So what is your HiFi story and views, has your journey been worth is?

[AJSki2fly]

Well I started out with a mono 'Murphy' cassette recorder which belonged to my mother. She was a music teacher but there was no other hi-fi in the house.
When I was about 15 she lost a gold necklace and with the insurance money bought a Saisho music centre from Dixons. Turntable, tuner and double tape deck. So I started buying LPs.

At 16 I was around at a mate's house and his old man had a JVC-JBL system, JBL L100 Century speakers on the little stands. He played us 'Brothers In Arms' album that had just come out and which I had already played to death on the Saisho. My god the difference was just unbelievable! I decided I wanted to hear my music sound that good too. That was the start of it. Little did I know.

I had a Saturday job stacking shelves at Gateway. Tenner a day for a nine hour shift. Started saving up. 17 weeks later had enough to buy an Aiwa midi system. It wasn't much but it was better than the Saisho. Then discovered Richer Sounds who at the time sold all the bin-end Jap electronics.

Was now at college and back then you could sign on over the summer. Went to Richer and spent my dole money on my first separates system. It was better than the Aiwa but still not a patch on the JVC-JBL set up. This was about the point where I realised I wasn't going to be easily satisfied.

Started buying hi-fi mags. Probably a mistake. A bit like going to a strip joint, no point looking at what you can't have, it only makes it worse. After some running about after college eventually found myself on the dole, so started buying and selling equipment and had a lot of 1970s kit come and go, too much to list it all even if I remembered it. No internet then, not much money so had to take what I could get. The quality of that JBL-JVC system still a pipe dream.

Got a job in a warehouse, hard work but paid quite well. Moved up to Systemdeck IIX, Nagaoka MP30, Denon PMA250, Wharfedale CRS3 speakers. Finally had a system that actually sounded pretty good.

Got into designing and building speakers. Then the Denon amp died, the Nag got worn out, ended up back at square one again. Went through some dreadful tat and a lot of house moves in quick succession. Bought a house, made sure it had a good room for hi-fi, started again with Cambridge P70, Systemdeck, Goldring Eroica, little Mission speakers and a sub.

Bought a CD player! Speakers not big enough for room. Got B&W 601 which had just come out. Still not big enough. Got Celestion A2 speakers in a fire sale. Big enough! But amp could not drive them. Bought a big Rotel. That could not drive them. Due to this I started to learn how hi-fi actually worked - a revelation. Bought Linn Pre-power, that could drive them. settled with that for about 8 years. Still not as good as the JVC-JBL.

Discovered hi-fi forums, started buying kit almost at random, just as a hobby. Amassed piles of the stuff. Tried valves. Tried idiotic tweaks. Tried everything. Got into passive pre-amps, realised CD was a lot better than I'd thought. Started buying lots of CD players. Started trying to get vinyl to sound like that. Got a Technics Sl1200. Then got another one.

Bought lots of vintage speakers, Celestion, IMF, B&O, Akai etc. Got bored with them, thought I'd buy something more modern, got Focal/JM Lab speakers. Another revelation!

Bought a Krell KSA50s on a whim, had no idea what it would be like. My god it was excellent. Added DCB1 pre-amp - now, finally, after 30 years, I had something even better than I recall the JVC-JBL system being! Done. Finished. Finito. Then the Krell died. And so we go on....

Great read Martin


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[AJSki2fly]

Great read. Do I take it that the Gyrodec was the turntable you were referring to? And the Goldring 2500 is a new one on me. Is it really that good?

The Michell has some inherent design issues imo, shame really. The Goldring is a moving iron cartridge and is excellent vfm


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[AJSki2fly]

Ok here goes, and I should warn you it won't be very interesting, nor educational except perhaps as a cautionary tale...

1971: given an old radio! The Tams, The Faces, Middle of the Road, all in glorious tinny mono

Christmas 1972: My first record player! Fidelity HF43. I started out with two albums to play on it: "Electric Warrior" and "School's Out". But if you listened carefully it also picked up chat from passing taxis.

1974: Called at my new best mate's house, where his older brother was playing "Ummagumma" through an ERA turntable, Trio amp and Dynaco speakers. So this is how it should sound! "Hifi" bug had bitten.

Christmas 1974: My parents gave me a choice of either driving lessons or a stereo. So they bought me a BSR MP60 deck, a Bush Arena amp and some Wharfedale Denton speakers. Played "Echoes", and a couple of minutes in the bass started. "Where on earth did that come from?" Welcome to the wonderful world of bass!

1978: Upgraded the amp. For eight weeks I gave ther nice man at RSC a tenner, then the half price Rotel RA712 was mine. It kept me happy for a good 7 years, and even forgave me when I accidentally vomited a chicken curry/Toby Light cocktail all over it. Wish I still had that old thing.

1980: gave a tenner plus my Dentons for a pair of Marantz 4G speakers, with foam grilles that looked like bars of chocolate. Unfortunately an impromptu party (I blame my parents for going away for the weekend) saw the demise (almost) of both bass cones. They stayed like that, held together with duct tape for about four years, a testament to my engineering skills and attention to detail.

!982: The year before I got married. I went ito town with £300 to buy an engagement ring, came back with a £200 ring and a JVC cassette deck. I was seduced by the flashy meters.

1984: Seduced by the "Giant Killer" blurb on the Cyrus 1 amp. It was a nice wee thing and had more clout than you'd think, and certainly more clout than my Marantz speakers with the duct tape cones wanted. So upgraded to a pair of AR 48LS speakers. Propa bass!

1984 (still): On a roll now, went and bought a Mission 774/775 LC deck. Surprisingly much better than the BSR. No really it was. By then I was buying Hifi mags, and fell for the hype. So I put a want ad in "Hifi Answers" for an LP12. Some guy in London said he had one, with Grace arm and MP11 Boron cartridge for £300. My car at the time, a MK 2 1.1L Escort wasn't up to the 450 mile round trip. so a friend drove me there in his Cal-Look Beetle.

When I got back, fist thing wifie said was "Oh a bloke in Lostock Hall has one for £300". Four bloody miles away! No mobile phones in those days. Sounded great though, and to this day probably the biggest improvement form a single component.

1987: Monitor Audio MA352 speakers. A bit less bass, but lovely sweet sound. Could listen all day Happy bunny for next 7 years.

1994: In the midst of my ravey period, and wanted a sound that the neighbours could enjoy. So got some Prodigy-friendly B&W DM603s. Had some clout, but lost the sweetness somewhat. but who cares, it's all good when you're off yer face

1996: An upgrade to a Musical Fidelity Electra E100 gave the B&Ws something to chew on.

Nothing of note for about 15 years, while motorbikes took centre-stage, until

2012: When I got my current stuff, all of which I've bored you with before. Besides, my two typing fingers are getting sore. So I'll leave it at that for now.

Lovely detail Steve, I did similar upgrades at comet and richer sounds.


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[eldarvanyar]

Steve , loves the way you retold your HiFi journey it really made me laugh and reminisce. It’s late and I will have to try tomorrow
Lee

[Opti-cal]

WARNING - Not to be held responsible for dozing off after five lines from me. . . . . There is some boring detail for those interested, apologies to everyone else, just scroll past!

1991(ish):

Queen - Radio.

"What the heck is that sub sonic sound coming from those things that live in my lounge."

Thought a 4 or 5 year old me. It was of course some fine production of a legendary band playing through my dads Gale 401s' (the shiny ended ones) via his Linn LP12 and Carver amp. Musical fidelity "The Preamp II" glowing at me from its little rack too.

This image, situation and atmosphere are imprinted on my brain and I will never and have never forgotten it.

This was the first time I noticed my dads hifi. Knobs dials and spinney things. Big lounge, fire place, big speakers and lots of records.

Took me a few years to realise that not everyone was bothered about or indeed could afford proper hifi. However some sort of dedicated playback setup quickly became a staple which I could not be without. I've gone through fallow periods where my interests deviated (momentarily) and it occasionally took a back seat, but I've always come back to it, often with renewed enthusiasm appreciation.

Although I would say I've now been solidly stuck in the fanatical camp for the last 6 years or so and don't see any viable way out . . .

1995:

First bit of hifi was a little all-in-one JVC 'mini' system. CD player (early 90's), radio, tape. Actually sounded very good given its diminutive size. Had a remote control so I could record from the radio onto tape (yes we still did that in the 90's!) whilst sitting in bed as an 8yr old. Oh the decadence.

1996:

Got a much older 'midi' system for £10 quid, I do believe it was a Sansui. It had a turntable which meant I could play all of my dads LP's upstairs!

I wasn't really allowed to play with his system by myself, a rule I never respected or understood until one day a mate of mine (we used to get home from school and use dads system to play VHS's via the TV's RCA outputs) switched his power amp on THEN the pre-amp and bang. His lovely little cuboid Carver amp was no more. My dad still hasn't forgiven me for that . . . .

Next came a donation from my older (and much wealthier) cousin. A Cambridge Audio P40 amplifier, some Wharfdale Diamond speakers and a Kenwood CD player. I thought I was the king and at around 10 years of age system-wise, I probably was. How could my cousin just not need this stuff ! Friends whom had never actually paid attention to music before, let alone heard it on a hifi system, were mesmerized by it. As was I.

Got me reading some hi-fi mags as my dad used to have quite a few. Walked into a shop in my local town, bloke looks up and rolls his eyes, "whats this kid doing in my hifi shop and where are his parents" I could tell he was thinking.
I asked him if he knew the technical specs on the upcoming Quad system (77 or 99?) and how it compared to the latest offerings from Arcam and Linn. As well as if he had heard a new Meridian CD player. I was of course just reeling off word bites from the pages I had just read in HF Choice or similar, but he humored me all the same and we talked for a good hour or so.

1998:

A big JVC receiver came next (saved up and bought this for £20). "Surround" along with a Loudness button were in constant use. I paired these with another lucky find, a pair of Sansui S-750 speakers. They could play at genuine disco levels but were equally at home playing Chiltern FM (it had the best reception near me) at midnight on low volume in my bedroom while everyone else slept. Heaven. Then a bit of a break I guess, girls, school etc seemed to take up more of my time.

My best mate still has the speakers mentioned above, sold the whole system to him for £50 so I get to hear it every so often too. It still stands up today and I'm not kidding. He (we) took it to university so its been in various houses and been the absolute life of a few parties.
Beer (and worse) has been spilled on them, had to hoover the occasional 'crease' from the drivers but they have been absolutely bomb proof and stood up to the most unbelievable amount of wear and abuse. Long may they continue!

2005 - 2010:

Then, it was time to get myself a 'proper' system. Got an old Sherwood receiver (60wpc) and some TDL 6 speakers. Turntables - (part owned as we all chipped in a hundred quid or so) Technics 1210's were the only source apart from playing the odd tune from a computer/laptop. Didn't even know what a DAC was at this point still! Another house mate brought his Tannoy Mercury's into the system and wow. It was now verging on something quite nice and reignited my desire for better sound still.

That year my dad bought me an Edwards Audio TT1 for Xmas, I quickly changed the cart out for an Audio Technica 440MLa and randomly bought a CR Developments Kalypso EL84 tube amplifier. Some very good advice recommended a pair of Ruark Rhapsody speakers as the large paper drivers mated very well with tube amps. By complete chance this combination was the best sound I had ever heard. Better than my dads setup, oh yes, and then some!

I've since sold all of these components for one reason or another, boredom, grass-is-greener/I can do better mentality. In some ways elements of that system were better than any system I have had since. I'd pay good money to put that system together again, but alas, its been and gone.

2012:

Got into SET's (don't we all at some point!). Couldn't believe the intimate delicacy that could be had from a cheap chinese amp with a few better tubes and some horn (type) speakers. Chanced on some Loth X BS1's. Still have them today and don't think I will sell. They have a small scale musicality about them that is not matched by anything I've heard.

Also bought a Marantz PM7200 amplifier. Now there is a VFM bang for buck component if ever there was one. Class A 25w, phono stage, by-passable tone controls, even a remote. Ended up having two or three of those and actually intend to get another one day. Champagne gold of course!

2014 - present

Bought some Quad 57's . . . now things were getting really interesting. Paired them with a Yaqin MS-300b tube amp which had been modified and upgraded with much better hand wired circuitry and upgraded caps. Not the greatest match on paper but it did drive the 57's well. A tube rectified 300b amplifier driving Quad 57's playing John Martyn - "Solid Air" in my loft at two in the morning was another moment I'll never forget. For the first time instruments WERE there in front of me as well as around in various parts of the room. The part where an Oboe (I think) comes in and plays with the other instruments on the track "Solid Air" genuinely flawed everyone who listened to it on my system. It cut the air with texture (sorry I'm waffling in subjective description) and leaves you enveloped in a performance.

In the pursuit of (illusive) improvement the amp builder assured me more was to be had from it, so it went off for the pre-amp section to be improved. Unfortunately that was the last I ever saw of it. It got lost in the International mail . . . . The amp had to go to Italy for its modifications and they went and lost it. The builder was genuinely gutted too and sent me two or three amps to try, all worth twice as much as the Yaqin. But none could recreate the magic I had with the Quads . . . I'd genuinely give up all my equipment to have that amplifier and those Quads back.

I settled on another 300b amplifier, N-core transformers all hand wired etc but by now I'd swapped the Quad 57's for some 63's. Do they have a wider frequency response? Yes. Are they more dynamic? Yes. Do they have a bigger soundstage and wider 'sweet spot'? Absolutely. Are they better than 57's? . . .
I'm still deciding . . . . For truly intimate immersion into a certain type of acoustic (as well as some other) music reproduction the 57's have no equal, nothing will ever convince me otherwise. Until I hear it, but I doubt it.

The 63's however play anything you throw at them and remain dynamic and immersive (enough) to justify their place in my system.

These latest ones have all the upgrades possible. 'Pro' grill, Black Gate capacitors, the works.

To drive them properly I've got a Ming-Da KT88 beast and they're a lovely match, that was until I bought a Neurochrome 686 (basically copied others who were raving about them anyway!). It deserves its praise and then some. It's a very special amp. I think I'm still trying to find its synergy brother of a pre-amp but its fun trying. I don't think I'm too far off.

Unfortunately my Quad 63's went bad after servicing recently and have developed a nasty rattle so I can't get them re-repaired until . . . well we'll see won't we.

This gave me the opportunity to call upon my new project, a pair of Cambridge Acoustic 'Grand Master Evolution' speakers.
Serious bass, they have pretty much eliminated the subs from my system. Not quite the ultimate resolution of the Quads but overall a more 'well rounded' speaker.

As the Quads are still out of service I'm living with them and very happily too. Although ultimately I still suspect the Quads will work their way back in when fit to do so. They certainly have a hold on me . . . .

That's all folks.

Can't believe anyone has read this far but cheers.

Chris

[Macca]

'Cambridge Acoustic 'Grand Master Evolution.' Had to look them up -Serious speakers!

[Firebottle]

Good read Chris, yes I did read it all.

Wondering whether to do my history, could take a while.

[Pigmy Pony]

Good read Chris, yes I did read it all.

Wondering whether to do my history, could take a while.

Go on Alan, it's not like we're going anywhere anytime soon

[Pigmy Pony]

And don't forget to mention the pants

[tapid]

Crazy idea No 1... Drove from London to Warrington to buy a pair of speaker stands to match my Shan Shimna s (concrete ) standmounts
I think the Doug Brady guy thought I was a bit sad and refunded me a tenner for return petrol journey. Worth it actually for sound improvement though.

Crazy idea No 2... Coach trip to Middlesborough to buy Audionote Meisu amp ( 23kgs ) Dear me that was stupid or at least my back told me so afterwards
Sold 2 years later at a decent loss

Crazy idea No 3... Accepted offer on Ipay for Finite Elemente audio stand ( superb, okay Bri so why sell it ? ), the guy then sold it straight away for a 300 pound profit.

Crazy idea No 4.... Made at best sideway move to exchange Audio note Z Series pre amp, mono blocs and Clearaudio concept turntable to buy Townshend Rock,
Audio Innovation, Border Patrol power supply. Hmm, that set up was good but still miss that bit of audio note,, vinyl magic !

Last few years has been pretty good, buying Lenco gl75, Decca s/g cart and mayware tonearm for glorious record playing.
cd replay is sooo much better now also with Marantz 6000 ose Trichord clocked player, Audio Synthesis pro passion pre amp
and Quad 909 power amp making lovely noises.

Almost forgot the 90 s with my dedication to anything Audio Alchemy from the Cornflake shop, anyone remember them ?
And my much loved Stax Lamda pro headphones ( kj west )
So has it all been worth it ? YES, yes and yes. Good idea this one Adrian