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Sophistry
08-02-2018, 23:35
Hi there!

My name is Charlie and I'm from London - I thought that it was time to bite the bullet and sign up to the forum rather than just browsing!

My system is currently in a state of change while I upgrade from the relatively basic Rega system I have had for the past ten years (very kindly gifted to me by my dad!). Currently:

Rega P2 (TD124 on the way).
TAG 125M Monoblocks
TAG AV32r preamp
Rega R7 speakers

Thanks all!

walpurgis
09-02-2018, 09:28
Hello Charlie. Welcome to AOS.

Tell us what music you listen to and what equipment you are thinking of upgrading to.

If you want opinions on potential purchases, I'm sure our members will be happy to chip in.

Take a look around the site and join in any chat that interests you.


Enjoy the forum,
Geoff.

struth
11-02-2018, 10:29
hi charlie; welcome to AoS. Always fun building up a system. hope you enjoy the facilities.

Sophistry
12-02-2018, 13:06
Thanks, Geoff and Grant!

I listen to all sorts of music... A sample of the genres would be: classic rock, psych, funk/soul, folk, traditional middle eastern, quite a bit of 70s African stuff, occassionally hip hop... Hard to pin it down to one thing really! All listened to on vinyl - I don't own any CDs or a CD player, so that's one piece of equipment I don't have to worry about!

I am lucky enough to have a pretty big room at home, and have been leaning towards starting out with a pair of big Tannoys (probably Mk1 Ardens) as the speakers. I have read quite a few things about them, and been given some sensible advice about the various problems/issues with the big 15" HPDs, but it seems like they would, for the price involved, be a pretty great place to start! Now I just need to find a decent pair at a reasonable price!

In terms of an amp for the speakers, I have long been considering a classic British valve amp from the 50s/60s/70s, but there are obviously all sorts of issues with the condition of such amps, and getting them repaired. I was recently pointed in the direction of Radford Revival, whose amps look like they might give me the best of both worlds - classic valve tech and sound but with modern reliability! Think I am going to get in touch with the guys at RR and see if I can have a listen!

I will then need a pre-amp, and haven't got quite such a settled view on that... Something British built and valve sounds good. People have mentioned the EAR pre-amps as an option...

Any thoughts or advice would of course be much appreciated!

Thank you!

Charlie

struth
12-02-2018, 13:17
geoffs your man for tannoys

walpurgis
12-02-2018, 13:46
geoffs your man for tannoys

Well I know a bit :).

The fifteen inch Tannoys are good.

Bear in mind that the cone surrounds on the 15" HPD can need replacing maybe every ten years or so, some last longer. The surrounds can be replaced by a competent and patient person, but most people opt for entire cone replacement, usually done by Lockwood Audio.

The 15" Monitor Gold has doped, pleated paper cone surrounds, that seem to last more or less indefinitely. Used in the the York speaker, being the model preceding the Amesbury (which also uses HPD's) and followed by the Arden. Each of these speakers being around the same size.

All of these models are worthy enough. The Gold having slightly less extended bass (but still plenty). The York and Amesbury cabinets really need extra internal bracing to bring them up to a decent modern(ish) standard. An easy enough job.

Oh. And the Radford Revival STA 25 would be very nice with any of those. An EAR pre-amp might be good. I'd personally be interested in hearing a good TVC unit with the STA 25, could work nicely.

Sophistry
12-02-2018, 14:09
Cheers, both!

Yes, I think I would probably have to get the HPDs reconed by Lockwoods, so I guess looking at another £500 on top of whatever I pick them up for... I have also had some solid advice on making sure that I avoid a pair of driver units put together shortly after the move to Coatbridge (until quality control got up to scratch again...). I think that my difficulty will be finding a pair that are for sale at a reasonable price... The only ones I can find for sale in the UK at the moment are asking what I think are OTT prices (£2.5k)... I suspect that it is a waiting game, unless anyone here has a pair they are looking to offload!!

The STA100s that several forum members are having built look amazing, but provided the STA25 can handle the 15" drivers (which I suspect they would have no problem with), I suspect that I am looking at getting a STA25 for now (unless I win the lottery or discover a pot of gold etc...). The RR STA25s look like they are really beautifully built with real care and attention, and all the reports about them seem full of praise! Really great to have been pointed in their direction.

I will have an ask around and see what else owners of the STA25 use as their preamps!

Thank you for all the thoughts!

walpurgis
12-02-2018, 14:25
Currently, I'm actually using the scarce Tannoy Cheviot Mk.II speakers with the rather less 'fashionable' ceramic magnet 3128 dual concentric driver. They sound absolutely superb, easily as good as any other model I've heard and that's nearly all the classics. Any of the Mk.II series are very well worth a listen and are priced more reasonably than the HPD's (so far..........it won't last).

Here's the Arden Mk.II. Distinguished by the 'quartic' shaped driver chassis front instead of the round one on the Gold and HPD.

http://i63.tinypic.com/22x26b.jpg

The Black Adder
12-02-2018, 14:29
Welcome in, Charlie :)

I've had a Woodisde STA25, very nice amp. And with 15" drivers your probably looking at the last amp you will buy :)

Enjoy!

Edward
12-02-2018, 15:23
Hello Charlie

I can vouch for the Radford Revival STA25 and indeed for the folks at Radford Revival. The STA25 drives all speakers I've tried very well. Currently driving some Tannoy Eatons and Kef Corellis. The STA25 is very flexible on preamps.

Sophistry
12-02-2018, 15:24
Thanks, guys! Glad to hear that I am at least in a sensible area to be thinking about both in terms of speakers and amps!

Do you happen to have any tips about places to look online for speakers? I am currently just regularly checking Hifishark, ebay, leboncoin, gumtree, and craigslist...

Thank you so much for your replies!