Diapason wrote:Haha, I really MUST be old enough for Quads if I'm forgetting them that quickly!
And JB, I think upgrading your listening room by buying a new house counts as the biggest upgrade of the year!
Agreed.
jaybee wrote:The B&W 603's were booted out in favour of some SystemAudio 1550's
Do you like them? I have a pair of the 1530s & 1750s and am very happy with them......but I could do better (of course)
I love them... they're a natural progression for me from my previous favourites... Epos ( the B&W were a stopgap measure after NTL fried my Epos' voice coils...!)
They, to my ears strike a delicate balance between agility and warmth.... the scale even in my currently cramped audio shed, is fantastic....
Brass Bands are all very well in their place -
outdoors and several miles away....
I finally changed my Michell Orca preamp. I miss the design, the very cool look of it and what to my mind is probably one of the funkiest remote controls in the business. Now I have what is basically a silver breeze block with no power supply or remote.
I bought a Music First and oh boy - I was blown away by the difference. I'm happy to get up and turn the volume control.
I also replaced all my interconnects and speaker cable with DNM solid copper as the year went along. That's it for me and cables now (yeah right!). To me they outshone the VDH, Nordost and Chord which I've used between various components. Bit of a departure going for one make cabling, but I'm happy with the result.
I have a switch in my apartment but it doesn't do anything. Every once in a while, I turn it on and off. One day I got a call from a woman in Austria... She said "Cut it out will you!"
so I had a giddy night last night.... all the old standards in my collection were rolled out...
it may not be high end but the Arcam rDac which arrived yesterday is a leap forward in my system....
to dip into the reviewers lucky dip bag of adjectives... air, depth, separation, decay, width all improved all bearing in mind my speakers are currently limited to about 3-4 feet apart!!
happy boy.....
(thanks markof...!!!)
of course half way through I started playing with interconnects...!!!
Brass Bands are all very well in their place -
outdoors and several miles away....
jaybee wrote:........half way through I started playing with interconnects...!!!
you made a skipping rope out of them?
I'll get me coat....
"I may skip. I may even warp a little.... But I will never, ever crash. I am your friend for life. " -Vinyl. Michell Gyrodec SE, Hana ML cart, Parasound JC3 Jr, Stax LR-700, Stax SRM-006ts Energiser, Quad Artera Play+ CDP
jaybee wrote:now wherever did I leave that rake....???
Its over in the power cables thread where it belongs...
"I may skip. I may even warp a little.... But I will never, ever crash. I am your friend for life. " -Vinyl. Michell Gyrodec SE, Hana ML cart, Parasound JC3 Jr, Stax LR-700, Stax SRM-006ts Energiser, Quad Artera Play+ CDP
My hi-fi journey continued this year with the following:
May-June moved from Arcam rDAC to JKDAC32, which is still improving to my ears and can take everything I throw at it. As Audirvana iterates and improves the JKDAC32 still gets better and I'm positive that there is a lot still to go. A great purchase. This was coupled with finally finished ripping some 1300 CD's to my Mac in lossless format (took about 6 months off and on) - have to feed the JKDAC.
August - took the plunge and changed speakers from my ageing Castle Harlechs (for sale if there is interest) to a pair of Martin Logan EM-ESL's, based on cracking reviews in the press and with the help of Noel Cloney. I love these speakers - fast, light and airy, more like a musical instrument than a piece of hardware. Also, easy to drive with my 40W amp. Took a while to get the positioning right, now they really sing and I'm enjoying the trawl through my back collection (go's all the way back to the mid 70's). The SQ was further improved by the kind loan of nordost red dawn speaker cables which brought a sweetness to the sound - returned these with regret after 6 weeks and am still looking out for a reasonably priced equivalent.
October - resurrected my old vinyl collection from the garden shed - some crackers there (Henry Cow, Focus etc.)- but could not get a decent sound from the 25 year old DUAL turntable. Raided the child's college fund money and bought a Pro-Ject debut carbon esprit (acrylic platter and Ortofon Red cart.). Good value, easy setup and nice, clean sound - works well with the system.
Also, very much enjoyed the Cork Jazz Festival this year. For me, live music is still king.
November - amp disaster as an ESB transformer problem wrecked havoc with my valve amp (see forum), still in for repair as we speak. Luckily, have my old Arcam alpha 10 and have really grown to like it's sound with the Logans's and the JKDAC over the last month. More laid-back than the valve amp - maybe due to the additional wattage - and greatly helped by the smooth "analogue" sound of the JKDAC32.
December - Spotify on the computer - decent enough sound on the subscription package - and a terrific way of sampling the music recommendations on the Tir music forums.
Unthank Sisters and the Gloaming live in the last week.
Hi-Fi wish list for 2013 - better speaker cables and a JKDAC32 with a quality volume controller, continued inspiration, assistance and patience from the group.
