From there to here

John Duncan

Well-known member
Leading on from the 'how long have you had your current setup' thread - how did you get where you are now? My up- and downgrade saga has gone like this:

First hifi - Dual 505/Denon DRM-07/Creek CAS4040/Acoustic Research AR18BX which lasted me through university

Left the turntable and amp with my brother when I came down to London and spent two thirds of my first months' salary on a Revolver turntable and Rotel RA820BX2, which I swapped after about a month for an Arcam Alpha 2

Added a JVC CD Player in 1991 or so (hey, it was free)

That was it for a long time until after I was married, when the aesthetic committee kicked in, and a small shiny hifi was requested (hey, any excuse to spend money), so we got a Denon mii (the three box, three CD-changer thingie) with a pair of KEF Coda 7s (the Missions we also auditioned sounded better but were too big). It was at this time that the hifi drawer was started.........

This is where it got complicated, I'll try to keep it in the right order.........

Denon mini went to kitchen, sitting room stereo became wharfedale DVD player/Yamaha surround system

Added Systemdek turntable and Denon tuner

Surround sound converted to stereo-only with Tannoy Revolution R2s

DVD player went under telly and stereo became turntable/JVC CD player/yamaha amp/Tannoys

Aesthetics committee intervened again, wanted small silver stereo for living room again, so the whole lot was sold or drawered and replaced with a Musical Fidelity X-Ray v3 and X-80 and a pair of Wharfedale Diamond 9.1s

Then I got skint after being out of work for six months, so the whole lot went and I was back to the JVC and Yamaha with Diamond 9.1s.......

(It's ok, home straight now)

So anyway, once I was back in work, socially acceptable stereo was on the agenda again, so - in chronological order - Yamaha swapped for the Alpha again, then the JVC was replaced with the Cambridge 640C, Arcam with a Creek Classic, Wharfedales went to the Denon in the kitchen and replaced with PMC DB1+s. And that was it until recently, when my wife finally gave me my 40th birthday present (my card said "IOU a Turntable") of an RPM5.2, then a Primare D20 came up on eBay at an unavoidably low price. And since it would be a shame not to have matching kit, the A20 amp has followed. Speakers are next......
 

Andy H

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Nov 14, 2007
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My journey starts back in 1982, I'd just been made redundant and was feeling pretty low. Whilst walking around the shops, window shopping (cause I had nowt to do) I stumbled across the local HiFi shop and went in.

WOW is all I can say.

I came out an hour or so later armed with a Technics system , comprising turntable, amp, tuner, cassette deck and a pair of Tannoy Mercury speakers. THAT WAS ALL MY REDUNDANCY MONEY GONE IN ONE GO!

Back in work now so it's upgrade time.

A while later I purchased a Technics Graphic Equalizer DO YOU REMEMBER THEM? 12 bars per channel with a large flashy display. Then came my first CD player, I nearly jumped out of my skin the first time I played it. So loud and clear compared to vinyl. I kept this system for quite a while untill one day, my brother in law turns up at my house in his White Ford Capri, and what do I do, STRAIGHT SWOP! something I regretted for years to come.

Anyway I got the HiFi bug again and went for a new system comprising a Marantz CD63 MkII KI Sig, Technics SUA900MkII, Tannoy 609's on stands. These were later traded in for a set of Tannoy 638's as you can gather I liked Tannoys back then.

Then I got married and the kids came along, it's like a black hole next to your wallet, sucking everything out of site, alas all none essentials had to go namely the amp and speakers but not the CD. This is what I was going to base my next system around, so I'm now I was stuck listening to a little silver box the high street retaillers call hifi, what do they know.

Almost up to date now, about a year ago I couldn't resist. Impulse buying you know, so I am now the proud owner of Arcam CD192, A90, P90 and Pro Ac Studio 140's and it's heaven. The only thing I want now are some new interconnects, but I'm not going to go into detail on that as I've read some of the threads on this. I don't want to start a war. A home cinema system has also been built up but I do keep this seperate.

That's me done for now untill my next moment of madness (I CAN'T WAIT)................................
 

fatboyslimfast

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Jan 10, 2008
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Crikey, I'll try and remember.

I'll skip various midi-systems and boom-boxes and start in 1989... I started off with a Rega Planar 2, Technics SA-160L reciever, Aiwa tape deck and JPW Minim speakers.

Kept that lot for quite a while, adding a Sony CD player along the way (forget which one). Next upgrade was a pair of Eltax Symphony 6 speakers in about '00 I think. Bought a Cambridge A1 and kept it for a little while before trading in for a Teac ProLogic reciever.

Decided that I couldn't be arsed to sit through movies (Titanic was out and drove me to distraction), so traded the Teac in for a Cambridge A5.

Upgraded the CD to a 2nd hand Alpha 6 about 4 years ago, and the system stayed pretty much the same until about this time last year, when I contracted a severe case of upgradeitis.

Changed the TT for the Roksan in about April last year, and then bought a set of MS814s off ebay for 20 notes. Found that they were far too warm for my liking and went back to the Eltax's.

Picked up a cheap system (Rotel 820A, Dual 505/2, Mission Model 70Mk2 + 120 classical vinyls) for 65 notes off ebay, and the speakers/amp replaced the ones in my main system. The Dual, technics receiver and eltax speakers have now made it to the dining room.

Heard a pair of Adam HM2 speakers which were great but too expensive, so went auditioning. Loved the RS6s, and got them for 25% off rrp.

Decided that the 820A, whilst a lovely little amp, was a bit outclassed, and so decided to buy a 62/90 Naim combo off ebay. The Naim halo effect meant these were going for daft money and so ended up with a 102/180 combo from a very helpful Naim dealer in St Albans.

And there endeth the upgrade path. Or my reproductive organs if I buy anything else soon...
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