Lovely looking room and system Matt, did you have one of those converted Weavers cottages?
Several decades earlier I had left London to move to just outside Paris so I could afford to buy my first house. That’s Paris near Holmfirth of course!
It was rather bleak on the tops. Sadly no photos of system at the time.
Rega Planar 3, A& R A60, Mordaunt Short Pageants, Nakamichi 481 I think.
My first house was in Paris (Scholes) - behind the little hairdressers! …this house is just a couple of hundred metres away in Hepworth …small world!
I’m guessing you might have gone into the Butchers Arms (nice - and my current local - as I still own the house - although I’m never there!) and the The boot and shoe (a bit more “folksy”!)
In my time there, the Butchers Arms was a favourite, a traditional village pub with some really well kept ale. Went back a couple of times to it’s more recent incarnation as a gastro pub which was also very good. But haven’t been for a number of years now.
It feels like years since I have been in any pub!
Though not the actual one this is exactly the model that adorned our living room throughout my early life. It was used to quiet the infant Yeti with Bach and Beethoven and was a constant through my childhood. I’m not sure quite what age I was when it went but I remember listening to Alan Freeman’s Saturday rock show on it and I also remember playing Pink Floyd Relics on it, a disc I bought when I was 16 and my first album.
Only when it was thrown out did I discover on the back a connection for another speaker and a switch that converted it to stereo output.
The sound was warm, maybe slightly boxy but very engaging, it’s replacement was a Japanese music centre which was rather boring.
Yes - it’s definitely more gastro of late. If it’ll reopen post the current situation, who knows - it’s full of charm in the little village location, but it’s really hampered by a severe lack of parking - so it’s not got enough locals to support it (I’d do my bit, but I actually live 150 miles away 95% of the time!) and people are put off travelling by having to park across somebody’s drive (usually mine!)
…hope so - it’s about as perfect little Yorkshire pub as you could hope to find.
Before and after. After Decades of piecemeal upgrading, in 1998, I went all in and bought a complete system based on CDSII and XPS. It met my listening expectations in spades and performed faultlessly (apart from the horrible Allae’s) until I decided to modernise last year.
1986 (so 35 years ago). Out with my Technics gear & Celestion Ditton 15XR speakers following my first visit to a proper dealer (Rayleigh Hi-Fi). I talked myself out of Cyrus & Naim amplification in favour of a Musical Fidelity A1 (nobody’s perfect! ). Loved my Rega Planar 2!
Grainy photo scan - before my LP12, and first naim system - Ariston RD80 + Nytech 252.
Also pictured my Pioneer cassette player. This sounded great in my bedroom in the early 80’s!
I would imagine that was a well balanced system. I had the Calculator/Tuner/Amplifier version of your amp. Great sound for the price. Didn’t much care for the 2-pin DIN speaker terminals though.
Can you remember what speakers you used?
Alan Freeman’s Saturday rock show brilliant was captivated with his shows. Best presenter ever a great loss sooo sad still miss his shows and melodic tones
I had Kef Celeste’s - no pictures of those unfortunately. I changed the arm on the RD80 to a Linn Basik, then put that onto the LP12 when I upgraded, as shown below.