Classic hifi

All general audio posts go here.
User avatar
karatestu
Posts: 5945
Joined: Sun Jan 08, 2017 4:40 pm
Location: North Yorkshire
Has thanked: 1865 times
Been thanked: 1378 times
Great Britain

Classic hifi

Unread post by karatestu »

Don't you just love it ? I would say people who write about classic hifi on tinterweb don't actually care about how it sounds. They are more interested in how they are perceived by their peers. Look at how cool I am. Personally I couldn't give the smallest of shits. Just like the person who buys the most expensive car they can afford because others look at them and instantly judge them by how expensive it is. It makes me sick. Why do humans have to behave in this way.

I live in an ordinary house, my car is a wreck and covered in pigeon shit, my hifi looks like bag of shite, my drum kit is made up of different makes and colours. I do not care what image this gives off, my friends know the real me and do not judge.

In the hope that I will be seen as cool I will no longer write about my diy efforts because apart from nobody actually caring it sounds like dog crap. Does that make you feel better ?Much better to pretend I have bought the latest classic from the 70's cos it really is the best. Then next week I will swap it for the next best thing.

What hifi do I own that is actually classic ? Errrrrrrr, does a 1988 LP12 count as classic ? If so then I am well cool as nobody actually likes it. So much dissing of this thing that I am going to embrace and love it. Not much of it left however, it is much like triggers broom. The psu is Avondale, the arm is Naim (wobbly thing with a three letter name that I am keeping as my pension), the sub chassis is Audioflat ( yes that forum which is actually a blog) , the springs are no more since I bought some Anologue Innovations spring replacements (hello John). Next on the list is getting the motor moved to a half past seven position and gluing two drive belts together ala the good doctor. Cirkus bearing sir ? No thanks. DC motor ? Bog off.
DIY FREE ZONE

Twistedheat02
Posts: 35
Joined: Sun Feb 24, 2019 8:34 pm
Has thanked: 5 times
Been thanked: 11 times

Re: Classic hifi

Unread post by Twistedheat02 »

What is classic hifi supposed to mean anyway?
Amps: Nva p50 pre, 2 x marantz sm17 power Amps

Digital: Chord hugo

Analogue: Rega P3, Graham slee era v gold

Speakers :Pmc 21,

Cables: speaker, NVA LS6, interconnect, ssp mk2

User avatar
karatestu
Posts: 5945
Joined: Sun Jan 08, 2017 4:40 pm
Location: North Yorkshire
Has thanked: 1865 times
Been thanked: 1378 times
Great Britain

Re: Classic hifi

Unread post by karatestu »

Classic means of a certain age and which makes you look cool for owning it. Think Joanna Lumley not Katie Price.
DIY FREE ZONE

User avatar
Fretless
Posts: 9290
Joined: Wed Nov 12, 2014 12:15 pm
Location: Somewhere in Holland
Has thanked: 1487 times
Been thanked: 2280 times
Netherlands

Re: Classic hifi

Unread post by Fretless »

Image

Image

Image


I would call the above 'classic hifi'

My system in the mid 80's was the following.:

Logic DM101 mkII (now in the attic)

Image

Nytech CA252 (fine amp -replaced by first NVA set)

Image

Arcam One mkI (still in use in lounge - lovely-sounding speakers)

Image

Upstairs:
Vinyl
Pro-Ject 1.2 + Grado Sig Jr + Cambridge Alva Duo
DigiVolumio PC + Kiss DP-500 + Sabaj A20d
NVA: P50sa - Cube2 - SSP - LS6+ Sabaj A10a (x2)
Downstairs:
Vinyl
Logic DM101 + Syrinx LE1 + Grado Sig MCX
DigiDenafrips Ares II + Volumio PC + Cambridge CXC
NVA: P50 - BMU+ Aiyima A07 MAX (x2) + Arcam One
HP: HifiBerry Digi+ PRO + Sabaj A10d
Office:
Allo DigiOne SIG + SMSL M300se + Douk G4 (x2)
Mission 760 + Monolith THX AAA 887
Headphones: German Maestro, Monolith & AQ

User avatar
Lindsayt
Posts: 4213
Joined: Fri Jul 13, 2012 9:06 pm
Has thanked: 1079 times
Been thanked: 692 times
Nauru

Re: Classic hifi

Unread post by Lindsayt »

I write about classic hi-fi often enough on hi-fi forums.

My main priority with hi-fi is how good it sounds and how little it costs to buy and own.
Hi-fi that sounds good to great and goes up in value gives me a huge amount of pride of ownership.

Examples:
EMT 950 with TSD15. Bought for £2250 about 10 years ago. Worth how much now? It's one of the best sounding record players ever made.
EV Sentry III speakers bought for £415 plus £80 repair costs. Good midrange, good treble, average bass. Really nice speakers to have as the main ones in an AV system. Worth how much now?

Anyone who writes about classic hi-fi that doesn't care about how it sounds - especially when it comes to what else they could have bought for similar or less money - is a bloody fool.

Sometimes I treat hi-fi as a mildly competitive pastime. Like the equivalent of having a round of golf with some mates. Competing against the course as well as the scores of my playing partners. Bake-offs can be very satisfying when you win them. And when you lose them, that's fine too, as it points you in the direction to go in your hi-fi journey.
In a bake-off situation it's not so much caring what other people think. It's a case of taking an interest in what I think of my equipment compared to others. As well as it - sometimes -being a fascinating exercise in human psychology.

On the fairly rare occassions that someone reports rather different results to me at a bake-off I just think that they are a cloth-eared, emotionally vested arsehole, whose opinions on hi-fi I will disregard from then on.
And on the times that someone who wasn't at the bake-off reports different results to what happened, it just makes me feel like taking the piss out of them.
So for sure there is an element of caring about what my peers think. But that's because I'm a human being and not a robot.
These users thanked the author Lindsayt for the post:
savvypaul (Sun Jul 05, 2020 8:15 pm)

Geoff.R.G
Posts: 1562
Joined: Thu Aug 11, 2016 2:46 pm
Location: Denham UK
Has thanked: 132 times
Been thanked: 476 times
Great Britain

Re: Classic hifi

Unread post by Geoff.R.G »

Fretless wrote: Sun Jul 05, 2020 8:45 am Image
I have a Quad 405, but the LED in mine is Green! It is matched with a Quad 34 pre and FM4
I also have an SME 3009 S2 Imp fixed head mounted on a TD160, I bought them in the late 1970s

The main amplification is a Quad 99 preamp and 707 with a 99 FM tuner

Classic? Depends on how you define classic, with the exception of two power amps (405 and 707) I've had the all of it from new, the 99 FM tuner being the newest dating from the 1990s.

However, in my mind the Leak Stereo 30 and Trough Line FM that are in the loft qualify as vintage classic.

User avatar
CN211276
Posts: 6522
Joined: Tue Aug 09, 2016 9:29 am
Location: Cardiff
Has thanked: 1401 times
Been thanked: 976 times
EUROPEAN_UNION

Re: Classic hifi

Unread post by CN211276 »

I have the original Rega Planar 3 bought in 1983. Took on a new lease of life with the Phono 1.
Main System
NVA BMU, P90SA/A80s (latest spec), Cube 1s, TIS, TISC(LS7)
Sonore OpticalRendu, Chord Mscaler & Qutest, Sbooster PSs
Network Acoustics Eno, ifi iPurifier3, AQ JB FMJ, Cisco 2940 & 2960
DH Labs ethernet, BNC & USB cables, Farnells cat 8 ethernet cable

Second System
NVA P20/ A20, Cubettes, LS3, SSP, SC
Sonore MicroRendu, Chord Mojo 2 MCRU PSs, AQ Carbon USB cable & JB FMJ

Headphones
Grado SR325e/Chord Mojo, Beyerdynamic Avetho/AQ DF Colbat

RIP Doc

antonio66
Posts: 1006
Joined: Mon Jul 29, 2019 8:16 am
Location: Grimsby/Phnom Penh
Has thanked: 1449 times
Been thanked: 408 times
Great Britain

Re: Classic hifi

Unread post by antonio66 »

Fretless wrote: Sun Jul 05, 2020 8:45 am Image

Image

Image


I would call the above 'classic hifi'

My system in the mid 80's was the following.:

Logic DM101 mkII (now in the attic)

Image

Nytech CA252 (fine amp -replaced by first NVA set)

Image

Arcam One mkI (still in use in lounge - lovely-sounding speakers)

Image
That was a nice system you had way back then.
These users thanked the author antonio66 for the post:
Fretless (Sun Jul 05, 2020 3:03 pm)

User avatar
Fretless
Posts: 9290
Joined: Wed Nov 12, 2014 12:15 pm
Location: Somewhere in Holland
Has thanked: 1487 times
Been thanked: 2280 times
Netherlands

Re: Classic hifi

Unread post by Fretless »

Yes it was! :guiness;

Upstairs:
Vinyl
Pro-Ject 1.2 + Grado Sig Jr + Cambridge Alva Duo
DigiVolumio PC + Kiss DP-500 + Sabaj A20d
NVA: P50sa - Cube2 - SSP - LS6+ Sabaj A10a (x2)
Downstairs:
Vinyl
Logic DM101 + Syrinx LE1 + Grado Sig MCX
DigiDenafrips Ares II + Volumio PC + Cambridge CXC
NVA: P50 - BMU+ Aiyima A07 MAX (x2) + Arcam One
HP: HifiBerry Digi+ PRO + Sabaj A10d
Office:
Allo DigiOne SIG + SMSL M300se + Douk G4 (x2)
Mission 760 + Monolith THX AAA 887
Headphones: German Maestro, Monolith & AQ

User avatar
Firebug1
Posts: 683
Joined: Thu Nov 20, 2014 5:07 am
Has thanked: 322 times
Been thanked: 122 times
Finland

Re: Classic hifi

Unread post by Firebug1 »

Those Nytech amps are quite rare in these days.
Rega by Michael Lim\Teac\ASR\NVA\
SA Mantra30\Audeze LCD-2 closed.
...the Gods you worship are steel, at the altar of rock 'n' roll you kneel...

Post Reply