Will update with my latest purchase tomorrow when it arrives!

Monitor audio rx6

rega brio r

Sonos connect

Older stuff:

Linn Sondek LP12, Aro arm, Avondale from 1989 onwards

Shahinian Obelisk speakers - 1995

Somewhat butchered Naim Nap 250 power amp - 1989 to 2010

Newer stuff:

Weiss Dac 2

Mac Mini I5

EAR 934p phono stage

There's good new stuff, good old stuff but plenty of rubbish new and old stuff!

Also have Denon mini system + Squeezebox Touch which probably gets more use than the main stezza 'cos it's in the kitchen!

If you are quick this album comes with free turntable!

Cool tunes too!

Ahh nice to see a thread like this knocking about, despite being young (20) I've always been brought up and influenced by good hifi and I've always taken an interest in it (part of that is probably also due to being a musician / music student!). Anyway, for my main system in my flat I'm running a Quad 303 with Quad 33 preamp which drives a nice pair of EV 1x10" speakers, both of which are ported too. Jeez it's a nice sounding system! When I have to do any mixes, I'll do them on my daily system (I'll explain in a mo'), and then I'll run it through the Quad system too which shows anything that isn't quite right.

As for the basic "modern" system I'm running, I use a 2011 iMac for mixing / recording etc (when I'm not at the uni studio anyway) which goes out to an Edirol audio interface, which then goes out to a Samson Servo power amp driving a pair of Wharfedale Diamond Pros. That's also a nice 'honest' sounding system.

I'm just wondering how long it'll be before I can claim my dad's Monitor Audio MA5s that he's got with his Quad system :lol:

Must spin my system up, I'm lucky in that we have the space so that we have a dedicated den for the TV and home cinema (7.1 BR based Mission and Onkyo system). So the lounge only has a HiFi system and no TV.

It is getting on a bit now, Michell Focus One deck with Linn Basik arm, CD63 MkII KI, Arcam Alpha 8 and Alpha 8P biamping a pair of Kef Q15 speakers. Also got a What HiFi award winning Sony tuner from about 10 year ago.

Only gets used when we entertain and the occasional blast, I listen to most music in the car these days, which is why I had 3K worth of HiFi in my old A3 which I miss (don't miss the car that much though).

When I was 18 (1982) I bought a Pioneer separates system from Laskys in Richmond, the Amp and tuner are still working running my sounds in the garage, built it to last back then. Only issue is a dirty volume pot, just needs and occasional Italian tune-up to resolve it.

Paul

Well managed last night to give the HiFi a spin, also removed the grills from the Kefs as one of them has a slight bit of damage on the top. SWIMBO wasn't keen on the speakers with them off, but I prefer them as you can see the translucent mid driver. Left them off for now but may loose that battle.

She had just bought a new Vangelis CD greatest hits double CD so enjoyed that.

Paul

Paul,

If you have wife problems, show her what your speakers could look like:

http://shahinianacoustics.com/Obelisk.htm

Even I think they look bloody awful, thankfully we have a second sitting room aka music room and they sound great!

Even I think they look bloody awful, thankfully we have a second sitting room aka music room and they sound great!

I see what you mean, hope they sound as good as how odd they look

Well the grills are still off for the moment - time will tell.

They sound awesome mate, but they do look foul!

I've had Naim, Neat, Dynaudio, Epos, Ruark & Linn speakers over the years, these are the best and easiest to listen to but as easy on the eye as SuBo!

Will update with my latest purchase tomorrow when it arrives!

Monitor audio rx6

rega brio r

Sonos connect

Be interested to know how your getting on with the Brio R? Got a lot more power than my Nait and looks on paper like it might be a good replacement.

Im using Linn Kans which are less efficient than your RX6 floor standers!

Cheers

Kans and a Nait are a classic pairing though - the Brio R may not be as good.

Kans and a Nait are a classic pairing though - the Brio R may not be as good.

Heard a lot of good things about the Brio R so have booked a demo to hear for myself. Taking the Kans,stands and a few favourite cd\lp's with me.

Love the Nait but feel @ 20+ years old it has lost a litttle shine. Could send it back for a service of course.

See what brings!

It may have done, also depends if it's a Nait or Nait 2 as the Nait 2 was a lot better IMO.

I've had an Saturn and Rega is a good company, despite the fact that Roy is bonkers!

If the Brio R can deliver current, it may be a good upgrade, otherwise I'd look elsewhere. The old Elicit had a fair amount of wallop, but a Naim pre/power is probably the way to go, dependant on your front end.

I should add I used to work in a Linn/Naim/Rega shop when I was a student..

Be interested to know how your getting on with the Brio R? Got a lot more power than my Nait and looks on paper like it might be a good replacement.

Im using Linn Kans which are less efficient than your RX6 floor standers!

Cheers

I'm on holiday at the moment so have only had a couple of days use so will update once I am back but to be fair its awesome!

I should add I used to work in a Linn/Naim/Rega shop when I was a student..

Me too, but 30 years ago when Rega only did turntables, Naim were black boxes with silver edged fronts and Linn only had 8 products in there line up.

Not sure if youve seen previous posts but have had several Naim pre/power combo's over that time and do regret letting them go!

Only relativley recently got back into 'proper' HiFi which started with a trip into the loft to see what was still working after all these years.

LP12, Ittok,Asak( now a K18) Nait and two pairs of Kans circa 83 Mk1 (B100a,Scanspeak D2008 version)and 89 Mk2.5 ;0)

Have been surfing the net for the magic 32.5(72) Hicap and 110\160 availability but they are thin on the ground and when do appear go for silly money.

Listened to the Roksan K2,Audiolab 8000 and Cyrus 6 none of which have really inspired.

Been in touch with Olle from XTZ as was pleasantly suprised at how good there class A,.A/B Monster of an integrated (A100 D-3)sounded at the bristol HiFi show only to find out that there 1 and only dealer AudioSanctum had disappeared.(Still on ebay though).

The Brio R is the only other integrated I can think of (Creek,Leema to expensive). Nait is the classic 1, fussy on speaker type and low on power but as musical as methinks is humanly possible! ;0)

I'm on holiday at the moment so have only had a couple of days use so will update once I am back but to be fair its awesome!

Look forward to your findings!

Cheers

Nee

Ah, had not read all the threads!

AVI amps attracted a fair bit of attention, I've only had their ADM9 speakers but they were dammed good for the price.

If you seen any Ion stuff (we were dealers too), they'd be a good buy and less stupidly priced than chrome bumper or olive Naim. I had a 3x Xpak and it was very good. Also Exposure can be picked up fairly cheaply.

Linn is not the company it was sadly but then neither is Naim - at least they are still going I guess!

I'd be inclined to buy secondhand generally though - residuals are a lot better! Exception for me is digital stuff and cartridges nowadays although I used to always buy new, it can be a mugs game.

Funny you mention ION as I bought Richard Hay's Active Sara's many years ago using good old Nytech CTA252 and a host of power's forget the model. Oh the memories lol!

Only heard AVI at HiFi shows, but had forgotten about them to be honest. Will look into them cheers.

Exposure were great kit but like Naim&Linn went downhill rapidly(in my opinion) in the late 90's to the present as have heard a few combinations of all three but never attained the magic of kit before? Rose tinted maybe? lol

Inclined to agree with you on the S/H front just so long as I can get it at a reasonable price.

Cheers for your advice though

I met Richard Hay at the factory in Newtown - rode there and back on my mountain bike whilst visiting relatives in Knighton 21 miles away!

Agree re Exposure, two mates picked up very good setups for very little money, one with mono blocks - expect eBay has made everything more expensive now mind you.

You may be interested to know that my Nap250 killer was made for £600 - it uses lightly modded Nap 250 boards with twin toroidal transformers and twin caps. So is effectively a better set of 135's in one box. I owned a olive 72-HiCap/250 before and my new power amp was a worthwhile upgrade at the time and drives the Obelisks well which like Linn speakers are a notoriously hard load.

So, one option is to go DIY or benefit from someone else's DIY boxes by buying secondhand. The boxes themselves might not be quite as shiny (mine looks fine) but they will sound better for a fraction of the price.

Pink Fish Media is your research tool.

Just like a good number of you, I am a born again Hi-Fi geek. But the true god is the music! I have had most of the kit and tweeks mentioned but must say the one modern great product I have found is the amazing Tannoy V4 floorstanding speakers. They make the most of low power systems and can really go very loud without much effort. They provide a great sound stage have a powerful bass and mid range and a very sweet treble that seems to get the best of my old systems and works well with the digital media as well. Got them from Richer Sounds at bargain price and can really recommend you give them a try.

I met Richard Hay at the factory in Newtown - rode there and back on my mountain bike whilst visiting relatives in Knighton 21 miles away!

Agree re Exposure, two mates picked up very good setups for very little money, one with mono blocks - expect eBay has made everything more expensive now mind you.

You may be interested to know that my Nap250 killer was made for £600 - it uses lightly modded Nap 250 boards with twin toroidal transformers and twin caps. So is effectively a better set of 135's in one box. I owned a olive 72-HiCap/250 before and my new power amp was a worthwhile upgrade at the time and drives the Obelisks well which like Linn speakers are a notoriously hard load.

So, one option is to go DIY or benefit from someone else's DIY boxes by buying secondhand. The boxes themselves might not be quite as shiny (mine looks fine) but they will sound better for a fraction of the price.

Pink Fish Media is your research tool.

Small world it is! ha ha!

Never really got into making my own amps but did have a dabble at speakers which always brings a smile.

Avondale and come to think of it Pink Triangle amongst others had there little tweaks for other companies gear which from memory always got good reviews in the mags etc.

Not brave enough to invest in the 'homemade' world anymore .

What is your current system? Sounds intriguing?

Im on Pink Fish as well as AudioKarma,Avforum and Tapeheads (no suprise) as just cant get HiFi out of the system ;0)

Cheers

Oops.. My turn not to read all the thread as youve clearly stated your present setup earlier!

Hi-fi's.....hhmmmmmm

My mums always had B&O.........last set she bought was in 1985 and still good....and my fathers still got the first one (1968ish)...........I'm still running a top end Aiwa "midi" system whith twin tape deck, 5channel graphic equaliser, seperate turntable......and a Sony 5disk Cd player.....all circa 1990 -1992.

Yes it's not high end like all the other stuff......but the money gets spent on other stuff.............

But I ended up modding it like mad.....

Bigger, higher spec main power caps in the amp section.......stripped the speakers down and sound damped the interior, build my own internal x-overs (even hand wound my own air cored inductors)........Ixos cables everywhere.......added ferrite cores to both ends of all cables........sorbothane feet for the cd and turntable.........hollow tube stands filled with sand and lead shot for the speaker to sit on......mains power filter block.....gold plated phone sockets on everthing.......etc...etc.......

And DEFO very well recorded/mastered CD's sound better than records..............

Best CD's for recording quality............Sheffield labs, Naim, Blue Note, ....also the bass in Massive Attacks "Mezzanine" album....... ...........or even Leftfield...

P.s. tape head de magnatisers....very good.....got a couple in my "cleaning kit".....

Now what was the name of that expensive two bottle/stage military spec connector cleaning fluid??????

PPS......the best high end system i've ever heard was my stepdads best mate had a full Marantz set wired a big set of horn speakers he built himself...............4uckme they were powerfull!!!!

swordstroke - I had Zener make me a power amp for some beer money.

swordstroke - I had Zener make me a power amp for some beer money.

To many R's Jez! ;0)

Zener as in computer shop or diode manufacturer? ;0)

Wonder if Crimson Elektric are still going as they were a local HiFi Pre/power manufacturer in the 70/80's. There kit looked awful but sounded good from memory.

Interest in the XTZ A100-D3 Integrated is growing it has to be said. They will send the amp to me for a 3 week sale or return. (have to pay return postage if it doesnt work out at approx £45 though). You seen the spec? Bonkers for the money!

At 22kg it makes you wonder if they have put a few house bricks in them!

http://www.xtz.se/en/products/electronics/class-a100-d3-svart

lol - sorry!

Zener as in a bloke who demo's a few Avondale bits in the South now and again.