Hello from Cambridge

[dim_span]

Hi everyone ... am new here ... based in Cambridge UK ... someone on another thread asked me to introduce myself here as I am new on this forum

recently started aquiring a hifi again (had to sell my previous system as was without work, and had bailiffs knocking on the door) ... sold for peanuts, but thats life I suppose ... miss my IMF TLS80 speakers the most (but am eying the old Ditton 66's now and possibly may get a pair next year aswell as a decent amp to drive them)

so, with a limited budget, have started aquiring some older gear ... over the last 4 months, have bought the following:

Pioneer SA-9800 amp ... £275 off ebay

Marantz CD 63 MKII K1 signature cdp ... £130 off ebay

B&W DM2a speakers (1st version handbuilt 3-way transmissions) ... £50 off ebay

Silver High Breed Coherence interconnect ... £30 new off ebay (new)

Hitachi ssx 102k lc-ofc speaker cable ... £25 off ebay

so total spent = £510 and am delighted with this sytem, but will be upgrading the cdp shortly

also bought a soundstage 5 tier hifi rack for £70 off ebay

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also have a 2nd system in my bedroom

Pioneer A400 amp ... £70 off ebay

Pioneer SX-700L receiver ... £10 off gumtree

Pioneer PD-S702 cdp ... £3 from a carboot sale (mint condition, boxed etc)

Leak Sandwich 200 speakers .... £10 off ebay

Silver High Breed synergy2 interconnect (free when I bought the coherence IC)

not sure what speaker cable I am using as has no name, and bought a box full of old speaker cables from a guy who refurbishes restaurants (paid £8 for the whole box)

dont laugh at this system ... actually sounds very good! (for the £101 paid)
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I will continue to upgrade and keep the better seperates and sell off the crappy ones ... I will definately keep the Pioneer SA-9800 amp and the B&W DM2a speakers ... they work very well together and the speakers were a real bargain ... use the same tweeters and supertweeters as the old Spendor BC1's but have better bass as they are transmission speakers ... my next upgrade on my main system will be the cdp and will look at a good second hand one up to £500 (may possibly have it lampasized as have been reading on google ... very interesting site that)
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my music tastes are very varied and I have a vast cd collection ...(not into vinyl as I do not wish to start buying lp's as it will become very costly) ... enjoy blues, rock, some classical and lately getting into jazz ... (latest 2 cd's bought this week are jazzy ones ... Ernest Ranglin (Below the Bassline) and Dave Bubeck's greatest hits ...I tend to buy 3-4 cd's a week and must have over 700 cd's now

I also listen to spotify and will look at connecting spotify on my pc to my hifi later next year

am a senior design engineer (mechanical) ... and am married with 3 children .... originally from south africa and been in the UK for 9 years now

[Marco]

Great introduction and thanks for popping in to say hello!

Just one thing, what's you're name, mate? :)

Marco.

[The Vinyl Adventure]

Welcome! I do like a good intro! That 703 pioneer is suposed to be good for having modded ... I'm sure the people in the know about these parts would advise you on that front ...

[dim_span]

Hi Marco ... my name is Dimitri ... but see there is another Dimitri .... so just call me dim ... :lolsign:

Hamish ... I will be looking at possibly having my cdp modded by a guy in Poland ... been reading about this ... here is his site (posted this on another thread about the chinese amps)

http://www.lampizator.eu/

[Marco]

Pleased to meet you Dimitri the 2nd! :eyebrows:

Marco.

[The Vinyl Adventure]

hi dim
yeah, i have come across that website before, goes a bit over my head to be honest so im never sure what to make of it all.. id be interested to hear how you get on if you go down that road!

[Themis]

Welcome to another Dimitri ! So there will alway be a Dimitri active on these forums !!! ;)
Nice system(s), I particularly like the 63 MKII K1 signature Marantz CDP, it marries very well with tubes, btw.

[DSJR]

Welcome from a VERY old IMF fan :D

DM2a's could be very good as I remember, but watch bass with some amps, as with the IMF's you once had, it can get flabby very easily.

Ditton 66's or 662's as they became (?) could be stunning as long as the bass was kept in check (do I note a trend here? ;)). Another "sleeper" could be the B&O 5702 (in the UK), which has the same drivers I think, in a more compact cabinet. You know, B&O collectors are fine with speaker re-caps (they need to be IMO), but the old 3800 and 5702 models from the early seventies are actually very good as long as the amp will take a 4 Ohm load..

Anyway, ditch that 63KI sig ASAP please and get another old machine such as an Arcam Alpha 3. This can go to Avondale for a significant re-vamp for not too much and Avondale's Les also has replacement mechs should you need one.....

Alternatively, take a trip down the M11 to hifi dave outside Saffron Walden and get a listen to a new Rega Apollo, which is back under £500 and a very good little machine by all accounts..... :)

[Spectral Morn]

Welcome to AOS Dimitri


Enjoy yourself and have fun :)


Regards D S D L

[Themis]

Anyway, ditch that 63KI sig ASAP please and get another old machine such as an Arcam Alpha 3.
Yeah, sell the 63KIsig on the bay, Dave needs one... :eyebrows:

[dim_span]

thanks everyone! ...

Dave .... the DM2a's were a bit 'loose' on bass (and tired sounding with the Pioneer A400, but they need more power to perform better ...

works very well with the SA-9800 (100 watts @8 ohm) ... had some issues initially with speaker placement, but works fine when moved approx 2 foot from the back walls ... you can actually 'feel' the bass (if that makes sense)

I am a big fan of the IMF's (TLS80's and 50's) ...watch the prices daily and seem to be fetching high prices now ... (sold mine for £220) ... suppose I always fancied the transmission line speakers (auditioned some Mezzo 8's a month ago ... and was deeply dissapointed ... bass was lacking (suppose I am just used to the way my system and speakers sounds?)

Many people on WHF (what hi fi forum) have been praising the Rega cdp so will look very closely at that ... may keep the marantz for my 2nd system, but can say that the old Pioneer is very good ... so will be a toss up (could possibly sell the marantz and put that money towards my next cdp ... should get my £130 back as is in mint condition with box, instructions and certificate/remote)
... will look closely at your other recommendations as regards speakers ... as mentioned, I fancy the ditton 66's and should do well with bryston or old krell amplifiers ... I have space for large speakers

Hi Neil ... thanks for the welcome ... this is a super site!

[Jonboy]

Hello Dim,
I've heard a pair of fully rebuilt DM2a's that were wall hung and they sounded very good with one of my old mullard 10 watt valve amps driving them, they also respond well to crossover rebuilding it brings them back to life.

[dim_span]

Yeah, sell the 63KIsig on the bay, Dave needs one... :eyebrows:

loads of 63K1sig's on ebay ...been watching closely ... £120-£130 gets you one in mint condition if you are patient ... check ebay on sat/sundays as thats when most people list new items ...

I found the old Rotel RCD-9658X to have a better soundstage than the marantz (rotel RCD-9658x limited edition is not the same as the standard RCD-965x) ... have not seen one listed for a very long time

[Themis]

loads of 63K1sig's on ebay ...been watching closely ... £120-£130 gets you one in mint condition if you are patient ... check ebay on sat/sundays as thats when most people list new items ...

I found the old Rotel RCD-9658X to have a better soundstage than the marantz (rotel RCD-9658x limited edition is not the same as the standard RCD-965x) ... have not seen one listed for a very long time
It was a joke. I haven't use a CDP for two years... I use a DVD player into a dac for occasional listening. ;)
Rest of digital is FLAC/WMA lossless.

[dim_span]

Hi Jon ... I contacted wembley speakers and enquired about having the DM2a's crossovers modded as I read somewhere that this was a good suggestion

guy responded saying 'if it ain't broke-don't fix it' ... so never persued the issue but can say that with my amp they sound really good (especially for the £50 paid) ...

saw a pair a week ago not get any bids and price was £24.99 .... DM2a's are one of the bargains on ebay at the moment IMHO

[dim_span]

It was a joke. I haven't use a CDP for two years... I use a DVD player into a dac for occasional listening. ;)
Rest of digital is FLAC/WMA lossless.

no probs ... not many people like the CD63K1sig ... they say it's too bright ... sounds fine to me?

[Themis]

To mee too it sounds fine. It's not too bright, it's overly-analytic, I would rather say. But it's not harsh, it's rather subtle imho.