View Full Version : Getting there!
As some of you might have read, I recently saved a lovely old pair of 80's Kef C60's from the tip and have been trying to get them set up as cheaply as possible but so I get the best out of them (for my limited outlay!). So far I have bought a pair of 14.5" speakers stands from Ebay for the princely sum of 20 quid, the speaker fit fine and snug, held on with 4 blobs of Blue-Tac, they don't have spikes and as the carpet they sit on is pretty think I might fit some. I was using an old Sony laptop of dubious health due to the laptop I wanted to use not having an optical\spdif out put, I have now rectified that by buying a Creative X-fi HD external sound card off one of my friends for 10 quid (I might upgrade to a proper DAC in the future but am surprised by how much of an improvement in sound this has given me, am playing everything thru Winamp at the moment using WASAPI output, that alone was a huge jump in sound quality!).
Am still using my old Denon AV amp until I next go to my brothers and swipe his (sat in his garage unused!) Marantz KI Sig amp and CD player, the Denon is actually a AV 2105 (not the lower model I thought it was), she's a big old girl with a MASSIVE transformer, weighs a ton, and seems happy driving the speakers at whatever volume I pick, am using it in direct mode via optical at the moment.
I was getting an intermittent digital like buzz when using the Sony laptop, was hoping it wasn't the amp (or speakers) esp as they are 4ohms and the amp want's 6 ohms, it wasn't getting hot nor was I driving it hard, anyway all gone now!
I personally am loving the sound I'm getting, rich and full bodied is how I would describe it, very controlled with very detailed top end from the tweeters, I am very happy so far though I think this could be the start of an obsession (I hope not for my wallets sake!), I will upgrade my speaker cable and interconnects when I get the Marantz but I think that will have to do for a while (I upgraded my entire AV system in the lounge last year, new TV, AVR, speakers, interconnects etc and am about to have the roof done on my house!) so monies are tight for a bit.
All in all I am very happy with what I have got for pretty much zero outlay so far, have been busy going through my CD collection re-ripping everything in FLAC, who's stupid idea was it ever use MP3's even at the highest bitrate setting!! lol :)
You're definitely on the slippery slope now Andrew :)
As some of you might have read, I recently saved a lovely old pair of 80's Kef C60's from the tip and have been trying to get them set up as cheaply as possible but so I get the best out of them (for my limited outlay!). So far I have bought a pair of 14.5" speakers stands from Ebay for the princely sum of 20 quid, the speaker fit fine and snug, held on with 4 blobs of Blue-Tac, they don't have spikes and as the carpet they sit on is pretty think I might fit some. I was using an old Sony laptop of dubious health due to the laptop I wanted to use not having an optical\spdif out put, I have now rectified that by buying a Creative X-fi HD external sound card off one of my friends for 10 quid (I might upgrade to a proper DAC in the future but am surprised by how much of an improvement in sound this has given me, am playing everything thru Winamp at the moment using WASAPI output, that alone was a huge jump in sound quality!).
Am still using my old Denon AV amp until I next go to my brothers and swipe his (sat in his garage unused!) Marantz KI Sig amp and CD player, the Denon is actually a AV 2105 (not the lower model I thought it was), she's a big old girl with a MASSIVE transformer, weighs a ton, and seems happy driving the speakers at whatever volume I pick, am using it in direct mode via optical at the moment.
I was getting an intermittent digital like buzz when using the Sony laptop, was hoping it wasn't the amp (or speakers) esp as they are 4ohms and the amp want's 6 ohms, it wasn't getting hot nor was I driving it hard, anyway all gone now!
I personally am loving the sound I'm getting, rich and full bodied is how I would describe it, very controlled with very detailed top end from the tweeters, I am very happy so far though I think this could be the start of an obsession (I hope not for my wallets sake!), I will upgrade my speaker cable and interconnects when I get the Marantz but I think that will have to do for a while (I upgraded my entire AV system in the lounge last year, new TV, AVR, speakers, interconnects etc and am about to have the roof done on my house!) so monies are tight for a bit.
All in all I am very happy with what I have got for pretty much zero outlay so far, have been busy going through my CD collection re-ripping everything in FLAC, who's stupid idea was it ever use MP3's even at the highest bitrate setting!! lol :)
often buzz using a laptop is from the charger. disconnecting it and running on battery may cure that. i ended up getting a kensington charging supply that doesnt buzz.
You're definitely on the slippery slope now Andrew :)
I think you could be correct, tbh I started down it last year when I was allowed to buy the Dali Zensor 1 5.1 system for the lounge, they were a lot more than I had been given as my budget but Richer Sounds gave us a cracking deal when buying them with the new AV receiver and they are great speakers, even running in pure mode on the amp with no sub they have an amazing range and clarity for their size. I have found myself being very critical of pretty much every system I've heard since then and had been wanting to get a nice setup away from the lounge for just sitting and listening to music while reading, and now I am part way there! :)
often buzz using a laptop is from the charger. disconnecting it and running on battery may cure that. i ended up getting a kensington charging supply that doesnt buzz.
You are probably correct, unfortunately the battery is toast in that Sony laptop, Windows doesn't even see it as having one plugged in, thankfully the HP one I now have is showing no signs of it at all and apparently, from what I have read, the Creative X-fi HD has filters in it to stop such things, I turned the volume up high with nothing playing but connected to the laptop\sound card then unplugged the optical cable from the amp and tried again, was no real noticeable difference in hiss etc, plus the HP is much smaller (so can sit on one the speakers out of the way), has a much faster CPU, 8gb of memory and much better wifi card (it has an N and the Sony only a G) so streaming stuff from my server is a lot more stable.
Gordon Steadman
23-07-2015, 10:54
I think you could be correct, tbh I started down it last year when I was allowed to buy the Dali Zensor 1 5.1 system for the lounge, they were a lot more than I had been given as my budget but Richer Sounds gave us a cracking deal when buying them with the new AV receiver and they are great speakers, even running in pure mode on the amp with no sub they have an amazing range and clarity for their size. I have found myself being very critical of pretty much every system I've heard since then and had been wanting to get a nice setup away from the lounge for just sitting and listening to music while reading, and now I am part way there! :)
:eek:
Tut tut, concentrate:)
I do it all the time - read that is - but I do find I keep getting dragged away from the book, so the flow of both tends to get interrupted.
:eek:
Tut tut, concentrate:)
I do it all the time - read that is - but I do find I keep getting dragged away from the book, so the flow of both tends to get interrupted.
I found myself dong the same last night, I find it is volume dependent, lower background volumes and I can read fine, push it up and nope, I just get lost in the music, which lets be honest, we don't really mind! ;)
Well I now have the Marantz kit from my brothers, the amp is a PM6010ose KI Sig and the CDP a CD6000 KI, both have issues!
The amp's balance control is goosed, I was only getting sound through the right channel and just cracking when I turned it to the left, so I opened it up, sprayed the controler with WD40, gave it plenty of wiggles back and forth, closed the amp up and left it to dry while I looked at the CDP, when I switched it back it's better but not brilliant, the left channel working fine, the right channel only coming on if I give the knob a smack, new potential meter needed?? I am using it in direct mode at the mo so the balance etc is by-passed!
The CDP is a bit more serious, as soon as it power on it comes up with "TOC Reading" then "Error" even though no disc in it (and when you put a disc in it doesn't spin up etc), I have carefully cleaned the laser, checked for obvious damage etc to no avail, stuck it in service mode, get error 11 straight away (sledge error), so am thinking a new laser and carrier? I have looked and it's a vam-1203, any ideas of a UK supplier? Can only find one on Ebay and it's in the states, postage is as much as the unit is!!
Anyhow apart from these issues I love the Marantz, it's such a clear and detailed sound, hardly need the volume up at all (around 8-9 o'clock is plenty), am hearing things in the music that I have never heard at all! :D
Shame about the Marantzs, sounds like the amplifier could be fixed without too much pain. The issue with the CD player sounds a bit more dodgy.
Anyway if the sound is good enough to distract you from your reading then you are on the right track. :)
Shame about the Marantzs, sounds like the amplifier could be fixed without too much pain. The issue with the CD player sounds a bit more dodgy.
Anyway if the sound is good enough to distract you from your reading then you are on the right track. :)
Well the amp I have just by-passed the issue for now by using it in direct mode (which gives a purer sound according the manual!) and replacing the balance control looks to be fiddly and require good soldering skills!
The CDP I don't think will be so bad as long as I can source the correct module, just a few screws to remove the entire transport system, then a couple more to get the laser and it's gubbins out, I think, for me, that will be the easier fix (hopefully!! lol)
The sound is a lot different than the old Denon AVR I was using, esp the top end, it's much clearer and everything I've listened to has much better stereo separation too, I am happy (for now!) :)
Well if it is just the balance control no big deal. Who uses them anyway? Good luck with the CD repairs.
Exactly, well it by-passes the tape dubbing features and some other stuff I will never use, will only ever have the CDP and the DAC from my laptop plugged in to it.
Yeah I hope I can fix the CDP, I have found the optical pick up assembly I need for only 1 person in the states ( http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/PHILIPS-VAM-1203-Optical-Pickup-Assembly-CD-562-/290994736267?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item43c0a34c8b ) no idea if this is a good price, does someone on here know were I could source one in the UK etc??
Sod it, I've ordered it from Ebay, it's the only one online I could find for sale, I've called a few Hi Fi repair places and the either can't get one or suck through their teeth and want me to bring it in for them to look at, for the sake of 20 odd quid I've ordered it from the US!
Good price, under £30 so you shouldn't get customs charges.
, I've called a few Hi Fi repair places and the either can't get one or suck through their teeth !
Yeah they always do that. I think it is in the engineer's manual or something.
Good price, under £30 so you shouldn't get customs charges.
Oh good, I don't like paying extra taxes!
Yeah they always do that. I think it is in the engineer's manual or something.
Maybe they go to the same school as car mechanics?? lol :)
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