I know there are some audiophiles around on AG, so this thread may has the chance to kick off some discussions about old devices. I must admit, I have never been into Hi-Fi until last month. Now I'm checking out anything I can find in order to expand my knowledge on, what I believe, is a really fascinating subject to "study" in both asthetics and usefulness. To be honest, my personal starting shot for getting into Hi-Fi equipment was the "Akihabara pre-gaming" thread. Thanks for posting those awesome pictures :thumbsup: For a start, what do you think would a working Pioneer SD-1100 go for these days? It must be one of the sexiest devices ever. You can display any audio input on the oscilloscope. Awesome vintage Pioneer-setup:
Both the Technics and Pioneer setups are very nice. I love the throw switches of the Technics, but the meter units on the Pioneer are even nicer... Be warned about audiophile stuff - while I do have a nice audio/speaker setup myself (Cambridge Audio & Bose) I'm aware alot of audiophile related stuff is subjective and you can spend ridiculous amounts on stuff that is barely any better (Unless you've kidded yourself the audio quality achieved by spending a £1000 on a metre long cable over a £10 one is quadrupled in order to justufy that amount of money spent). IMO £300 buying second hand equipment can get you a very nice system that will sound infinetly better than compacts/integrated systems. For example: Cambridge Audio 340 SE amp - £80 CA 640C CD player - £80 CA DACmagic 2 mkii digital 2 analogue converter - £60 optical/Coaxial lead (Depending on which is better for your listening tastes, due to jitter etc) phono leads, Audio Innovations silver composite loudspeaker cable ~ £30 That leaves £50 for speakers - I'm not too sure what recent offerings are worth buying as I got my Bose Interaudio 4000XLs a while ago and they are fantastic - only cost £30 off ebay too. I'm sure there are decent speakers on par with that setup for 50-60 quid.
I'd gently steer you away from Cambridge Audio equipment... To say they were unreliable would be an understatement! :banghead: Can I also just say in relation to that Pioneer & Technics sh*t, you appear to be falling into the 'ZOMG, SO MANY BUTTONS and THINGS' trap of audiophilia. May I suggest you forget all that shizzle, as attractive (cough!) as it may appear. Go for a simple set up. Something that gives you an accurate output of the audio from whichever source you decide to go for without squeezing it, twisting it, overhauling it, reducing it, expanding it, enhancing it or screwing around with it! The more devices, dials, buttons and knobs you have the signal pass through before it reaches a pair of speakers, the worse the output will be. For a really good, low budget, easy on the eye and good crowd pleasing audio set up I would look no further than some of the mid-range Mission Cyrus stuff. Have a look on eBay, it sells all the time. It looks nothing like the nonsense you've pictured, and thank God for that! As for all that un-necessary junk attached to the random rubbish passing it self off as interesting, just avoid it!
Very nice gear, while I know sound quality is the main thing, I really love electronics that is showey. i.e. obviously some 80's B&O, but one thing that nearly got me spending recently was front loading linear tracking record decks like this sensual Sony http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YhkAYFWQDnI Or even this Sansui effort http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EkMEZhkWsdM
Parris, basically you are saying: Buy an NAD amp, buy (X) Dali loudspeakers , and buy a good dvd player you can also use as a CD player, and then buy a good turntable , and so on and so forth ? as long they are neat and non button fancy smancy ? But I must say one thing, I take offence when you use audiophiles as an insult. Cause I am an audiophile, but that does NOT mean I would spend 10.000 on something so stupid like gold plated speaker wires and the whole nine yards. That is to me just fucking stupid, and so what if some of those old amps had many buttons. For fucks sake, the so-called "many buttons" are just so you can change between the A (tape) deck and so forth. and some of the buttons were to configure the sound, when it comes to bass and what not. The only good thing I have when it comes to my sound system are my two Dali loudspeakers.
No I am not, I am saying, if you like music and you are into good audio then don't buy something designed to dazzle you with garbage that is unwanted and bound (guaranteed) to degrade the audio. Don't try and convince me that 1) an oscilloscope attached to your stereo is necessary 2) That one piece of that Technics equipment has 20 buttons or knobs on just one section - hardly just a tape selector button! Fact: send an audio signal down a long path through pots, sliders, buttons and PCBs it starts to degrade. Keep it short and you get a far better sound. Noticeably better. I'm not an audiophile snob, but there comes a point someone has to say that isn't so much a stereo as a piece of laboratory equipment. If it's being bought for it's "looks" alone, then go for it. You can enjoy good audio without spending ££££ and I never suggested he did. I said mid-range didn't I? You can buy a great set up for just a few £ these days if you know what you are looking for. So stop doing your usual thing of putting words in peoples' mouths! Amplifiers haven't really moved on in the last 30 years, and if anything they've taken a lesson from older valve amps. I've owned Sony amplifiers that blew NAD amps out the water. The best amplifier I ever owned was Harmon Kardon, not all that expensive, but with only an on / off, selector switch and volume control. That's all you need. When it comes to Cambridge Audio, I speak from long and bitter experience. Why on earth would I suggest using a DVD player as a CD player? I'd recommend buying a CD player for CDs actually. Chill bro! You are the one living in Denmark, which according to recent studies was the best place in the World to live, the most relaxed place on the planet. They clearly didn't have you on their radar! ;-)
I love it when people buy really expensive speaker cable even though there is no difference between cable that is 10 quid a metre and mains cable... although magazines keep going on about clarity, depth, brightness... A friend of mine had some really expensive oxygen free pure silver core cable, I 'borrowed' it and replaced it with a run of mains flex and he never noticed the difference for about 2 years...
Really? I've never had a single problem with any of my CA stuff I've had in the last 4 years and I've bought most of it second hand. Is this a recent experience you've had or with their older lines of stuff?
I have a Sony QS amplifier (TA-FB940R) with a matching QS CD player (CDP-XB930E), connected using 'Cambridge Audio Pacific' interconnects. The speakers are 'Mission 700' bookshelf type on 'Atacama Nexus 6' speaker stands, connected using 'QED Silver Anniversary XT' speaker cable. The only issue with the setup is that the amp can handle a bi-wire configuration, but the speakers cannot. I'm happy with the sound, so I don't really want to go changing the speakers. Sounds great with vinyl too from a 'Technics SL-1210MKII' with a Rega tonearm (the original DJ tonearm isn't really that suitable for home Hi-Fi use). Funnily enough, I have a QS DVD player as well (DVP-NS900V), which can handle SACD, and has a video-off mode. I've never actually used it as a CD player before
A certain batch of Cambridge Audio 640c CD players is notorious for it's problems. After a while the digital output gets cut off and the discs fail to load. I was at a hi-fi store, where they were demo-ing all kinds of gear. At the time I was checking out Cambridge Audio, because their gear sounds really good. The cd-player at the store failed to load my cd and when I googled "Cambridge Audio" and "problems" I got lots of results. A shame, because it really sounds nice.
Yup I am chilled mate But the whole deal about Denmark.. well studies can be made so it fits. Also there was a study about the Danes being the happiest people in the world. But I said studies can be made so they fit. But when you put the healthcare into the mix of the studies and the whole shit about our health care sector. Then you begin to see Denmark is NOT what it used to be in many ways.
I worked for their main UK distribution point. We used to stack their returns up higher than any other manufacturer. It was a few years ago now, just as the new line of 6XX series was coming out, I left. Not before seeing vast numbers of that series start to be returned only weeks after release. I would never purchase a CA. I'd guarantee that 60% of our faults log was CA related... If you've not had issues, then you are one lucky dude and looking after your equipment with kids gloves.
In order to appreciate the true beauty of such a system, you are required to be sealed within the large speaker system until you can stand it no more! That is award winningly gruesome! OH: Actually Revox did some great stuff - that's the first reel-to-reel / vinyl combination I think I have ever seen. I loved reel-to-reel. The only problem was tape pinch & stretch if the heads started to get worn. Then you'd ruin your precious recordings. One superb feature of R-T-R was you could record guitar at one speed and play it back at another, or even create an amazing "Copycat" effect with looping a recording of your guitar whilst it was being played back on another head. I had hours of fun on an old Akai R-T-R we had in the attic.
No need to worry, I'm not falling into the ZOMG bUtt0n$$Z trap, I just like the design of those vintage Hi-Fi devices (not necessarily Technics, Pioneer or whatever). I'm also far away from being an audiophile, I wouldn't have the money for that or at least I'd rather spend it on something else that I consider a better investment than cables & machines with knobs that do things I've never heard from. My current setup is a record player connected to an amp (both Technics) and soon some decent speakers and maybe a CD player will follow. I certainly don't need an oscilloscope for music, but it would be fun to play around with it for sure :110: So how did he find out? I assume he didn't notice it like saying "Something must be wrong with this lead, the quality is too bad"?
I owned a 640c from 2nd hand, never had any problems, though I did only have it for a year. Your right, the sound was great, especially when I had it going through a CA dacmagic 2 mkii. I'd never actually heard that there were that many problems with CA stuff. Though I've never been 'involved' with the audiophile scene. I took one look at one forum and decided they weren't the sort of people I wanted to talk to... All my CA stuff bar 340a SE amp and DVD99 dvd player have been owned second hand and still no problems, despite being posted etc. Guess I've just been lucky. Who do you reccommend as a similar price/quality ratio manufacturer?
Can anyone recommend me some decent speakers for less than 100 Euros? Used of course, and 3-way if possible. Should have at least 60W per channel and not be any taller than 50cm.
