Ok, now to write a little bit on my set up. Although picture can say a thousand words, I would want to get some honest opinion here on whether my curent set up needs tweaking which I am sure there is room for improvement.
And yet another excuse to spend more on hifi.
Started off in 1997. First purchase was a PM57 with Sony (cant remember the model but the ones with the magnectic block to hold the CD in place, a 920 model). Were using TDL RTL 3 SE floorstanders. Really love those speakers.
The CD player was then changed to CD67 Mk II OSE and also added a Sherwood twin tape deck in 1998.
In the same year, was introduced to the convenience of Minidisk. First deck was Kenwood followed by Sony in 1999. Started working with British Energy and upgraded the MD deck to the current one SONY MDSJA20ES. Also, in 1999, took a leap into home cinema with a Sherwood receiver and was enjoying Pro Logic surround sound from a Sony Nicam stereo VCR but not long after, was introdcued to DVD and bought the very first model of Sony DVD player. Cant believe that I was willing to pay 450 quid for that. ALthough it was a good player, but it was not easy to make it multiregion. Still remember a DVD cost about 25 quid. At this stage, had to put aside the PM57 and connect the DVD, CDP, MD and VCR to Sherwood and use the TDL as the front speakers. Added a KLH rear speakers and did not use a centre speaker.
In the year 2000, thats when a major revamped of the whole system took place where I wanted to separate music and movies. Bought MF XA1 and Heybrook Optima bookself speaker and Target stands and changed the Marantz to a Sony XXXX930 model (again, with the magnetic block).
Also bought Yamaha RXV 795aRDS to get the DolbyDigital and DTS, sold the Sony DVD player and guess what? Bought the Wharfedale DVD player at 150 quid in Tesco. It was a hot stuff at that time as it was easy to make it multiregion. Soon had my first Region 1 DVD from Play.com. USed the TDL as the front speakers and still no centre speaker. The TDL were already giving me ample bass so no subwoofer as well.
In 2001, added the MF XA50 and followed by the X-DAC for my HDCD collection. So now, for hifi, I had the Sony XXX930 CDP, Sony MD deck hooked up to the DAC and the DAC to the pre and power amp combo with Heybrook speakers.
Stayed with both set up till 2003 where I sold the SOny XXX930 CDP and replaced with Marantz CD6000. My Heybrook speakers were damaged during shipment from UK to Malaysia, so had to replaced them with Mission M31.
Then in 2007, blew the TDL tweeters. Since TDL has gone bankrupt
(is that true?), I had to get a new pair of speakers. ANother major revamped. Opted for Mission M34i and soon added a Wharfedale SW150 sub and also bipolar rears and also Infinity Primus center. Replaced the Wharfedale DVD with Pioneer DV400V 1080p DVD player and also the Philips HDD-DVD recorder and bought my firstl Samsung 32" LCD TV.
End of 2007, was introduced to Bluray. Dejavu...Am I going into another round of format change like I went through with DVD? Bought the Sony flagship BD player.
And in June 2008, joined What Hifi forum to get some tips on improving my hifi sound and soon replaced the Marantz CD6000 to CD6002 and also replaced the Mission M31 to Epos M12.2.
Ohh, also bought the Samsung 40" Full HD LCD TV last month as well.
So, my current set up (as of 13th Feb 2010):
Hifi: Rega Apollo CDP, SONY MDSJA20ES, MF X-A1,X-A50,X-DAC, X-CAN V2, Epos M12.2 biamped with Arrow biamp cables, ATS stands, iPod Dock with 32 GB iPod Touch, Sennheiser PX100 and BOSE around the ear headphones, Dome Audio rack (
www.dome.com.my). All interconnects are from Cambridge Audio and QED. Power cable for MF X-A1, X-A50 and Rega is QED Qonduit. And of course Airport Express.
AV: Samsung UA55B7000 LED TV, SONY BDP-S1E, Sony DVP-NS708HP, Yamaha RX-V795aRDS,Philips DVDR 7300H, ASTRO Decoder, Infinity Primus Center, Wharfedale WH2 Rear, SW15 Sub, Mission M34i Front, Dome Audio Rack. All HDMI cables are Monster cable.
Accessories: Logitech harmony 1000i universal remote control and Philip wireless headphones HS130, Belkin 8 way surge protector.
Interconnects:
Rega to X-A1 - QED Audio 2
Rega to X-DAC (for HDCD) - Cambridge Audio Coaxial
MD to X-A1 - Cambridge Audio Pearl
MD to X-DAC - Optical cable
AE to X-DAC - Optical cable
X-A1 to X-A50 - Arrow bi amp IC
X-DAC to X-A1 - Cambridge Audio
X-CAN V2 to X-A1 - Freebie
iPod Dock to X-A1 - QED J2P
Subwoofer - Cambridge Audio
Bluray, DVD and DVD recorder - Monster cable HDMI to TV
Mains Lead:
Rega CDP, X-A1, X-A50s - QED Qonduit
Speaker Cables:
EPOS 12.2 - Arrow bi amp cables
Mission 34i, Infinity Primus centre and Wharfedale WH2 rears - Gale
So, what do u think? Where can I improve? I know most of my friends are asking me to change all the interconnects and speaker cable.
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