Your best ever hi-fi purchase?

[Andrew Everard]

Globs, please amend your signature to indicate your trade status to other forums members, as you are currently in breach of house rules.

 

[BenLaw]

Globs, please amend your signature to indicate your trade status to other forums members, as you are currently in breach of house rules.

I'm guessing he doesn't sell Naim?

 

[up the music]

Esoteric Audio Research (EAR) 802 pre amp bought on impulse for £200 a couple of years ago on the basis that I could sell it on for a quick profit. Once hooked up to check it worked it was clear it was a keeper. Added a massive soundstage and silky liquidity to a system that was verging on the over analytical.

Acoustic Energy AE1 mk2 bought for £675 ex dem direct from AE. They'd done a few trade shows with them. Not so much a bargain price, but fantastic speed and detail together with a bass which belies their size. I'd hankered after these for 20 years having first heard them in 1986ish.

Velodyne SMS1 subwoofer EQ (£250 Ebay) has proved invaluable in getting subs to sound their best. It tightens up just about any sub. I wouldn't have an in room smoothed response of +/- 1.5dB from 23Hz to 130Hz without it.

 

[Anonymous]

i thought my rega gear was good until i tried the naim xs with my pmc db1i speakers, a complete mind blowing experience. so my best purchase would have to be the naim xs and pmc db1i's on partington super dreads with chord epic cable and chord cobra plus rca to 5 pin din connectors, i loved the rega sound but the amp just didnt have the right amount of current to drive the pmc's to get the best out of them.

 

[Anonymous]

Hi Stig, what happened to the Naim and PMC combo? How does the current combo compare? or is it not a fair comparison?

 

[Anonymous]

UNFORTUNATLY DUE TO THE CURRENT ECCONOMIC PROBLEMS I HAD TO SACRIFICE SOMETHING TO PAY THE BILLS WHEN MY JOB CHANGED, AND THE HIFI WAS MY SACRIFICE.. HOPEFULLY SOME DAY I WILL BE ABLE TO GET IT BACK, YOU ARE RIGHT THOUGH ITS NOT REALLY FAIR TO COMPARE THE OLD SYSTEM AND WHAT I HAVE NOW, THE MUSIC LACKS SOUNDSTAGE AND DOES NOT EMBRACE ME LIKE THE NAIM PMC KIT DID, SAYING THAT THOUGH MOVIES ARE EXCELLENT AND TOTALLY BLOW ME AWAY SO ITS NOT ALL BAD, SOME DAY I WILL SET UP A DEDICATED MUSIC ROOM AND KEEP MY AV KIT SEPERATE, BUT FOR NOW I CAN LIVE WITH MY CURRENT SET UP.

 

[CnoEvil]

UNFORTUNATLY DUE TO THE CURRENT ECCONOMIC PROBLEMS I HAD TO SACRIFICE SOMETHING TO PAY THE BILLS WHEN MY JOB CHANGED, AND THE HIFI WAS MY SACRIFICE.. HOPEFULLY SOME DAY I WILL BE ABLE TO GET IT BACK, YOU ARE RIGHT THOUGH ITS NOT REALLY FAIR TO COMPARE THE OLD SYSTEM AND WHAT I HAVE NOW, THE MUSIC LACKS SOUNDSTAGE AND DOES NOT EMBRACE ME LIKE THE NAIM PMC KIT DID, SAYING THAT THOUGH MOVIES ARE EXCELLENT AND TOTALLY BLOW ME AWAY SO ITS NOT ALL BAD, SOME DAY I WILL SET UP A DEDICATED MUSIC ROOM AND KEEP MY AV KIT SEPERATE, BUT FOR NOW I CAN LIVE WITH MY CURRENT SET UP.

I'm very sorry to hear this.....it's often hard to come back from a system that just sounded "right".

 

[Anonymous]

UNFORTUNATLY DUE TO THE CURRENT ECCONOMIC PROBLEMS I HAD TO SACRIFICE SOMETHING TO PAY THE BILLS WHEN MY JOB CHANGED, AND THE HIFI WAS MY SACRIFICE.. HOPEFULLY SOME DAY I WILL BE ABLE TO GET IT BACK, YOU ARE RIGHT THOUGH ITS NOT REALLY FAIR TO COMPARE THE OLD SYSTEM AND WHAT I HAVE NOW, THE MUSIC LACKS SOUNDSTAGE AND DOES NOT EMBRACE ME LIKE THE NAIM PMC KIT DID, SAYING THAT THOUGH MOVIES ARE EXCELLENT AND TOTALLY BLOW ME AWAY SO ITS NOT ALL BAD, SOME DAY I WILL SET UP A DEDICATED MUSIC ROOM AND KEEP MY AV KIT SEPERATE, BUT FOR NOW I CAN LIVE WITH MY CURRENT SET UP.

. I am so sorry to hear that. I thought it might have been a practical decision . I hope you get your Hifi back when things look up. At least the 5.1 is giving you viewing pleasure. I had to choose between the AV and Hifi and I decided on my current set up. 2 channel films aren't half bad with a system this clear and can actually sound very atmospheric. It lacks the total immersion that a decent 5.1 will give you . but one things for sure the vocals are so clear.

 

[Gusboll]

I'm sure that, for all of us, there has been a product that has turned out to be a particularly good purchase. Interesting to see which single product everyone chooses!

Mine would have to be the Monitor Audio BX2s. For me they have completely re-defined what you can expect from affordable speakers and really sound special on the end of the Marantz 6003 electronics. The first speakers I've had that work brilliantly across the many musical genres I enjoy as well.

Without doubt, mine was my Akai AM-U11 amplifier. First separate I ever bought and it opened up a whole new pleasurable (and expensive) world. Still have it.

Currently listening to: XTC - Oranges and Lemons

 

[Anonymous]

My best hifi purcase, is no doubt the XTZ Class A100 D3 - what an amazing amp, at really low cost!

The soundstage with the Missions in class-a@96khz/24bits, is just undescible fantastic :dance:

The Missions played like rubbish with the old amp (Marantz MCR603). Some speakers just need, a decent amp to show it's potential - I learned that in the hard way!

 

[Rob998]

My Systemdek IIXE900 with Roksan Tabriz ZI arm which cost me the princely sum of £50.

And all the music I've ever bought, without which all the boxes are superfluous.

 

[Sonic Dreamer]

Readynas ultra 2

Supplies all my music to squeezeboxes, phone, mp3 player and PS3's and can be accessed remotely. Comes preloaded with Squeezeserver and gets regular updates at the same time as other O/Ss

Double up the disks and you have a 1st level backup in case of disk failure (RAID).

Marvelous. Not used a CD player in yonks and all my music is available on a nice phone app.

Hi TT,

I just bought a ReadyNAS Ultra Plus 2, primarily as data storage, going on what you say I'm overlooking quite a lot of potential of the unit.
Any tip/pointers gratefully received.

Cheers,

SonicD

 

[DIB]

My Systemdek IIXE900 with Roksan Tabriz ZI arm which cost me the princely sum of £50.

And all the music I've ever bought, without which all the boxes are superfluous.

I was thinking about this question and I came to the same conclusion that my Systemdek IIX has probably given me the most pleasure, certainly the best bang for buck.

.

 

[Paulq]

B&W 685's without a doubt. They give life to any kind of music.

 

[AlmaataKZ]

Actually, another piece of kit that worked wonderfully and exceeded my expectations - Ipod Touch 2nd Gen. With apple in-ear dual driver phones sounds really good and in the 4 years that I have it I used it really a lot - daily for both music, e-mail, apps and quick internet checks. excellent product.

lt's see what iphone 5 will be like as a portable player...

 

[oldric_naubhoff]

Ipod Touch 2nd Gen. With apple in-ear dual driver phones

some hi-fi product indeed... surely the term must have suffered serious erosion recently if an mp3 player is considered hi-fi :rofl:

 

[Anonymous]

Yamaha AX-492. A powerful, very able and refined amp that can be bought for a couple of tenners. This amp showed me the huge difference between one cheap amp and the next.

 

[steve_1979]

some hi-fi product indeed... surely the term must have suffered serious erosion recently if an mp3 player is considered hi-fi :rofl:

I think my A-Series Walkman and Westone earphones playing 320kbps MP3's sounds better than most £1000 hifi's.

 

[AlmaataKZ]

Ipod Touch 2nd Gen. With apple in-ear dual driver phones

some hi-fi product indeed... surely the term must have suffered serious erosion recently if an mp3 player is considered hi-fi :rofl:

No doubts in the touch's hifi merits - gets same if not more listening time as my main sytem (due to travelling), sounds excellent (I use ALAC files) and the in-ears are not bad at all (I have compared them with 3-driver 800-quid Unique Melody and there was not much difference). As a portable device it is very difficult to beat.

 

[the record spot]

Seconded; I use a third generation 32Gb Touch and I can't fault it. And it's an MP3 player? Mine offers lossless file compatibility too so I use WAV for the most part. Sounds great. Must admit, I'd be hard pushed to be without it on the move. I use the CDP at home, but at work, on the bus, etc., the Touch is a fine portable player and partnered with good headphones can be stunning.

 

[KiwiMoto]

Musical Fidelity A100 amp was my best 'bang for buck' ever...except the third time it went bang i sold it :boohoo:

 

[WishTree]

My knee-jerk reaction was my Dynaudio 2/6 speakers which were an absolute bargain at £429, they are not leaving my house till they have blown up. If I am taking sound quality, styling, price and comport , it has to be the giant killing, stupendous :clap: SUPERLUX HD-668 B semi-open Headphones. How on earth they make a pair of headphones this good for £24 is totally beyond me. :O

Just ordered these Headphones!!

 

[WishTree]

Best Purchase ever - PV1 subwoofer at 200 Euros

Awesome Purchase - Pathos Inpol2

The purchase that brought back faith - Proac D2 after burning fingers with entire Dynaudio + B&W range (almost)

Disappointed Purchase - Marantz PM-11S1 as well as B&W CM9

Bang for buck - Mac Mini

 

[Dougal1331]

My beloved 753s...

 

[The_Lhc]

Ah, that's better...