Home Hi-Fi

Dale

Dale

Club Member
So following on from JakTheRuby's thread on music albums, what does everyone listen to their music on at home?

Being in the business, my hi-fi is one of my hobbies. I really enjoy sitting and 'listening' to my music. Quite often in the evening with a good whiskey! :thumbs:

My system is a good old traditional set of seperates. A cd player, and amp, and a set of speakers. There's nothing better.

The Amp is a Musical Fidelity Tri-Vista.
The Cd player, a Musical Fidelity A1008.
And the speakers are Mordaunt Short Performace 6's
I also have a Tri-Vista Cd on my rack aswell, but unfortunately it has failed and parts are no longer available! :( I can't bring myself to throw it away, so it has now been labelled a £4k paperweight or doorstop! :rolleyes:

They sit on an Atacama Equinox XL Pro rack, the interconnect between cd and amp is an Ixos Ixotica, and speaker cable are Audioquest Crystal Bi-wire (with Qed Airlock banans).

I have also upgraded the mains cables using Russ Andrews Classic PowerKords going through a QED mains block.

Unfortunately the acoustics in the room aren't great but what can you do?!

I'll get photos up when I can.

So does anyone else like to 'listen' to music?
 
Dale said:
I also have a Tri-Vista Cd on my rack aswell, but unfortunately it has failed and parts are no longer available! :( I can't bring myself to throw it away, so it has now been labelled a £4k paperweight or doorstop! :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

Dale - try and find a non working one on ebay that you could butcher up for parts.
 
Mr.G said:
Dale - try and find a non working one on ebay that you could butcher up for parts.
Click to expand...

Unfortunately only 500 were made worldwide, and most of those are gone now with the same fault, so if I were to find a non working one it will almost certaily be the same faulty part.

We really need a crying smiley! Russ?
 
I don't even have a hi-fi any more. I use the PC for all my sounds (philistine, I know). My mum has a fair good bunch of separates that my dad put together. I know they'll probably be laughed at by proper hi-fi bods (as they're basic, I know) but they were a helluva step up from the shocking Amstrad Fidelity glass-fronted cabinet thing we had in the late 80s / early 90s. Kenwood Amp, Kenwood Radio, Technics Tapedeck (was excellent!), Denon CD Player and Dual Record Deck. All wired (with some lubberly thick as-you-like gold cable) to 2 x Tannoy Speakers. The speakers were about 3 foot tall and trapezoid shaped. I remember hearing 'Melancholy Man' off 'Threshold of a Dream' on there and crying because of how incredible it sounded. Good times. For years (& years) I had a pair of Yamaha speakers that also gave a lovely clear sound and lasted for ever (before they got binned by an ex). Mmm.
 
Ive got a Tag F3 series integrated amp
Creek CD53 Cd player
Epos M15.2 floorstanding speakers on Bathstone plinths
Plenty for my little house
 
I just bought a Nakamichi soundspace 5 micro system it is wonderful, also got some Sennheiser HD 650 headphones they out of this world :bow:, they are rather expensive but worth every penny & more !!!!
 
Just an old Technics amp running a set of Mission 753's in my living room and in the workshop a Numark s5500 amp running a pair of Behringer eurolive b1520 pro's and a pair of soundlab P115CF's :)
 
I still have a pair of Mission 770 freedom and a pair of 737renaissance.
Trio amp, and denon cd, and technics 1210 deck with ortofon cartridge. All products are at least 18-20 years old... The old stuff just has a warmer sound than the newer more clinical stuff...
 
Dale I will have a word with my Dad about your player, he is a wizzard at fixing them...I'm guessing it the transport mech problem?
 
NAD C370 amp bi-wired with some Gale XL315 (I think) to
Mordaunt Short 908s
Hitachi DV-P505 dvd playe (cd source, demo'd against a £2k NAIM cd unit and could hardly tell the difference)
Pure DRX-702ES for DAB/FM/AM
all of which is sat on a Atacama Equinox rack :)

Got Grado SR325i headphones, I literally LOVE these, they look awesome and sound great, just a shame everyone else hears what you're listening to as well :)

Got the PS3 and Sky box plugged in, PS3 can take music/vid from my pc upstairs, but seems to be a bit unreliable (i.e. often moans the cds on my pc have no track names and won't list them?).

Got most of my kit from Richer Sounds in Bournemouth and then Bristol, and apart from them cocking up on the Supercare warranty (Bournemouths fault) I've had a fantastic service and sage advice.

Future plans :

I'd like to add another amp (NAD C270) but tbh I got to 10 oclock on the amp volume control today and my house was really rocking :D I'd probably add one just to show off and bi-amp my speakers but really the money would be better spent elsewhere. Since moving from my little room at my parents and having a proper room (about 3.5x3.5m) the difference is phenomenal. Suspended wood floors are fantastic imho.

I'm holding out for a Pro-Ject RPM 5.1/6.1 for my vinyl, and on Dales recommendation would like the nice Cambrige CD/DAC at some point (might look for one second hand if anyone spots), but currently the house renovation is eating all my money and I'll have to wait.

I need to decorate this room when I've finished the work for my mortgage retention, so would be interested in anything I can do to improve the acoustics. Will attach a photo of the room, I'm considering putting something soft in the alcoves either side of the fireplace. Really though I don't have time to sit down just to listen to music so it's kinda pointless.

Next up, audio for the patio outside for parties, and something in the kitchen! Oh and my bedroom. Castle made some bookshelf speakers for £180 ages back that had really good reviews, trying to spot a set on ebay (and remember what they're called!), pair that with a little Cyrus amp and I have a tidy little system for the kitchen, just need to think of a source, probably get some network streaming box so I can just pull music from my pc and not have to get a cd or something.

Phew lots of typing!
 
Effing hell
From the comments above it seems that my state of the art system needs a few upgrades

Thing is though if you buy the best it should last you years and hey the sound can only be so good but you always think that the grass is greener and on second thoughts I think i will stay with my current system

















































ana.jpg
 
Audiolab 8000S Amp, Arcam Alpha 6 CD, B+W P4 Speakers, Nordost Blue Angel interconnects, and some Nordost ( I think) speaker wire. The system is 14 years old, but still great.
 
That's it, my system wasn't expensive really, with the deals Richer were doing as well. But it's given me years and years of enjoyment so far, and will keep going. You get good resale value if you look after it.

I'd wager I've only spent as much as someone who buys an average plastic midi box every few years or so and bins it then buys another... and another... and another. Plus when my amp died I took it back to RS, £35 later it was repaired and good to go again, much more evironmentally friendly than a consumable midi system.
 
These guys Walrus HiFi might be able to help with the Musical Fidelity repair. I found them by accident while on a break from a conference (oh, alright, looking for a decent pint). Their shop window (and the rest of the shop) is crammed full of hi-fi nostalgia: Saturn Transcriptor, Leak Troughline, to name just a few as well as real high-end esoterica. They're current Musical Fidelity agents as well.

My own kit is Meridian 508 CD, 504 Tuner, 551 Amp, A500 speakers, Linn Sondek, Naim cassette, Sennheiser phones and also a few bits and bobs I haven't had the heart to get rid off - Wharfedale DD1s anyone?

Just a word of advice to the digital boys, most lossy compression techniques are less than good so if you do rip to HDD, use the highest quality/bit rate you can: preferably the loss-less option. That way you're not letting Microsoft throw anything away which the producer thought should be recorded!
 
twoforty said:
Dale I will have a word with my Dad about your player, he is a wizzard at fixing them...I'm guessing it the transport mech problem?
Click to expand...

Thanks for the offer. It IS the transport, yes. It's the infamous Philips 'Daisy' mech, which was also used in a Krell SACD player and some others too, nearly all of which failed apparently. I have had my own engineers look at it, and Music Fidelity have had it too with no joy, so I'm not confident about sorting it like. There are many people in the same boat as me so it seems! :cry:

Anyway, some pics of my system if anyone's bothered. :p

DSCI0868.jpg


DSCI0834.jpg


DSCI0879.jpg


DSCI0883.jpg


DSCI0886.jpg


DSCI0876.jpg
 
Now I love that mirrord cd cover lol, nice touch :) Or is it just really shiny??

My pics, excuse the decor and mass of wiring lol, mid way through a renovation :)
 

Attachments

  • 004.JPG
    004.JPG
    209.8 KB · Views: 7
  • 005.JPG
    005.JPG
    189.3 KB · Views: 7
  • 008.JPG
    008.JPG
    93.6 KB · Views: 4
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top