Audiophiles hifi appreciation thread old and new

I've gone back down the MD hole recently and ended up with a deck and portable. I've been buying used discs from eBay for roughly a £1 a disc.

https://stefano.brilli.me/webminidisc/ is great for Net MD, like your MZ-N1. You should be able to transfer a file using that to check it still records, and then plays?

When I'm near my MD again I'll have a look. I've got loads, just a question of what I can part with. Will be a week or 2 at least but remind me if I don't get round to it.

So, I thought I'd setup a few cartridges before and backed myself taking a punt on this classic bit of hifi history.
Turns out it's the biggest piece of shit bastard cartridge ever made.
Shitty plastic mount?
Threaded with a different thread than every other cartridge bolt?
With zero space so you have to use bolts exactly the right length?
Impossible to see the stylus when trying to align it?
Azimuth way off?
Only one ground pin?
Fuck Decca.

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How did it sound?

Would love to know the thought processes of people that buy this stuff.

Apart from what's been said... Also the thought process of the company building it. Must be "well, if we build it and price it like this then someone will buy it". People must buy this sort of stuff for it to exist?

the thought process of the company building it

At the extreme Woo end of the market, it's usually a lone crazed inventor. I suspect they are true believers rather than straight up con men, since there are much simpler ways to part fools from their money. The buyers and sellers are codependently delusional.

Happily, after 3 hours of swearing, it sounds excellent. An entirely different vibe from the SPU and denon, the percussive attack is super crisp and 'in your face' in a good way.
It rides super low and has basically no suspension, so any warps are a no go. I can see why people like it.

I'm going to have to accept my tannoy just don't work in our new sitting room and I need something wall mounted.

Any suggestions on something I can look for second hand. Guess up to 700 quid. Though I perhaps need am amp too. I do have an old Denon amp that will do the job. Or if I can get inbuilt amp. I guess some Kef might be the answer.

Use will be music and films.

Brought a subwoofer for a good price off eBay, that I’d been looking at on and off for the last couple of months. I don’t need it, have nowhere suitable to use it, but am irrationally excited about having it.

Sub woofers are the nuts. What one is it?

At one time I had a 12" B&W sub with some fairly small Cyrus stand mounts. It sounded great. Somehow when you get the roll off and level right, the sub manages to make the upper frequencies on the stand mounts sound better.

Maybe have a look at PMC DB1 / TB1. Not used them myself but always fancied trying out a pair.

REL habitat 1.
It’s a smallish wireless, wall mounted one.
Got great reviews when it first came out, subsequently discontinued and one of those things I’d look up on eBay every so often to see if I could get one for a decent price..

Double.

Thanks will see. It seems they're passive and the idea of active simplifies things, plus wireless which makes things look neat on the wall. I'll try get a listen on some Kef lsx when I'm back in London.

A single run of speaker cable to each speaker is easier to manage than a power cable to each speaker... Plus the lsx have all the inputs etc on the back so wall mounting isn't ideal.

Have you thought of something like Dali Oberon wall speakers? Specifically designed for wall mounting and will run with virtually any amplifier.

Wow i am tired, somehow the need for power slipped my mind!

Dali Oberon

No, didn't know them. Will look them up, thank you!

There's an active version of the DB1 but they originally came with Flying Mole amps and when they started failing the company went under so PMC came with their own amp which is very very good but also had some issues caused by heat if you leave them switched on the whole time.

There's a good wall mounting bracket available from PMC for fairly spicy money.

If I was going to run a pair I'd be thinking sub as well but then I moved to the TwoTwo5 actives with a Sub1 and that's a very good neutral monitoring setup but probably better as a nearfield setup.

LB1's are very good, pair them with hypex amps but they will be more than £600 with the amps, they do need power, 200w seemed best. I did run them with a Cambridge A1 for a few years and they're fine but extra power really helps the bass control.

I have a pair of Oberon 1s and I'm happy with them. Part of the reason I got them is they're nice and neat and designed to sit near the wall. Turns out the vast majority of speakers aren't.

Cool, will be interested if they fit the bill... Here's a UK link - the Oberon range has many speakers but these are ones I was thinking of:
https://www.richersounds.com/dali-oberon-on-wall-white.html

Tbh I'd be ok with the non wall ones. I can mount them high and out the way. Just can't have huge floor tannoys.

Thanks @Airhead I have space for a sub, but not sure if positioning will work, need to look into it.
When I'm back in UK will try find some places for a listen and see how they all sound.

Found some Klipsch KG4:s in great nick locally. Just need to get some proper stands for them.

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Those look rad

I have this basic amp if anyone wants it? Just pulled it out of the loft

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@hippy any reason this and the other amp-fancier thread can’t be mergatronned?

No merge feature in the new software.