What would be your top 3 favourite bits of classic kit?

[Barry]

Probably going to embarrass myself here but wouldn't the 360 DAC be the same as the DAC within the 390 ?

No, they are different. The 360S uses 4 PCM1704 multibit DAC chips, whereas the internal DAC of the 390S player uses 2AD1853 delta/sigma bitstream chips.

One review found the only really significant difference was in the bass: the 360 refined and articulate, but the 390S was more lush and free. Or to put it another way, the 360S was more controlled, the 390S more musical.

However the 360S is the same size as a 390S, and used samples go for upwards of £3,000. Ideally I'm looking for a compact DAC but maybe I'll put it all on hold for a while.

[SteveRW]

Mission PCM 7000 CD Player
Mission Cyrus 2 Amp
Mission 753 Freedom

Used to sell them in a hifi shop back in the 80s, lovely sound!

[sailor]

Dahlquist DQ10 very advanced for their time and a bargain. (were stolen)
GAS Son of Ampzilla, now stripped and host to Neurochrome 286 modules, temporarily standing in for my ML23.5 or maybe not
Wadia 15, if there was a fire and had time to only grab one component it would be this!

[Alex_UK]

I’ve always lusted after a Michell GyroDec, I know they are still made, but a classic in my opinion.

So that’s my source, I will have to think about amp and speakers…

[Barry]

Three more from me:

1 Elecrocompaniet 'The Two Channel Audio Amplifier'

Despite the rather obvious and prosaic sounding name, this first offering from Electrocompaniet was a commercial realisation of a circuit published in the IEEE by Matti Otala.

Winning no prizes for looks it was however one of the best solid-state amplifiers I ever used in my system and along with, then, the Mark Levinson ML-2, a perfect match with Quad ESLs.


2 Ikeda 9C III cartridge
This is a cantileverless moving coil cartridge designed by Ikeda and originally marketed by Rowland Research in the US.
Imagine a moving coil cartridge without a cantilever, in the same way the Decca cartridges are fixed-coil designs but don't have a cantilever.

The Ikeda 9C III displays all the smoothness and liquidity of a good moving coil cartridge with the added 'air', attack and sheer "life" of Decca designs.

Intended to be used with the Ikeda-modified Ortofon 309 arm, the 309i, it works very well in other detachable headshell arms such as the SME M2-12R.

It is one of the top three cartridges in my collection.


3 Brinkmann 10.5 pickup arm
Based on the now unobtainable Breuer Dynamic 8C arm, the Brinkmann arm displays all of the craftsmanship, fit and finish of the Breuer and can support a wider range of cartridges, without compromising sound quality.

The effective length of 10.5" makes it difficult to fit onto the armboard of the Thorens TD124 deck, but it can just about be done with care.