spongo said:
I am pretty shocked at some of the prices I'm seeing!! But at the same time I'm very impressed with what I'm seeing. I've just looked at the Rega stuff and it's come a long way since the Planar 3!! For many years my attentions has been focussed on the home cinema. I suppose in reality if I could find a HC outfit that produced amazing music I'd be in heaven - but it doesn't work that way does it!!
Many moons ago I had the first Cyrus amps with PSX and was stunned by them (until the volume and selector switches that were like long stalks packed in) and have looked recently and found them to be expensive. I used an Ariston RD11 t/t with Syrinx PU2 Tonearm and Osawa Mirage OS80X mc cartridge. Oh those heady days!! Do today's generation of cd players get much more out of CD's than those of twenty years ago? Or is it a case of diminishing returns?
I'd love to hear from somebody who's had this older kit and also the new stuff to give a comparison.
Hi Spongo . . . Old kit? comparison . . . a personal view maybe? . . . CDp's certainly seem to have come on, as do 'some' CD offerings the rest, IMHO, you sort out the ones you like, or use the CD if you feel lazy. I find Spotify as good if not better? The music on offer is endless, I have been able to go back to the 40's with some amazing SQ.
Vinyl was and is my first love, starting in the early 70's with a 'Michel Focus One', on to a Gyro Deck, an SME arm followed by the Syrinx. My final system for over10 years was a Townsend Rock TT, arm, trough, fully nude Ortofon SPU Gold mC cartridge and TT power supply. EAR valve Mono Blocks, EAR preamp, EAR Head MC step transformer, driving a pair of Rogers LS35a or later a pair of PMC LB1. Not gut wrenching base, but the sweetness and image reality was an experience I never heard bettered.
A long break, untill just last year. As you said, how things have changed . . . to reproduce the system of those audiophile years now would cost a small fortune . . . My dilemma was first getting the grey matter working as it did in the 80's, not easy as I have been playing mind games with myself for 20 years!!! Plus working out where hifi was in the present day??
To cut a long story . . . my signature shows my present system. I kicked over the traces, by having a revealing pair of speakers (the old PMC's), cheap speaker cable, and and a very nice Sumiko cartridge in what looks like a fairly middling front end TT. The Croft amp is the bees knees, although limited by its 50w, the speakers are easily driven, my 12x12ft room does not require mind warping volume.
Over 12 months, I have tweaked and adjusted, like we used to do in the good old days, driven the forum to distraction with my seemingly pointless questions . . . "the youngster dont understand how it was in those days Spongo . . . we agree to differ and dont mention it much these days" . . . :shhh:
The tweaking, adjusting and comparisons I have indulged in were to try to achieve something like the quality of sound I had way back. Looking at the present system . . . one would think it falls short? . . . In fact, whether the sound is as good or not, its impossible to tell after so long. What I do know is, I get at least as much spine tingling musical satisfaction, the same relaxed style and imaging on certain records (the originals from those days) that is defiantly as good as then. I can achieve more punch and drive if required with the PMC's . . . I used the LS35a most of the time in the 80's
What more can one say, thats how it was for me and how it is now . . . I supose I have achived my goal, I'm a happy ex audiophile.
CJSF