What’s your Hi-Fi set up? spec and pictures please

[anonymous-user]

Sford said:

Cyrus 3i amp, XPA stereo power amp and power supply running to KEF R500 speakers through QED cables. Linn Axis turntable and Amazon Input/Spotify for source material.

Kef 2005.1 eggs with a REL subwoofer and Sony STR-DN1080 amplifier, Sony TV (had it ages, can't remember the model) and Sony Blu-Ray player for any AV.

Not the most expensive but makes TV/films/music sound great. Can't hide the Aldi candle in there, my wife seems to love the smell of that one! This is in it's usual state and not tarted up for a pic. I try and keep the area relatively tidy and not allow loads of records to build up on the side.

Edited by anonymous-user on Monday 15th April 13:17

Spotted that was an AXIS.
I loved really really loved my Linn Axis turntable. To me it represented the best in useability and sound v price ratio
I wish you the very best and lots of musicality - that table was bloody good

[Angrybiker]

techiedave said:

Sford said:

Cyrus 3i amp, XPA stereo power amp and power supply running to KEF R500 speakers through QED cables. Linn Axis turntable and Amazon Input/Spotify for source material.

Kef 2005.1 eggs with a REL subwoofer and Sony STR-DN1080 amplifier, Sony TV (had it ages, can't remember the model) and Sony Blu-Ray player for any AV.

Not the most expensive but makes TV/films/music sound great. Can't hide the Aldi candle in there, my wife seems to love the smell of that one! This is in it's usual state and not tarted up for a pic. I try and keep the area relatively tidy and not allow loads of records to build up on the side.

Edited by Sford on Monday 15th April 13:17

Spotted that was an AXIS.
I loved really really loved my Linn Axis turntable. To me it represented the best in useability and sound v price ratio
I wish you the very best and lots of musicality - that table was bloody good

I still have my Axis albeit living at my parents house in a cupboard. The springs on the hinges have gone, not sure if they can be fixed now.

[lostmotel]

Angrybiker said:

I still have my Axis albeit living at my parents house in a cupboard. The springs on the hinges have gone, not sure if they can be fixed now.

The hinges go as a matter of course on these and the Sondeks - you can get replacements on eBay. They're just interference fit on the lid and slot into the plinth.

[oop north]

This lot is the result of nearly 25 years (that’s how long I have had the lp12) though the most expensive bits all happened in the last couple of years. Oops.

Sources are lp12 (ekos, cirkus, dynavector 20x, lingo1), and Naim NDS powered by nd555dr with super lumina interconnect and storage on Naim core.

Amplification is 552 with 552ps (dr version bought new) and a pair of 300dr power amps (bought used but serviced and dr’d by factory this year) with snaxo powered by supercap dr. Speaker Cable naca5 and speakers are naim SL2s.

Sitting on full fat fraim for brain stack (left) and fraimlite with glass and balls from full fat fraim for brawn stack (right)

Now utterly skint, for some reason. But it sounds rather fine - wonderfully musical and enjoyable. Helped by the room which has stone tiles on asphalt floor and is L-shaped with plenty of curtain and sofa and bookcase and other furniture to avoid unfortunate sound waves. And now that my daughters have finished gcse’s (last week) and a levels (today) I should be able to listen to it for a change!

[Explorer1959]

lostmotel said:

The hinges go as a matter of course on these and the Sondeks - you can get replacements on eBay. They're just interference fit on the lid and slot into the plinth.

Not all - Linn had a batch of hinges supplied where the spring was too strong and would break the plastic surround. Problem was soon fixed by the supplier.

[Nickgnome]

oop north said:

This lot is the result of nearly 25 years (that’s how long I have had the lp12) though the most expensive bits all happened in the last couple of years. Oops.

Sources are lp12 (ekos, cirkus, dynavector 20x, lingo1), and Naim NDS powered by nd555dr with super lumina interconnect and storage on Naim core.

Amplification is 552 with 552ps (dr version bought new) and a pair of 300dr power amps (bought used but serviced and dr’d by factory this year) with snaxo powered by supercap dr. Speaker Cable naca5 and speakers are naim SL2s.

Sitting on full fat fraim for brain stack (left) and fraimlite with glass and balls from full fat fraim for brawn stack (right)

Now utterly skint, for some reason. But it sounds rather fine - wonderfully musical and enjoyable. Helped by the room which has stone tiles on asphalt floor and is L-shaped with plenty of curtain and sofa and bookcase and other furniture to avoid unfortunate sound waves. And now that my daughters have finished gcse’s (last week) and a levels (today) I should be able to listen to it for a change!

Very nice indeed, but I hope youve squirelled away to get your Girls through Uni because the cost of the Hi Fi gear will pale into insignificance in comparison.

You can easily kiss goodbye to £100K for the two of them.

[shavermcspud]

In my little listening room/recording studio I have

A Project carbon TT with an Ortofon 2M Bronze
A Marantz 7 tube preamp
A World Audio/ custom valve amplifier, most of the tubes have been replaced with period mullard or better, new psu windings and few other bits by myself.
All driving a fairly cheap pair of Q acoustic Speakers, for some reason these matched better than my monitor audio golds.


bbcode image

[Sford]

techiedave said:

Spotted that was an AXIS.
I loved really really loved my Linn Axis turntable. To me it represented the best in useability and sound v price ratio
I wish you the very best and lots of musicality - that table was bloody good

Thanks, to me it sounds great and I can only see me changing it if it becomes faulty. I had an issue with the ground wire but that seems to have been resolved by simply replacing the for connector on the end. Guessing it wasn't making the best connection. There is another in the loft, FiL used to have two for when this one does give up.

[rene7]

Me & My setup
Been into hifi since 1970 - I've had the MF amp since '84 although it's had a full MF guru 'JS' rebuild last year, only recently added a Marantz CD to go with the vinyl and tape recorders. it's a shame the MarantzCD is not as good at reproducing Digital sound as the awesome Phillips DCC's for which I have over 300 pre recorded cassettes and almost a 1000 soundboard Tapes & DCC's of my favourite Artists/bands - Speakers in the Hifi room are currently tiny Dali Spektor2 bookshelf which you can just see in the pic.
Other speakers which I use [depends where the Hifi system is located] are the [huge and] seriously impressive Leak 2060's [from 1974] and the still fabulously smooth sounding but smaller JBL L20T's from mid 80's, which are currently in use in TV room powered by a very nice sounding late 80's Pioneer A400 amp.
For me the sound must be Smooth and Musical, IMO the MF amp with it's selectable 2 Vinyl imputs is currently irreplacable, with anything you could buy new today. both the LP12 with Ittok and Linn Asaka MC cartridge, and Nad 5120 - [tubular arm version] with Goldring 1042 MM cartridge achieve this with inspiring musicality, everyone who hears my system loves it.
In late 1980's [during the initial AV boom] I bought a Yamaha AV amp which was truely fking awful, Harsh harsh harsh, Oh did I mention it was harsh sounding [it got returned within a week to Richer sounds to be replaced by the current pioneer A400] - since then I've used the 2 channel Pioneer A400 for fantastic TV sound with JPW gold monitors or one of the other pairs of speakers listed in my TV room, I also have a 2nd NAD 5120 Turntable with Denon carbon MM cartridge, and Phillips DCC and Pioneer cassette decks plugged into the Pioneer.
The multi channel nonsense of the AV amp is a non starter IMO - the AV Amps simply ain't good enough to deliver HIFI quality sound. I'm sure others are gonna disagree, but for me I ought to be able to listen to my system all day without fatigue - both the MF and Pioneer HIFI amps allow this.
Before the expenditure for the full rebuild of the MF AMP, I demo'd several current HIFI amps - to say they were all miserable performers is an understatement none of them had even 1 Vinyl input - DUH how can you have HIFI without vinyl??????????
Here's my gear:-
Musical Fidelity Synthesis HI FI AMP [1984]
Pioneer A400 HI FI Amp [1988]
Linn LP 12 & Nad 5120 Turntables x2 - [Linn for 33rpm + Nad for 45rpm] in HIFI room, 2nd NAD for both speeds in the TV room.
Phillips DCC digital tape Decks [I have several - awesome pieces of kit]
Pioneer double Cassette decks - [I have several of these too ]
Marantz CD6006 'uk' CD player
Speakers ---- Leak 2060's - JBL L20T's - Dali Spektor 2's - JPW gold mini monitors.
And as previously mentioned 1300+ DCC/Cassette tapes together with 3500+ Vinyl albums and 2000+ singles
All cables used [are cheapo] mains single strand solid core copper - essential for smooth sound, I've tried many different multi standed 'supposedly HIFI' cables but have always returned to solid core mains cable, If you havent tried mains cable in your system then I suggest you do ASAP
>
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[dvshannow]

Nickgnome said:

oop north said:

This lot is the result of nearly 25 years (that’s how long I have had the lp12) though the most expensive bits all happened in the last couple of years. Oops.

Sources are lp12 (ekos, cirkus, dynavector 20x, lingo1), and Naim NDS powered by nd555dr with super lumina interconnect and storage on Naim core.

Amplification is 552 with 552ps (dr version bought new) and a pair of 300dr power amps (bought used but serviced and dr’d by factory this year) with snaxo powered by supercap dr. Speaker Cable naca5 and speakers are naim SL2s.

Sitting on full fat fraim for brain stack (left) and fraimlite with glass and balls from full fat fraim for brawn stack (right)

Now utterly skint, for some reason. But it sounds rather fine - wonderfully musical and enjoyable. Helped by the room which has stone tiles on asphalt floor and is L-shaped with plenty of curtain and sofa and bookcase and other furniture to avoid unfortunate sound waves. And now that my daughters have finished gcse’s (last week) and a levels (today) I should be able to listen to it for a change!

Very nice indeed, but I hope youve squirelled away to get your Girls through Uni because the cost of the Hi Fi gear will pale into insignificance in comparison.

You can easily kiss goodbye to £100K for the two of them.

That hi fi is prob 30-40k worth of stuff

[anonymous-user]

Talking of Hi-FI for no particular reason I am buying up the odd bits of old stuff.

[bitchstewie]

My current setup is really simple and I love it.

Meridian Explorer 2 USB DAC



Plus a pair of these



Does the job nicely for < £400.

Edited by bhstewie on Sunday 21st July 07:49

[selym]

bhstewie said:

My current setup is really simple and I love it.

Meridian Explorer 2 USB DAC



Plus a pair of these



Does the job nicely for < £400.

I was very kindly gifted the Meridian DAC, an excellent bit of kit.

[bitchstewie]

selym said:

I was very kindly gifted the Meridian DAC, an excellent bit of kit.

I think I paid £130 a couple of years ago.

The geek in me keeps looking on Amazon and other sites at USB DACs but I listen to a lot of internet radio and I guess you can't polish a turd.

[gizlaroc]

The Explorer 2 plugged into a Raspberry Pi as a Roon endpoint if the best pre amp I have used, beating stuff costing 50x more.

It is a proper, proper bargain.

[Nerdherder]

gizlaroc said:

The Explorer 2 plugged into a Raspberry Pi as a Roon endpoint if the best pre amp I have used, beating stuff costing 50x more.

It is a proper, proper bargain.

This is very interesting!

[Nerdherder]

Had loads of DJ, music production and PA gear in the past.


All that’s left now is a little Chinese Tripath amp, Tannoy 609’s and I’m using a dj mixer to pre-amp one or two SL210’s and digital inputs. A separate good sounding DAC is no 1 on my wishlist as I rarely listen to (or mix) my vinyl. The Tripath does sound pretty (actually amazingly for the price) good. The Tannoys kind of are my frame of reference so they’re not going anywhere, but I’ll build speakers again myself some day to complement them.
Oh and I rarely set up my equipment for long in the same place. Below an old living room pic, the same is now sitting in the garage (I could say mancave, but it doesn’t deserve that designation). Garage sounds good now with some ‘sonic treatments’ aka shuffling stuff around, but not a pretty place. Just close my eyes and float away on the music experience I guess.

[Garett]

I've downsized my separates recently to an Naim Unitilite all in one streamer, CD player, iRadio, DAC, etc. It does it all really and replaces 4 boxes I had on my rack. It is my first taste of Naim and I am in love with how it sounds and how convenient it is, a great bit of kit.

I also inherited a Beomaster 3000-2 from my late Grandfather, who bought it new in 1972. The Beomaster needed a bit of work but is back to full health and safe to use again. It came with a load of receipts and paperwork, manual, even marketing literature from the 70s a real heritage piece.

They both go to a switch and link to a pair of Dynaudio speakers. I have recently picked up a pair of KEF LS50 speakers which I've read so much about, I have not heard them yet but if they live up to the hype they may replace the Dynaudios.

I also have a Project Debut 2 and Musical Fidelity V90 LPS for my vinyl.

The Beogram 3000 and Beovox 3702 that came with the Beomaster both need work and don't currently work.

[TonyRPH]

@Garett

You don't say which Dynuadios you have, but it'll be interesting to see if you think the Kefs are better.

I used to have a pair of Dynaudio 52s and they were pretty good speakers.

[anonymous-user]

Garett said:

.

I think this is really great. I love seeing older hi fi gear in use.
I recently put a 2nd hand seperates system together for the conservatory. Only basic stuff on a cheap as chips budget but it sounds great. The daughter likes to go in there and use it and its even led to buying a few LP's as there is an old Dual Turntable sat on top.