What classics changed your hi-fi life?

For me, two amplifiers stand out from the crowd. Both of these introduced the world of hi-fi to me, introducing a higher-end sound for budget cash:

Audiolab 8000A

http://s560.photobucket.com/albums/s...olab_8000A.jpg

Pioneer A400

http://s560.photobucket.com/albums/s...oneer_A400.jpg


Speakers wise, my hi-fi life changed when I first heard a pair of Quad ESL 63s. At that point I knew I had to have a pair of electrostatics, the life in the vocals just knocked me sideways - gorgeous!

Quad ESL988

http://s560.photobucket.com/albums/s...uff/esl988.jpg

My first pair of real speakers and ones that convinced me I should get into hi-fi properly. Tannoy Mercury S Golds in 80s attire. :) Gorgeous weighty sound, perfect for synth bass lines and squelchy riffs.

http://s560.photobucket.com/albums/s.../Mercury-S.jpg

Listening to R&B on the radio. Music always did something for me. I began collecting at a very early age. My first bonafide rig consisted of a Yamaha CR-1000 reciever, a B&O turntable and B&O full range speakers. These days I have a dedicated listening room with two decks and a DAC with a transport, a tube line stage, two phono stages, and some self powered two way MTM monitors that can get it on! I’ve heard many systems that are better than mine in one way of another but the stage I’m getting can hang with any of them. And I got free admission every night.

Possibly the best deck i ever owned for Rock music (Might look like an oversized vintage Valve amp chassis.lol)

Brainwave of genius Ozzy Max Townshend of Townshend International, who studied acoustics at Cranfield Institute of Technology,developed the 'Rock' turntable,with a record platter filled with Granitan together with a viscous fluid-coupled magnesium head-shell & trough on 'Excalibur' arm (Recommended),was very unconventional, but gave amazing reproduction from vinyl topped off with 'Merlin' power supply & cartridge of you choice was a killer, believe me.Somehow the latest incarnation don't quite cut it..If i remember rightly some use to fit these troughs to ther Rega decks to great effect.

I think I'm too young to have a classic change my life... unless you class the Scarlatti as a classic.

I guess my direction changed significantly a year or so ago when on a whim I bought a pair of JBL L110 vintage monitors cheap on good ol' eBay (£150 with stands).

http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/i...00/JBLL110.jpg

I had been living for just on 2 years with a pair of Kharma Ceramique 3 spkrs - the vintage JBLs just had so much more life - the "hifi" was less, but I enjoyed the music more! Mind you, I guess after 2 years I might just have been hankering for a change ;) But it did remind me there was more to sound reproduction than tonal neutrality and 3D imaging. Ya gotta capture the pizzazz of the music too! :D

Another little classic that seemed to set the hi-fi world on fire, the distinctly budget Mission 760s. Thousands adored them, I thought they sounded a bit pathetic, however I was comparing them to the Tannoys so it's understandable.

http://audiostereo.lukarnet.com/gfx/630000/635610_1.jpg

Then there's the equally diminutive but much more superior Acoustic Energy AE1s, re-introduced by popular demand in fact.

Still cute and still big sounding. :)

http://www.avreview.co.uk/news/image...lassic-big.jpg

A CD player to bring a step up in refinement for budget money, the Marantz CD63. Available in many (seemingly hundreds of) guises, the basic 63 was a natty player, this one is the KI Signature - a bit revved up!

http://www.zenn.com.sg/Marantz_CD63_KL_Sign.JPG

The ever popular Cyrus One amplifier. I picked an unused one up a couple of years ago for about £100, I used it fairly regularly and sold it on for more than I paid.

Brilliant and compact, more power than it's absurdly low suggested figure would lead one to imagine - a great neutral classic. :)

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/99/28...cb30b7748f.jpg

Controversially, the Sondek (or LP12) was and is a huge hit. Whether Linn trade too heavily on it's past is debatable, but one thing's sure, it's a hit with many folk.

http://www.analogstereo.com/images/t...ondek_main.jpg