The Hi-Fi discussion thread

Rocker

Fascinating article @duotone, the comments are quite mild when compared to those on hi-fi forums I visited in the last year. Of course the world is full of snake oil salesmen, the challenge is finding out the extras that help you enjoy your music "better". Would you buy a used car from an online seller without driving it first? Me neither. Hi-fi is for enjoying your music, if you like the sound as it is, then just go on enjoying what you have got. If not and you want to listen to music, you need to "do" something to your kit. A proper setup may give you the extra you crave (usually costs nothing). PM me if you want or need specific advice. I might be able to point you in the right direction......

Paul_C

Thorens TD166 MKII Turntable / Pioneer A-207R amp / Heybrook HB1 speakers

viz

@duotone - great little article. Records definitely sound "better" on my system but maybe that's because my record player is much better than my old rega cd player. And also as he says, maybe it sounds better but isn't actually as faithful a reproduction.

Paul_C

I haven't done any further experimenting, but I bought the Atoms For Peace album on vinyl, and as it came with a CD, and my PC with CD drive is also connected to the amp,  I compared the two.

I personally couldn't hear the slightest difference, though maybe as it's a modern recording, that's not so surprising. 

If I ever get round to repeating the experiment with some of my old vinyl, I shall report back.

ddlooping

Living room/office/music room/home cinema:
- Pioneer LX-81 AV receiver
- Tag MacLaren Calliope L/C/R speakers
- M&K K4 tripole rear speakers
- MP3 ("Extreme") / mkv files from server
- Logitech Harmony One

Phil_aka_Pip

System 2:

Marantz CD63, conrad-johnson pv2ar preamp, Leak Stereo 20, Leak Sandwich 600 2-way speakers. Other sources: bottom-of-the-range Nakamichi cassette, Troughline tuner.

The preamp o/p is a bit high for the Stereo 20, so I use a QED "passive pre" with a volume pot on it in between. The Marantz is the most civilised CD player I have ever heard

Rocker

Headphone usage:

I use the analogue outputs from the SB into my Rega Ear headphone amplifier.  Cans are Superlux HD681 [available from Thomann for about £16.33].  

viz

Paul_C said:

I haven't done any further experimenting, but I bought the Atoms For Peace album on vinyl, and as it came with a CD, and my PC with CD drive is also connected to the amp,  I compared the two.

I personally couldn't hear the slightest difference, though maybe as it's a modern recording, that's not so surprising. 

If I ever get round to repeating the experiment with some of my old vinyl, I shall report back.

Come round to mine and we'll do the famous Viz turntable vs CD test that everyone gets subjected to here. It's astonishing.

juansolo

I used to be massively into HiFi and eventually gave in due to having some expensive kit prove to be massively unreliable. For some reason at that point I almost went anti-Fi...

My current set up reflects this. Up to a month ago I didn't even have a CD player (I sold all my records years ago) until I was given one in need of repair. I repaired it and the bloke just told me to keep it. So I now have a very old Arcam Delta transport.

My amp is a Yamaha somethingoranother Home Cinema jobbie. I think it was about £250. Great processing, no so clever amp stages. Which is fine as my front three speakers are Dynaudio BM5A active monitors. The amp only drives the rears which are very small Dynaudio passive (not sure of the model). The sub is a very old REL Storm.

It shouldn't really work. But it really does. Then again I'll lose all credibility as these days I've been known to listen to music in surround and I listen to most of my music while at the computer. Admittedly I've a pair of diddy Focal CMS 40's on that which are quite sweet.

But yeah, these days I'm really just not as bothered as I used to be.

strumjoughlamps

Living room
Marantz pm57
Nad cd530
Pure dab
Tannoy 603
Cable talk 4.1 bi wire and qed qnex 2 cables

Bedroom
Rotel 930ax amp
Technics pg520a cd
Sony se370 tuner
Mission 731

Phil_aka_Pip

Bedroom: Arcam alpha CD player and amplifier, KEF Celeste III speakers. Other sources: tuner, cassette

Si_

dragging up an old thread.. does anyone know any good places other than ebay for vintage hi-fi stuff? I've got an itch for a Thorens turntable..

beed84

@Si - I'd go asking your local Hi-Fi stores. You might strike lucky and they happen to have one - I did when I went looking for a Rega Planar 3.  If not, they might know where to source one.

In response to this thread. NAD 3020e amp, NAD C521i CD Player, aforementioned Rega Planar 3 turntable, Mordaunt Short MS-5 speakers.  Upgrading has crossed my mind but I can't imagine I will.  It sounds great to my ears and ample enough for my needs. The amp is blindingly good and is incredibly musical - it takes anything I throw it.  If it blew up or for some reason failed (touch wood), I'd go out and buy another one. The Rega is pretty special too.

boogieman

@Si. Found this via google. Has one Thorens deck in stock when I looked.
http://2ndhandhifi.co.uk

Also try googling "hifi exchange" too, seems to bring up quite a few other places.

Si_

Yea I found that first one.. going to look at it tomorrow..

Si_

Well, bought it, very nice Thorens TD160, with all the original box and manual etc.

Playing it through my 70s technics SU-7300 amp

lasermonkey

WYNIR0 said:

Longtallronnie said:

Everything you could possibly want or need:

http://glodark.com/audio/unique.htm

Pah, that stuff is fine if you HATE music and despise fidelity.

This is where you go if you love hi-fi.

http://www.machinadynamica.com/

For ages I thought that was a spoof website and it provided a good many laughs. It has only just dawned on me that the guy appears to be deadly serious and that he seems to have convinced people that sellotaping a bag of brightly coloured pebbles to their interconnect cables makes an audible improvement. A genuine WTF moment. I don't even know where to begin!

mudslide73

Si_;325334" said:

Well, bought it, very nice Thorens TD160, with all the original box and manual etc.



Playing it through my 70s technics SU-7300 amp

Stone Roses? Great stuff.

Fuengi

Thread exhumed:

@icbm were those Wharfdale Denton speakers? 

Devil#20

Si_ said:

Well, bought it, very nice Thorens TD160, with all the original box and manual etc.

Playing it through my 70s technics SU-7300 amp

Can I ask how much you paid for the 160? What arm did it have on it?