View Full Version : Time Keeps On Slippin'
The Grand Wazoo
31-05-2010, 22:36
c1f7eZ8cHpM
I'm interested in the qualitative longevity of hi-fi gear and the idea that something that was good way back when is still good now..........or not, whichever is true (or truer).
So here are some questions for folks to chew over & maybe for a little light discussion:
What is the longest period that you've kept and regularly used a component?
What's the shortest period? (Barring total obvious bad choices or mismatches)
Have you ever gone back to something & wondered why/wished you never changed?
In hindsight & with hand on heart, do you think that you might have ever changed something intrinsically good simply because it didn't flatter your latest shiny new 'other component'?
What do you think folks?
The longest I reckon I've ever kept summat is twenty two years I think - my Dual 701...
Most of the other things up until several years ago were kept for a few years at most, although I was responsible for selling some of my amp setup and my current speakers to their original owner back in 1974 and listened to them regularly until the original bass units wore out in the mid nineties (I sold my mate their replacements too) - I'm sentimental like that..
The shortest I've ever "owned" anything (and I think I did pay for them before selling them on) was a Quad 34/306, owned for 48 hours tops and which I found extremely "wimpish" on any music with percussion in it - apparently there are modern tweaks which go a very long way to correcting this..
I'd love to go back to my early nineties system - NAS Mentor deck&arm/Decca Microscanner - ARC SP14 or Croft 4PP (which I now own again), Tube technology Genesis Mono's (valve eaters at the time, but could easily be modified I reckon as the trannies and supply were good I think) and my affectionately remembered Epos ES14's built personally for me by Robin Marshall himself (although there were only two of them making the speakers in the Chesham days)...
A couple of bits I wish I'd kept were the huge AVI S2000 amp like Jerry has/had for sale and also a Quad 77 preamp I picked up in totally mint condition with boxes and remote for £150. This pre is so sweet toned, has a very good phono stage and now certain caps are smaller, can be sensitively tweaked to open the sound out a bit more. This pre was never used by me and was sold when we moved here as the box was too big (I already had loads of boxes full of clocks.....
I'm interested in the qualitative longevity of hi-fi gear and the idea that something that was good way back when is still good now..........or not, whichever is true (or truer).
So here are some questions for folks to chew over & maybe for a little light discussion:
What is the longest period that you've kept and regularly used a component? The oldest and longest item in continued use must be the SME 3009 arm I bought in 1970. Virtually all of my gear is 30 years old: Quad 33/303/FM3/AM3, Quad 44/405/FM4, Quad 50E power amps, my speakers, all my turntables, probably all my tone arms, all my reel-to-reel tape machines and all cartridges (not with the original stylii !).
What's the shortest period? (Barring total obvious bad choices or mismatches) A few cartridges have lasted less than a year.
Have you ever gone back to something & wondered why/wished you never changed? Not wished I had never changed anything, but recently I have had need to reinstall a Quad 33/303/FM3 setup, and this has given me a chance to re-appraise this system.
Do you think that you might have ever changed something intrinsically good simply because it didn't flatter your latest shiny new 'other component'?
No
Vide supra
The Vinyl Adventure
31-05-2010, 23:31
Do atacama se24's count? I've have them for 12 years... Can't see me seeking them they work a treat!
Same with my dynaudio a42's they are too tatty and too good to sell!
Naim cd5 was short lived, it wasn't instantly a bad choice but it quickly bacame clear it didn't suit me
chris@panteg
31-05-2010, 23:34
Snell Type JII 14 years
LP12 13 years
i wished i had not sold my Voyd/SME and i have now returned to using SME again , though not without some problems:rolleyes:.
The Snells i loved but sacrificed to help fund the SME but also they didn't work too well where i had them and the AE's work very well , also they only really sing with Valves and that's a long way off for me at the moment .
My CA 740a sounds so good well i can't see myself changing it for a few years just yet .
Shortest lived but very good has to be the Radius 5/Nima , i just couldn't get on with the unipivot arm.
Rare Bird
31-05-2010, 23:38
The only thing i've kept for ever is my A&R Cambridge 'A60' amplifier i bought in 1985.I've always kept this boxed up & the matching 'T21' tuner a bought a bit later on..I gave these to my disabled mate only a few years back together with a Rega Planar 3 i also bought new at the time cos i know he will make good use of them (with my hands obviously), i can keep an eye on them for him when i'm there...Reliability down to a 'T'..Other than these stayers it's been like a cattle farm in our house with gear coming & going over the years.
Rare Bird
31-05-2010, 23:41
Do atacama se24's count? I've have them for 12 years...
Amazing construction for such a small outlay hamish
The Vinyl Adventure
31-05-2010, 23:53
Amazing construction for such a small outlay hamish
Yeah def, I think they only cost me £60 ... The crap stands you get for that money now arnt worth even looking at - not the ones I know of anyway!
Got sand in mine they weigh a lot!!
Rare Bird
31-05-2010, 23:57
Yeah def, I think they only cost me £60 ... The crap stands you get for that money now arnt worth even looking at - not the ones I know of anyway!
Got sand in mine they weigh a lot!!
Yeh i bought some when they came out fllatpack i'm was gobsmaked at the construction, Aye i fill em with that mega dry sand you get from early learnig centre.
Old stuff can be cleaned,rebuilt and retuned to preform well.
There have been some advances in the high end market over the years but it's all relative to $$$$$$$$$$$.
The one thing I have never found a replacement for is my favorite head phones.
The Superex pro studio B.Ugly as sin but with a new crossover cap of high quality and some Kimber cable nothing comes close but the Grado PS1000.
The Grand Wazoo
05-06-2010, 00:29
OK, so it's my turn:
What is the longest period that you've kept and regularly used a component?
Zeta - bought 2nd hand in 1990
Gyrodec - bought new in 1991
ARC SP8 - 2nd hand in 1991
SD Acoustics OBS's new in 1992 (still in use, though not in main system)
I still have my first separates amp, which my daughter uses for now - a Sony something or other. I got it 2nd hand in about 1980/1
What's the shortest period? (Barring total obvious bad choices or mismatches)
A Cary power amp that went pop, was rebuilt, went pop, was rebuilt & then sold lickety split
Have you ever gone back to something & wondered why/wished you never changed?
Nope I've always hung onto the good stuff.
But I have listened to older equipment and wondered why it had been forgotten/ignored/pooh-poohed by the rest of the world.
In hindsight & with hand on heart, do you think that you might have ever changed something intrinsically good simply because it didn't flatter your latest shiny new 'other component'?
Nope.
What is the longest period that you've kept and regularly used a component?
Roksan Xerxes bought in 1986, traded up to Xerxes about 20 years later.
AR turntable, bought in 1981
Mordaunt-Short MS20 speakers, bought 1982, just 'retired'.
What's the shortest period? (Barring total obvious bad choices or mismatches)
A Music First passive pre which I had for a couple of years. Nothing wrong with it, but I decided that I preferred my TEAD Groove, and couldn't justify keeping both.
Have you ever gone back to something & wondered why/wished you never changed?
Years ago I got shot of a Godawful Sony PST1 turntable, and went back to the BSR it had replaced. The BSR wasn't that good, but at least it didn't suck all the life out of the music the way the Sony did.
In hindsight & with hand on heart, do you think that you might have ever changed something intrinsically good simply because it didn't flatter your latest shiny new 'other component'?
Almost certainly, but I can't think of any specific examples.[/QUOTE]
I've lost contact with most of my old gear, as I tend to give them to friends after a while.
For example, the LX-3 Nak (almost 30yrs old), the Revox B77 (35 I think) and my Cyrus-2 amplifier (25, a youngster) were still being used six months ago.
Exceptionally, I kept the Planar 2, which is still running. Without any service. ;)
The Grand Wazoo
05-06-2010, 10:16
Haha Dimitri! You just reminded me, I still have a Cyrus 2 which I bought new in 1986.
Haha Dimitri! You just reminded me, I still have a Cyrus 2 which I bought new in 1986.
:) It's military-grade design should make it last half a century more, if only the connectors and volume control are cleaned once every 15 years, I guess.
Exceptionally, I kept the Planar 2, which is still running. Without any service. ;)
'Scuse me for butting in, but Rega main bearings wear very quickly if the lubricant is allowed to dry/congeal and pulling the inner out, cleaning out the "goo" and replacing with a good few drops of EP80 will extend its life for another few decades...
The bearing and tonearm fixing nuts could do with a check for tightness too. Nothing much, but Rega's don't arf sound better for it :)
I bought a Sugden A48 and T48 in 1978 and sold them last year.
They were in continuous use either in the lounge or the study, although the amp was once used for a year to beef up an electronic church organ!
My Quart Speakers I bought in Germany in 1987 - they are still in daily use driven by a Caiman and a refurbished Quad 405-2
I have a Quad 77 Integrated Amp, CDP and Tuner bought in 1994 (95?) The 405-2 is the better amp even if older.
The Quad 77 I will soon be using in my Southampton flat initially with a pair of Goodmans Maxim IIs I bought second hand in 1989 - I will be looking for a replacement for them.
Prior to the Quarts I had a pair of 10" Tannoy DCs bought in 1977. Maybe I should have kept them!
Around 1986 I had a Power Amp and Preamp by the man who when to prison - the power amp was forever blowing up. I had them 18 months. The only bad buy I have ever made.
I don't think I suffer from upgraditus!
Anyone want to buy the FM Tuner?
twelvebears
18-06-2010, 04:42
What is the longest period that you've kept and regularly used a component?
10 years - My MF M3 integrated until I sold it recently
What's the shortest period? (Barring total obvious bad choices or mismatches)
About 6 months - Beresford 7520 before getting my Benchmark DAC1
Have you ever gone back to something & wondered why/wished you never changed?
Hell yeah! - Sony SCD777ES. Welcome back!
In hindsight & with hand on heart, do you think that you might have ever changed something intrinsically good simply because it didn't flatter your latest shiny new 'other component'?
YES! The afore mentioned Sony SCD777ES which got moved out in favour of an MF 3D CD to go with the M3 amp. Big mistake.
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