Thats it, job done . . .

CJSF

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Thats it, job done, it was around this time 2011, I found a couple of boxes of CD;s in the loft, that started a return to sanity and my old hifi life revisited. CD's played on the computer, a pair of cheap plastic speakers, then I dug a little more and found my fathers old Rotel amplifier, my pair of PMC speaker and finaly a small selection of my audiofile LP collection circa 1970-1990, the bulk of which I had dumped in a skip in the mid 90's.

Two years of re tracing steps, asking what seemed, even to me, stupid questions, constantly 'why', but these questions were part of my long forgoten life jigsaw. Amplifier, CD player, turntable, I even turned the shed out with a vague idea in my mind . . . and found my old stands to the PMC speakers. I actualy found 2 pairs, the second pair, I recently passed on to a friend who uses LS35'a, for which the stands were origionaly designed.

Now fully recoverd my mind, probably 12 months ago? . . . The quest to get a quality hifi sound on a budget, pockets not so deep these days. Finaly towards the end of last year, it dawned, the work on the TT was as complete as one could get it, it was sounding superb, but was it being held back by budget amplification? A bit of beging and borrowing for home additioning soon indicated that new amplification did releas a sound that transported me back to those heady days in the 80's.

Logicaly, I looked to the upper end of the Croft range . . . unfortunaly, one is older, the dynamic sound that Croft produces just does not suit this golden oldie, 'pain in the brain' after an hours or so's listening. Revert to old style all valve amplification, along with the Croft I tried, Pure Sound and Icon, was not easy because, valve amps are large and heavy 50+lbs dead weight!!! The croft would have been much better, light and tight on size. However, Icon do a Stereo 40MkIII, which could be fitted in. There was an issue with the low power of pure valve amps driving my ineficent PMC LB1's at 87db . . . ? Not a problem, my music room is small, the Stereo 40 has power to spare.

I have done the deal; Icon Stereo 40mkIII intigrated amp with 'passive line in' stage, partnered by an Icon PS1 valve phono stage, one has taken a step back into the past, with a valve sound that is very sharp but mellow, dynamic but relaxing, sets out a sound stage of reality . . . Puting modern internet offerings into the equasion such as Spotify has produced a superb sound, a relaxed presentation that we can enjoy late at night, when I realy dont fancy jumping up and down changing records.

Time to enjoy music, and forget the hassle of upgrading for a while . . . 8) CJSF
 

chebby

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CJSF said:
Thats it, job done...

Until next month
evil.png
 

CJSF

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May 25, 2011
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chebby said:
CJSF said:
Thats it, job done...

Until next month
evil.png

Hazel want a new bathroom Chebby . . . she is not wrong, hornes in, wait till summer, nice weather, ideal for such works. In the meantime, music, new vinyl . . . ? Mmm, there are some tempting capacitor and valve upgrades on offer??? . . . slaped wrist, I must think bathroom, shower, taps . . . :read:

CJSF

PS, tried to change sig., site not playing ball???
 

CJSF

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CnoEvil said:
Please find time to get the camera out! :)

Hi Cno, I'll get the camera out when I have everything tidy, at the moment its in evaluation mode . . . wires every where and the Rega Apollo CD is away getting repaired, so we have a 'hole' . . . for the time being I'm enjoying a smooth, detailed and very involving but relaxed sound.

CJSF
 

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