What classics changed your hi-fi life?

[Filterlab]

I know what my answer is!

Yep, not much really.

Nowadays proper wood speakers seem to be an exception rather than a rule, and as for sound there seems to be a lot of shrill and thin sounding components out there. However there are still gems to be found and the second hand market is the place to find the real hi-fi.

[AlanB]

When I first heard and eventually owned the Quad ESL63 it was a life changing experience. Why did I get remarried and the Quads had to go? Did I love the Quads more than my wife? Close call guys!!

[The Grand Wazoo]

My Radford STA15 Mk2 power amp.

The reason it changed my life is that it made me realise a few things about hifi. - I'll explain......

Just prior to hearing this thing I had been to see Neil Young. I'd seen louder and heavier bands plenty of times before, but when I heard (and felt) the sheer power that was being produced by him and his incredible, messy feedback drenched but beautiful guitar playing, I came to a conclusion about hifi. You do not stand the slightest chance of even coming close to recreating 1 percent of that experience in your home. You can recreate the notes and sounds in pretty much the same place, but you will never get the same feeling as you do from that sort of live experience.

Now, I don't mind telling you that this threw me into a bit of a spin! I almost gave up with progressing my system.

Then I heard the Radford..........and with that came Realisation No. 2.
New and more expensive is not necessarily better, price is not directly proportional to quality and there are some things that the old guys had pretty much nailed down way back when.

I began to accept that, for rock and big orchestral music you can make a pretty fair approximation of the sounds but not the feeling. But it's still possible to make the hairs on the back of your neck crackle and send a shiver down your spine. Smaller scale music, of course is another pan of peche.

These two experiences together conspired to me completely changing tack with my philosophy on hifi. I ended up with kit making sounds that were good enough for the main components to stay reasonably constant for far longer periods - usually changes became evolutionary rather than revolutionary.

I combined the Radford at various times with SD Acoustics OBS (open baffle), the Audio Research SP8, and as a midrange amp with Levinson gear on the bass and treble. I still own the Radford and SD's but moved to a much bigger room, so the Levinsons are biamping some big Mirage M3Si's. The Radford still does it's stuff elsewhere.

[BajaGringo]

It was in the mid to late 70's when I put together a rig to include:

Pioneer SX1250
Pioneer CTF9191
Pioneer PL530
Pioneer HOM100's

I was never to look at audio gear the same after that. Took most of the Navy pay I was earning back then for a year to pay off that system. Best money ever spent. Well, that and my first divorce lawyer, but that's another story...

[Jay]

Easy question, it was an old Fisher console full of Mullard valves. Like a lot of people, I had followed the path of technology to compact discs and lightweight, black plastic amplification. I'll never forget the day that I dragged that tired old Fisher home, warmed it up, and started an LP. It actually gave me goose bumps to hear the music, real music, like I hadn't heard in 35 years. Since that day I have spent nearly every free hour in the pursuit of valve audio nirvana. I've learned a lot and made some progress to that end, but I'm sure the "dream" will keep me busy for the remainder.

[Marco]

I'll never forget the day that I dragged that tired old Fisher home, warmed it up, and started an LP. It actually gave me goose bumps to hear the music, real music, like I hadn't heard in 35 years. Since that day I have spent nearly every free hour in the pursuit of valve audio nirvana.

Nice one, Jay

I feel the same way about my valve stuff. It make you wonder how much *genuine* progress, in terms of absolute sound quality, has been made with audio equipment in the last, say, 25 years?

I often hear vintage equipment spank the pants off of modern gear, and valve kit is a valid case in point - yet the uninitiated think it is outdated distortion-filled crap. What bollocks! I guess we can leave them to their computers, iPods and suchlike, whilst we revel in the beautiful music reproduced by our valve equipment with a very smug grin on our faces

Marco.

[Prince of Darkness]

I often hear vintage equipment spank the pants off of modern gear, and valve kit is a valid case in point - yet the uninitiated think it is outdated distortion-filled crap.

Of course the reality is that valves produce less distortion than any type of transistor, but with transistors a lot more feedback can be used than with valves. The use of excessive levels of feedback is very efficient at hiding distortion. Unfortunately, it can also be very effective at hiding an important part of the music.

[Jay]

I often hear vintage equipment spank the pants off of modern gear, and valve kit is a valid case in point -
Marco.

I do quite a bit of "old commercial amp" overhauling for friends, which is really neat because it allows me to hear lots of different things. Last weekend I completed a Sherwood Mono 6L6 amp and matching tuner for a guy, and of course had to listen to it for a couple days. It was absolutely fantastic. I felt as though I was in the DJ booth at the radio station. The announcers words were just so lifelike, and the music was...............well, musical. I actually caught myself looking over my shoulder a couple of times to make sure no one was behind me.

[Marco]

Of course the reality is that valves produce less distortion than any type of transistor, but with transistors a lot more feedback can be used than with valves. The use of excessive levels of feedback is very efficient at hiding distortion. Unfortunately, it can also be very effective at hiding an important part of the music.

Excellent point, Kevin. The mistake which gets made is that there are many types of distortion - the 'solid-state' boys just lump it all under the category of 'bad', so to them it must be hidden or removed. But some forms of distortion are naturally present within musical information; remove them and the resultant sound is somewhat 'sterile' and artificial. It's a bit like Diet Coke: pleasant enough in its own right but not quite as satisfying as the real thing!

Jay,

Old tuners are simply wonderful. I love some of the big Jap stuff from the 70s (e.g. Yamaha's CT7000) and the likes of the Day-Sequerra. This is one area where IMO almost no advances have been made in terms of sound quality. Modern DAB tuners sound shit compared to 'classic' analogue tuners - the only modern tuner that gets near their level of performance is the Magnum Dynalab, but then you're paying big time for it!

Marco.

[Spectral Morn]

Hi guys

These are the ones that sent me spinning in the direction I am now. The kit that unlocked my music and sent me to audio heaven.

Marantz CD 94 mk2

Audio Innovations S500

Pro-ac Super Tablets

I know these aren't really old,but they date back to when I first got into audio, about 19 years ago.
I rapidly upgraded within about a year and a bit from a Rotel 820 amp to an Audio Innovations S300 and then the 500 which I used for about 10 years before I next upgraded

The CDP was all Marantz starting with a 273se to a 65mk2 se, 85 and then the CD 94 mk2.

The pro-ac's lasted through all these changes(originally I started with Celestion Ditton speakers, can't remember which ones. Very small bookshelf)

Anyway thats what I started with. Still have most of the above( I do like to keep stuff).

Of vintage stuff I use day to day The Leak Troughline 2 tuner and EAR decoder are amazing.

Regards D S D L