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Thread: Loyalty to old gear

  1. #1
    Join Date: Oct 2011

    Location: Wisconsin, USA

    Posts: 272
    I'm Barry.

    Default Loyalty to old gear


    This question just popped into my head as I was looking at the gallery:
    I wonder who on this forum has lived contentedly with his old gear the longest? Who put a system together in say the 70s or 80s, and with minimal change has lived and listened happily with that system ever since, and why?

    Best,
    Barry

  2. #2
    Join Date: Jan 2008

    Location: gone

    Posts: 11,519
    I'm gone.

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by jazzpiano View Post
    [I wonder who on this forum has lived contentedly with his old gear the longest?
    Ummm ... probably not me!

    .

  3. #3
    Join Date: Feb 2008

    Location: http://www.homehifi.co.uk

    Posts: 6,288

    Default

    I still have most of my old kit from the 80's, but mainly by accident than anything else. I worked in the repair department of an audio and video retail group, and I could get good discounts on customers returns. So I bought some of the best items on the market at that time for next to nothing. When my wife and me moved from a flat to a house after the wife said she was expecting, I put all my hifi gear in the loft when we moved in the new place. The idea was to take them down when my son was at least five. I had previous experience with the kids from relatives, and my hifi gear . But every five years the wife kept saying she is pregnant, so it took a good 20 years before I could retrieve my gear from the loft. When I see what those bits ere now fetching I decided to hang on to them, which has turned out to be a smart move.

  4. #4
    Join Date: Mar 2010

    Location: France

    Posts: 221
    I'm Julian.

    Default

    I have lived with my Quad 66 system and my KEF 104/2s for over 20 years now, although I did upgrade from a 306 power amp to a 606 Mk2. I have changed tts however from a Rega Planar 3 to a Notts Analogue Junior Spacedeck & also now a
    re-plinthed & armed Lenco GL75.

    Why stick with the old quad & Kef? Well the speakers are truly wonderful & I like my Quad which can still be repaired and I like its tilt & filter controls, although I don't use them a lot.
    Julian.

  5. #5
    Join Date: Jan 2008

    Location: Mid Lincs

    Posts: 1,445
    I'm Buffet-blower.

    Default

    Nice idea for a thread Barry.

    Loyalty to old gear? I don't have a single item from my original system but I dare say there are a few items over the years which I wish I'd stayed loyal to!
    Richard.

    Round & round bits: LP12/Cirkus/Kore/Herc II/Roksan Nima/Hana EL
    Megabits: Bluesound Node 2i/TEAC UD-H01 dac
    Making it louder bits: Phonostage: Dynavector P75 Amp: Cyrus 8vs/PSX-R Speakers: Royd Sintra II
    Connecting it together bits i/c's: Flashback Premier. Speaker cables: Van Damme Hifi

  6. #6
    Join Date: Dec 2008

    Location: Yorks

    Posts: 16,643
    I'm Nobody.

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by jazzpiano View Post
    This question just popped into my head as I was looking at the gallery:
    I wonder who on this forum has lived contentedly with his old gear the longest?
    I live for 60's/70's Vintage.Yeh i'll listern to Lossless files for convenience but when it comes to the main system i wouldnt be seen dead with modern gear.

  7. #7
    Join Date: Jan 2009

    Location: Essex

    Posts: 31,853
    I'm openingabottleofwine.

    Default

    I might be in the running:

    Pickup arm: SME 3009 Series II, bought 1969
    Turntable: Thorens 124/II, bought 1971
    Speakers: Quad ESL57s, bought 1974
    Power amp: Quad 405, bought 1979
    Preamp: Quad 44, bought 1980
    Tuner: Quad FM3, bought 1980

    Of these the pickup arm, turntable, speakers and power amp are still in use (though the latter has been heavily modded/fettled), and only recently have the preamp and tuner been upgraded.

    I stopped using a late '60s Ferrograph reel-to-reel tape recorder when I found I could make equally good recordings on a Nakamichi cassette machine, but both Nakamichi machines have recently been retired.

    I still occasionally use a '60s vintage Nagra IV-S reel-to-reel machine and one of my turntables is an EMT 930, which according to the serial number was made mid 1974. The EMT cartridges I also use were acquired 1979 and later. Until then I was using an Ortofon SL15E, bought in 1972.
    Barry

  8. #8
    Join Date: Jan 2008

    Location: Wrexham, North Wales, UK

    Posts: 110,012
    I'm AudioAl'sArbiterForPISHANTO.

    Default

    Hi Barry,

    I think you may well be in the running, but I think you have good reasons for choosing the equipment you use.

    Btw, how's the SPU doing? You've been rather quiet about it, so spill da beanz, baby!

    Hope Dave and you are having a good time down there and drinking plenty of vino!

    Marco.
    Main System

    Turntable: Heavily-modified Technics SL-1210MK5G [Mike New bearing/ETP platter/Paul Hynes SR7 PSU & reg mods]. Funk Firm APM Achromat/Nagaoka GL-601 Crystal Record Weight/Isonoe feet & boots/Ortofon RS-212D/Denon DL-103GL in Denon PCL-300 headshell with Funk Firm Houdini/Kondo SL-115 pure-silver cartridge leads.

    Paul Hynes MC head amp/SR5 PSU. Also modded Lentek head amp/Denon AU-310 SUT.

    Other Cartridges: Nippon Columbia (NOS 1987) Denon DL-103. USA-made Shure SC35C with NOS stylus. Goldring G820 with NOS stylus. Shure M55E with NOS stylus.

    CD Player: Audiocom-modified Sony X-777ES/DAS-R1 DAC.

    Tape Deck: Tandberg TCD 310, fully restored and recalibrated as new, by RDE, plus upgraded with heads from the TCD-420a. Also with matching TM4 Norway microphones.

    Preamps: Heavily-modified Croft Charisma-X. LDR Stereo Coffee. Power Amps: Tube Distinctions Copper Amp fitted with Tungsol KT-150s. Quad 306.

    Cables & Sundries: Mark Grant HDX1 interconnects and digital coaxial cable, plus Mark Grant 6mm UP-LCOFC Van Damme speaker cable. MCRU 'Ultimate' mains leads. Lehmann clone headphone amp with vintage Koss PRO-4AAA headphones.

    Tube Distinctions digital noise filter. VPI HW16.5 record cleaning machine.

    Speakers: Tannoy 15MGs in Lockwood cabinets with modified crossovers. 1967 Celestion Ditton 15.


    Protect your HUMAN RIGHTS and REFUSE ANY *MANDATORY* VACCINE FOR COVID-19!

    Also **SAY NO** to unjust 'vaccine passports' or certificates, which are totally incompatible with a FREE society!!!


  9. #9
    Join Date: Jan 2011

    Location: Eastern, US

    Posts: 1,869
    I'm afesteringvinylphile.

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Marco View Post
    Hi Barry,

    I think you may well be in the running, but I think you have good reasons for choosing the equipment you use.

    Btw, how's the SPU doing? You've been rather quiet about it, so spill da beanz, baby!

    Hope Dave and you are having a good time down there and drinking plenty of vino!

    Marco.
    Hey Marco,

    Have you seen my PM?

    --------------

    Back on point: It's good to feel young every now and then. I was in my teens in the 80's. I didn't really have a budget for anything audio until after I was married in the early 90's.

    However, my father transitioned from a Garrard to a Technics semi-automatic SL-1400MK2 in the late 70's ('78 - '79?). The MK2 Technics (all of them) left a big impression on me; subsequently, a MK2 Techy has been my main table since the mid 90's (back when they weren't fashionable or expensive). But, I've actually preferred and used them for over 30 years now. I guess I am an old fart.
    Lyrics are the ramblings of man, sometimes inspired by The Creator, most often, not.
    But music (melodies, harmonies, rhythms), that's God stuff.
    Always was. Always will be.


    One of the biggest lies ever told was that only certain kinds of people should listen to certain kinds of music.

    (silent) VINYL LP SLIDESHOWS

  10. #10
    Join Date: Jan 2008

    Location: Wrexham, North Wales, UK

    Posts: 110,012
    I'm AudioAl'sArbiterForPISHANTO.

    Default

    Hi Biff,

    No, I'll have a look now

    Marco.
    Main System

    Turntable: Heavily-modified Technics SL-1210MK5G [Mike New bearing/ETP platter/Paul Hynes SR7 PSU & reg mods]. Funk Firm APM Achromat/Nagaoka GL-601 Crystal Record Weight/Isonoe feet & boots/Ortofon RS-212D/Denon DL-103GL in Denon PCL-300 headshell with Funk Firm Houdini/Kondo SL-115 pure-silver cartridge leads.

    Paul Hynes MC head amp/SR5 PSU. Also modded Lentek head amp/Denon AU-310 SUT.

    Other Cartridges: Nippon Columbia (NOS 1987) Denon DL-103. USA-made Shure SC35C with NOS stylus. Goldring G820 with NOS stylus. Shure M55E with NOS stylus.

    CD Player: Audiocom-modified Sony X-777ES/DAS-R1 DAC.

    Tape Deck: Tandberg TCD 310, fully restored and recalibrated as new, by RDE, plus upgraded with heads from the TCD-420a. Also with matching TM4 Norway microphones.

    Preamps: Heavily-modified Croft Charisma-X. LDR Stereo Coffee. Power Amps: Tube Distinctions Copper Amp fitted with Tungsol KT-150s. Quad 306.

    Cables & Sundries: Mark Grant HDX1 interconnects and digital coaxial cable, plus Mark Grant 6mm UP-LCOFC Van Damme speaker cable. MCRU 'Ultimate' mains leads. Lehmann clone headphone amp with vintage Koss PRO-4AAA headphones.

    Tube Distinctions digital noise filter. VPI HW16.5 record cleaning machine.

    Speakers: Tannoy 15MGs in Lockwood cabinets with modified crossovers. 1967 Celestion Ditton 15.


    Protect your HUMAN RIGHTS and REFUSE ANY *MANDATORY* VACCINE FOR COVID-19!

    Also **SAY NO** to unjust 'vaccine passports' or certificates, which are totally incompatible with a FREE society!!!


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