Good evening and welcome . . .

[isuckedmandelsonslemons]

A few weeks ago I was minding my own business, browsing eBay for cycling bits and bobs when I came across an interesting looking CD player. Don't ask me why but I bought it. I knew it was a good machine and I got it at a good price but that's not really the way to buy hi-fi is it?

I was gobsmacked at how good it sounded. Even connected to my very old Arcam 9 and 9p biamped system with Castle Howard speakers, the improvement over my very old Arcam Alpha 6 CD player was mindboggling.

After a break from the nutty wold of hi-fi of about 15 years I was getting hooked again.

It's funny how things in life work out, but a mate who I cycle with told me that a mate of his (he uses this forum) was thinking of selling a very nice amp at a good price. A few days later I went round to his house to buy the amp.

This was a very, very bad move on my part. In the front room of the house he shares was the most mind boggling hi-fi system I've ever seen or heard in my life. The nutter who owned it had a set of incredible and massive Usher 6381s as his REAR speakers. How mad is that? He stuck a Tracy Chapman album on (ages since I'd heard anything by her) and I was just blown away.

I drooled over the system but especially the Ushers. Little did I know that he was thinking of getting rid of them and a few weeks later me and my cycling mate were lifting a pair of colossal and back-breakingly heavy speakers into the back of my car.

So in a few weeks I've gone from a rather ancient (but very good in it's day) system to something that has rekindled ny love of music and got me hooked on hi-fi again.

So thanks to Mart and his Donkeywalking mate (plus a guy called George on eBay) I'm now wallowing in beautiful music.

The system may not be the best in the world (and I'm already experimenting with cables and considering isolation and lumps of granite under the speakers) but it sounds wonderful from where I'm sitting.

And to make it even better, last week I had the best hi-fi upgrade anyone can ever make and it didn't cost me a penny. I had my ears syringed. Wow! If you've never had it done then get it done.

So, my system is Yamaha CDS2000, Yamaha AS2000, Usher 6381 loudspeakers.

Oh, and hello to everyone. I think you are all mental but seem fairly harmless

[Reid Malenfant]

And to make it even better, last week I had the best hi-fi upgrade anyone can ever make and it didn't cost me a penny. I had my ears syringed. Wow! If you've never had it done then get it done.

Oh, and hello to everyone. I think you are all mental but seem fairly harmless
:lolsign: I guess you are about to go mad as well as you appear to have joined the madness :eyebrows:

Yes i know all about ear syringing as i have had it done i don't know how many times due to small ear canals :doh: I do it myself these days as the last time i had it done at the quacks i had blood coming out of one ear :eek:

Every couple of years i'll notice that one or the other ear is getting muffled & it's time to get a bottle of exterol, no biggy but as you say, it's like listening to a new hifi once the things are washed out with high pressure warm water :)

Welcome to AoS whatever your name is, we go by first names here & i can't even remember the whole of your forum name other than there was mention of the prince of darkness :eyebrows:

All the best fella, enjoy your stay ;)

[isuckedmandelsonslemons]

Cheers. Sorry for the lack of name. It's Harry.

[The Grand Wazoo]

Hi Harry,
Welcome to The Art of Sound.
It sounds like you've just made a pretty major change to your system. How do you find the Yamaha units? When I first saw them I was struck immediately by the thought (and hope) that Yamaha had returned to their earlier values - and not just the aesthetic ones because they seem to sound great too.


Can I just say a word about this:


Every couple of years i'll notice that one or the other ear is getting muffled & it's time to get a bottle of exterol, no biggy but as you say, it's like listening to a new hifi once the things are washed out with high pressure warm water

I think it's maybe a little dangerous to talk about skooshing high pressure water into ears - I don't think you'd want to think you'd caused anyone to go & do any damage to themselves by being a bit over-enthusiastic with the old rinse cycle.
Gently,gently catchee monkee - this is not the way!

http://pressurewasheraccessories.org/wp-content/uploads/used-pressure-washers.jpg

[Rare Bird]

Hi Harry
How much you pay for The Yammy CDP if you don't mind me asking?

[chris@panteg]

Hi Harry and welcome

I do like your choice of kit , Yamaha have come up with some good stuff of late and those Usher's well i wouldn't mind a pair myself:)

[isuckedmandelsonslemons]

Hi Harry
How much you pay for The Yammy CDP if you don't mind me asking?

Got it for less than half retail.

[isuckedmandelsonslemons]

Wazoo, Obvioulsy I'm no expert but the Yamaha stuff sounds fantastic to me. It's certainly a quantum leap from what I had been using.

Just shows how things have moved on. The Arcam/Castle Howard was rated pretty highly in its day.

I've sold the amps but I'm still debating what to do with the Castle Howards. I reckon I'd get £300-£400 if I sold them but I'm considering using them in a second system I'm planning for my gym.

[The Grand Wazoo]

Second systems are a good thing Harry...........and third ones! I have some old open baffle floorstanders that would cost probably almost 2k nowadays, but I wouldn't get more than 2-300 quid for if I were to try & sell them. They're in system no. 3.

[Marco]

Cheers. Sorry for the lack of name. It's Harry.

Hi Harry

Welcome to AoS - where are you from? :)

Marco.

[Sand Dancin Donkey Walker]

Hi Harry

I warned you not to join here, this madness does not have a cure.
There is now officially no hope for you, maybe there never was :lol:

For those who haven't sussed it, I sold the Ushers to Harry.

Had a bit of a change around myself, but that's for another thread.

Harry's as mad as a 'Mad thing on Steriods' - but only in the nicest sort of way.

Loves his music and very enthusiastic too.

Andy - SDDW

[isuckedmandelsonslemons]

Andy, if someone like YOU thinks someone like ME is mad then there really is no hope.

Just don't get me talking bikes (pedal). Now that is a form of madness.

[Rare Bird]

Got it for less than half retail.

Thats good always fancied that machine (in black)

[isuckedmandelsonslemons]

Thats good always fancied that machine (in black)

Ah, mine are the retro aluminium with wooden side panels. It has to match the decor of the house as I have a wife who sincerely believes that her opinion counts and that she wears the trousers.

She can't be that clever though. She thinks I've borrowed the Ushers. All she's really said is that they are big and ugly. Unless she was talking about me.

[Reid Malenfant]

I think it's maybe a little dangerous to talk about skooshing high pressure water into ears - I don't think you'd want to think you'd caused anyone to go & do any damage to themselves by being a bit over-enthusiastic with the old rinse cycle.
Gently,gently catchee monkee - this is not the way!

http://pressurewasheraccessories.org/wp-content/uploads/used-pressure-washers.jpg
:lolsign:

I really have no idea where you got the idea that i'd use a pressure washer :eyebrows:

I actually use an all plastic syringe (no needle) that i was given years ago to keep a tooth socket clean until it healed by flushing it with warm salty water. It sticks out a fine jet, not 100 bar :eek:

[isuckedmandelsonslemons]

The second system has now taken a bit of a jump forward. I just 'found' an old amp that I'd forgotten about. It's nowt flash but it will get me away for the moment. I seem to remember it was OK in its day. It's a Marantz PM44SE.

System No 2 is now Arcam CD6, Matantz PM44SE, Castle Howards.

It ends here. I do not need a THIRD system.

I do need some reasonably priced speaker cable though. Any thoughts?

[Reid Malenfant]

I do need some reasonably priced speaker cable though. Any thoughts?
Try this, better value than 79 strand (http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/10m-2-5mm-Loud-Speaker-Cable-Oxygen-Free-322-Strand-/350238763399?pt=UK_Computing_CablesConnectors_RL&hash=item518bdb6987) ;)

[Marco]

Hi Harry,

There's also this, which I use for my speakers downstairs, and IMO is the best budget speaker cable I've heard (bar none):

http://markgrantcables.co.uk/shop/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=46_21&products_id=169

Thoroughly recommended, and nicer chap to deal with you won't find :)

Marco.

P.S Where are you from, mate? I need you to add it to your profile.

[Reid Malenfant]

http://markgrantcables.co.uk/shop/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=46_21&products_id=169

Thoroughly recommended, and nicer chap to deal with you won't find :)
:doh: No idea why i didn't think of his stuff. If it's anything like his audio cables which everyone raves about & his HDMI cables which i experience every day then it'll probably be a winner by a long chalk. Never seen pictures like it in my life :eyebrows:

Agreed, Mark is superb to deal with, a real gent :)

[isuckedmandelsonslemons]

Hi Harry,

There's also this, which I use for my speakers downstairs, and IMO is the best budget speaker cable I've heard (bar none):

http://markgrantcables.co.uk/shop/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=46_21&products_id=169

Thoroughly recommended, and nicer chap to deal with you won't find :)

Marco.

P.S Where are you from, mate? I need you to add it to your profile.

Cheer Marco. I live in the North-East. Near Durham City.

[isuckedmandelsonslemons]

Well, by way of an update I have just witnessed a miracle. Not even a minor miracle. Hell's teeth I'm used to them. No this was a major miracle. Wouldn't have believed it with my own eyes let alone my own ears.

A few weeks ago a dodgy-looking fella who goes by the name of Sand Blasting Wonkey Danker or something like that gave me a big bag of cables.

Today I decided to try a couple of the mains cables out instead of the ones that came with the Yamaha CD and amp. First I connected the amp. I was listening to Peter Gabriel at the time. The difference was so amazing that I swwapped the cable back and listened again and again and again. I can't tell you how much better the sound was - especially the bass which was tighter and more controlled.

Naturally I hooked up the CD player next. Same thing. Massively improved sound. Quite frankly I'm staggered.

TBH I've always been a bit of a cable sceptic deep down but I know what I'm hearing and as my lugs are newly syringed I think they can be relied on.

Is this normal to hear such a massive improvement? It seems hard to believe that it can be possible.

Don't ask me what the cables are. They are very thick and no doubt very expensive. I'll look later but at the moment Tracy Chapman (who always sounds fantastic) has never sounded better.

So now I'm going to have to shell out more money for mains cables eh?

[Alex_UK]

Welcome, Harry. Sorry to say it, but as Frazer says in Dad's Army - "we're all doomed" - and it looks like your at the dead of the queue even after being last through the door! ;)

(I keep "finding" hifi I'd forgotten about (usually on ebay after too many glasses of something Barry has endorsed...) Luckily I'm able to get it into the loft quickly before the ceremonial "discovery" for the benefit of my wife...! :lol:)

Interesting reading re. the mains cables - there's definitely plenty of method in this madness with which it appears you have been afflicted! Me, I'm bunged up with man flu (so this could be the last post I ever make before shuffling off my mortal coil...) so no amount of pressure washing will help for a while, but glad you've got your lugholes sorted!

Enjoy AoS, your padded cell is the third on the right - and don't worry about the zip on your new jacket being on the back, the nice man will undo it for you if you if you are a very good boy! :)

[Jonboy]

Ello Harry, looks like you have settled in nicely already, i had my ears syringed recently but i think i'm just ducking feaf, to much abuse with the old road breakers and petrol disc cutters, great opening post , looks like your in for a few quid on playing with your newly refound hobby. just got called a sado ( the actual word was wanker ) by the wife for daring to speak to anyone on my saddos site, as she calls it :doh:

Time for a divorce me thinks, i'm off to bed now :goodnight:

[Alex_UK]

Women, hey - you can't live with 'em, and you can't bury them under the patio, and get away with it... Mine spends 24/7 on Facebook then dares to call me a geek... I am a geek, fair play (and proud of it) but that's really not the point! :rolleyes:

[Rare Bird]

Mine just yawns when i mention anything to do with hifi/music :(

[isuckedmandelsonslemons]

By way of an update . . .

The second system is now wired up and running. I found some flat, grey speaker cable in the loft. God knows what it is but it will do for now. So that's a Marantz PM44SE amp, Arcam 6 CD and Castle Howard speakers in the gym. Unfortunately, my gym is in the loft conversion (a little DIY project I did a few years ago) and getting the Castle Howards up three lots of stairs on my own wasn't easy.

I've also managed to achieve my first downgrade on the main system.

having achieved a miracle by changing over the mains cables I decided to experiment and bought some of those cheap Sorbothane isolation things off eBay. I placed them under the CD player and expected a noticeable improvement. Instead I got a downgrade. Only way I can describe it is 'ponderous bass'. Just not right.

Do I try them under the amp or can anyone else think of a use for them?

[Jonboy]

Do I try them under the amp or can anyone else think of a use for them?


carpet protectors for your furniture :lol: