The Great Music and Hi-Fi thread.

Vorsprung durch Technik said:
I'm running an Audiolab 8000 cdm they're a superb transport £1.4k back in the late nineties but they can be bought now for around £400 in average condition needing a service? or at least that's what i paid for a mint one boxed 6 years ago. I've just had a look on ebay and it seams prices are on the up as this minter below sold for £700 on open auction. I would highly recommend one.

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The system is out of action at the moment since my brother came round and demmed his AVI 150watt monblocks. I really thought they would be better sounding than the Quad 707, there was nothing in it but that the quad sounded more transparent and sweeter in the midrange with just as much welly down below. I'm just looking for some guru like Timmus on here to service the 707 as it's got a dodgy mains lead socket connection and do the latest possible upgraded components to release some more of the Quad magic.

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I rewired the ring mains to the house 25 years ago so i put in a separate ring in for the hifi.



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We did same and Colin also gold plated the sockets hardwear along with plug same ..that’s a nice setup a lot of people forget about the house wiring but we are getting anal now ?? we had to improve the house earth as we had hum out of the transformers .this gets very technical...and as I said once before on hear you get very critical of recordings even if it’s your favourite band it becomes hard to listen to ..this is when you need to seek medical advise ??? before you end up in a secure unit .!!
 

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greywolfhound said:
We did same and Colin also gold plated the sockets hardwear along with plug same ..that’s a nice setup a lot of people forget about the house wiring but we are getting anal now ?? we had to improve the house earth as we had hum out of the transformers .this gets very technical...and as I said once before on hear you get very critical of recordings even if it’s your favourite band it becomes hard to listen to ..this is when you need to seek medical advise ??? before you end up in a secure unit .!!
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Hey, don't feel shy, ? you know it's a must! My Dad - bless him wish he was still with us, was a Navy trained electronics engineer and i grew up with huge transformers on the living room floor all open, don't touch he'd say it's dangerous. ?? I have always had a healthy fear of Current because of dad. Anyway you know it's not Annal to go to these lengths as it really does make a difference as do cables on a medium to high end system. Seeking medical advice is defo a potential risk, this upgrading lark is very addictive, now where's that padded cell. ?

Having said that the wife can hear the difference.


Edit,.......Just noticed your edited touch of class MK gold plated double gang very nice!
 
He sounds like the sort of character i was once used to all these years ago,Trevor Balis used to come into dads shop. love a character makes for an interesting world. Talking of characters,............after it was mentioned here of the Musical Fidelity A1, i went and googled,............you'll never guess but it was only Tim de Paveracini who was involved in the early designs of Mf.
 
A1 Exactly ? ? ..I’m not trying to exaggerate Colin’s ability’s he’s worked for the very best inc ministry ? ..he’s a true gent with a heart of gold to much so ,he’s been exploited many times over the years .
 
You might know maybe not, but it wasn't an accident that Mo Iqbal the original owner and founder of MA made some stupendous speakers at Huntingdon. Colin Marshall designed an early MA speaker before he went onto Epos and designed the 14's that many raved about back in the day.
 
It's so interesting to get a snapshot of what the forum have to listen to their sources through.

As a professional sound engineer (if you've just watched the 6 Nations Highlights show on BBC 2, you've heard my work, and will be putting out Match of the Day 2 later on), it amuses me when I see such elaborate interconnects being used as in post #58. There's really no need - the electrons don't flow any better than if you used twin and earth to connect up your speakers (and that was the fashion back in the 70's and 80's.

What do I have? Well my main speakers at home are PMC Twenty 23s with Monitor Audio Radius 45s for the other 4 surround channels and a Goldenear Supersat 50 for my centre speaker. All hooked up to a Pioneer SC-LX89. However, I find myself more and more listening to my headphones for a truly revealing listening session - Grado RS1 vintage (not RS1e, 1i or any of that modern rubbish) running through a Little Dot valve amp which I have got running Voshkod 73 valves in (these were original valves used in Russian ICBMs).

I've also started to experiment with building headphones too - currently got a pair of Lacewood cups running Symphone V8.1 drivers and they sound very sweet.

My work gear though is something else. . . . .
 
I'm glad someone has introduced headphones: I mainly listen to a WAD (World Audio Designs ) HD83 with upgraded valves via Grado SR225 for rock or Sennheiser HD580 /600 for everything else.
I would love to find a set of original Grado RS1
 
Ref Skipton Wow do I detect a hint of sarcasm in this piece I would think the likes of ken Kessler and martin colloms would probably disagree along with a host of others with a good bit of this retort ..maybe it wasn’t meant to be so ,but it has come across very conseted in my personal opinion to say interconnects and speaker cable or power source good earths etc etc make no indistinguishable difference to the sound from high end hi fi is quite frankly ludicrous ..I am at a loss for words ..I can only repeat what I have maintained all my life in engineering in general ..and throughout other trades 3 in a 100 excel into exceptional people with a superb talent in their field ..I am afraid I don’t see it in the above writing ..apart from your headphones aligned with the valve amp ..A very nice mellow sound with great imaging I don’t see a great deal ..
 
greywolfhound said:
Ref Skipton Wow do I detect a hint of sarcasm in this piece I would think the likes of ken Kessler and martin colloms would probably disagree along with a host of others with a good bit of this retort ..maybe it wasn’t meant to be so ,but it has come across very conseted in my personal opinion to say interconnects and speaker cable or power source good earths etc etc make no indistinguishable difference to the sound from high end hi fi is quite frankly ludicrous ..I am at a loss for words ..I can only repeat what I have maintained all my life in engineering in general ..and throughout other trades 3 in a 100 excel into exceptional people with a superb talent in their field ..I am afraid I don’t see it in the above writing ..apart from your headphones aligned with the valve amp ..A very nice mellow sound with great imaging I don’t see a great deal ..
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So would you go as far as to use a directional speaker cable then, for that ultimate sound?

Honestly, doing blind tests on back to back listening with interconnects costing £20 or £2000, I guarantee you'll not hear the difference. As long as there's enough metal to carry the current and not to impede the flow of electrons, all these esoteric descriptions of cables being "tighter", "clearer", "more spacious" etc, are solely designed to part Joe Public with their hard earned cash.

A good earth is a must, and it's beneficial to have your hi-fi on a circuit separate from the fridge or oven etc, but having gold plated, 9N copper, silver plated and so on is overkill. Having said that, the gold plating does mean that your plugs won't tarnish or need cleaning as often.

Conseted [sic], no, just the opinion of a professional sound engineer with nearly 25 years experience. And one who isn't trying to sell anything sound related, or has ties to anyone who is.
 
greywolfhound said:
Ref Skipton Wow do I detect a hint of sarcasm in this piece I would think the likes of ken Kessler and martin colloms would probably disagree along with a host of others with a good bit of this retort ..maybe it wasn’t meant to be so ,but it has come across very conseted in my personal opinion to say interconnects and speaker cable or power source good earths etc etc make no indistinguishable difference to the sound from high end hi fi is quite frankly ludicrous ..I am at a loss for words ..I can only repeat what I have maintained all my life in engineering in general ..and throughout other trades 3 in a 100 excel into exceptional people with a superb talent in their field ..I am afraid I don’t see it in the above writing ..apart from your headphones aligned with the valve amp ..A very nice mellow sound with great imaging I don’t see a great deal ..
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Thanks Paul, ? i was busy getting my son ready for bed etc but was mulling over chewing wasps metaphorically speaking, ? thinking should i even bother to reply to Skiptons ridiculous statement! Why?,......... because some people just like to chew for chewing sake and you'll never win. But trust me it takes a certain type to wade in with size 10 Doctor Martins with all the delicacy that affords.:oops:

I don't see a great deal either,excdptimng what you mentioned and as you know too well the more expensive the gear the greater the returns in the cabling investment. When i first got the Studio 50's i was still using the monster cabling i used for the top end and talk 3 cabling, i know embarrassing, for the bottom end. I then went out and purchased for a bargain price, as my brother loaned me his to try, a set of ebay, Audioquests Crystal 2 seen in the above pic by the 707. Paid just under £200 for a 1K worth of terminated cabling. Wow the difference was night and day!

There was another one the other week where an innocent newcomer, i think it was, asked about make of Oil preference and the the reply came back it's all the same just depends on what religion you believe. Again another ridiculous statement. Scarcasm writ large.
 
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Vorsprung durch Technik said:
Which i showed but you choose not to acknowledge. ?
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Because a good earth is nothing to do with cabling. But yes, you are wise to install a separate circuit for your audio kit.

What cable did you use to the power outlet from the consumer unit out of interest?

My comments have nothing to do with 'wading in with size 10' boots, or aiming to provoke a reaction, it's just the plain truth from someone with a lot of professional experience. Van Damme cable is fine btw.

If you or anyone else thinks you can enjoy your music more because you've spent £1000 on cable, then great - go for it - it provides jobs for a lot of small British companies (who buy their raw materials at minimal price from China). I'm not saying you've wasted your money, because to you, it's worth it.

When you consider the cables used to actually capture the recordings in the first place, you'd be surprised at the cheap stuff that's used. Pretty much all balanced kit runs on Van Damme star quad now, or old Canford stuff (or even Studiospares).

Then you consider the thin tracks of copped inside your kit on the PCBs, or the piece of wire in the fuse in your plug. It really makes no sense in spending 20% of the cost of the kit (and more) as recommended by that comic called What Hi-Fi magazine, but if it pleases you, then go for it.

I'd urge you to look into directional speaker cable though. That is very esoteric stuff.
 
Well if nothing else, we are all entitled to a difference of opinion.
I can see both sides of the coin here, if you're unconvinced of the difference cables make then so be it. I for one have noticed a difference with budget cables compared to some hand-made for me by a sound engineer many years ago.

It's not dissimilar to feeling a cars driving dynamics or even the fuel we prefer to use, some people notice a difference and some don't.
 
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