My HiFi - 30 years (ish) and counting…

[Messiah]

Linking to my other thread (HERE) my Home Cinema gear has been moved to the Living Room which means my loft now solely houses my HiFi.

Whilst I have owned various gear over the years (mainly Cyrus, Mission, Pioneer, Monitor Audio & AVI ADM 9.1s) this is the HiFi that I value the most. Why? (you may ask...). This is where it all began around 30 years ago.

Growing up (in the 80's) my Mum always had the radio on using some type of ghetto blaster. In my teens (early 90's) I had my own Alba stereo system. I was quite happy with this system (as I didn't know anything different) UNTIL I went round a friend’s house and he played some Prodigy on his Fisher stereo system. Then I heard it. Bass! I was blown away. Imagine listening to The Prodigy (as I did a lot at that point) and never hearing the bass! The journey had begun....

Knowing absolutely nothing about HiFi I trotted off to a local 'HiFi' store (would later learn there were much better shops around) and whilst they had various set-ups, what caught my eye was a Kenwood 3020SE that had won a What HiFi award (never heard of What HiFi at that point of course).

Picked up a Kenwood brochure and went over my finances and whilst the 3020SE was £200 I could afford (via finance) to get the £350 5050R. More expensive so must be better, right! Combined this with the 3060 CD player and some Jamo D165s (awful) and the journey had begun. (Fortunately my Mum was willing to be a guarantor on finance as I was not old enough to get it myself).

The Jamo's were later swapped for some Mission 734's and after a few other Mission speakers later I ended on the 750LE's, which until recently, were still in use.

Now I am sure, like most people here, I could go on for ever about the various changes I have made over the years but this HiFi has always stuck with me. There have been many years that it was never used due to the other gear I had but this system is always the most nostalgic for me.

Currently it consists of:

Kenwood 5050 Amp
Kenwood 3060 CD Player
Kenwood 3060 Cassette Deck
Kenwood 3050 Tuner.

To bring it all a bit more into the modern era I have added an iFi Audio Zen Blue 2 to enable me to stream Spotify and I have changed the speakers to Q Acoustics 3030i.

(With regards to the Q Acoustics - I always go the What HiFi Sound & Vision show and whilst I hear a lot of great gear, one year (I think it must have been 2019) I was just really impressed with the Q Acoustics. I just found I could sit there and listen to them for ages - really impressive).

If you have stuck with me to the point then I thank you!

 

[Al ears]

Linking to my other thread (HERE) my Home Cinema gear has been moved to the Living Room which means my loft now solely houses my HiFi.

Whilst I have owned various gear over the years (mainly Cyrus, Mission, Pioneer, Monitor Audio & AVI ADM 9.1s) this is the HiFi that I value the most. Why? (you may ask...). This is where it all began around 30 years ago.

Growing up (in the 80's) my Mum always had the radio on using some type of ghetto blaster. In my teens (early 90's) I had my own Alba stereo system. I was quite happy with this system (as I didn't know anything different) UNTIL I went round a friend’s house and he played some Prodigy on his Fisher stereo system. Then I heard it. Bass! I was blown away. Imagine listening to The Prodigy (as I did a lot at that point) and never hearing the bass! The journey had begun....

Knowing absolutely nothing about HiFi I trotted off to a local 'HiFi' store (would later learn there were much better shops around) and whilst they had various set-ups, what caught my eye was a Kenwood 3020SE that had won a What HiFi award (never heard of What HiFi at that point of course).

Picked up a Kenwood brochure and went over my finances and whilst the 3020SE was £200 I could afford (via finance) to get the £350 5050R. More expensive so must be better, right! Combined this with the 3060 CD player and some Jamo D165s (awful) and the journey had begun. (Fortunately my Mum was willing to be a guarantor on finance as I was not old enough to get it myself).

The Jamo's were later swapped for some Mission 734's and after a few other Mission speakers later I ended on the 750LE's, which until recently, were still in use.

Now I am sure, like most people here, I could go on for ever about the various changes I have made over the years but this HiFi has always stuck with me. There have been many years that it was never used due to the other gear I had but this system is always the most nostalgic for me.

Currently it consists of:

Kenwood 5050 Amp
Kenwood 3060 CD Player
Kenwood 3060 Cassette Deck
Kenwood 3050 Tuner.

To bring it all a bit more into the modern era I have added an iFi Audio Zen Blue 2 to enable me to stream Spotify and I have changed the speakers to Q Acoustics 3030i.

(With regards to the Q Acoustics - I always go the What HiFi Sound & Vision show and whilst I hear a lot of great gear, one year (I think it must have been 2019) I was just really impressed with the Q Acoustics. I just found I could sit there and listen to them for ages - really impressive).

If you have stuck with me to the point then I thank you!

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Looks good.
Enjoy!

 

[jjbomber]

Kept in immaculate condition. Well done.

 

[Messiah]

Kept in immaculate condition. Well done.

I try. I am almost fanatical about keeping things in top condition.

Although saying that, I had to get it repaired last year as one channel had developed some distortion. It was certainly not in top condition internally!




Looked better after!

 

[JDL]

Linking to my other thread (HERE) my Home Cinema gear has been moved to the Living Room which means my loft now solely houses my HiFi.

Whilst I have owned various gear over the years (mainly Cyrus, Mission, Pioneer, Monitor Audio & AVI ADM 9.1s) this is the HiFi that I value the most. Why? (you may ask...). This is where it all began around 30 years ago.

Growing up (in the 80's) my Mum always had the radio on using some type of ghetto blaster. In my teens (early 90's) I had my own Alba stereo system. I was quite happy with this system (as I didn't know anything different) UNTIL I went round a friend’s house and he played some Prodigy on his Fisher stereo system. Then I heard it. Bass! I was blown away. Imagine listening to The Prodigy (as I did a lot at that point) and never hearing the bass! The journey had begun....

Knowing absolutely nothing about HiFi I trotted off to a local 'HiFi' store (would later learn there were much better shops around) and whilst they had various set-ups, what caught my eye was a Kenwood 3020SE that had won a What HiFi award (never heard of What HiFi at that point of course).

Picked up a Kenwood brochure and went over my finances and whilst the 3020SE was £200 I could afford (via finance) to get the £350 5050R. More expensive so must be better, right! Combined this with the 3060 CD player and some Jamo D165s (awful) and the journey had begun. (Fortunately my Mum was willing to be a guarantor on finance as I was not old enough to get it myself).

The Jamo's were later swapped for some Mission 734's and after a few other Mission speakers later I ended on the 750LE's, which until recently, were still in use.

Now I am sure, like most people here, I could go on for ever about the various changes I have made over the years but this HiFi has always stuck with me. There have been many years that it was never used due to the other gear I had but this system is always the most nostalgic for me.

Currently it consists of:

Kenwood 5050 Amp
Kenwood 3060 CD Player
Kenwood 3060 Cassette Deck
Kenwood 3050 Tuner.

To bring it all a bit more into the modern era I have added an iFi Audio Zen Blue 2 to enable me to stream Spotify and I have changed the speakers to Q Acoustics 3030i.

(With regards to the Q Acoustics - I always go the What HiFi Sound & Vision show and whilst I hear a lot of great gear, one year (I think it must have been 2019) I was just really impressed with the Q Acoustics. I just found I could sit there and listen to them for ages - really impressive).

If you have stuck with me to the point then I thank you!

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Nice setup. I had an Alba system but I always knew it wasn't very good because one of my very close friends, who's Father was a very well off Solicitor and partner in a firm of corporate lawyers in Holbern, London had a 'proper' hi fi system. All I remember was his Rotel amp and his Wharfedale speakers. This was early 1980s. Incedentally, I lived half a mile down the road from the Prodigy guys and knew them in the 1990s.

 

[Messiah]

I lived half a mile down the road from the Prodigy guys and knew them in the 1990s.

Oh wow!

Loved The Prodigy (still do). Never got to see them Live. Have a friend who did who said they had speakers the size of bus shelters and the bass would blow people back. (Whether this was an exaggeration I cannot say, lol).

 

[Geoff P.]

Hi Messiah - like you, I take great delight in keeping my old gear going for as long as possible :
TD166 mk2, Denon DRA-455 receiver, Marantz CD5400 and, like you, Mission 750LEs.
Bought mine in 1999, but a lightning strike on the house in 2001 blew out the bass drivers ( amongst other electricals ). Could have been worse - a neighbour had a hole blown in a central heating pipe -messy !
So, two new drivers from Mission ( for less than £50 ! ), and we were back in business. They are still immaculate in light 'Primavera' and still in use. Perhaps my ageing ears have lower expectations these days, but they still sound the biz to me.

 

[Messiah]

They are still immaculate in light 'Primavera' and still in use. Perhaps my ageing ears have lower expectations these days, but they still sound the biz to me.

I used to have Mission 754F and a second pair of 750LE in Primavera - lovely finish.

I wish my 750’s were in immaculate condition. They have done some rounds with others (family & friends) whilst I had other gear, and were not always taken care off as I would have.

Still, they are 95% good and have only needed the odd going over with a black permanent marker to cover up some marks. 😊

Sound wise they are great and until recently I was still using them. But, could not help feel that ‘something’ was missing so replaced them. I will still keep hold of them and possibly use them elsewhere.

 

[Cricketbat70]

Linking to my other thread (HERE) my Home Cinema gear has been moved to the Living Room which means my loft now solely houses my HiFi.

Whilst I have owned various gear over the years (mainly Cyrus, Mission, Pioneer, Monitor Audio & AVI ADM 9.1s) this is the HiFi that I value the most. Why? (you may ask...). This is where it all began around 30 years ago.

Growing up (in the 80's) my Mum always had the radio on using some type of ghetto blaster. In my teens (early 90's) I had my own Alba stereo system. I was quite happy with this system (as I didn't know anything different) UNTIL I went round a friend’s house and he played some Prodigy on his Fisher stereo system. Then I heard it. Bass! I was blown away. Imagine listening to The Prodigy (as I did a lot at that point) and never hearing the bass! The journey had begun....

Knowing absolutely nothing about HiFi I trotted off to a local 'HiFi' store (would later learn there were much better shops around) and whilst they had various set-ups, what caught my eye was a Kenwood 3020SE that had won a What HiFi award (never heard of What HiFi at that point of course).

Picked up a Kenwood brochure and went over my finances and whilst the 3020SE was £200 I could afford (via finance) to get the £350 5050R. More expensive so must be better, right! Combined this with the 3060 CD player and some Jamo D165s (awful) and the journey had begun. (Fortunately my Mum was willing to be a guarantor on finance as I was not old enough to get it myself).

The Jamo's were later swapped for some Mission 734's and after a few other Mission speakers later I ended on the 750LE's, which until recently, were still in use.

Now I am sure, like most people here, I could go on for ever about the various changes I have made over the years but this HiFi has always stuck with me. There have been many years that it was never used due to the other gear I had but this system is always the most nostalgic for me.

Currently it consists of:

Kenwood 5050 Amp
Kenwood 3060 CD Player
Kenwood 3060 Cassette Deck
Kenwood 3050 Tuner.

To bring it all a bit more into the modern era I have added an iFi Audio Zen Blue 2 to enable me to stream Spotify and I have changed the speakers to Q Acoustics 3030i.

(With regards to the Q Acoustics - I always go the What HiFi Sound & Vision show and whilst I hear a lot of great gear, one year (I think it must have been 2019) I was just really impressed with the Q Acoustics. I just found I could sit there and listen to them for ages - really impressive).

If you have stuck with me to the point then I thank you!

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That looks fantastic. I started down the proper hi-fi route in 1991 as a 21 year old. My first amp a Denon PMA250 MK2 is still going strong and used at work. My original speakers B&W Vision DS2 have been stared under my son's bed for the last 20 years but we're used yesterday at an after funeral gathering at a local function hall. I've had various Denon and Aiwa tape decks that have died. My current set up is based around a Yamaha AV receiver. I will post on this forum at some point but it's ended up a right Heath Robinson affair.