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

[Bonefish Blues]

They look like miniature chemical plants

[heisthegaffer]

outnumbered said:

Short answer: Yes.

Longer answer: I'm firmly of the view that well designed SS amplifiers, used within their design constraints, pretty much sound the same (i.e. they can't be distinguished in proper blind testing). I've actually never heard a consistent sonic difference between various amps that I've owned or had on trial in various systems over the last 35 years. Some can just play louder than others before they distort. (btw I'm not interested in valve amps, or any amps that are designed to add euphonic distortion)

Hypex Ncore modules are used by quite a lot of manufacturers, both large and small. There are also very easy DIY options if you're that way inclined.

I really like the combination of great technical performance, lower cost, smaller size, and efficiency compared to traditional transistor amps with linear supplies. For example, the ATC amp which was class AB used 110W from the mains when it was running. The Hypex amp only uses 35W.

Thanks. Interesting.

[phumy]

An Icon Audio MC34-A valve amp I've had for over 20 years, pair of Kef 104.2 reference speakers also had for 20 years, a Transcriptor Hydraulic Reference deck with SME arm and head, plus an Arcam Alpha 7se CD player.

Just got it down from the spare bedroom after 6 years of being laid up. Set it all up today and still sounds great.

[Fermit and Sexy Sarah]

I hope this doesn't get flagged, a cheeky one, but it's the right audience. Would anyone fancy a mint pair of Sennheiser HD600's for £200? PM me if so. Cracking cans, but we need the money ATM, and I can buy another pair.

[Fermit and Sexy Sarah]

Funk said:

Fermit; YHM...

Replied dude....

[Fermit and Sexy Sarah]

Headphones sold and posted to Funk/Gav, He's getting a nice pair of cans. Nobody snitch please!

[Itsallicanafford]

Sony FH-7 mkiii with matching PS-Q3 half size fully auto record player....





And a FH-1000 with CD player...



Similar systems but quite different in their own way.

The FH-7 is fully modular, with the stack made up of 4 individual components with the LP or CD player ontop. Once stacked they are attached with side brackets which fix all the components in position and enable the speakers to hang onto the stack. The unit has a detachable handle. A boom box/ midi system hybrid, with the AC power pack it makes it one of the most powerful boomboxes of its time at 25wpc (it goes real loud!) There was a dc pack available which took 12 D cells, this would replace the AC unit so it became a full portable.

The FH-1000 is a 2 stack, again with detachable speakers and handle. The speakers are a little larger and it’s more midi than portable but it does have a dc in port on the back? It also has a pre-amp out on the back.

Edited by Itsallicanafford on Friday 10th January 18:57

Edited by Itsallicanafford on Friday 10th January 19:03

[wack]

A couple of years ago I bought some used Spendor S6e floorstanding speakers, plugged them in to my ancient marantz amp and WOW

Since then I've tried about 10 amps , all bought used , mostly 1980s 90s , ended up with a marantz PM6006 which sounded good

Then on a forum a guy was selling a Naim UnitiQute for less than Ebay money so I thought , free trial

Plugged it in and wow again , this is a country mile better than anything I've tried before
Current setup is
Spendor S6e speakers
Naim UnitiQute
Rega Planar 3
Nakamichi cassette deck
Marantz CD6006UK
I do have a marantz cd94 which is being fixed at the moment , when I get it back I'll be evaluating it against the 6006 to see which one I'm keeping

The RH speaker has gone back up the other end of the room now christmas is over

[heisthegaffer]

Itsallicanafford said:

Sony FH-7 mkiii with matching PS-Q3 half size fully auto record player....





And a FH-1000 with CD player...



Similar systems but quite different in their own way.

The FH-7 is fully modular, with the stack made up of 4 individual components with the LP or CD player ontop. Once stacked they are attached with side brackets which fix all the components in position and enable the speakers to hang onto the stack. The unit has a detachable handle. A boom box/ midi system hybrid, with the AC power pack it makes it one of the most powerful boomboxes of its time at 25wpc (it goes real loud!) There was a dc pack available which took 12 D cells, this would replace the AC unit so it became a full portable.

The FH-1000 is a 2 stack, again with detachable speakers and handle. The speakers are a little larger and it’s more midi than portable but it does have a dc in port on the back? It also has a pre-amp out on the back.

Edited by Itsallicanafford on Friday 10th January 18:57

Edited by Itsallicanafford on Friday 10th January 19:03

Interesting... Love this old gear.

[heisthegaffer]

wack said:

A couple of years ago I bought some used Spendor S6e floorstanding speakers, plugged them in to my ancient marantz amp and WOW

Since then I've tried about 10 amps , all bought used , mostly 1980s 90s , ended up with a marantz PM6006 which sounded good

Then on a forum a guy was selling a Naim UnitiQute for less than Ebay money so I thought , free trial

Plugged it in and wow again , this is a country mile better than anything I've tried before
Current setup is
Spendor S6e speakers
Naim UnitiQute
Rega Planar 3
Nakamichi cassette deck
Marantz CD6006UK
I do have a marantz cd94 which is being fixed at the moment , when I get it back I'll be evaluating it against the 6006 to see which one I'm keeping

The RH speaker has gone back up the other end of the room now christmas is over

Very nice mate.

[Itsallicanafford]

heisthegaffer said:

Interesting... Love this old gear.

Thanks chap. These date from the early 80’s and are nicely over Engingineered with metal casework, weighing over 15kg. I think Sony went all out to blow away the competition in regards to power...see this ridiculous period advert!

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=tn8tlkPWNDI

[Ambleton]

Itsallicanafford said:

Thanks chap. These date from the early 80’s and are nicely over Engingineered with metal casework, weighing over 15kg. I think Sony went all out to blow away the competition in regards to power...see this ridiculous period advert!

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=tn8tlkPWNDI

So loud they'll blow a womans clothes off...

[Fermit and Sexy Sarah]

Ambleton said:

So loud they'll blow a womans clothes off...

Brings back memories of the 80's. The days when there were various ways wattage was measured, PMPO artificially making stuff seem more powerful than it was. 280 watts PMPO is about 100 watts RMS (real music sound?) which is the standard measure nowadays.

[Itsallicanafford]

^ yeah, lots of marketing BS going on in regards to the output. The Amp is rated at 25wpc, it doesn’t sound much but it has plenty of power for a small room (my nait 2 from the same era is 12wpc from memory), the 3 way speakers sound good and are nicely made, these pre-date the drastic drop in quality of these units in the 90’s. I think these retailed without the optional LP player at circa £500.00 in the early 80’s.

[TonyRPH]

Fermit and Sexy Sarah said:

Brings back memories of the 80's. The days when there were various ways wattage was measured, PMPO artificially making stuff seem more powerful than it was. 280 watts PMPO is about 100 watts RMS (real music sound?) which is the standard measure nowadays.

PMPO was generally (but there was no standard) the absolute maximum voltage swing measured from the output stage with no load.

Distortion would be 100%.

280W PMPO would generally be about 20W RMS

RMS = Root Mean Square.

RMS power is measured by testing the output voltage at a given distortion level (usually around 0.1% or less) into a resistive load (usually 8 ohms).

For example, 20 volts AC would be squared and divided by the load resistance.

Hence 20 x 20 = 400v / 8ohms = 50W RMS.

This test would be carried out with a 1kHz (1000 Hz) sine wave.

[Teddy Lop]

Funk said:

As per my post on the previous page, here are the new A3s in place!



If I'm honest they're a little closer to the wall than I'd like but despite the large quantity of bass drivers they're really not overly-bassy (I think the XTZ takes a lot of the credit for controlling them well).

I'll be keeping the A2s for now, they're in superb condition - I'm sure I'll use them elsewhere in future and I'd probably regret letting them go for what they'd be worth...

welcome to the club.

And yeah, despite appearances they're quite unfussy with placement.

Although having owned them 20 years though my goal is a place big enough to do them justice...

[gizlaroc]

wack said:

A couple of years ago I bought some used Spendor S6e floorstanding speakers, plugged them in to my ancient marantz amp and WOW

Since then I've tried about 10 amps , all bought used , mostly 1980s 90s , ended up with a marantz PM6006 which sounded good

Then on a forum a guy was selling a Naim UnitiQute for less than Ebay money so I thought , free trial

Plugged it in and wow again , this is a country mile better than anything I've tried before
Current setup is
Spendor S6e speakers
Naim UnitiQute
Rega Planar 3
Nakamichi cassette deck
Marantz CD6006UK
I do have a marantz cd94 which is being fixed at the moment , when I get it back I'll be evaluating it against the 6006 to see which one I'm keeping

The RH speaker has gone back up the other end of the room now christmas is over

Nice.

I have a pair of Spendor S6e sat hear doing nothing, they are incredible speakers that often got overlooked as they don't try to push the mod range of the top end to grab your attention in a demo, but they sound incredibly grown up and you can listen to anything on them and it sounds good and you can listen for hours.

I have had three pairs, then get the upgrade bug and sell them on buy something 5x the price, regret it and then buy some more. I reckon it has cost me £2k over the last few years to be back with the same speaker time and time again. Haha

I have tried the S8, the A6r and even the D7, which were an upgrade but not worth 10x what the S6e's get these days, plus had others from Scansonic, Rhaido, Focal, Harbeth, but those S6e's are superb.

I say they are doing nothing, they are in my front room currently, but they are light oak and don't fit well. I either need to stain them, or sell them and buy a Rosebud or walnut pair.
I have bought some Howard's Restor-A-Finish in dark walnut, but don't know if I dare attempt recolouring them. Haha

[Fermit and Sexy Sarah]

TonyRPH said:

Fermit and Sexy Sarah said:

Brings back memories of the 80's. The days when there were various ways wattage was measured, PMPO artificially making stuff seem more powerful than it was. 280 watts PMPO is about 100 watts RMS (real music sound?) which is the standard measure nowadays.

PMPO was generally (but there was no standard) the absolute maximum voltage swing measured from the output stage with no load.

Distortion would be 100%.

280W PMPO would generally be about 20W RMS

RMS = Root Mean Square.

RMS power is measured by testing the output voltage at a given distortion level (usually around 0.1% or less) into a resistive load (usually 8 ohms).

For example, 20 volts AC would be squared and divided by the load resistance.

Hence 20 x 20 = 400v / 8ohms = 50W RMS.

This test would be carried out with a 1kHz (1000 Hz) sine wave.

There's a man who remembers the specifics better than I

[wack]

gizlaroc said:

wack said:

A couple of years ago I bought some used Spendor S6e floorstanding speakers, plugged them in to my ancient marantz amp and WOW

Since then I've tried about 10 amps , all bought used , mostly 1980s 90s , ended up with a marantz PM6006 which sounded good

Then on a forum a guy was selling a Naim UnitiQute for less than Ebay money so I thought , free trial

Plugged it in and wow again , this is a country mile better than anything I've tried before
Current setup is
Spendor S6e speakers
Naim UnitiQute
Rega Planar 3
Nakamichi cassette deck
Marantz CD6006UK
I do have a marantz cd94 which is being fixed at the moment , when I get it back I'll be evaluating it against the 6006 to see which one I'm keeping

The RH speaker has gone back up the other end of the room now christmas is over

Nice.

I have a pair of Spendor S6e sat hear doing nothing, they are incredible speakers that often got overlooked as they don't try to push the mod range of the top end to grab your attention in a demo, but they sound incredibly grown up and you can listen to anything on them and it sounds good and you can listen for hours.

I have had three pairs, then get the upgrade bug and sell them on buy something 5x the price, regret it and then buy some more. I reckon it has cost me £2k over the last few years to be back with the same speaker time and time again. Haha

I have tried the S8, the A6r and even the D7, which were an upgrade but not worth 10x what the S6e's get these days, plus had others from Scansonic, Rhaido, Focal, Harbeth, but those S6e's are superb.

I say they are doing nothing, they are in my front room currently, but they are light oak and don't fit well. I either need to stain them, or sell them and buy a Rosebud or walnut pair.
I have bought some Howard's Restor-A-Finish in dark walnut, but don't know if I dare attempt recolouring them. Haha

It might be worth taking them to a furniture restorer, getting them done professionally

I don't think I'll ever sell my Spendors, it's like naim used them to tweak the UnitiQute they seem to fit so well.
The only disappointment with the UnitiQute is I've just found out it doesn't support the update that gives you tidal streaming direct but I've still got the audioengine bluetooth streamer , plus I'm not sure about £20 a month once the £5 for 5 months offer expires anyway

I've barely done anything else in the evenings but listen to it , it's like I can hear individual instruments being played with the vocals on the top

I've genuinely never heard anything like it before , if I lived in a terraced house I'd be dragging people off the pavement
Here come and listen to this

People that spend £1000 on bose or sonos think it sounds good but they really have no idea

[heisthegaffer]

wack said:

People that spend £1000 on bose or sonos think it sounds good but they really have no idea

Not to the same level I doubt but I've listened to loads of systems over the years admittedly more AV that pure audio but when I listened toTV unplugged The Coors on my audiolab and Castle combo recently via a dragonfly black on my PC and source being free Spotify, I was amazed at the vocals.

I've heard those track 100s of times but it blew me away. For a few hundred quid... I love this hobby.

I'll be using the Audiolab with my little Dali Zensor 1s ultimately so it'll be interesting to hear how good they are with decent amplification.