Just for fun. Any piece of audio equipment (doesn’t have to be hi-fi) that you just love, for any reason at all, completely irrationally.
For me, the Garrard SP25 MkIII turntable with Goldring G850 cartridge.. I just love the way it looks. And that red stylus housing on the G850 cartridge - it’s just so sexy!
My first TT, bought in ‘72, took it to Uni, and then lasted until I joined the Flat Earth Brigade in 81/82 (or thereabouts) and bought a Sondek!
The weirdly successful speakers on an Amstrad tower system.
Most of my audio Loves are rational - at least to me!
One speaker I’ve always loved, but never heard, is the Tannoy Westminster Royal - I fancied trying to get a pair, unril I saw up close and realised their impractical size!
For scale, those are 15 inch drivers.
Actually I’ve always had a soft spot for horns, from the concrete horns built in the garden with mouths in the listening room, described in a hifi mag back in the 1960s, to the Altec Lansing Voice of the theatre, a pair of which I had for my rock disco in the 80s, to the modern all but invisible Fergusson Hill FH1/Jetstream.
Speakers seem to feature readily in my fetish list, another being these:
The original, iconic, B&W Nautilus.
From early 1990s the amp I fancied, but have never seen up close, was the Musical Fidelity SA470 (the big brother of my A370): 350Wpc class A amp, my dream amp until I discovered its size - over 700mm deep …and around 90kg in weight!. Also I understand it would be best converted to water cooling, obviating the need for a separate central heating boiler! Apparently there was also a 570, which was a pair of SA470s converted to monoblocks with parallelled outputs!
Derided and scorned by the audiophile community.
The Bose 901
I had a pair for a long time and to this day they are still one of the most enjoyable speakers I ever had. I actually shoved mine on the end of Linn source and amplification. My boss at the hifi dealer I worked at said to make sure I never mentioned I had them to customers or the shop would never be taken seriously.
I’d gladly have a pair again today. But so few remain in good condition.
Decca cartridges are also something I’ve always loved the look of:
Sadly I’ve never heard one or even seen one in the flesh as it were, but they had/have a reputation for sounding amazingly fast and dynamic with remarkable presence and immediacy. If I had a collection of prized LP’s though I’m not sure I would ever take the risk of letting a Decca loose on them as they also have a reputation for causing excessive record wear.
Wouldn’t you also need LPs that are DECCA encoded as opposed to RIAA? Not that common.
Not as far as I know. I’ve certainly never read that anywhere and if that were the case then it would make them virtually unusable.
Not sure I’d describe it as a fetish, but I do fondly remember my Sanyo B10 speakers which I used with various walkman style cassette players and started the whole hifi journey…
My uncle had a pair of the Tannoy although I was far too young to understand the significance at the time. They were sold when he passed away and I was distracted by other matters otherwise I’d have had them.
I have owned the same TT for over 45 years now. I have also owned Naim amps for around the same period. Most of my friends and family think the amount of money I have spent on upgrading my TT and replacing my Naim kit is irrational. In the greater scheme of things, they are probably right, but I get a lot of enjoyment listening to my music of choice via my system.
I always thought CB boxes looked the best, but now I think that Naim has sensibly dumped the green the NC is the best look. Many on this forum will think that is irrational, but I will just say those who do are wrong 
Are those JBL’s Max? How big are they?
My dad built one of those decks (same cartridge too) into a cabinet along with a Sinclair amplifier and record storage underneath. Not content with that, he also built speakers as a copy of Wharfedale Denton complete with wooden stands.
This system later found its way into my teenage bedroom (minus the cabinet) and got me on the path of needing something better!
My favourite turntable for looks is my Technics SL1210Mk2
They’d be perfect in a large lounge/library of a wood panelled period house, in both styling and sound scale as well as size!
Another favourite is NAD components from the late 1980s, industrial no-frills looks with a nod to Braun designs.
I use a 7225PE receiver in the garage
I think they’re Pioneer.
It was what I perceived at the time to be a very large detached house near Cleeve Hill in Cheltenham. He had custom boxes made so the speakers had doors. Despite what I now see as a serious mistake I will never forget waking up on a Sunday morning to the extraordinary sound of Welsh Oratorio or Sinatra.
