Yeah I can remember when CD's first came out & to start with you could only get them from the Hifi dealers! I once asked a guy in Our Price when would they start to stock them and he said he thought the format would never catch on due to increased cost and still having to use tapes for in-car use! LoL!

Yep as a student I blew everything I had to buy my Planar 3, A&R Arcam Alpha. Speakers escape me at the moment as i inherited them, I think they were Acoustic Research, but can't remember which! A little while later I bought a used JVC cassette deck. Finally I eventually managed to buy a Merridian MCD to complete the first full set up.

AR18's were the ones to have n my student day's

AR18's were the ones to have n my student day's

Great speaker and used as 'monitors' for many a studio.

Talking of Cassette decks, just how long did it take to make a favourite/best of tape?!!

Good to play around with fading the track in/out or altering the balance(just for a second) to add to the enjoyment.

Used to do them regularly but it took hours! What satisfaction though!

A quick check with the Old Man this morning, and he confirms they were early 18's! I eventually changed them for Mission 751's sat on sand filled Apollo's, 'cos black ash was "the thing" and according to SWMBO they looked a little 70's!

Ahhhhh the mix tape!!!!! I have a box of them in the attic! Took ages 'cos it depended on the mood and who it was for

Play lists make it quicker, but.... not half as much fun!!

As you fall prey to the inevitable effects of ageing and the high frequencies end at 10k, if you're really lucky, you realise the cash could be spent better elsewhere.

Like my new Roomster !!

Play lists make it quicker, but.... not half as much fun!!

I'm not completely sure about that. The difference being that although it took longer to record with cassette tapes, you only compiled your favourite 20 or 30 tracks (10 or 15 a side depending on whether it was a C60 or C90 you were using - C120's were a bit more risky), where as now you compile 50, 100, 200 or more tracks onto a playlist that you then copy onto a memory stick.

And if you're anything like me, you have to listen to A LOT of music before you get the compilation exactly right :think:

Plus I have something like 1500 tracks available on iTunes and others located in different directories (I reckon my vinyl collection numbers more like 300 tops) and this compilation lark starts to take up quite a bit of time!

I have a big '0' birthday coming soon and I'm already worrying about the music for the party :(

I have just bought a great little gadget which runs on Bluetooth or without. It's called Lil' Wiz Dynamic Sound Expansion Speaker. Its absolutely amazing with great sound quality for something so small. You can stick it to any surface, even on your windscreen, and it plays your music from your iPod or iPad, and it's fantastic. If anyone is going to The Gadget Show at the Nec in Birmingham, there will be a stand there or go to the Lil" Wiz website. You won't be disappointed.

Problem is that how many of us are in a position to judge the difference between older systems and todays stuff. In our younger days ,our audio range was not too bad.But nowadays ,how many would be able to hear the whistle on one of the old 405 line TV sets , far less appreciate the full range of a decent HI FI of any age ?

The fun element was also in the listening while you were recording the tape,something I rarely do when compiling music electronically.

It sometimes changed what order or even artist I would follow with which for me made a better compilation.

Be interesting to know the age demographic of this thread as expect its 40 to 60 by the post's given.

Still got some unopened TDK Max-G and Thats Suono tapes that I cant bring myself to use!

Not sure if the AiwaXK009 or CR4 even work as its been years since they were used. There's an idea!

Problem is that how many of us are in a position to judge the difference between older systems and todays stuff. In our younger days ,our audio range was not too bad.But nowadays ,how many would be able to hear the whistle on one of the old 405 line TV sets , far less appreciate the full range of a decent HI FI of any age ?

48, a life around noisy bikes, cars and guns and still score really well on the audiogram and noise masking tests. Can still hear the flyback noise on crt tubes too. Sound quality is about so much more than a frequency range though. Imaging, phase coherence, the feel of the presentation, these are the things that make or break a system for me.

Chris

I have just bought a great little gadget which runs on Bluetooth or without. It's called Lil' Wiz Dynamic Sound Expansion Speaker. Its absolutely amazing with great sound quality for something so small. You can stick it to any surface, even on your windscreen, and it plays your music from your iPod or iPad, and it's fantastic. If anyone is going to The Gadget Show at the Nec in Birmingham, there will be a stand there or go to the Lil" Wiz website. You won't be disappointed.

Sounds great.

Where did you buy it from please?

Sounds great.

Where did you buy it from please?

My Brother, who is in the Home Cinema Business. He is at the Gadget show in Birmingham from Easter Monday with a stand showing these little gadgets. He ordered a load from the states for this purpose.

In my 20's I was a TO in a TRS, where we used to distribure music from local radio. We did experiments, and found that although we couldn't hear much above 15khz, sounds op to 18khz made their presence known . Few years ago ,I had a medical, where they thought I'd got hearing problems. My range was down. Then I found I'd got a wax problem. Next hearing check, I was found normal, possibly even above that expected of a 60 year old . But as you get older, the range closes in ,and that sound system that was 50hz- 20khz a few years ago , might only be worth it for the help that the higher harmonics give to the unheard range .

Tape deck alive!

You forget how long it takes to ffwd/Rwd a tape.

Just listening to Steve Miller band 'Macho City' on the heaphone input on Cassette deck. Smiling like a cheshire cat ;0)

Those recording level meter's are hypnotic!

Good man! Gutted I've not got a tape deck any more!

I keep thinking I'll buy an old one just to rip them to iTunes!

i showed my newphew a casette tape the other day, and he was like wtf is that??

in the same was it was like when computer games came on a catridge about 6 inches square and you had to blow them when they didnt work then shove it in (thinking nintendo NES here)

ha ha I remember having to do that with my sega megadrive. My dads hifi set up blows my ps3 and onkyo amp out the water. He has got a mission DAD 5 CD player, cyrius 2 amp and kef Q 90 speakers.

i showed my newphew a casette tape the other day, and he was like wtf is that??

in the same was it was like when computer games came on a catridge about 6 inches square and you had to blow them when they didnt work then shove it in (thinking nintendo NES here)

Scary! Reel to reel and 8 Track were also in the mix!

Weird thing is they dont seem that old to me!

Anyone ever used a demagnetizer?

Just cleaned the tape heads and rollers which made a heck of a lot of difference.

Still 21 with 27 years experience

Scary! Reel to reel and 8 Track were also in the mix!

Weird thing is they dont seem that old to me!

Anyone ever used a demagnetizer?

Just cleaned the tape heads and rollers which made a heck of a lot of difference.

Still 21 with 27 years experience

SWMBO used to listen to a lot of audio books on tape and the demagnetizer did make a noticeable difference.

Never had eight track but did have one of these as a kid in the mid '70s

Couldn't use it that much as it only ran on batteries and my pocket money only stretched so far!

Going through a sort of hi-fi revival now, having run the same kit since the mid '80s, as my lad is getting into it. He bought some Cambridge Audio S30s at the weekend that put my old Wharfedale Diamonds to shame. My old record deck, a Dual CS505, is still going strong, but the amp (an Akai) dropped the left channel a month back, and has just been replaced by a Yamaha - which has revealed my B&W DM110s have seen better days and will need changing at some point - but not before the upcoming Yeti is paid for!

Always thought 23 was the ideal age - twice that somehow doesn't feel twice as ideal, oddly enough

Vinyl revival! ;0)

http://www.bbc.co.uk...rammes/p00r9x1q

Nice one Nerina!

Oooh good threads....I like hi-fi stuff, although I'm a complete amateur.

Ive an LP12, Basik and K18, coupled to an Ion Obelisk 100 amp, Rotel CD player, Sony cassette deck, radio and minidisc (Dad used to work for Sony).  All on a target 5 tier stand and out through my 1980 Pioneer speakers which I never found the need to upgrade.  I'm slightly ashamed to say it, but it's hardly ever used now as I've fallen foul of owning an iPod Nano.

Talking of Dad working for Sony, he was a lorry driver and would occasionally have the 'first' of something new on his wagon. I'd imagine it was the late '70's when we took a peek at a small box and decided to investigate it more.  Mum was first to have a go with it on a hammock in the garden.  We were all startled by her when she leapt up and yelled, scanning the sky, 'where the bloody hell did he come from!!' coz it didn't mean anything to the rest of us.  The first thing Mum had heard on the demo cassette was a fast jet going left to right at Biggin Hill air show.  Not really a claim to fame, but I was inadvertently one of the first people in the UK to experience the Sony Walkman.

Gaz

I seem to have gone bonkers buying all sorts of old hi-fi kit recently The collection includes.. CD players-- Marantz cd-63 KI sig,Pioneer PD-S505 Precision,Philips Cd850 Mk2,Marantz Cd52se with valve output stage,Rotel RCD865BX LE,Philips CD303,Marantz CD65 with NOS mod,Marantz CD63 with Chevron audio upgrades.

Amps include Pioneer A400,Wharfedale 2050a modified by TenAudio,Kenwood KA3020SE,newer stuff Exposure 2010S,HLLY 90 T-amp, a little FatMan tube amp, a Music Angel XDSE YC-808MK tube amp with 4x KT88,replacement RCA 6SN7GTB's, bought whilst very drunk,regardless of poor interweb reviews on cheap chinese amps it sounds pretty amazing and hasn't "melted" yet.

Speakers include AE109's,Royd Minstrels and Squires, Focal JMlab 716s(for my surround system)

Recently bought a Rotel RP-850 turntable for £12 and re-discovered my old vinyl collection

Time for the Onkyo AVR to be retired upstairs(sons room) and invest in a network capable Receiver that has a similar power output.

Got a short list of.

Sony STR-DN1030

Denon AVR 2312

Yamaha RXV673

Anyone had any experience of these mighty lumps?

I'm still using my Marantz CD63MK11 KI sig along with a NVA (Nene Valley Audio) passive preamp, Musical Fidelity X-A200 monobloc power amps and Monitor Audio GR(Gold reference)20 speakers.

Sound is awesome.

Been into separates since i left school in 1982.

First Hifi i bought was a NAD3120 (like a 3020 without bass and treble controls), Dual 505-2 turntable (still under the bed somewhere :love: )and JBL TLX3Gi speakers.

Recently bought a vintage Pioneer SA-508 amp for the bedroom linked to my PC with Acoustic Energy Compact1 speakers.

My son is into separates too and wouldn't have it any other way.

My hearing is damaged from working with loud machinery and going to even louder music venues a lot when I was younger. I'm struggle with midrange -a lot of stuff seems to not really bother with midrange clarity (all top and bottom and lots of volume).

My HiFi is about 12 years old so don't know if it quite counts as yesteryear:

Roksan Caspian I integrated amp (I thought the pre/power combination available at the time did not sound as good)

Roksan Caspian I integrated CD player -(the light's on the front of this have become very dim with age but it still functions OK)

B+W CDM1 NT stand mounts -there's very few floorstanders that I like without spending silly money (they seem to lack focus to my mind)

TT -I remember loading computer games from tape on the Spectrum -you'd have to listen to 'that noise' for three sides and then it would error so you'd have to start all over again

I've just taken delivery of some new small speakers for our dining room - went for some QAcounstics 2010's in the end due to the good reviews... so not actually vintage but I'm hoping they'll go well with my Michell Hydraulic Reference turntable with Fluid arm, the old Sony CD player and the Rotel amp... either way they'll be better than the 25 year old Sony speakers that are currently in there, if not as good as the Monitor Audio's in the Lounge.

Just need to get them plugged in and checked - get the wall brackets up for them and then get them burnt in... I sens an audio weekend coming on