Audio equipment

[David L]

I've had the 'bug' for hi-fi since the '70s really and it has never left me. I've bought loads of stuff over the years but to this point, the majority of it has been pre-owned.

A while back, I started looking at classic '70s kit (especially turntables) but recently developed an itch to partner those vintage vinyl front-ends with speakers from the same era. I've considered, Wharfedales, Celestions, Tannoys and Leak. The other day I spotted some Leak 2060s for sale among a job lot including a Leak tuner and a Sony amp (all early/mid '70s stuff) on Marketplace. Originally £160, the seller had discounted to £130. I guessed the speakers alone were worth that, although the ad clearly stated "untested". I saved the ad and ruminated for a few days, by which time the price had dropped to £100! The seller was obviously a house clearance specialist and just wanted to get rid.

I thought I'd make a cheeky offer of £80...which was accepted! I picked up the goods during a quick diversion on our way back from Somerset on Sunday. It all looked in good condition, considering it was over 50 years old!

As soon as I got home I started messing with it and after sticking a piece of copper wire in the aerial socket, I was soon listening to warm, smooth sound courtesy of FM radio. I've started cleaning the speakers up and I rotated the large 30cm woofer cones 180 degrees as a precaution (voice coils can sag over time), sorted some little cosmetic issues and will probably change the binding posts for something more substantial but overall they're pretty much without issue.

The amp is a nice little unit that I may be able to move on for around £30 and the tuner is probably going to fetch around £20 without too much effort so I've got myself a well regarded 'floorstander' monitor speaker of 60ltr volume (weighing 23kg) for the price of a night on the ale!

 I've just organised collection of a perfect pair of period stands from Oatby, Leicester which, at 12" high will position the Leaks at optimum height. I can't wait to run through some classic '70s sound once they are in position. They do look huge but the wife has given consent!

I may run them for a while and move them on, unless I really love the sound, in which case the may be 'keepers'.

[The Picnic Wasp]

I have a pair of Mordaunt Short speakers from about 1983. I've retired them two or three times over the years but have returned to them each time and they are still the speakers of my current set up. They really are built like tanks, sound as good as the day I bought them and look like hopefully going on forever.

[Slim]

I did have a nice HiFi setup when I lived in London, with a Numeral Pink Triangle CD player, Arcam amp and Mission floorstanding speakers. These days I mostly use my PC - I have an outboard desktop DAC / amp connected to two Paradigm monitor speakers. But I mostly use headphones. Sennheisers, but I keep meaning to treat myself to an improperly expensive pair.

[Thenop]

Lovely set David. Nice job of getting it at that price.
Myself I am happy with my Denon pma-1600ne that has a full analog setting bypassing the digital stage. I play LPs 99% of the time anyway.

When I was younger I had a set built by my father who was a hifi enthusiast and built all of his own equipment. Amp, speakers, even a pair of headphones with volume knobs only the record player was store bought.

[Slim]

I did have a nice HiFi setup when I lived in London, with a Numeral Pink Triangle CD player, Arcam amp and Mission floorstanding speakers.

Found a review of my old Pink Triangle that I wrote myself, 24 years ago. Still online, third one down. It's still in the loft somewhere.

http://www.audioreview.com/product/digital-sources/cd-players/pink-triangle/numeral.html

[David L]

I did have a nice HiFi setup when I lived in London, with a Numeral Pink Triangle CD player, Arcam amp and Mission floorstanding speakers.

Found a review of my old Pink Triangle that I wrote myself, 24 years ago. Still online, third one down. It's still in the loft somewhere.

http://www.audioreview.com/product/digital-sources/cd-players/pink-triangle/numeral.html

Nice review. I see you had an Arcam Alpha 9 amp. I too had Arcam stuff for years around that era. Presumably it was the black series with the very unique styling (rounded edges....'wavy', I'd call it).
My 'real' hi-fi journey started with a Rega Planar 2 TT, Rotel RA 8020 amp and a pair of Heybrook HB 1 speakers. There came a point when I felt I could no longer resist buying a CD player(!) and at that point I went with an Arcam Alpha 8 CD with an Alpha 8 integrated amp which I teamed with Acoustic Energy AE109 floorstanders.
The amp got a partnering Alpha 8P power amp before too long (bi-amping was all the rage!). I wasted a bit of money upgrading the CD to 'SE' spec. Essentially, allowing the playing of HDCD (44Khz/20-bit) CDs. They never really took off so there were very few CDs available in this format.
I liked the Arcam stuff though and lived happily with it for many years. I don't think it owed me any money when I finally moved it on.

[Thenop]

Been toying with the idea of sprucing up my Technics sl 1200 TT. I love the thing, solid as a rock but I much prefer the look of a wood plinth. I can get a custom built one where I just drop the TT in to have that vintage look.
Doesn't do anything soundwise of course.
Still, when funds allow I might take the plunge.

[David L]

Lovely set David. Nice job of getting it at that price.
Myself I am happy with my Denon pma-1600ne that has a full analog setting bypassing the digital stage. I play LPs 99% of the time anyway.

When I was younger I had a set built by my father who was a hifi enthusiast and built all of his own equipment. Amp, speakers, even a pair of headphones with volume knobs only the record player was store bought.

Building hi-fi amps and speakers was very popular back in the '70s supported by the likes of Hi-Fi World magazine. Must have been quite a thrill to listen to your favourite music through self-built kit. Of course, the advantage of this approach was to obtain equipment of high quality much cheaper than you could purchase.

I have just put the Sony amp up for sale on a few sites. After doing some research, I thought I'd chance my arm and ask £100 for it. I've cleaned it up a little but it didn't need much. It's a great little unit with a lovely warm sound. I tested all the inputs and everything works as it should. I do get rather attached to this sort of stuff but I've already got three Audiolab amps up in the loft!

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/992484158801939/

[David L]

Been toying with the idea of sprucing up my Technics sl 1200 TT. I love the thing, solid as a rock but I much prefer the look of a wood plinth. I can get a custom built one where I just drop the TT in to have that vintage look.
Doesn't do anything soundwise of course.
Still, when funds allow I might take the plunge.

Or you could just replace it with a 'period' piece 

[Thenop]

Been toying with the idea of sprucing up my Technics sl 1200 TT. I love the thing, solid as a rock but I much prefer the look of a wood plinth. I can get a custom built one where I just drop the TT in to have that vintage look.
Doesn't do anything soundwise of course.
Still, when funds allow I might take the plunge.

Or you could just replace it with a 'period' piece 

Nope. This thing runs so solid. I love it.
Funny thing though, when I went looking for a new one I first went in for a done up old one. They had one but in the end I found it too much work to keep that running.
So I bought a new Technics. Never looked back. Changed the stylus recently. Have an AT VML740 on it. Supersmooth.

[David L]

Been toying with the idea of sprucing up my Technics sl 1200 TT. I love the thing, solid as a rock but I much prefer the look of a wood plinth. I can get a custom built one where I just drop the TT in to have that vintage look.
Doesn't do anything soundwise of course.
Still, when funds allow I might take the plunge.

Or you could just replace it with a 'period' piece 

Nope. This thing runs so solid. I love it.
Funny thing though, when I went looking for a new one I first went in for a done up old one. They had one but in the end I found it too much work to keep that running.
So I bought a new Technics. Never looked back. Changed the stylus recently. Have an AT VML740 on it. Supersmooth.

They are great...and, as you say, built like a tank!

[David L]

My current audio set-up.

Vinyl:

Belt-driven 'granite' TT (personal design) fitted with Acoustic Signature TA-1000 12" tonearm with Ortofon Cadenza Bronze MC cartrige feeding a Thom Evans MicroGroove phono stage
Pioneer PL-530 direct-drive fully automatic TT fitted with Shure M95 MM cart feeding an Angle audio phono stage.
(A third TT, a Thorens TD150 MKII, is stored in the loft at the moment)

Digital

Primare DVD30. For streaming (Quobuz), I use an iPad with an Arcam iDock into a TEAC DAC


Amplification provided by a Primare Pre 30 feeding a Primare A33.2 stereo power amp. For headphones (Focal Elegia) I have a Graham Slee Solo headphone amp.

I also have a Cambridge Audio DAB tuner but it's retired as I can stream radio from the iPad if necessary.

The rack is absolutely rammed and the wiring behind is like a bowl of spaghetti!

Speakers are Monitor Audio PL100 on dedicated stands (soon to be put into semi-retirement once I have the stands for the 'new' Leaks)

I have a very understanding wife 

[David L]

I bought these beauties last night!





I've been on the lookout for a decent pair at a sensible price since I borrowed a pair from my friend JJ (he has two pairs!).

The NS1000M were manufactured through the 70s and 80s and are a three-way, closed-box design utilising beryllium mid-range and tweeters with a 12" paper cone woofer. Designed mainly as studio monitors (hence the 'industrial' appearance) they also found favour with audiophiles and were noted for their accuracy. The potentiometers allow tweaking of the mid-range and tweeter response. In today's money, you'd probably be looking at £4-5K. They work well in my lounge where thy have to be close to the rear wall. Despite the looks, the wife is unfazed by the introduction of these behemoths!

JJ got the heads-up on these through an owners/enthusiasts forum. They were on Marketplace at £750. They were far better and cheaper than any of the other half a dozen or so pairs already up on Ebay etc (the best were over £1500).

Situated in Oakham, Rutland, they were within reasonable distance and I made arrangements for me and JJ to pop up there last night straight from work. So, with £750 cash in my pocket, we excitedly set off up the A43 towards Northampton, Kettering and via the A6003 to Oakham.

The weather was absolutely foul! 'Stair rods' for a lot of the journey, it was slow progress. We got there in around two and a quarter hours at which time the rain had eased. The guy selling them was pretty clueless but had a lot of stuff in his garage that he was selling on behalf of someone he does work for on the basis of a fifty-fifty split. The NS1000s were by far the best items.

I would've probably chanced buying then untested but JJ suggested he took an amp with an iPod and some speaker leads........good idea. The mid-range on one of them was not working. Luckily the guy allowed us to remove the driver and prove that the issue was with the wiring or the crossover - phew!

On the basis that they needed a little work, I kocked him down to £700 - we were both happy! We celebrated with a curry at The Rutland Balti House before heading back with the goods. The drive back was less tense due to improved weather.

My good friend has offered to give them a good 'fettlin' when he's finished working on his second pair.

An absolute bargain and at that price they'd have probably been snapped up before the weekend. I'm a very happy chappie!

[Thenop]

Excellent score that, and a good and sensible friend you have. I have the tendency to accept things easily as well, too easily sometimes. So having someone there that ios a bit more detached helps.
I presume a strict protocal has been set what to play first, second and so on?

[Slim]

What an extraordinary company Yamaha is. They make guitars, they make motorbikes, they make keyboards, they make outboard motors for boats and they make HiFi equipment.