Hi-Fi, Mid-Fi, Low-Fi

peter4jc

I was going to post this in "what'd you get today" but thought it might get some good discussion going, to see who among us is an audiophile, or a reasonable facsimile thereof, like me.

Today, I got a new-to-me NAD preamp.  The 1600 preamp/tuner I bought new in '93 had been acting up for a while, so I read some reviews of the NAD C163 preamp, and found a decent deal on ebay.  Just hooked it up, and after only one album I am very happy with its sound and performance so far.

The preamp is paired with a pair of NAD 2100 amps that are bridged so that each is in effect a mono amp.  They really kick àss (notice how I learned how to write àss w/o the censors deleting it :-).

And the amps are driving a pair of B&W 683's that are so-so, but I like 'em.  A Miller & Kreisler subwoofer fills in the bottom end nicely.

And all of that is taking the music from an old '80's English turntable made by Ariston, that has a Sumiko tonearm and a lovely Madrigal Carnegie One cartridge.

I'll listen to CD's when I'm lazy and just want an hour's worth of music, but if I'm actually listening it's always vinyl - two sides every morning with coffee while reading - 95% classical.


That's what I have for music...  home theater is another story.

Anybody else using their ears?

Bob_Luken

I'm glad you posted this.  I wan't to start collecting vinyl. I already have all of my old albums, and I recently picked up a few vinyl albums at Goodwill (James Taylor's Sweet Baby James was one and a couple of Three Dog Night albums and a Ray Price best of album) but, I don't really have anything to play them on. I don't have any "good" equipment at all. I have an old, cheap, Juliette 8 track/turntable/radio combo that I have keep in the garage area for decades. I only use it to listen to the radio occasionally. I don't even know if the turntable works anymore.

Dark_Roast

I still have my LUXMAN LV-109 that used to drive Magnaplaners. I sold the Magnaplaners long long time ago (1990). I can't remember the name of the turntable but it was belt driven and relatively high end. One of these days I will pick up another pair of Mag's and Macinntosh tube preamp/amp. 

peter4jc

I've been eying up some Magnepan 3.7's, hoping to find a nice pair used.  If not, they'll have to be a retirement gift to myself in a few years.

bigfnsteve

That's a nice set up! 
I'm also a m&k sub owner.  Can't Beat'em! Paired with some Def tech 7001s and filled in with other defech for 5.1. I ran B&W 700 series speakers for awhile and enjoyed them buy for home theater and video games the defech stuff works perfect.  
Glad I'm not the only into high end audio.  
I'm actually about to jump in making a Ht sub using an adire audio brahma 15" I use to use when I was in car audio. Just need to find the time and money for the amp I want. 

Dark_Roast

peter4jc said:

I've been eying up some Magnepan 3.7's, hoping to find a nice pair used.  If not, they'll have to be a retirement gift to myself in a few years.

 If you see them jump on them. Mine sold in one day after putting the add in the news paper. Yeah I know, "news paper" what the hell is that. Also you might have luck at an high end store. Some people trade for new and maybe they have a pair.                  

peter4jc

audiogon.com is a great resource for all things hi-fi, especially the buy/sell section.  The bad part is they all know what their stuff is worth, and generally aren't very motivated to sell cheap.

Big''nBall''n

http://www.vinylengine.com/ is also a great resource, keep an eye at goodwill for good deals too!  

peter4jc

Thanks! I used to snoop around there, but had forgotten about that site. 

The3Stogies

I'm still using 4 large Advent loudspeakers I bought in '75, great bass.  Replaced the woofers every 10 years or so and think the tweeters once.  Every time I bring them in they want to but them, no way.  Used to have a pair of baby Advents along with them for lower volume too, but they got ruined in a flood.  

Went through a few receiver/amps, blew them up, equalizer's just drove me nuts.  Now just a 200 watt left/right, bass treble, have to put a fan on it sometimes to keep it cool but haven't smoked it yet.  

Big''nBall''n

small picture of my system nothing too much Kenwood receiver and my Dad's Dual 1009F turntable and Sansui loudspeakers 

peter4jc

That's what I'd envision as a "comfort" system...  you can just sit, listen, and relax.  There's something about vintage equipment that's just plain nice.

Big''nBall''n

snag the Kinks (One for the Road) and the psychedelic Fur ( psychedelic Fur, and Mirrors) last weekend big score for me now got to keep an eye out for Diamond Head  with am i evil on it