Pic is in the perfect listening room thread
Thanks for letting me know, @Innocent_Bystander .
Last place I would have thought to look without a heads up from someone…
I suspectit was not the intentional location…
IIRC, I had some very second-hand Wharfedales in the mid 80s.
In about 1987, Jude at Grahams sold me Heybrook HB1s to go with a Creek 4040 S2 and a Rega Planar 3. Linn Index stands second-hand and long-forgotten cables.
The Heybrooks didn’t sound right in my new flat, so I got Rega ELAs second-hand in about 1990 (thanks Dice). Detail in treble and oomph but not ideal with hindsight.
Soon after, I got second-hand 72/140 and then an equally second-hand LP12. That led to a move to Shahinian Compasses. Great at lower volume and for a wide range of listening positions but easy to confuse a bit with complicated stuff played really loud, esp lots of bass (granite support bases helped but not 100% perfect) or if close to anything.
They survived a switch to Hicap and then 82/ 250, the arrival of a Marantz CD52 -II-SE(which was quickly replaced with a second-hand Naim CDS2) and various LP12 upgrades.
They worked for 14 years in my new house, but were replaced in (I think) late 2018/ early 2019 by B&W 804 D3s. They were auditioned at home against PMC Twenty5 24s (good for parties but clearly not right) and Neat Xplorers (best in the shop but just behind the B&Ws for stereo image and accurate female vocals in my house, plus turning it up excited the bouncy wooden floor too much).
The Shahinians went to the bedroom with an Atom.
More recently, I needed speakers for the Tasmanian house - concrete floor, wide room, ND5XS2/82/Hicap/250. I bought ex-dem Xplorers without hesitation and they suit it brilliantly.
I have since added Isoacoustic Gaias to B&Ws and now to Xplorers too.
After over 20 years service, A5 cable was beaten and replaced by Tellurium Q Black with B&Ws and by TQ Blue with the Compasses upstairs.
I have the old A5 in Tasmania with the Xplorers but expect to change that for Kudos KS-1, mostly for the extra bend-ability.
Yes, there’s a photo on the Forum as of yesterday, in ‘The Perfect Listening Room’ thread. I had help posting it, and the young lady was not familiar with this Forum, so that’s where it ended up. Beggars can’t be choosers, though!
Here’s a link to the post with @anon70766008 's Quads (well, 2/3 of them ), plus the rest of his 52/135/AV amp/NAT/Linn setup
Here you go. You can then go to the other post and delete it. Three dots then the bin.
Young Lady eh?
I guess I should be flattered
Or not
Speakers are the one thing I’ve changed the least over the years, can’t recall dates although the models probably give an insight:
What is apparent is that I prefer sealed boxes…
JPW mini monitors
JPW P1
B&W DM602 (actually won these as a Hi-Fi choice “letter of the month”)
Rega Jura
ATC SCM11
And mixed in parallel (not literally, just second systems)
Spendor S3/5r2
Linn Kan Mk1
JBL L52 classic
1995: Acoustic Energy AE100, these were for my 18th birthday. They lasted through university and most of London
2009: Leema Acoustics Xero (briefly)
2009: Guru Qm10 MkI
2012: Guru Qm10MkII (2 pairs)
2019: Guru QM10 MkIII (2 pairs)
2021: ATC SCM 11 (steel grilles for toddler who damaged the MkIII )
2023: Guru 28s incoming.
I guess I like Naim and Guru.
Nice ! Let us know how you get on.
Will do! I chanced across a job lot of “inky blackness” and “lifted veils” at my non-biological Aunt’s wake reveal party last month.
Since 1984
AR18s modified by Grahams HiFi
Linn Sara 9
B&W 603 S3
B&W CDM1 SE
Linn Kan MK1, had new tweeters and crossovers recapped 3 years ago, great little speaker that continues to amaze with it’s clarity and dynamics will never part with them.
I tried Elac Debut B6.2 and they were incredibly boring and sold on very quickly. I’m now wondering what a pair of Falcon Acoustics LS3/5A Gold Badge might sound like in my room.
I had the B&W CDM1 SE for more than a decade. I tried the N805 midway and they only lasted about 3 months in my system. The CDM 1 SE persevered till the end until I figured out I need something fresh. To my ears the CDM 1 SE sounds better than the N805.
It’s a great speaker had them for 16 years and I often regret selling them. I found them very balanced nothing annoying in the presentation. Front end at the time was a Rega RP6. I now run a classic Linn Naim system, very different, more like live music whereas the CDM1’s sound polite by comparison.
1985/6 Started with the original Mordaunt Short MS30. I had no system of my own but put them in my bedroom wired into Dad’s Technics rack system speaker circuit B in the lounge! Around 1988 assembled my own system of Systemdek IIX and Naim Nait.
1992 Sold the MS30 and bought Linn Kan Mk 1 secondhand.
1999 Bought Naim SBL and kept the Kan’s for the home office (they’re now my daughter’s bedroom speakers).
2010 Inherited a set of Naim Intro’s in Rosewood from my parents who no longer wanted them - they have been in the home office for years driven by my old Nait.
2009 Bought ATC SCM40 passives, Naim SBL now relegated to rear surround duties. The single biggest upgrade I have ever made in hi-fi.
Childhood - middle school - single driver Pioneers
High School - Large Advents in beautiful oak
College - 2007ish KEF Coda IIs now with a mate
2007 - current Rega RS3s
Currently looking for something new, considered SBLs with monthlong home visit, looking for some nice Devores now.
Various pet systems:
Wharfedale Diamond 2s (excellent)
Linn Tukans
Canton Plus S (2 sets)
Mission MS50s.
Interestingly I’m at exactly the same point in my hifi journey as you, with a pair of mk1 Kans (albeit factory spec at the mo) but wondering about Falcons and hankering to build one of their kits…
…if you do go down that path I would be interested in your thoughts
1974 - Dynaco A25s as part of my first component stereo
1977 - While in university, gave the Dynacos to my parents and upgraded to KEF Calindas.
1982 - I was blown away listening to a demo of the then new Boston Acoustics A200s. Bought a pair and sold the KEFs (In retrospect, the Technics receiver that I was using at the time probably couldn’t really do justice to the KEFs).
2008 - purchased Spendor SP100s as what I thought would be my final upgrade.
2021 - on a bit of a whim (and a final blow-out before retiring) bought a pair of REL S/510 subs. I was influenced here by the writings of Paul McGowan of PS Audio, who’s a big advocate of subs even with full-range speakers. The subs really do have and an authority and bring out the individual character of bass instruments that even the 12" woofers in the Spendors can’t match. No regrets about this purchase.
2009 - The Bostons were repurposed as the stereo pair when we set up our home theatre system. A pair of Celestion DL-6s were used as the effects speakers.
2011 - Added a used Velodyne DD-15 sub to the HT.
2012 - Added a used Dynaudio Contour T2.5 centre channel speaker.
2018 - After years of patiently following want adds, found a pair of Dynaudio Contour T 2.5 main speakers in the same finish as the matching centre channel (this was a must for SWMBO).
2019 - Replaced the Celestions with Dynaudio Audience 72s (again used) as the effects speakers.
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