Linn Selekt DSM+amp+ Katalyst straight into Ovator S-400s. An upgrade from a Uniti 2.
Tried my best with Naim Nova but gave up on its relentless bugs and glitches (which the Linn doesn't have).
Very happy with this one-box solution.
I have noticed a few Hifi threads on here recently and I have just gone back to playing CDs after downloading for a number of years. I am currently building up a budget system with new speakers arriving next week!
I’m pretty sure there’s a lot of Hifi enthusiasts on here so I would love to see your set ups.
Last edited by Gav; 22nd November 2020 at 03:02.
Linn Selekt DSM+amp+ Katalyst straight into Ovator S-400s. An upgrade from a Uniti 2.
Tried my best with Naim Nova but gave up on its relentless bugs and glitches (which the Linn doesn't have).
Very happy with this one-box solution.
Terrible photo - I have a cheap set up, bit of an ancient mix - i like the sound though..
Cyrus III amp
Rega Planar 3 deck
Cambridge Audio CD30
Brennon JB7
Project Headphone amp Head Box S
Beyerdynamic DT770 Pro headphones
Gale Monitors
Sound Organisation rack
theres also a Neet Bluetooth Music Receiver going into the amp to play podcasts/Spotify/Phone stuff
Tne speakers are sold and to be replaced by a 4-way actie Isobarik hybrid horn system I commissioned and which I expect to tale delivery of early next year. The front end is unchanged but missing in the photo is my other pre amp, an Audi Research Reference 40. Music is life, everything else is just noise!
SFG14663 by Simon Gee, on Flickr
I had a demo on the reference Audio Research gear and Wilson Alexandria’s at a show in the 00’s which to this day was the best I’ve ever heard.
Vinyl, 3-4 decks in rotation all early 80s Japanese "super decks". Leben valve pre and Quad monoblock SS power amps into Magneplanar speakers.
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Last edited by gerard; 22nd November 2020 at 18:16.
My Beolab 5s and Beosound 9000.
When we moved here I realised the Lab 5s would be too big for our living room, so here they are in the far side of my kitchen dining room.
I suspect the placement breaks all the rules but the speakers themselves are able to calibrate for the room idiosyncrasies.
They sound awesome regardless!
Very nice John, that Beosound 9000 is an amazing bit if kit. It took a long time in development, the vertical acceleration has to be the same as downward and required a drive strong enough to work over many years use. I love the CD self levelling after each play... very clever. Quite a few computers in it. I have installed a few on the wall too using Beolink to play in B&O TV's in various rooms and speakers.
Your speakers are something else too!!
absolutely stunning! 👍🏻
I wish I had got in early - too many tough acts to follow now!!!!
Not got a pic just now, but:
- Linn Sondek LP12, Ittok arm.
- Mission DaD7 CD player with seperate power supply
- Logitech Flac/MP3 player
- Audiolab 8000C control amp
- Audiolab 8000P power amp
- Mission CLS70 speakers.
Not looking to change that set up.
And at the opposite end of the scale to most in this thread....
From the 1990s (I think) and still going strong.
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Some extremely impressive systems on here. Really of course I would love to hear them rather than see them! Here's my main hifi system, vintage Bang & Olufsen Beovox S45 with new insides and a Peachtree Audio amplifier with a chamber for a Sonos Connect in the back.
What with working from home though I have mainly been listening to this near field set up of Genelec 8010 monitors and a Genelec 7040 subwoofer, I am just blown away by this system. If I ever buy new main speakers, I will definitely go for fully active, amazing.
Separately in my cinema room (seen through the door below), I have a 5.2.1 Monitor Audio Bronze surround sound system with a Sony 1080 AV amplifier and a BK Monolith Plus subwoofer. It's good for surround sound SACDs and blurays.
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Naim CDS3 & 555PS, 2 x Naim 135s (Avondale upgrade), Naim 52 preamp with Supercap, Shahinian Oblisks, Rega Planer 3 (modded tone arm) with Heed PS & Phono stage. The oldest is the Rega from the 80s and most recent are speakers approx. 10 years ago. Jumped off the crazy hifi wagon ages ago and very happy with this set up.
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Audiolab 6000a with optical from the TV and Bluetooth for music.
Leema xero speakers. Wanted these speakers for a long time and this pair popped up on gumtree last year.
I have got all my music on hard drives but too be honest we just use Spotify now.
Keep thinking about adding a CD player but never get round to it because I think it's probably just a bit of nostalgia setting in and it'd end up not getting used.
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If your amazed by the look of John's Beolab 5's and I can tell you they are phenomenal, this little clip will give you some insight into the design...
https://www.luxussound.com/en/bang-o.../beolab-5.html
Thanks Rod
I remember you used to be a B&O dealer so you will have seen lots of these before!
I lusted after the Lab 5s from the day they came out and had to wait nearly 10 years to get these. I had a nice local dealer who put me in touch with one of his customers who was looking to upgrade to Lab 50s. My Lab 5s were only 2 years old at that point and we did a deal and everyone got what they wanted.
The 9000 is a timeless piece. I only recently added the floor stand when we moved here and it looks great. If you have a stash of floor stands then you will be a rich man - I think I had to cough 450 for this one!
Are you guys all single as Id never be allowed that level of kit in my front room or kitchen!!
I have a cinema room with Panny 65 OLED
Arcam AVR 350 and power amp, Arcam DV29 and Panasonic UB900 for DVD/4K
Speakers are dynaudio 122 fronts and centre with M&K triplole rears plus a BK sub.... costs lots back in the day but not worth much now.
Sounds damn good to me and I love anything Arcam or Dynaudio (they are quite power hungry though)
A friend did it, as I understand it, involved replacing the drive units with a high end tweeter and woofer, changing the middle driver into a port and most likely replacing the capacitors and foam that can go in these old speakers. Sounds great and I really like the aluminium stands which are perfect when listening on an armchair or sofa.
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My father bought me my Rega Planar 3 for my 21st birthday which I still have and is my lounge turntable. He wasn't that happy about it as he wanted "to buy me something I would keep", well, here we are 35 years later! I upgraded the motor to the fancier one as the original failed and have changed the belt, think that's about it, still sounds great!
In my office I have a Thorens TD125 I bought for 80 on eBay as a non-runner, gambled on it being the caps on the board and 50 pence worth of caps later it worked! It's hooked up to an Audilolab 6000a and mainly listened to on on my Denon AH-D2000 headphones. The Audiolab is an amazing bit of kit for the money and thoroughly recommended, decent phono stage, bluetooth, and a good set of digital inputs plus a very good DAC.
Here's the Thorens, as I type:
You can see the strobe still working!
(Album is I'm All Ears by Lets's Eat Grandma, terrible band name, amazing music from these young female artists...)
In my very small house I have an Onkyo receiver, with a Logitech Squeezebox/Squeezeserver, an Audio Technica SL1210 clone, a pair of Q Acoustic speakers. Plus an el-cheapo Eltax centre, old cheap Teac rears from a mini hifi and a Tannoy active sub tucked out the way.
If I have to play CDs I can chuck then in the blu-ray player.
Last edited by johnnyguitar; 10th December 2020 at 08:57.
Speakers:
- Running B&W CM6 S2 front speakers which can run as either 2.0 or fronts in surround setup via a switcher
- Q Acoustics 2050i (dining room)
- B&W CM1 S2 (surround duties)
Have a couple of amps I switch between namely:
- Vintage Luxman L-30 (1976)
- Cambridge Audio CXA60 - this feeds the Q Acoustics
- Musical Paradise MP-301 with upgraded Gold Lion KT88 tubes
Streamers:
- Cambridge Audio CXN v1 network streamer
- ChromeCast Audio
Source:
- Tidal HiFi / Masters via phone
- Cambridge Audio CXC CD player
DAC:
- Arcam r-DAC with clock modification
TT:
- Project Debut Carbon
Cans:
- AKG K702
- B&W P5
- RHA Trueconnect wireless
Misc:
- Beresford TC-7220 to switch the amps and speakers
- Schiit Audio SYS
Have just added a Mini-DSP into the mix to flatten out a few spikes in the room.
Also have an Arcam AVR390 for Atmos AV duties. This is a great AVR (once the SW is stable) and DIRAC Live works well.
Only thing Id like to upgrade is the DAC to a Chord Qutest and Im tempted by the new Wharfedale Linton speakers too but dont really have the space for them in the lounge.
Some fantastic posts!
Rega Planar 2 from 1986, with upgraded 24v motor
Mission 751 from 1990 (replaced a pair of Akroyd Coniston R from 1986)
Arcam A19 FMJ (replaced Mission Cyrus One from 1986)
My Hifi hasn’t changed a lot over the years :) Initially bought as an 18th birthday present from my father, and the turntable at least is still in use today!
Only other substantial change is that I now also use the Missions as the fronts in my AV setup. I also have a Mission centre speaker but that’s surplus to requirements now with the Mordaunt Short setup.
Edit to add: I also have an Arcam rBlink bluetooth receiver for "modern" requirements :)
Last edited by MadeOfCheese; 23rd November 2020 at 15:40.
I always have extreme difficulty posting pics on here so will try again later, but meantime I'm using
Sim Audio Moon i-5 amp, Moon Nova cd coupled to ProAc D2s on Partington dreadnaught stands, all Abbey Road Studio Connections cabling, Lehmann headphone amp to sennheiser 580s or sony closed back units, powered via Pure surge protection unit. Herself has Santana playing at the moment so i'm quite content to listen rather than hiding away.
Some nice gear on here, HiFi is like watches, a rabbit hole of expense and upgrades to dissappear down.
Thanks Rod. Ive had demos of numerous small box or scaled down av systems over the years and just cant accept the lack of depth and control they give compared to my system. Plus I think to replace this little lot with something new and better sounding could cost 10k... would you agree?
I used to have a severe Audio Habit, topping out at 20k of midrange Naim and B&W. Sold it all and rebuilt from scratch now have a totally overkill home office system consisting of...
Technics SU-X860 acting as a pre-amp but due to replaced soon - this really is the weak link but is in there because reasons.
Cambridge Audio CXN V2 - network streamer and Digital Audio Player (also connected to a 750gb HDD)
Audio Synthesis DAX Decade dac / digital pre
Audio Synthesis Desire Decade Black Gate upgrade
IPL S5TL speakers - build by my own fair hands
Bada Purer mains conditioner
No name speaker cable
Mish mash of foo-foo power and interconnect cables.
Other Kit squirrelled away
30wpc Technics amp - Part of my 1st hifi.
Mission 700Le speakers - again part of my 1st hifi and backup speakers
Thorens TD105 turntable
B&W DM2 (?iirc) speakers
Chord Mojo/Poly
Chord Hugo/2Go
A pair of hifi stands stored in a friend garage which I need to pick up and put all my kit on.
B&O 5000 system
There are other bits and bobs hanging around in various boxes and tubs around the place too, one day I'll corral them all and see exactly what I've got
Some amazing set ups here
I got rid of all my hi fi some years ago
Now down to this Naim and it does what I need it to do at my stage of life.
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The designer, Henry Azima, designed those Mission 751 & 752 speakers. His favourite was the 752 in the range. It was fascinating watching them being made down in Huntingdon. The top, rear, and bottom is one piece of wood called 'transverse folding technique'.
The cutting machine would come down where the folds were within microns so they could be at right angles and a perfect V groove cut.
The 752 was a better speaker than the 753 in my view.
Last edited by Rod; 25th November 2020 at 11:08.
Awesome the Lab 5s
Our baby brother Lab 9s say Hi...
In a small room, and paired with Lab 3s as well, its used as cinema/surround on the tv, but we stream music via Apple TV/Spotify. Probably not for the purist, but it does sound awesome - to my ears...
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Its the Mu-So - original model not the mk2
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Never had a Muso but have been told they're very good.
I recently upgraded from a Uniti 2 to a Nova. As a longtime Naim user it was very disappointing when it turned out to be an utter nightmare of bugs and glitches!! The AD ended up taking it away and swapping it for a Linn Selekt which has been faultless - in fact everything I'd hoped the Nova would be.
As others have said, some lovely systems here -
Here is my set-up,
Naim Supernait.
Naim ND5sx Streamer, controlled by my phone.
Spendor SA1 speakers,
Naim pre amp.
Rega Turntable ( can't remember mod No the one with ceramic platter not at home at the min )
Beyerdynamic headphones
Managed to find an early Black Friday deal on a Primare Prisma NP5 for 140 off.
:)
I have two systems and both are Naim based.
System No1 in the lounge
Pre Amp - Naim Nac52 + Supercap
Power Amp - Naim Nap 300
Tuner - Naim NAT01
CD Player - CDS3 + Supercap
Record Player - Garrard 401 restored by Loricraft complete with bespoke Loricraft plinth. Naim Aro arm, Dynavector 17D3 cartridge, Naim Prefix and Loricraft PSU80 power supply.
Rack - Hutter.
Speakers - Shahinian Arcs
System No2 in the dining room is mainly older Naim.
Pre Amp - Nac32.5 + Hicap.
Power Amp - Nap250
CD Player Naim CDX
Tuner - Nat05
Rack - Sound Org
Speakers - Naim SBLs
I really do enjoy them immensly.