Your old departed HiFi that you still wish you had or greatly lamented and never forgotten.

[Deleted member 201267]

Nope. I wouldn't go back to any of my previous systems.

I guess your recent purchases have all been genuine upgrades then, and not, "side ways steps" as is often the problem when trying to upgrade a system. Different kit can often equal a different but not always a better sound sadly.

 

[Symples]

Not strickly hifi (though music based) I miss my portable radio cassette (commonly referred to as a ghetto blaster or boom box)

I had another model (Sharp 9494) stolen in 1982 and replaced it with the Aiwa CS880. I loved it and only got rid of it as the speakers had deterioated.

This model had two tweeters, two bass units and an auxiliary bass radiator in the centre. The whole of the lower unit was a sealed enclosure and it had a fantastic bass extension..

 

[Revolutions]

Not strickly hifi (though music based) I miss my portable radio cassette (commonly referred to as a ghetto blaster or boom box)

I had another model (Sharp 9494) stolen in 1982 and replaced it with the Aiwa CS880. I loved it and only got rid of it as the speakers had deterioated.

View attachment 5659

Love it!

Definitely only commonly referred to as a boom box in this day & age, fyi.

 

[plastic penguin]

I guess your recent purchases have all been genuine upgrades then, and not, "side ways steps" as is often the problem when trying to upgrade a system. Different kit can often equal a different but not always a better sound sadly.

I've only purchased one item and that's the Dalis. They bring out the subtleties better than the PMCs, but the main reason for changing it gave the effect of down scaling without losing any of the PMC oomph.

The only component I would go back to, if the Leema died or money got so tight, is the Arcam A65 Plus. I've always waxed lyrical over this little Arc. Fabulous little thing and sounds great with Exposure sources.

 

[Gray]

Definitely only commonly referred to as a boom box in this day & age, fyi.

His description is more politically correct than the one I know 👍

 

[KJohnM]

I brought some Peerless speakers in 1979. Solid, heavy cabinet with two bass speakers, mid, and tweeter. I brought them together with a Technics turntable and a second hand Pioneer amp. The neighbors some distance down the road complained one night lol. I remember the rear had fuses for each speaker. I can't find a photo of them anywhere on the internet.? I also remember that the bass speaker material started to deteriorate eventually...

 

[Symples]

His description is more politically correct than the one I know 👍

Me being a black man. I never used the 'other' term ...

 

[Dougal1331]

Sold a pair of Celestion 66 many years ago now, for far too little money. Didn't realise what I had at the time...

Never really forgiven myself for that, easily my biggest hifi mistake.

 

[Stuart83]

I brought some Peerless speakers in 1979. Solid, heavy cabinet with two bass speakers, mid, and tweeter. I brought them together with a Technics turntable and a second hand Pioneer amp. The neighbors some distance down the road complained one night lol. I remember the rear had fuses for each speaker. I can't find a photo of them anywhere on the internet.? I also remember that the bass speaker material started to deteriorate eventually...

I remember having an old sansui 501 of the same time period that had two screw in wire fuses at the rear for systems a&b which used to blow every now and then when using 4 speakers.

 

[skularatna]

Sansui AU-111

 

[bp_reid]

Nothing hugely exciting, but my KEF Q1’s and Audiolab A8000s, and Marantz 5400 which were nicked in about 2015. I couldn’t replace at the time and my current setup isn’t quite as good.

 

[Messiah]

Nothing hugely exciting, but my KEF Q1’s and Audiolab A8000s, and Marantz 5400 which were nicked in about 2015. I couldn’t replace at the time and my current setup isn’t quite as good.

Ah that sucks.

My mate had some gear stolen. Cannot remember exactly now what it was but it was a Yamaha receiver, Marantz 63KI Sig CD player and possibly Mission 753F speakers - not small gear. They even took the speaker cable from under the carpet!

Anyhow, he was burgled whilst he slept and was woken by the police telling him he had been burgled.

Turns out they caught the people who did it just prior to waking him up. They saw the car the thieves were in and thought the occupants looked suspicious so stopped the vehicle and found the stolen gear!

He got it back a few days later. Just had to remove the stuff the police use to take fingerprints.

 

[Jasonovich]

Ah that sucks.

My mate had some gear stolen. Cannot remember exactly now what it was but it was a Yamaha receiver, Marantz 63KI Sig CD player and possibly Mission 753F speakers - not small gear. They even took the speaker cable from under the carpet!

Anyhow, he was burgled whilst he slept and was woken by the police telling him he had been burgled.

Turns out they caught the people who did it just prior to waking him up. They saw the car the thieves were in and thought the occupants looked suspicious so stopped the vehicle and found the stolen gear!

He got it back a few days later. Just had to remove the stuff the police use to take fingerprints.

These often don't end well, your mate was so lucky he got his gear back!

 

[Jasonovich]

Nothing hugely exciting, but my KEF Q1’s and Audiolab A8000s, and Marantz 5400 which were nicked in about 2015. I couldn’t replace at the time and my current setup isn’t quite as good.

That's tough man. Did you have it covered under Home Contents insurance?

 

[bp_reid]

That's tough man. Did you have it covered under Home Contents insurance?

Ha, yes but the boss insisted we had ‘better’ uses for the payout at the time.

 

[AJM1981]

maybe my father’s old thorens turntable when he went to Cd’s and eventually sold it. He offered it to me, but I thought we would leave records behind.

I must say that I have not really missed records either. But it could’ve been that I would pick up some records if I would have it now. But starting this now with buying good gear from scratch does not really attract me.

I also wonder how my old Tannoy M1s would have performed outside the kind of reverb chamber I once had them in.

But I don’t really miss any stuff.

 

[JDL]

I think I understand very well your regrets and with your feelings of nostalgia and empathize with your views regarding some of the components involved I love the CD 73 by the way, I believe it shared much of its design with the Phillips 303, if I'm not mistaken. That was a beautifully designed piece of kit.
I never had the money or was interested enough in Hi-Fi back in my earlier years to have a decent set up. However, I am Sixty years old. Design aesthetics and a whole lot more hold huge interest for me and being a fully diagnosed 'autistic', I have a habit of researching my interests to the point of obsessiveness.
Recently, I decided I needed to really understand properly how CD players work, how CDs are manufactured and having now spent a month or so on my journey of discovery regarding the history of CD, beginning with the Sony/Phillips collaboration that brought them to market, I've realised what an astonishing achievement it was in the late Nineteen-Seventies to design the CD and CD player.
I think it's a real shame that CD, as a medium appears to. be getting a shove in the back to push it over the cliff because as a revenue generating medium it's inferior to the Vinyl LP. In spite of this CD sales, contrary to rumours and misinformation put out by various media outlets have sold at least double the number of LPs sold for decades and continue to do so. The figures from recording industry show this to be true.
Since I got back into audio in the last few years and did an awful lot of research and tried quite few different separates, I've finished up with some rather classic and maybe to some outdated equipment. Regardless of this, my kit partners beautifully and I'm convinced there's no mismatch between any of it.
For example, I tried replacing my B&W 602 S3 speakers with some brand new 707 S2 thinking newer must be better. To be honest they weren't significantly better, more detail perhaps but too small. Then I tried KEF LS50 Metas. These were very impressive but I found they needed to be cranked up before they really come to life. I honestly think those old 805s are more detailed than the KEFs, very neutral and musical. I'll certainly never part with them or either of my Meridians. The 206 lacks the detail and instrument separation of the 508.20 but when it comes to listening to my 70s Rock at higher volumes it's got a wonderful analogue warmth, depth and slam.

 

[Jasonovich]

I think I understand very well your regrets and with your feelings of nostalgia and empathize with your views regarding some of the components involved I love the CD 73 by the way, I believe it shared much of its design with the Phillips 303, if I'm not mistaken. That was a beautifully designed piece of kit.
I never had the money or was interested enough in Hi-Fi back in my earlier years to have a decent set up. However, I am Sixty years old. Design aesthetics and a whole lot more hold huge interest for me and being a fully diagnosed 'autistic', I have a habit of researching my interests to the point of obsessiveness.
Recently, I decided I needed to really understand properly how CD players work, how CDs are manufactured and having now spent a month or so on my journey of discovery regarding the history of CD, beginning with the Sony/Phillips collaboration that brought them to market, I've realised what an astonishing achievement it was in the late Nineteen-Seventies to design the CD and CD player.
I think it's a real shame that CD, as a medium appears to. be getting a shove in the back to push it over the cliff because as a revenue generating medium it's inferior to the Vinyl LP. In spite of this CD sales, contrary to rumours and misinformation put out by various media outlets have sold at least double the number of LPs sold for decades and continue to do so. The figures from recording industry show this to be true.
Since I got back into audio in the last few years and did an awful lot of research and tried quite few different separates, I've finished up with some rather classic and maybe to some outdated equipment. Regardless of this, my kit partners beautifully and I'm convinced there's no mismatch between any of it.
For example, I tried replacing my B&W 602 S3 speakers with some brand new 707 S2 thinking newer must be better. To be honest they weren't significantly better, more detail perhaps but too small. Then I tried KEF LS50 Metas. These were very impressive but I found they needed to be cranked up before they really come to life. I honestly think those old 805s are more detailed than the KEFs, very neutral and musical. I'll certainly never part with them or either of my Meridians. The 206 lacks the detail and instrument separation of the 508.20 but when it comes to listening to my 70s Rock at higher volumes it's got a wonderful analogue warmth, depth and slam.
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I love how everything is beautifully setup, I can certainly take lessons in cable management

 

[JDL]

I love how everything is beautifully setup, I can certainly take lessons in cable management

Ah cheers man. I didn't make all that much effort. I just made sure the power cables all run down the left as you face it and the interconnects and speaker cables to the right. Luckily the AC power inputs are all on the same side of every component. That means I can't add any Naim to it because they seem to put the power on the other side to everyone else. And they use proprietary cables I believe.
I feel slightly embarrassed at the maybe silly number of CDPs, but I love the medium and sometimes I'm listening for 16 hours a day, every day for weeks. That way I can rotate through them. And they're selling for peanuts if your lucky.
Do you know the spiral on a CD is about 5km long. Incredible.

 

[plastic penguin]

If I was looking for something retro, my old Pioneer SA-706 would be high on the list. But I think this is more nostalgia and going back when hi-fi was simpler. It was a very good affordable amp (with dancing VU meters), but wouldn't challenge more expensive amps. I didn't care about competitors just hearing music to the best level within my budget.

 

[JDL]

If I was looking for something retro, my old Pioneer SA-706 would be high on the list. But I think this is more nostalgia and going back when hi-fi was simpler. It was a very good affordable amp (with dancing VU meters), but wouldn't challenge more expensive amps. I didn't care about competitors just hearing music to the best level within my budget.

Yes indeed. That's a beaut'. I think we all love them old VU Meters. I'll always have a picture in my head of a good friend's Rotel amp in the early eighties with the lovely yellow glow of its twin VU meters.
His Dad was an extremely successful Corporate Lawyer and a partner, with an office and flat in Holbern. We used to go to the 5 floor flat there sometimes to "check on the place"😄
Anyway, said Dad had equipped both his Sons with Hi-Fis that would have been way beyond my reach at eighteen.

 

[Stuart83]

I think I understand very well your regrets and with your feelings of nostalgia and empathize with your views regarding some of the components involved I love the CD 73 by the way, I believe it shared much of its design with the Phillips 303, if I'm not mistaken. That was a beautifully designed piece of kit.
I never had the money or was interested enough in Hi-Fi back in my earlier years to have a decent set up. However, I am Sixty years old. Design aesthetics and a whole lot more hold huge interest for me and being a fully diagnosed 'autistic', I have a habit of researching my interests to the point of obsessiveness.
Recently, I decided I needed to really understand properly how CD players work, how CDs are manufactured and having now spent a month or so on my journey of discovery regarding the history of CD, beginning with the Sony/Phillips collaboration that brought them to market, I've realised what an astonishing achievement it was in the late Nineteen-Seventies to design the CD and CD player.
I think it's a real shame that CD, as a medium appears to. be getting a shove in the back to push it over the cliff because as a revenue generating medium it's inferior to the Vinyl LP. In spite of this CD sales, contrary to rumours and misinformation put out by various media outlets have sold at least double the number of LPs sold for decades and continue to do so. The figures from recording industry show this to be true.
Since I got back into audio in the last few years and did an awful lot of research and tried quite few different separates, I've finished up with some rather classic and maybe to some outdated equipment. Regardless of this, my kit partners beautifully and I'm convinced there's no mismatch between any of it.
For example, I tried replacing my B&W 602 S3 speakers with some brand new 707 S2 thinking newer must be better. To be honest they weren't significantly better, more detail perhaps but too small. Then I tried KEF LS50 Metas. These were very impressive but I found they needed to be cranked up before they really come to life. I honestly think those old 805s are more detailed than the KEFs, very neutral and musical. I'll certainly never part with them or either of my Meridians. The 206 lacks the detail and instrument separation of the 508.20 but when it comes to listening to my 70s Rock at higher volumes it's got a wonderful analogue warmth, depth and slam.
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I can relate to the autism and OCD to research deep into the night obsessively for months.
I have a few things on top diagnosed which means researching just a simple swap of speakers turns into a long journey of research from the reviews to the inner workings and design to needing to understand how they work.
I've even bought faulty versions of such things to repair to gather such knowledge.

It has its fun side but I'm forever looking for problems that aren't there.
I found a bit of damp on the outer shell of my amp the other day as I vape now I have both a dehumidifier and air purifier going in tandem on auto setting and I'm constantly researching that.
I seem to spend more time faffing than listening to my music 😠.

I had a cd obsession not long ago and found I couldn't much better an old Marantz and had to know why.
After much much research I found the Google display reason to be truer than most.

"power supplies, loaders (mechanism), build quality, and serviceability are critically important in a CD player. These elements are rarely as well designed and implemented as they were in older players. Newer CD players often don't last much more than five years'

The old Marantz cd52 Philips loading mechanism is notably excellent and times proven the rest.

I have both old and new equipment and seem to have more confidence in the old.
My favourite modern amp for sound the acram sa30 worries me yet my 30 plus yr pioneer a400 fills me with confidence every time I switch it on and hear the loud power supply click.

 

[Jasonovich]

 

[DougK1]

View attachment 6101

Had one of those in the 80's but mine contained an Aiwa system. Gave it to my sister who still has it but now contains my first Marantz+Project system.

 

[Jasonovich]

Had one of those in the 80's but mine contained an Aiwa system. Gave it to my sister who still has it but now contains my first Marantz+Project system.

Mine back in the 80s was Pioneer system. This was the catalyst that started off my HiFi insanity, gradually replacing each of the components with different brands, like Sansui, Akai. Then someone told me British HiFi was best....ah no...