Infinitely Baffled
30-07-2016, 06:07
A warm hello to all! This is my introductory post on AoS, though I have been following a few of the threads for a while now (phew! the Brexit thread - that was something wasn't it? or maybe you all want to put that behind you). Anyway, it looks like a lively and friendly place, so here goes ...
I'm Gary, a little bit into my 60s, and have enjoyed faffing around with hi-fi since I put my first very low-cost system together at college in the early 70s - Connoisseur BD1 turntable, Acos Lustre arm, Ortofon VMS20E cartridge - I remember it well! Playing through a second hand JVC amplifier and some shop-soiled clearance sale Leak loudspeakers from Comet. It was all so simple then! My first LP was "Five Bridges" by the Nice, which marks me out as a pretention twerp, I know. Probably true. I have an unbroken track record of loyalty to vinyl since then - a tuner and eventually a CD player were added, but there was never a time I was without a turntable. No born-again vinylisto here!
For the first twenty-odd years my hi-fi equipment buying habits were strictly mainstream SS. Then came divorce (nothing to do with that, I don't think) and, you know, you have a place to yourself, more time and the opportunity to indulge your hi-fi curiosity. I started to get interested in some of the more arcane and hidden hi-fi pathways. It started with some horn loaded speakers (Lowther Acoustas), an old Leak valve amplifier, a separate phono stage (gasp!), progressed through some gorgeous Quad electrostatics, a kit-built SET amplifier and along a path which has generally led me towards lower and lower powered systems with more and more sensitive loudspeakers. To where I am now, with a Garrard vinyl front end with Audio Note amplfication and loudspeakers. Digital is from Naim and I use a monster Japanese tuner from Sansui for radio listening. I no longer have the "Nice" album but still have quite a bit of sixties and seventies blues/rock and other stuff from Pentangle to King Crimson. Main listening these days is classical - particularly early music and small-ensemble stuff (I find it hard to get into large-scale symphonic) and jazz - from be-bop through funk, fusion to thoroughly modern "chamber jazz". Lovely!
Sad to say, though, I am going through a bit of vinyl hell at the moment. My own fault, really. I changed too many components at once, I have lost the sound I like somewhere on the upgrade path, and I'm currently wallowing around a bit in used cartridges and phono stages wondering how to get it back. Very instructive, I suppose, but frustrating! Not to worry - I'll get there!
So if you see my posts asking dumb and forlorn questions, do take pity. I'm just a lost soul trying to find my way back. Looking forward to getting to know you all. Cheers. Gary.
I'm Gary, a little bit into my 60s, and have enjoyed faffing around with hi-fi since I put my first very low-cost system together at college in the early 70s - Connoisseur BD1 turntable, Acos Lustre arm, Ortofon VMS20E cartridge - I remember it well! Playing through a second hand JVC amplifier and some shop-soiled clearance sale Leak loudspeakers from Comet. It was all so simple then! My first LP was "Five Bridges" by the Nice, which marks me out as a pretention twerp, I know. Probably true. I have an unbroken track record of loyalty to vinyl since then - a tuner and eventually a CD player were added, but there was never a time I was without a turntable. No born-again vinylisto here!
For the first twenty-odd years my hi-fi equipment buying habits were strictly mainstream SS. Then came divorce (nothing to do with that, I don't think) and, you know, you have a place to yourself, more time and the opportunity to indulge your hi-fi curiosity. I started to get interested in some of the more arcane and hidden hi-fi pathways. It started with some horn loaded speakers (Lowther Acoustas), an old Leak valve amplifier, a separate phono stage (gasp!), progressed through some gorgeous Quad electrostatics, a kit-built SET amplifier and along a path which has generally led me towards lower and lower powered systems with more and more sensitive loudspeakers. To where I am now, with a Garrard vinyl front end with Audio Note amplfication and loudspeakers. Digital is from Naim and I use a monster Japanese tuner from Sansui for radio listening. I no longer have the "Nice" album but still have quite a bit of sixties and seventies blues/rock and other stuff from Pentangle to King Crimson. Main listening these days is classical - particularly early music and small-ensemble stuff (I find it hard to get into large-scale symphonic) and jazz - from be-bop through funk, fusion to thoroughly modern "chamber jazz". Lovely!
Sad to say, though, I am going through a bit of vinyl hell at the moment. My own fault, really. I changed too many components at once, I have lost the sound I like somewhere on the upgrade path, and I'm currently wallowing around a bit in used cartridges and phono stages wondering how to get it back. Very instructive, I suppose, but frustrating! Not to worry - I'll get there!
So if you see my posts asking dumb and forlorn questions, do take pity. I'm just a lost soul trying to find my way back. Looking forward to getting to know you all. Cheers. Gary.