Where might this dump be?Originally Posted by Beobloke
Senior Member
Location: Southampton
Posts: 1,623
I'm drunk.
Where might this dump be?
Site Owner/Administrator
Location: Wrexham, North Wales, UK
Posts: 110,520
I'm AudioAl'sArbiterForPISHANTO.
Stonking they may be, Martin, but have you compared them to the 1980's originals? If not, you may find that those are even more stonking! - Hence my point...Must disagree about 'all other Diamonds' as my partner Ruth's Diamond 10.1s are absolutely stonking speakers for their size.
I can't think of many 'classic' vintage speakers that have been bettered all-round, musically (this being the key word), by modern adoptations of their original design.
Marco.
Main System
Turntable: Heavily-modified Technics SL-1210MK5G [Mike New bearing/ETP platter/Paul Hynes SR7 PSU & regulator mods]. Funk Firm APM Achromat with Nagaoka GL-601 Crystal Record Weight. Isonoe feet & boots. Ortofon RS-212D tonearm with Denon DL-103GL, in a Denon PCL-300 headshell, fitted with Funk Firm Houdini and Kondo SL-115 pure-silver cartridge leads.
Paul Hynes MC head amp/SR5 PSU. Also modded Lentek head amp and 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. 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.
Senior Member
Location: gone
Posts: 11,510
I'm gone.
OMG .. they are just so plug ugly!
The seller would have to pay me a substantial sum to take them away.
This is more my idea of a vintage beautyhttp://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Vintage-MARANT...item56447c8080
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Senior Member
Location: gone
Posts: 11,510
I'm gone.
These Shackman Dynastatic 'stat hybrid standmounts look interesting - and I bet they'll go for a song.
The 1st ever 'stat speakers I had were Shackman Dynastats. Oooo, must have been 35 years ago! Big bass cabinet with a 10 inch (?) woofer (not unlike a Tannoy Lancaster cab, really) with a separate little box on top to house the stat mid/treble unit. The stat driver was curved and must have been about 4x6 inches or so.
They didn't sound half bad, actually, and were an interesting and affordable start to my on/off love affair with stats ever since.
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/DynaStatic-Ele...item23113ef4ab
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Drunken Administrator
Location: Staffordshire, England
Posts: 43,352
I'm Martin.
Diamond Mk IV are from the 'eighties and IMHO are better than the Mk1 or any of the models after
Current Lash Up:
TEAC VRDS 701T > Sony TAE1000ESD > Krell KSA50S > Troels Gravesen Faital 3WC-15.
Senior Member
Location: Surrey
Posts: 782
I'm Paul.
I didn't know you were looking Alex. I found a pair of original Diamonds in a thrift store in Maidenhead last year, I was going to offer them on here but ended up giving them away on my local Freecycle instead. I must have had at least 15 people contact me about themIndeed, and I'll get some originals to try one day (rather like the white ones...) In the meantime, for the price of a CD a little bit of fun. I just need to start SELLING some of the old crap I keep acquiring instead of buying more!
Paul.
Site Owner/Administrator
Location: Wrexham, North Wales, UK
Posts: 110,520
I'm AudioAl'sArbiterForPISHANTO.
Yup - the Marantz is also gorgeous, but in a different way! Some of us here like the 'old school science lab' look - plain but purposefulOMG .. they are just so plug ugly!
The seller would have to pay me a substantial sum to take them away.
This is more my idea of a vintage beauty
Marco.
Main System
Turntable: Heavily-modified Technics SL-1210MK5G [Mike New bearing/ETP platter/Paul Hynes SR7 PSU & regulator mods]. Funk Firm APM Achromat with Nagaoka GL-601 Crystal Record Weight. Isonoe feet & boots. Ortofon RS-212D tonearm with Denon DL-103GL, in a Denon PCL-300 headshell, fitted with Funk Firm Houdini and Kondo SL-115 pure-silver cartridge leads.
Paul Hynes MC head amp/SR5 PSU. Also modded Lentek head amp and 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. 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.
Site Owner/Administrator
Location: Wrexham, North Wales, UK
Posts: 110,520
I'm AudioAl'sArbiterForPISHANTO.
It's all personal taste, dude. The earlier models, to me, have more 'fun factor'. For me, speakers (and really any equipment I use) must 'boogie' first, and have that fun-factor with music, and THEN - only then - tick all of the hi-fi boxes. I'll always trade a hi-fi presentation for one which to my ears is more musical.Diamond Mk IV are from the 'eighties and IMHO are better than the Mk1 or any of the models after
It's one of the things I intensely dislike about how most modern speakers (or some speakers that are more modern than their original counterparts) are voiced, as in my experience, they tend to major more on a 'hi-fi' style of presentation than they do on an inherently musical one, perhaps as many of them are mostly designed via computer software, and less so by ear....
Although for some people, differentiating between a 'hi-fi' and 'musical' presentation can sometimes be difficult. It's a tough one to nail. However, it's one of the reasons why my system contains so much quality vintage gear, as in my experience, it intrinsically has more 'soul' - and not just when it comes to sound!
Marco.
Main System
Turntable: Heavily-modified Technics SL-1210MK5G [Mike New bearing/ETP platter/Paul Hynes SR7 PSU & regulator mods]. Funk Firm APM Achromat with Nagaoka GL-601 Crystal Record Weight. Isonoe feet & boots. Ortofon RS-212D tonearm with Denon DL-103GL, in a Denon PCL-300 headshell, fitted with Funk Firm Houdini and Kondo SL-115 pure-silver cartridge leads.
Paul Hynes MC head amp/SR5 PSU. Also modded Lentek head amp and 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. 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.
ELP Fanboy
Location: Yorks
Posts: 16,643
I'm Nobody.
You'll not catch me parting with the little amp i use (£16 of the bay)..Sounds so musical..Took me 28 years & many many thousands of pounds to get this far backwards
Trade: Magazine Journalist
Location: Hampshire, UK
Posts: 3,689
I'm Adam.
Meh. Goodmans Maxims wipe the floor with all of 'em!Diamond Mk IV are from the 'eighties and IMHO are better than the Mk1 or any of the models after
Engineers: fixing problems you didn't know you had in ways you don't understand.
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