Howdy y'all in the wonderful world of music!

[PaulBrussels]

I'm Paul, yes I live in Brussels, the capital city of Belgium and Europe.
My rented apartment is smallish (certainly by American standards), but comfortable, in a lively street very near the "Royal Park", the Federal and Flemish parliaments...not bad.

My turntable is an old (and beautiful) Technics SL-1710 with a new Audio-Technica AT-VM95ML/H cart, the best vinyl equipment I've ever had.

The amp, tuner and CD player are all black Onkyo's.
Amp is A-9010 (2x44 watt RMS, I believe)
Tuner T-4030 with DAB+ (useless progress...but it works fine)
CD C-7030
Nothing special there. I recommend never to buy black equipment: can't see a thing, I put white stickers on the essentail buttons!

My speakers are wonderful, even with one dead Celestion HF1300 mid-tweeter, which I hope to successfully replace, as soon as a friend returns from minor surgery, when he can help me with the replacement...
They're 1970's Bowers & Wilkins DM2a's, 1/8th wave transmission line 3-way cabinets, 50 lbs. each, painted white and...rather big boxes.
To hear Johnny Cash strumming his acoustic guitar and singing "The Man Comes Around", you'd swear he was right there with you in the room.

Luckily I've strewn my small collection of Moroccan rugs around, all in all I like the sound, even with the hearing aid I'm still paying the mortgage for stashed away in the cupboard...

I listen to radio, Flemish and French bla-blaah to have a feel of the outside world, and music!
Jean-Philippe Rameau's operas, or on harpsichord (thanks Scott Ross, wherever you dwell, poor boy!), Bach, Schubert, Arvo Pärt...Eugène Ysaÿe...
1965-1975 Rock 'n Roll & British pop music, Christmas brought me the 2009 Beatles box (lovely, lovely music there, on the Beyer Dynamic studio cans).
Fairport Convention's "Liege & Lief", John Martyn, Joni, CSN&Y, other California tribes...also Willie Nelson, Stevie Wonder, James Brown, Sly Stone..jazz, too.
Puis les français: Serge Gainsbourg's "Melody Nelson" (great sounding, phenomenal arrangements!) Thanks for , Polnareff...Adamo...even Dalida!

Thanks for having me. Music is life!

[southall-1998_mk2]

Howdy! Welcome to AOS.

Have fun.

S.

[JohnJo]

Great intro Paul, welcome and enjoy.

[Barry]

Welcome to AoS Paul,

Yes - great introdution.

I know what you mean about black equipment, it can sometimes be difficult to read the legends. Virtually all of the gear in my main system is black, but the legends are engraved and filled with white gouache, so easy to read.

The B&W DM2a are very good speakers - I use a pair in my second system. Let us know how you get on after replacing the Celestion unit.

Love your broad tastes in music. Well done!

Enjoy the Forum
Barry

[Lawrence001]

I love Rameau his music is full of Joie De Vivre and so unlike most other music of the period. I fell in love with his music when I listened to composer of the week on Radio 3 in the evenings after school. It was Rameau one week and they played instrumental music and excerpts from his operas. I'd never heard anything like it before. Before that the only French baroque music I knew was more serious sacred music, also beautiful in its own way.

Arvo Part I discovered by randomly buying a cheap CD in HMV by Tamsin Little, one listen to Fratres and I was hooked!

I've had 3 pairs of DM2s over the years, my all round favourite reasonably sized vintage speaker of that time. Only beaten by the big IMFs!

[PaulBrussels]

Thanks for the welcoming words. The importance of music cannot be overemphasized. I'm reading Patrick O'Brian's historical novels about sailing warships in Napoleonic times and, regularly, the main characters get out the violin and cello, to strike up some Boccherini, Mozart or Haydn whilst, from the lower deck, melodies of tin flute might waft up...the only music, before the advent of grammophone and radio, was the music you produced yourself... I wasn't brought up in a musical environment, don't sing, don't play any instrument. But I listen to music, listen to biographies on radio and ... music is company!

[walpurgis]

Hello Paul. Welcome to AOS.

The B&W DM2's are popular here, we have a few members using them.

Feel free to join in any chat that interests you, there's plenty going on.


Enjoy the forum,
Geoff.