View Full Version : What kit did you aspire to own when you were young and poor?
When you were a youth, if you can think back that far, say 18-21, what was your aspirational system?
If you were anything like me it was a load of stuff you'd seen in the magazines but never heard. And would probably never be able to afford.
This was my dream system age about 21, just out of college, broke, unemployed and unemployable:
Linn Sondek LP12 - A mate had one and I thought it was great. I didn't know anything about arms and carts then so best leave that. Don't know much more now.
Nakamichi Dragon - All those buttons! Have actually heard one since and it was excellent.
Pioneer PD91 CD player - Another slice of flagship Jap action
Big Sony ES amp. Not bothered exactly which model but must have Gibraltar chassis and large rotary volume knob.
JBL L100 'Century' Loudspeakers - other than the LP12 the only other component I had actually heard at the time, mate's dad had some.
I wonder if it would make a pretty good system even today?
https://i.imgur.com/s6aviBK.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/2aUWUyS.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/4cF1jA2.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/iDRnjTC.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/HnsG0TA.jpg
walpurgis
17-06-2018, 23:12
After a false step or two (thanks Mr. Sugar :rolleyes:), the first system I put together that produced something sort of resembling Hi-Fi was a Garrard SP25 III with Goldring G800 and Japanese Olson amp driving home made speakers with Eagle FR65 full range drivers.
I was realistic and didn't really lust after stuff I couldn't afford and concentrated on what was at a stretch within a reachable budget and I actually lusted after a Thorens TD150 with Audio Technica AT-1005 Mk.II arm and ADC 10E Mk.IV cart, to be used with a Ferrograph F307 or Cambridge P50 amp and Tannoy speakers.
I bought it! Got the F307, not the P50. The F307 played up and was replaced by a Rotel RA-611 that sounded excellent. The AT arm was replaced by a Decca International and the ADC was replaced by a Decca London. The speakers remained as Tannoy IIILZ's for quite a few years. I loved it and didn't really set my sights higher for a long time.
I'd still like another TD150 actually.
At the age of 16, 17 my hi-fi asperations were influenced by the father of a school chum of mine, who had what I then regarded as a wonderful system:
Collaro 2020 turntable fitted with a Garrard TP13A arm (cartridge unknown, but probably a Shure (M44-5 ?)), a Grundig tape machine (again model unknown) feeding a Leak Stereo 20 poweramp with Leak Varislope preamp. The speakers were Wharfedale SFB3s (sand filled baffles).
At age 18 I acquired my first system: a Garrard SP25/II with Shure M3D cartridge and a pair of home-built Mullard 5-10 amplifiers, feeding a pair of home-built speakers following a Wharfedale design (an approximately 1.5 cu ft distributed rear port enclosure using the Wharefedale RS8DD driver).
At that time (1968) my asperation was to have a Garrard 401/SME 3009 combination with Shure M55E cartridge, Leak solid-state amplifier (probably the Stereo 30), keeping the speakers unchanged. Later that asperation was changed to include a Cambridge P50 amplifier (which looked so 'cool' in the slim line case, as well as receiving favourable reviews).
In 1970, frustrated by the difficulty I was having in obtaining a Garrard 401 (or a Goldring G99) turntable, I acquired a Collaro 2020 (a sort of 'poor man's 301') virtually for free, removed the decidedly inferior arm and fitted an SME with Shure M55E cartridge. This remained in place until 1972 when I acquired a Thorens TD124/II, to which I fitted the SME and Shure combination. I toyed with the idea of obtaining a pair of Lowther PM6A drivers and fitting them into a pair of Lowther 'Ideal Baffles', as the first step to building a pair of Lowther Acousta folded horn enclosures; but this didn't last for long, as in 1974, I bought a pair of Quad ESLs (now know as 57s).
Of all those items, the Quads, the Thorens and the SME are still in use.
Happy Days!
After a false step or two (thanks Mr. Sugar :rolleyes:), the first system I put together that produced something sort of resembling Hi-Fi was a Garrard SP25 III with Goldring G800 and Japanese Olson amp driving home made speakers with Eagle FR65 full range drivers.
I was realistic and didn't really lust after stuff I couldn't afford and concentrated on what was at a stretch within a reachable budget and I actually lusted after a Thorens TD150 with Audio Technica AT-1005 Mk.II arm and ADC 10E Mk.IV cart, to be used with a Ferrograph F307 or Cambridge P50 amp and Tannoy speakers.
I bought it! Got the F307, not the P50. The F307 played up and was replaced by a Rotel RA-611 that sounded excellent. The AT arm was replaced by a Decca International and the ADC was replaced by a Decca London. The speakers remained as Tannoy IIILZ's for quite a few years. I loved it and didn't really set my sights higher for a long time.
I'd still like another TD150 actually.
still got a ferrograph f307 upstairs. lovely old amp
walpurgis
18-06-2018, 09:30
still got a ferrograph f307 upstairs. lovely old amp
I ended up going through two new ones. The first hummed badly and was returned and replaced, the second one was just the same, so that went back and I opted for the Rotel RA-611 amp instead. That served me flawlessly for years and sounded better too.
icehockeyboy
18-06-2018, 09:30
A Thorens TD 150
Leak Stereo 30 +
And a pair of Lowther PM 6 speakers.
Mainly because my mum had a friend that stored this same outfit at our house, as he’d recently moved and had no room for it.
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Always wanted a nice B&O system. Never did or will now but at least got a cart lol
Full Linn Klimax system. Oh how times change...
Lawrence001
18-06-2018, 17:40
Always wanted a nice B&O system. Never did or will now but at least got a cart lolWhy say never will?
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Why say never will?
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Just not going to happen now or very unlikely.
Quality gear and a design icon
Smoking Joe
18-06-2018, 18:53
I lusted after What HiFi? 's reference system:
Audiolab 8000A
Marantz CD63 Ki Signature
I can't remember the speakers as I simply didn't have room for floor standers at the time (or actually until 20 plus years later which was only last year!)
I am stuck in the past as last year I was about to buy "new" speakers in the form of Mission 753 that were 20 years old! :-)
I didn't in the end, I'm still thing that maybe I should have.....
After a few amp upgrades I eventually got the 8000A which over 20 years later I still have today as my main amp. I could never stretch for the KI Signature so ended up with a CD67 Special Edition, which I also still have to this day!
And even in later years when I could afford more/ better I stuck with what I had as I was very happy with it.
As a teenager and an avid disco and club go-er I wanted to recreate the sound I heard in the clubs. I wanted it loud and hard! An Eagle 15w amp, Garrard SP25 MkIII and some so so speakers didn't really do it. I bought a disco set-up from a custom builder, twin TT's with a built in amp and mixer and some 12" Fane based speakers. I always thought that the speakers were the weak link as the sound was a bit...er...weak. After the amp went phut in the middle of a party I was doing and I took a look at it and the "quality" of construction I think any integrated amp of the day could have done better.
However, the need for crisp treble and palpable bass has always stayed with me.
Good thread!
Always slabbered after big Mackintosh amps and mahoosive Infinity IRS V’s.
Beastly.
https://i.pinimg.com/736x/82/45/a9/8245a9b475966b099472c2b350d8d145.jpg
Bit more realistically as a young’un, nose pressed against fhe cold glass of a Glasgow hifi shop window, always had a thing for the black n bronze Gyrodec the Music Room had on display.
https://www.hifishark.com/imgproxy/6360010ca896/b4/8c/n/img.canuckaudiomart.com/uploads/2018/25/649419545_large_95617b6222f36904c35f4536df145449.j pg
Nakamich CR7-E not the Dragon for me, seemed too old school.
http://medias.audiofanzine.com/images/normal/nakamichi-cr7e-210690.jpg
What else...big set of Wharfedale E90’s or Mission 770’s.
http://img.canuckaudiomart.com/uploads/large/249706-wharfedale_e90.jpghttp://img.canuckaudiomart.com/uploads/large/299693-mission_770_floor_speakers.jpg
The Wharfedale E Series? Admittedly they sound raw and alive, but I couldn't live with them and they are poles apart from the Mission 770s which I thought were good.
fatmarley
18-06-2018, 20:42
I lusted after What HiFi? 's reference system:
IIRC It was Audiolab pre with monoblock power amps and Monitor Audio 20se. Are you sure the reference cdp was a Marantz CD63 sig? - Thought It would have been something more expensive.
I lusted after that system too but had to make do with a Marantz CD63 mk2 cdp, Arcam Alpha 6+ amp into Kef Coda 8 speakers.
Ruark equinox's,...my heart used to ache when I visited my local dealer. He had a rosewood pair as dem models for years. Ive still not had a pair..
Sherwood
18-06-2018, 20:54
A Dukla Prague Away Kit! :)
The Wharfedale E Series? Admittedly they sound raw and alive, but I couldn't live with them and they are poles apart from the Mission 770s which I thought were good.
Never heard any of ‘em!
Would’t give them houseroom now, But hey, I was young. :)
Pigmy Pony
18-06-2018, 21:33
In the late seventies I heard Fleetwood Mac's "Rumours played through Yamaha NS1000M's at my local Laskys. They were so handsome and sounded amazing, so much so that I immediately bought the album. Got it home and played it through my BSR McDonald/Rotel RA-712/Wharfedale Dentons. Didn't quite sound the same. I aspired to buy those Yams, but then got into motorbikes.
Looking at those NS1000M's on custom stands in Private Exhibitions, they're still handsome buggers.
Smoking Joe
18-06-2018, 21:52
IIRC It was Audiolab pre with monoblock power amps and Monitor Audio 20se. Are you sure the reference cdp was a Marantz CD63 sig? - Thought It would have been something more expensive.
I lusted after that system too but had to make do with a Marantz CD63 mk2 cdp, Arcam Alpha 6+ amp into Kef Coda 8 speakers.
From memory they always a relatively affordable 1000 pound per separate reference system. Anything higher would always be beyond my reach. Yes the KI Signature was in their reference system for about 6 years as far as I remember, and that was unheard of before them keeping a CD player for so long. I wonder do they list their reference systems from over the years?
I threw out all those years of mags about 6 years ago. I regret it now as I have been browsing old hifi and it's near impossible to find a contemporary review of them now.
I used to laugh how the 1000 pound bench mark was for the budget gear and that was near a months wages back then for me!
A few years ago I found an old school excercise book from 1969. In the back was a list of my dream system with prices. Can’t remember the prices but the system was Garrard 401, SME 3009, Shure V15 mk2, Leak Stereo 70 and B&W DM70 Continentals. Probably would have sounded awful in retrospect.
By 1975, the dream had moved on. Nothing less than a Gale GT2101, Lecson AC1/AP3 and Gale GS401s in black and chrome. That probably would have sounded half decent, but with looks like those, who gives a stuff what it sounds like?
fatmarley
19-06-2018, 06:06
From memory they always a relatively affordable 1000 pound per separate reference system.
Ah, that makes sense.
Threw all my old mags out years ago too. Earliest one must of been around 1995 or whenever Kef coda 7 became flavour of the week. My amp was supposedly "Amp of the year" too.
Primalsea
19-06-2018, 06:47
As a kid I would drawl over the stack systems in the Littlewoods catalogue. These were the ultimate in hifi from either Sony or Pioneer. A graphic equaliser set with the sliders in the shape of a smile was a must, even though I had no idea why.
What about when you were young and reasonably affluent?;)
Marco.
walpurgis
19-06-2018, 07:56
What about when you were young and reasonably affluent?;)
Marco.
Dunno about others, but I was always reasonably skint when I was young. :)
What about when you were young and reasonably affluent?;)
Marco.
There must have been some stuff you fancied but couldn't afford?
Dunno about others, but I was always reasonably skint when I was young. :)
tbh this was more on my mind than a stereo :eyebrows:https://imgc.allpostersimages.com/img/print/posters/movie-star-news-sophia-loren-stripped-her-stocking_a-G-14438106-8363132.jpg
now that's a nice bit of kit
There must have been some stuff you fancied but couldn't afford?
Lol, yes, just joshing, but nothing I really LUSTED after. In my late teens, I had an LP12, with Creek amps and big Mission speakers in my bedroom, amongst various other bits of kit, including a Nakamichi tape deck, so never felt that 'short changed' with my system that I had to drool over other stuff.
However, I've always had a big passion for high-end Jap kit, the stuff that you hardly ever seen in the UK, but that was sometimes reviewed in magazines. If any of that had been available in the dealers I frequented back then, I might've owned some of it and learned a few valuable lessons, which I was set to discover much later in life!;)
Marco.
I wasn’t as well informed in my early years, I would have thought I had arrived if I had a Nakamichi amp and preamp. The only good speakers I knew of were Klipsch and Infinity, and a few others that were popular at that time like AR’s and DCM. I met a older guy through some friends who had a Pioneer turntable with the solid granite base, and huge S tonearm! Mirrors on the edge of the platter, I thought it was the shit! And then ads in the magazines for Threshold amps also impressed me as looking beefy.
A friend told me of an older guy he met that had a Phase Linear amp pushing Magneplanar panels, I never saw it but imagined it was awesome for an mid 70’s system.
Russell
mightymonoped
19-06-2018, 09:52
I was a slave to the hifi mags in my youth...
Started with a Dual CS505 turntable, NAD 3020 amp and AR18s speakers.
What I lusted after was an LP12 into a Naim NAIT and Linn Kans (heard at a friends place).
Never got to the LP12, though I did borrow one (also a Thorens TD160) for a short while.
The Rega Planar 3 was as far as my turntable journey got (eagerly carried home on the train from W.A. Brady in Liverpool. Still have it today (albeit tweaked almost beyond recognition). :-)
Tony
nonuffin
19-06-2018, 10:05
Nothing got my juices flowing more than the sight of one of these beauties
https://i.pinimg.com/originals/02/8f/5b/028f5b2b5dc4c41495747c97cff17025.jpg
Old skool Marantz were similar apart from the plain ugly knobs
https://cdn.gearpatrol.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/hf-speaker-gear-patrol-15.jpg
Pigmy Pony
19-06-2018, 19:39
What about when you were young and reasonably affluent?;)
When I was young I was always reasonably affluent Friday afternoon and fairly skint by Monday morning. I spent more on stuff that made the music sound better than on things to make my stereo sound better. :)
Smoking Joe
19-06-2018, 22:42
When I was young I was always reasonably affluent Friday afternoon and fairly skint by Monday morning. I spent more on stuff that made the music sound better than on things to make my stereo sound better. :)
Ha ha ha! :-) :-)
Smoking Joe
19-06-2018, 22:45
Ah, that makes sense.
Threw all my old mags out years ago too. Earliest one must of been around 1995 or whenever Kef coda 7 became flavour of the week. My amp was supposedly "Amp of the year" too.
Yeah I remember reading the KEF Coda 7 review in What HiFi a few times and thinking "Nice...…"
I wonder how much of stuff like them are still around? What happens to old HiFi? Skip?
fatmarley
20-06-2018, 04:43
I wonder how much of stuff like them are still around? What happens to old HiFi? Skip?
I think ebay/Internet helps to keep old hifi from the skip. Before the Internet became popular, old classic hifi (Tannoy, Ls3/5a etc) was worth buttons compared to now. Kef coda 7 fetch around £40 to £50 on ebay - Not bad for an old budget (£130 new) design that's mostly been forgotten about.
Nothing got my juices flowing more than the sight of one of these beauties
https://i.pinimg.com/originals/02/8f/5b/028f5b2b5dc4c41495747c97cff17025.jpg
Old skool Marantz were similar apart from the plain ugly knobs
https://cdn.gearpatrol.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/hf-speaker-gear-patrol-15.jpg
I’ve seen companies that refurbish these old Marantz receivers and sell them for a few thousand pounds! They were pretty awesome, and I bet still hold their own.
Russ
I always aspired to owning a pair of Wharfedale Diamond IV bookshelf speakers when I was a kid. I had a pair of Diamond II when I was younger and wanted some IV's but just couldn't afford them.
In the end, I bought a pair a couple of years ago for my second system :)
There was a time I hankered after an Amstrad 5050 reciever, what a beauty - probably rare as hens teeth these days but having seen some of later dreams, Doge 8 and MA5 amplifiers on the second hand market this week you never know I might get lucky. :stalks:
walpurgis
20-06-2018, 16:48
There was a time I hankered after an Amstrad 5050 reciever
I would feel unclean buying anything with that name on. ;)
I would feel unclean buying anything with that name on. ;)
Or the stuff they used to sell in RadioShack (or was it Maplin?) with the name "Realistic".
Some of the Realistc stuff was pretty good. Well, a lot better than Amstrad anyway.
walpurgis
20-06-2018, 17:00
Some of the Realistc stuff was pretty good. Well, a lot better than Amstrad anyway.
Some of the speakers and drive units they sold were made by Foster (now Fostex), so decent quality.
Rotel RA 1312 amp was one of my desires
walpurgis
20-06-2018, 17:03
Rotel RA 1312 amp was one of my desires
I fancied one of those too. They fetch daft money now. You could buy a Quad 99/909 for the same.
looked like this
https://www.hifiengine.com/images/model/rotel_ra-1312_front_panel.jpg
Yeah that is tasty. Grab handles should be obligatory on all amps.
speedracer
20-06-2018, 17:43
I never lusted after anything in terms of hifi, it was well down the list after clothes, cars & girls! As long as I had a turntable to play my records on I was happy, it truly was just about the music back then.
Of course as I got older & could afford to better my kit then it was inevitable I would start looking further up the line & have since about '85 or so had very decent kit, especially turntables, but as I have grown & learned more it has been more about system sinergy than having the "best of everything".
walpurgis
20-06-2018, 19:33
Some of the Realistc stuff was pretty good. Well, a lot better than Amstrad anyway.
Talking of Realistic, here's a pair of their speakers on ebay. The drive units are all high quality Isophon units. Probably decent speakers. Wouldn't mind them myself.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Speakers-Pair-of-vintage-Realistic-Optimus-X-10-Custom-made-in-Germany-for-Tandy/392065526951?_trkparms=aid%3D222007%26algo%3DSIM.M BE%26ao%3D2%26asc%3D49129%26meid%3Dd360d668d8404c5 68715d6de15442bad%26pid%3D100005%26rk%3D3%26rkt%3D 12%26sd%3D392068120562%26itm%3D392065526951&_trksid=p2047675.c100005.m1851
Some of the Realistc stuff was pretty good. Well, a lot better than Amstrad anyway.
I never heard any of their gear so couldn't comment - it was just the name "Realistic" that I couldn't get over. Realistic in what way?
Yeah that is tasty. Grab handles should be obligatory on all amps.
They are on mine - they weigh 30kg each (for 25W output).
I never heard any of their gear so couldn't comment - it was just the name "Realistic" that I couldn't get over. Realistic in what way?
It is a crap name, no argument there. They offered some pretty chunky receivers on the US market in the 1970s, not budget stuff. Don't know how many if any were sold over here though. Before my time really. I've got one of their personal tape players and that's pretty good.
mightymonoped
20-06-2018, 21:21
Realistic was a Radio Shack brand if I’m not mistaken.
Not really known over here but pretty well known in the States.
They could come up with some quality gear now and again.
I was given a leaving gift ( I had hinted ) of the now legendary Optimus CD-3400 by my workmates in Santa Cruz when I returned to the UK in the mid 90s.
This was the $130 portable cd player that had Stereophile raving. It was very good (bought some Grado SR60 to go with it)
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20180620/95bbd3b26e26c4309aaefb928b9ac29e.jpg
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walpurgis
20-06-2018, 21:27
A lot of people raved about those little Optimus Linaeum 'ribbon' speakers. I was less impressed, they were OK'ish, but the dipole tweeters were not really true ribbons anyway.
I never really lusted after any Audio gear, still don't actually.
Amstrad? I had a piece of their gear once... a belt drive TT rip off of a Rega. Not bad at all.
TP12D it was called, had a shure M55e on it and later a G800.
Haselsh1
21-06-2018, 10:49
LOL, the usual mindless concoction for the time; Linn LP12, Naim 42/110 and Linn Kans. I ended up though with a Logic DM101 MkI, Naim 42/110/SNAPS and QLN MkI's. Bloody lovely back then.
hifi_dave
21-06-2018, 16:40
Back 'then', there were all sorts of gear I lusted after, saved for and could never afford. Now, I have most of it Revox G36, Ferrograph Ser.6, Amcron DC300A, Amcron IC150, Thorens TD124, Garrard 301, SME 3012, Ortofon SPU or SL15E, Koetsu (The), Koetsu x'mer. Don't use any of it but it's nice to have along with Accuphase E302 and various Transcriptor turntables which I did buy.
Pigmy Pony
21-06-2018, 18:45
Back 'then', there were all sorts of gear I lusted after, saved for and could never afford. Now, I have most of it Revox G36, Ferrograph Ser.6, Amcron DC300A, Amcron IC150, Thorens TD124, Garrard 301, SME 3012, Ortofon SPU or SL15E, Koetsu (The), Koetsu x'mer. Don't use any of it but it's nice to have along with Accuphase E302 and various Transcriptor turntables which I did buy.
Wow, that is some list. You could open a shop!
Quad 44 and 405. I had the booklet about them but they were way beyond my means. Quad ESLs; ditto. Sony reel-to-reel tape deck. i used to go to the Sony shop on Regent Street in my lunch break and wonder if I'd ever be able to afford one.
Even having the booklet would have been good going for me. I dreamed of having the booklet.
Is it just me or are the brochures a lot less glossy these days?
Quad 44 and 405. I had the booklet about them but they were way beyond my means. Quad ESLs; ditto. Sony reel-to-reel tape deck. i used to go to the Sony shop on Regent Street in my lunch break and wonder if I'd ever be able to afford one.
A Quad system became an aspiration for me around 1970 as an upgrade to the Mullard valve electronics I was using at the time. Couldn't afford any Quad gear then (though I did have the brochures) and I side-tracked into building a 'clone' of the Sugden A21 Class A amplifier (having been interested in Class A designs since building a Nelson Jones 10W design, published in Wireless World). When I acquired a pair of Quad ESLs in 1974, I found the power output of the Sugden to be insufficient, but it wasn't until 1977 that I obtained a Quad 405.
montesquieu
22-06-2018, 10:03
My maths teacher had a pair of Quad ESLs (57s) a 33/303/FM3 setup, a Garrard 401, and a top-end (for the time) Sony tape deck. He recorded a lot of stuff off Radio 3 and had a massive collection of cassette tapes, all beautifully carded and indexed (his record collection was smaller but well-chosen). Serious introduction to proper hifi.
Me and a mate spent a lot of time at his place listening to stuff, got as much of an education in classical music as we got in maths (and more useful to me long-term) - funnily enough I did later come to own all of this kit at one point, barring the tape deck, though not necessarily all at the same time. (I was never a big cassette user, only really used one to record stuff for the car).
Many, many years later (I think about 7-8 years ago), my wife ordered some s/h CDs from Amazon, and I thought I recognised the seller name. I emailed and sure enough, it was him, now in his late 70s, long retired, flogging off his (perfectly kept) CDs, as he'd ripped the whole lot and gone to streaming - I can just imagine him fussing over the metadata to get it all just so. Was nice to get in touch with him, though I heard he died a few years after that. Lovely bloke.
Lovely anecdote Tom. So not only did he educate in mathematics, but music as well and the means to enjoy it. :)
It is nice to have had someone who influenced you to enjoy music and hi-fi. I personally have no influences. Most of my friends and family thought I was crazy for spending real money for hi-fi gear, and my musical education was from late night radio.
But I do try to share it with my daughter and her husband. I’ve fully corrupted him now, he’s really into hi-fi these days and has amassed a reasonable collection of music, and takes great pride in his system. Even my brother in law has assembled himself a stereo system, not wanting anything as expensive as mine, but it seems that the stereo has not died in the wake of Surround Sound?
Russell
paulf-2007
22-06-2018, 14:24
Was too busy playing live with my Marshall stack to lay about on my arse listening. That and later racing 250 super karts. As my name got back into this madness in 2007 and made up for lost time by swapping kit until now.
nonuffin
22-06-2018, 15:25
It is nice to have had someone who influenced you to enjoy music and hi-fi. I personally have no influences. Most of my friends and family thought I was crazy for spending real money for hi-fi gear, and my musical education was from late night radio.
But I do try to share it with my daughter and her husband. I’ve fully corrupted him now, he’s really into hi-fi these days and has amassed a reasonable collection of music, and takes great pride in his system. Even my brother in law has assembled himself a stereo system, not wanting anything as expensive as mine, but it seems that the stereo has not died in the wake of Surround Sound?
Russell
The indicators are that surround sound is heavily in decline now. The Bistol Hi-fi and Vision Show in the UK every February has dropped the "and Vision" from their name for the 2019 event.
Beobloke
22-06-2018, 17:45
It was on my second visit to a Hifi show when I was 13, when I encountered the Yamaha Centennial system and vowed to own it one day.
Thirty one years on, I have the preamp but the rest of it is proving somewhat elusive!
Other than that, I’ve managed to acquire and live with most of the other things I fancied back in the day for a while. The only exceptions I can think of offhand that are still on the list of things I’d like to try (apart from those Yamaha bits, obviously!) are Pentachord Pentacolumn and Mission 767 loudspeakers, and a Nakamichi RX-505.
hifi_dave
22-06-2018, 17:55
Wow, that is some list. You could open a shop!
Funny you should say that..:hmm:
are Pentachord Pentacolumn .
I remember those, what's your fascination with them?
Beobloke
22-06-2018, 19:23
Simply, I think they’re still some of the best speakers I’ve ever heard.
nonuffin
22-06-2018, 19:30
Never seen or heard a pair of Pentachords
https://www.audiovintage.fr/leforum/download/file.php?id=90096
walpurgis
22-06-2018, 19:37
Never got to hear any either. Can't say I was very struck by those little Jordan drivers. I tried some in a project donkeys years ago.
I've heard speakers using Jordan and Bandor drivers and they do have some attractions.
Krell, Apogees, LP12, Goldmund...
montesquieu
23-06-2018, 00:21
Never seen or heard a pair of Pentachords
https://www.audiovintage.fr/leforum/download/file.php?id=90096
The other three drivers on the back ?
Edit: ah five sides not five drivers.
hifi_dave
23-06-2018, 08:18
Never seen or heard a pair of Pentachords
https://www.audiovintage.fr/leforum/download/file.php?id=90096
Tried various models of Pentachords back in the day when they were looking for stockists. Also some 'egg shaped' speakers using those drivers but they really didn't do much and were very easily over-driven.
Wow, that is some list. You could open a shop!
:D
high.spirits
24-06-2018, 09:44
Quad 33 and 303 were my dream amp setup. Never got them though.
First real system was a Leak amp. PL12 turntable and KEF 104ab speakers.
Beobloke
24-06-2018, 19:01
The other three drivers on the back ?
Edit: ah five sides not five drivers.
No, two bass drivers facing each other internally.
They came with an active crossover and you needed two amps to drive them.
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