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Thread: High end / Cutting edge , Opinions please

  1. #21
    Join Date: Apr 2012

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    I'm Geoff.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Beobloke View Post
    As far as I'm concerned, if something was good when new, then it still is now. Yes, it may be old-fashioned/superseded/oversized/ugly/largely worthless in monetary terms, but there's nothing to stop it still being worthy if it works properly.
    I agree. Older gear can be fun and some of it is great!
    It is impossible for anything digital to sound analogue, because it isn't analogue!

  2. #22
    Join Date: Mar 2008

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    I'm inthescottishmafia.

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    Aye no argument there.
    “Music has always been a matter of energy to me, a question of fuel. Sentimental people call it inspiration, but what they really mean is fuel. I have always needed fuel. I am a serious consumer. On some nights I still believe that a car with the gas needle on empty can run about fifty more miles if you have the right music very loud on the radio”

    Hunter S Thompson

  3. #23
    Join Date: Aug 2009

    Location: Staffordshire, England

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    I'm Martin.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Beobloke View Post
    Still High End? Yes
    Still Cutting Edge? Given the technology in it is approaching 20 years old, I'd say No.

    As an aside, the whole concept of "It was good in its day but isn't any more" irritates the hell out of me. If that were the case for any piece of equipment, I'd love to know the precise date and time when it became no good any more!
    Write to What Hi*Fi and ask them. They're always saying that previously great kit is now 'Off the pace.' They even take stars off retrospectively. The myth of 'continuous improvement'.
    Current Lash Up:

    TEAC VRDS 701T > Sony TAE1000ESD > Krell KSA50S > JM Labs Focal Electra 926.

  4. #24
    Join Date: Feb 2008

    Location: South Wales

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    I'm NotTakingLifeTooSeriouslyTheseDays.

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    My most treasured CD player is an old California Audio Tempest 2 [Special edition]from 1989, it is a two box afair, and therefore demands a bit of room, it has a proper all valve directly coupled analogue output stage, [no mickey mouse added on cathode follower gimmicks] it even uses valves for the current to voltage conversion from the DAC chips. Is it accurate by todays standards ? highly unlikely, However; it is very musical, and therefore portrays music in a way that is uncanily Analogue, which for me is more important than test figures, although for its day, it doesent test bad, even by todays standards.
    I have had a few decent modern players over the years, and have held onto one or two, mainly for refrence, however; when it comes down to just listening to music, this old antique is hard to beat!
    A...
    "Today scientists have substituted mathematics for experiments, and they wander off through equation after equation, and eventually build a structure which has no relation to reality"
    Nikola Tesla



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  5. #25
    Join Date: Jul 2009

    Location: Hampshire, UK

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    I'm Adam.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Macca View Post
    Write to What Hi*Fi and ask them. They're always saying that previously great kit is now 'Off the pace.' They even take stars off retrospectively. The myth of 'continuous improvement'.
    Oh, don’t I know it. I still haven’t forgiven them...
    Engineers: fixing problems you didn't know you had in ways you don't understand.

  6. #26
    Join Date: Oct 2008

    Location: Glasgowshire

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    I'm Gary.

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    Good thread over on the Tent about this “kinda” exact thing...
    https://www.hifiwigwam.com/forum/top...fi-comparison/
    AC POWER
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  7. #27
    Join Date: Jan 2008

    Location: Gerrards Cross

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    I'm Tony.

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    I can see the attraction with certain older high end equipment I still have six Wadias in my digital replay collection though I do have a real soft spot for the Wadia 15 dac

    Some thoughts on previous chart toppers
    Coherent Systems
    Real high end sound with musicality not hifi

  8. #28
    Join Date: Mar 2017

    Location: Seaford UK

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    I'm Dennis.

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    My slightly more recent vintage FM tuner arrived today, and I'm delighted with it both functionally and aesthetically, and the controls are lovely, it's a keeper.

  9. #29
    Join Date: Nov 2008

    Location: Zagreb, Croatia

    Posts: 27

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    Quote Originally Posted by Audio Al View Post
    Opinions please re this

    If a hifi ( CD ) player was made and first sold from 2003 and at the time was High end / cutting edge , Would that component still be HE / CE ? , or over time with technology moving on at a great rate and the evolution of chips would it now still be HE /CE , Also would older internal components still deteriorate as std models do
    Caps need replacing ? along with resistsors / transistor's , dry joints on soldering etc ?
    Even high end components change over time , don't they ???

    I believe CD, DACs , digital sources in general have evolved quite a bit even in the last few years, let alone from 2003. So, I personally wouldn't say a high end CD player from 2003 is high end now. Or maybe it even is, but now sound close to that can be had for much less money. In any case, I know guys with good experience who claim that top-end old Mark Levinson CD players are still high end. On the other hand, I know guys who have sold very expensive Wadia CD players and use quite cheap DAC solutions and say it's close or better. There is one fact in the whole story - digital sources seem to lose their value (in the sense of market value) the most.

    I wouldn't say the same for preamps, amps, phono stages, turntables - top amps 30 years ago pretty much still are top amps.

    The only real progress seems to happen in digital sources and to a lesser extent in speakers (because of progress in materials science, probably). And in marketing
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  10. #30
    Join Date: May 2020

    Location: Suffolk

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    I'm Ray.

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    Quote Originally Posted by popol_vuh View Post
    I believe CD, DACs , digital sources in general have evolved quite a bit even in the last few years, let alone from 2003. So, I personally wouldn't say a high end CD player from 2003 is high end now. Or maybe it even is, but now sound close to that can be had for much less money. In any case, I know guys with good experience who claim that top-end old Mark Levinson CD players are still high end. On the other hand, I know guys who have sold very expensive Wadia CD players and use quite cheap DAC solutions and say it's close or better. There is one fact in the whole story - digital sources seem to lose their value (in the sense of market value) the most.

    I wouldn't say the same for preamps, amps, phono stages, turntables - top amps 30 years ago pretty much still are top amps.

    The only real progress seems to happen in digital sources and to a lesser extent in speakers (because of progress in materials science, probably). And in marketing
    CD players have not improved in years and the modern ones seem a lot less reliable than ones made about 30 years. DACs maybe have improved slightly but still some of the old DAC chips are sought after. Speakers have changed but not always for the better, I was surprised how poor some of them were when I did a load of demos. Don't believe what some HiFi mags say.

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