Audiophiles hifi appreciation thread old and new

Cheers. Thinking about it it will probably be an optical cable rather than RCA which should save a bit. Those cables for speakers look promising and I guess I can probably get away with thinner mains flex with the appropriate fuse.

So, I’ve just picked up a Beocentre 2200 with CDX attachment & speakers. Really lovely bit of kit but the Beocentre 2200 needs a new stylus/needle.

It takes an MMC5 which ofc B&O no longer make anymore.

Couple people seem to be Refurbishing them on eBay for 200£+ which seems hilariously steep.

Anyone have an idea of where to source a refurbished/NOS/remake of the needle?

Thanks in advance.

You just have to sick it up, I am afraid. They are notoriously expensive. Soundsmith make new versions.

Is there much difference between the slimline optical cables and the fat ones? There is a big variation in them given it's a digital cable.

The fat ones stop you bending the cable to a radius so small that the photons fall out of the sides 🙂

Does anyone have a good recommendation for a pair of budget, but good, active bookshelf speakers that have optical in and a subwoofer out? Thinking under £500. Was about to buy another soundbar but can't get excited enough to purchase given the limited sound quality available in a soundbar. Have been looking at various audioengine speakers but have no experience with them. For tv, movies and music. Good clear dialogue is a must.

Xtz tune 4.
https://www.xtzsound.eu/product/tune-4
On sale at €349 at present too. I have some in the lounge, sound good to my ears. Though I have only watched a few films with sound running through them. Surprisingly full sound for a small speaker

Whatever in the Edifier range suits your budget

Finally finished welding my speaker stands. Sanding and painting next. I copied the Something Solid XL design.

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very nice!

I've recently moved and am looking to purchase some bookshelf speakers to go with my amp (an old Cambridge Audio A5) and a Technics 1210.

Currently looking at either Klispsch RP-600-m or KEF Q150. Has anyone had experience with either, or have any recommendations >500 mark?

I have Kef Q350s. They are very lovely, but were a splurge and thus I have little equivalent to compare them to.

Like giles I can't give a specific recommendation, I got my Kef R100s largely because they were a good price, but I've been interested in some DIY kits for the LS3/5a BBC model speaker design, e.g.:

https://www.wilmslowaudio.co.uk/wa-ls3-bookshelf-loudspeaker-2107-p.asp

It seems like a cheaper funner way to get ~£1000 performance speakers, but I've not looked into it much for fear of actually doing it!

Got one!
A 70s technics sl 1300 (not really anything in common with a sl 1200,but built well, weighs 10kg, decent isolation, tone arm bearings feel light and zero play, motor holds speed like a rock after bit of pot exercise).
No sound from lh channel, found bad rca plug, resistance was all over the shop suspect a number of broken pieces within length of cable. Replaced with a spare from another dead machine and away we go.
Has a stanton 681eee cart on it, has a little brush on it which only seems to make fart sounds and skip along the record surface, guess its worn or just a bad idea? Will try removing it or taping it up, as otherwise playback is excellent.
Suspect this 2 bolt cart doesn't work well with this 1 bolt headshell as it has quite a noticeable downward angle, put an extra felt mat on and reduces artifacts but suspect a different headshell would help fix that. Photo is with extra mat underneath.

Edit. Worked out how to remove brush with stylus half off, way way bloody better. Either brushs in general are a shit idea, or this was a replacement one whose bristles are way too stiff

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brushs in general are a shit idea

Probably this.

Did you use some scales to get the tracking weight. That cart is riding very low which might have caused an issue with the brush.

Not yet, tried a balance it and then add the mftr suggested 0.75 to 1.5g.
Tried right from 0.75 to 5g, defo better on the brush front at the full 5g but then doesn't sound great either. Took brush off and running at around 1.25g to 1.5g range (+/- who knows how much) and sounds fine.
I think your right, cart just doesn't look happy in this headshell, means the brush is sitting at a steep angle. Will try and get another headshell and start again.
Impressed with isolation though, wooden floors here vibrate when upstairs are running about (can't hear them but certainly feel it) which made any previous turntable skip about.

Elderly person in my family wants to listen to their old classical music on CD again.
No Audiophile by any means but I understand they'd love to have the sound they had back in the nineties (delivered back then by a decent harman kardon amp and some rather big Canton speakers).
Anyways there are limitations:

• budget is €500 max (for amp, cd-player and speakers)
  
• no space for big speakers (basically means it's going to be a satellite / sub combo)
  
• no space for big fat components (amp & cd-player need to be less than 30cm deep)
  
  

..so basically I guess I'm looking at one of those compact systems like Denon was famous for.
Alas one with enough oomph to drive the sub!

Do you guys have any suggestions or other ideas?
Ta!

Denon /marantz still do a £500 all in one system, now has some mild streaming capabilities too. Ruark (or whoever owns that name now) also do one, see them in john Lewis occasionally

I finally have my Moon I-5 amp back from repair after an unbelievable saga.
Took it to a locally well known and regarded electronics engineer in February 2019. Long story short the repair chap sadly developed some serious health issues and I didn't hear from him for 12 months. Complete radio silence. When he finally got in touch and explained I completely understood. He'd had a tough time...
The amp remained unrepaired. Took it to the local Moon dealer to be sent back to the distributor for repair. That was in March last year just before lock down. Eventually got it back just before Christmas!

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Yea, wasn't surprised really that it's Denon who's still keeping those compact things going!
Looking good; don't need the streaming capabilities, but there's simpler ones as well (like this)- yet I'm worried they will be able to drive a (passive) sub / sattelite combo.

Put it another way - how do I figure out how powerful an amp I need to use a sub like that?

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how do I figure out how powerful an amp I need to use

Find out the sensitivity of the speakers, estimate how loud you want to go, do maths, double the result to give yourself some headroom

do maths

which maths

which maths

Logarithms 🙂

There are online calculators, here's one:
https://geoffthegreygeek.com/calculator-amp-speaker-spl/

I’ve been ripping some CDs to flac files and have been having the occasional issue with errors/skipping.

The CDs aren’t in an atrocious condition - they don’t skip on a Pioneer separates deck. I could just play the affected tracks through on that and record to a file that way, but does anyone have experience using CD repair kits?

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0013IPAJY/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_fabc_yvE8FbGKCBTEZ