Nigel
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Post by Nigel on Sept 19, 2007 13:41:53 GMT
OK Chaps,
What was your best ever hi-fi product / component purchase? The one that gave you the most enjoyment, the one that completely changed your life?
I'd pick the Rega Planar 3.
Back in the seventies I had a Fidelity UA4 stereo record player then I purchased a cheap combo Rotel hi-fi. Although this was a lot better it didn't completely change my life.
The eighties arrived & a hi-fi shop down the road stocked Linn/Naim/Rega - the Holy Trinity of the flat earth. I hadn't heard of any of these brands or understood any appreciation of their significance. Anyway, the Rotel turntable wasn't functioning correctly, a speed problem, so I thought I'd have a word with the guy in the shop down the road. He said come & have a listen to this - Rega Planar 3 Linn K9 / Naim Nait / Royd Eden system. Man I was floored. It sold itself, I just had to have that record player.
It brought me months of enjoyment fronting my Rotel amp & speakers. The Rotel turntable remained broken.
Then I started to read hi-fi magazines & became unsatisfied / greedy / in search of better sound quality. I guess any of these three could apply, probably all of them. Soon the Rega became a CS Products Split Slab modified Rega with an Analogue Experience power supply & so on, & so on.
Twenty something years later I'm still unsatisfied / greedy / in search of better sound quality.
But the one hi-fi product that changed my life was the Rega Planar 3.
What's yours?
Nigel
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Post by PinkFloyd on Sept 19, 2007 15:47:48 GMT
Don't laugh but probably the Audiolab 8000A back in the day, I just loved that amp
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Post by serverbaboon on Sept 19, 2007 20:09:33 GMT
I had a NAD 3030 for years with lovely big VU meters, loved that thing, then I listened to a modern amp and discovered I had been missing the top end through it. So I replaced it and it ended it's life in my fathers garage. (No scratchy boom box for him).
Still have warm have warm feelings for my first time, I mean amp.
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Duggeh
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Headphoneus Vulgaris (Team Swiss crash helmets)
Posts: 38
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Post by Duggeh on Sept 19, 2007 21:53:50 GMT
Quad 21L speakers. Headphones have gotten so much less of a look in since I got them. Sound is just wonderful.
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leo
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Post by leo on Sept 19, 2007 22:19:18 GMT
Don't laugh but probably the Audiolab 8000A back in the day, I just loved that amp Audiolab 8000A was the first Hi-fi separate I brought and first Hi-Fi separate I started modding
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Post by PinkFloyd on Sept 19, 2007 22:25:58 GMT
Don't laugh but probably the Audiolab 8000A back in the day, I just loved that amp Audiolab 8000A was the first Hi-fi separate I brought and first Hi-Fi separate I started modding Superb amp IMO, even to this day.
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leo
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Post by leo on Sept 19, 2007 22:39:49 GMT
Audiolab 8000A was the first Hi-fi separate I brought and first Hi-Fi separate I started modding Superb amp IMO, even to this day. Yes, I had the older grey cased one, I gutted most of it but was really pleased with the results, the guy I gave it to a few years after was well chuffed with it
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Sept 19, 2007 23:01:03 GMT
My >20 year old QED DCM speakers. They have fantastic imaging with the Class A, and although 87dB sensitivity, they have a very amplifier friendly minimum impedance of 8 ohms. The last time I mentioned recently that I was thinking of upgrading, a friend told me to NEVER get rid of them ! SandyK
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Nigel
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Post by Nigel on Sept 20, 2007 8:01:57 GMT
I expect you would have to spend a lot of money to better those performance wise Sandy.
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Captain
100+
Beam me up Scotty!
Posts: 186
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Post by Captain on Sept 21, 2007 19:30:16 GMT
Probably a Walkman back in 82 years before getting into real HiFi. Taped music on the move who would of thought, used one all the way up to the mid/late 90's before getting a portable CD Player.
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Post by gns on Sept 21, 2007 20:31:38 GMT
I'd pick the Rega Planar 3 I bought one in 1979. I found it bass light in my system. I found it bass light in a friends totally different system. I still find it bass light today in a totally different system. And that's after swapping arms and doing several mods. However, if assisted by placing it on a very massy item, like the floor (direct coupling to planet earth!), it is no longer bass light. And that suggests a half completed product, and a product that should have never earned the praise that it did from? Yes, the Hi-Fi press!
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Post by fanboi on Sept 21, 2007 21:04:59 GMT
I bought one in 1979. I found it bass light in my system. I found it bass light in a friends totally different system. I still find it bass light today in a totally different system. And that's after swapping arms and doing several mods. However, if assisted by placing it on a very massy item, like the floor (direct coupling to planet earth!), it is no longer bass light. And that suggests a half completed product, and a product that should have never earned the praise that it did from? Yes, the Hi-Fi press! I find these observations intriguing - would you care to offer an explanation of a possible mechanism for the observed difference? I am not wishing to dispute - merely to understand why the change to a more massy support might have the effect you have noted.
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Post by gns on Sept 21, 2007 22:08:32 GMT
I bought one in 1979. I found it bass light in my system. I found it bass light in a friends totally different system. I still find it bass light today in a totally different system. And that's after swapping arms and doing several mods. However, if assisted by placing it on a very massy item, like the floor (direct coupling to planet earth!), it is no longer bass light. And that suggests a half completed product, and a product that should have never earned the praise that it did from? Yes, the Hi-Fi press! I find these observations intriguing - would you care to offer an explanation of a possible mechanism for the observed difference? I am not wishing to dispute - merely to understand why the change to a more massy support might have the effect you have noted. The movement of a stylus caused by a record groove is a combination of left-right-up-down, accelerating and "braking" at a terrific rate. The movement may not be far, but it has to be achieved in 0.00002 seconds for a 50kHz recording (harmonics). The down force and arm mass, when scaled up from the tiny contact area to PSI or kilo's/cm 2 is substantial. Newton's laws of equilibrium tell us that a downward force is met by an equal upward force. So if your cup of coffee is sat on your desk, the area of desk it is sat on is actually pushing up at it with the same force (otherwise it would fall through your desk...). To avoid resonance that could dampen the amplitude of the signal the opposing mass of a turntable must be several times the mass the moving stylus has exerted on it during its acceleration. The lightweight Rega Planar 3 isn't anywhere near. Therefore the highs and midrange are all leading edges with no substance, and so is the bass except the notes last so much longer than the leading edges, that we hear the bass as being attenuated. However, if the unit is placed on Terra firma, instead of a piece of furniture not having the mass the turntable should have, then Terra firma does the job for it via those tough rubber boots the RP3 has. If you take a look at the Opus3 Continuo www.tnt-audio.com/sorgenti/opus3_e.html which weighs about 25 kilos, it can do far better bass, mids and highs no matter what it is stood on. A very nice turntable with one big fault - the motors vibrate after a few weeks running, modulating the sound. I have tweaked my RP3 by strengthening the spindle to arm-base path using some rigid aluminium angle and filled the featherweight hub with bluetack in a bid to increase the mass. However, the best mod of all was making a platter mat of 6mm Neoprene rubber - it weighs very heavy and is almost as good as a concrete floor at improving the bass. For those who are not able to make the arm height adjustment required for such a thick mat, a heavy brass weight stood on the centre of the record may also bring improved results. I had at one time considered having some of these mats CNC water-jet cut and offering them for sale.
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Post by fanboi on Sept 21, 2007 22:32:48 GMT
Graham, thank you for that reply - having fairly extensively modded my P2 I find all this very interesting, I am sure we could continue the discussion but that would be thread-jacking. Your critical listening skills are much more developed than mine and your hearing acuity probably also greater (age and industrial damage) so I find your observations very helpful.
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Post by gns on Sept 21, 2007 23:18:20 GMT
Why not? It happens everywhere else!
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Post by fanboi on Sept 21, 2007 23:39:09 GMT
Why not? It happens everywhere else! I will start a new thread when I get my thoughts together - but that will be this evening (AEST) - the burden of gainful employment being that I must be about and doing shortly. regards Tony G
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Post by gns on Sept 21, 2007 23:47:44 GMT
PM me with the thread's location.
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Post by bennyboy on Sept 22, 2007 6:34:10 GMT
My HD650 and V3 amp! but in home systems it would go to my Classe DR-9.
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Nigel
Been here a while!
Watching over Gotham City keeping us safe
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Post by Nigel on Sept 22, 2007 8:53:19 GMT
Graham,
Wouldn't the extra weight on the platter put a lot of pressure on the bearing? Taken to the extreme wouldn't this result in increased wear & bearing noise?
Rega's instruction on turntable mounting -
Mount the turntable on a rigid , level surface . A light shelf or turntable support ( such as our own ) screwed to a wall or in an alcove is ideal . Avoid mounting on hollow or heavy cabinets or anything mounted on a wooden floor.
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Post by gns on Sept 22, 2007 9:42:52 GMT
Graham, Wouldn't the extra weight on the platter put a lot of pressure on the bearing? Taken to the extreme wouldn't this result in increased wear & bearing noise? Rega's instruction on turntable mounting - Mount the turntable on a rigid , level surface . A light shelf or turntable support ( such as our own ) screwed to a wall or in an alcove is ideal . Avoid mounting on hollow or heavy cabinets or anything mounted on a wooden floor. I agree with the description - should say "please supply the other half of the turntable we couldn't be bothered doing" The bearing is a simple ball in a "V" machined by a drill on a lathe, below the spindle which is some form of steel. The ball may wear out, but a replacement can be obtained from a cycle shop such as Halfords (in the UK). The motor is extremely similar to the cam motors used in early automatic washing machine programmers with the tabs bent round the "motor mount". The motor mount is a piece of "O" ring rubber, and so is the belt. The only thing I think I would have trouble making is the hub. It looks like it was contracted out to Black & Decker lawn mower division. As for arms - I had the original Acos Lustre (read: Technics SL1210) with "tin" head-shell - then the Roksan Tabriz basic (far superior) - and also tried the Hadcock 9" arm. I heard the RB250 on a Moth (a badged Rega) I had here once. The best arm IMO in my opinion for the Rega is the Roksan Tabriz. My best ever purchase remains the Technics SL1210 MkII I had before I fell over with it in my arms
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Post by PinkFloyd on Sept 22, 2007 13:25:31 GMT
You'd think a DJ deck would be robust enough to stand a good knock
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bullpup
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Post by bullpup on Sept 22, 2007 14:52:25 GMT
My DPA 50 amplifiers
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Sol
100+
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Post by Sol on Sept 22, 2007 16:51:49 GMT
At the moment it's a toss up between the slim devices Squeezebox 3 and the Green Solo!
SB3 because of the instant access to all digital music I have scanned (600+ CDs now) .. and the Solo for the SQ.
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rowuk
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Pain in the ass, ex-patriot yank living in the land of sauerkraut
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Post by rowuk on Sept 22, 2007 18:57:50 GMT
My dynaco 17 watt valve amp in 1975. That was the start of my high fidelty adventure!
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Post by dc on Sept 23, 2007 4:14:16 GMT
probably the Audio Technica ATH-AD700 headphones that got me hooked into this blasted hobby!
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