will be sufficient: "united kingdom" is a bit vague.)

[grayfair0]

hiya barry many many thanks, it`s a real pleasure to be part of this site and i`m really looking forward to learning and chatting.

i live 2 miles off the united kingdom mainland.....isle of wight. moved here just over a year ago from essex. so if there`s any other islanders here too come and say hi

[jollyfix]

Hi Gray, welcome to AOS. great first post.

[Eagle owl]

Hello and welcome Graham.

Geoff. :wave:

[struth]

Welcome Graham. Sounds like you know where your going so keep us informed as you go.
regards grant

[steve s]

Welcome to AOS Graham from someone just across the water from you. Only been a member on here for six months or so myself and I've found it to be very friendly and informative ... I know you'll enjoy !!

Steve

ps. probably best never to ask if cables make a difference tho' ..... it starts a war !! :lol:

[grayfair0]

hiya to all that said hi lol my internet has been down all day and has only just come back on grrrr! good old bt.

grant i will most certainly keep all informed.

hiya steve i`ll have to get a dingy and row over lol.

in the next couple of days i will take some pics of my mingda and also post a pic of the upgraded schematics so you can all see what i intend to do. i`ll also list the parts i`ll be swapping and i`ll be asking a question about resistor types placed in more critical places. just hope that doesn`t start a war lol. but seriously though from what i`ve read on some sites it does appear that resistors placed in certain places does make a difference. be interesting to hear peoples views. i`ll just start a post titled "mingda mc7r" so keep an eye out for that one ok :)

[Floyddroid]

Big big welcome.