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About Nicks951

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About Nicks951
Name:
Nick
Biography::
Hi all
Enjoying reading around the forum.I’ve been messing around with hifi bits since the late 70s. My first record deck was home built with a high end Technics/Matsushita direct drive motor and platter I was given by a family friend who was involved in getting Technics to sell into the UK. The arm was a Thorens one from a forgotten source.
First proper amp was the then new NAD 3020 into a pair of Wharfdale Denton speakers. I replaced the turntable in around 1980 with a Michell Focus One/Basik LV V and a Rega RB100 cartridge (still have that in a box). Somewhere around here I also picked up a Nakamichi BX1 cassette deck. Recently passed it on to my daughter. Only the tape counter has failed in all that time.
In ‘92 my wife bought me a pair of Rega ELAs, which are still our main speakers. They had the main drivers replaced in the late ‘90s and still sound great today! Around then we added a Technics SLPG620A CD player. At that time we were also babysitting a friend’s Linn Sondek while he was in the USA.
Mid ‘90s and we spent a day in a hifi store upgrading the amp and CD player. We left with an Arcam Delta 290 amp and 270 CD player. I’m a complete fan of the rich and powerful, yet detailed sound.
So Mitchell, Arcam, Rega ran together for many years. Incidentally, the Michell now sports a Linn Basik Plus arm and a nice sounding Linn K9 (which was given to us, along with a Linn Trak, by the chap whose Sondek we looked after all those years ago).
Then home cinema arrived and went over to a Sony something and a set of Mission FS1s, which was exciting but not very “hi-fi”. Then added an Epson full HD projector. At this point I put the Regas into use as the main from speakers and added a Monitor Audio Radius 250 as a centre speaker.
Next…..Sonos for the new kitchen extension (with a pair of Radius 90s) and another for music into the sitting room through the cinema amp. It’s a great and very convenient setup. Sounds good too.
The sad thing is, though, that the vinyl eventually became too much of a chore and a space hog, so ended up in the loft. We were overtaken by the convenience of streaming and cds.
A few years ago, though, I realised that with a little effort I could hide away the Michell and pipe it through a Pro-ject MM phono box into the Sonos! Works a treat and now feeds the recently upgraded Sonos AMP, which runs a pair of DALI Oberon on wall speakers and a Wharfdale sub in the kitchen/dining area. The DALIs sound amazing. We have a new PORT in the sitting room.
The Sony cinema system in the sitting room has been played with a lot. The amp was replaced with another Sony (STRDB1040) which improved on the older one. I also added an old Mission subwoofer. Still works well.
All this time though we still missed the gorgeous sound of the old Delta 290 and I was always trying to think of ways to get it back into use. Mostly I wanted to get and Arcam cinema amp, but they are really rather more than what I’m prepared to spend. Then, a few months ago I noticed that older Arcam AVRs on FleaBay were not too much money. Most, however, we’re so old that they didn’t really cater for the devices that we all use these days….. until I saw the AVR380. Plenty of HDMI inputs, importantly - 2 HDMI outputs (TV and projector) and the sound formats for modern cinema stuff apart from Atmos, but I’m not interested in that. Then found one for £450! Original box, mic, manual etc. from a chap who used to run a hifi shop. It is pretty immaculate, but best of all it sounds fantastic. I sold the Sony for a couple of hundred so we’ve only spent £250 and now have amazing music again. I’ve plugged in the old Arcam CD player, which still sounds great, and we are now sitting and really listening to music again! (I did have to dismantle it and replace the tray ejector gear, but that was a pretty simple repair).
My next project is to try and get the Michell out of its current home in a kitchen cupboard and pipe it straight into the AVR380. Now done this with the turntable going into the AVR. It sits on a stone fireplace base that is isolated from the main room floor and sounds great.
Location::
Hampshire, UK

Signature


Inputs: Arcam Delta 270 Cd, Michell Focus One/Linn Basik Plus/Linn K9, Sonos PORT
Amps: Arcam AVR380, Sonos AMP
Speakers: Rega ELA, DALI Oberon (on-wall)
There’s a rambling history of my hi-fi voyage in the “About me” bit

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Last Activity
28-10-2021 09:52
Join Date
03-09-2021