I must be going deaf or nuts (or both) !

[MJ.]

A wee bit concerning this.

I've been having a clear out / junking session and came across a box of bits I haven't re-"discovered" for a while.

So, as a result of this. I'm sat here listening to vinyl via a £30 TT (£200 cartridge) into a 3 input £20 Phono/Pre into a £25 Amp into my Dittons and it sounds bloody marvellous :rockin: . Silly what you can achieve for buttons.

Not up to the main rig standard but happy days nevertheless j:

 

[ThELiZ]

As I have noticed of late, the more money I've pumped into my hifi over the years, the less I seem to be enjoying the music. I remember really enjoying music and looking for more music. Ever since I got into hifi I seem to be more worried about the sound it is making. I'm not sure if that is even giving me any enjoyment. The pursuit of gear has taken over the pursuit of new music. Sad times.

I have had way more fun when I haven't worried about the system. For instance, in a record store in Chicago I just spent ages listening to records on an SL1210 through some cheap over ear headphones. It was so much fun!

I'm very interested in a cheap tt setup for the purpose of maybe kicking my music habit back off again. What are you running?

 

[MJ.]

This really, REALLY cheap set-up is a Technics SL-Q303 turntable (fully Auto, pretty much on a par with a bog standard 1210 IMHO) into an IEC (?) TC-754 Phono/Pre (can't even remember where I got it from) which doesn't fare at all badly in the detail / space / soundstage stakes, into a cheap Chinese T-Amp into my Ditton 44's.

Been listening on and off all morning (have to do some work); quite stupidly engaging to be honest.

 

[EGG 1954]

Isn't this the dilemma we all face?

I was buying some albums in a local record store and the guy had a cheapo turntable with matchbox speakers but it sounded just right! I went home to play the (second hand) albums and, sure, they sounded "better" (more grown up if I can say that!) and I keep trying hard to resist the upgrades but it is tough.

Have Icon SET amps which I can upgrade to KT 150 and the hand keeps reaching for the credit card......Noel's review in HFW had me drooling. My school reports always said I was easily led!

 

[Guest]

Mike, I used to have a Technics SL-Q202 (semi auto) and with a 2M Blue /AT95e fitted and a decent mat, I was pretty darn good, sort of a suspended chassis too!

 

[MJ.]

I'm also using a 2M Blue Rob and a cork composite mat and it is producing a sound that is far more than acceptable.

 

[gintonic]

I had a similar experience a couple of weeks back. In our office at home, I got out my old Roksan Caspian mk 1 amp, an early squeezebox (no fancy DAC etc just straight into the amp) and a really old pair of Heybrook HB1 speakers that I refoamed last year. I found the whole listening experience really engaging in many ways much more so that the main system,

 

[MJ.]

Isn't this the dilemma we all face?I was buying some albums in a local record store and the guy had a cheapo turntable with matchbox speakers but it sounded just right! I went home to play the (second hand) albums and, sure, they sounded "better" (more grown up if I can say that!) and I keep trying hard to resist the upgrades but it is tough.

Have Icon SET amps which I can upgrade to KT 150 and the hand keeps reaching for the credit card......Noel's review in HFW had me drooling. My school reports always said I was easily led!

For some of us, I think it is Geoff, although many are equally happy and have the resources to pursue replay excellence.

A few years back, personal circumstances meant that I had to sell all of my then quite expensive hi-fi equipment and so I started to buy budget / bargain / vintage as I still love (obviously) my music and hi-fi. I spent the first couple of years kidding myself that my cheap kit sounded as good as my more expensive gear but over the last couple of years I have learnt an awful lot about synergy, equipment matching, the massive importance of transducers relative to the rest of the replay chain etc and now I know that you can actually build a very good sounding system (to your ears) for not a lot of money and I personally find it more enjoyable from both a musical and hi-fi perspective.

Not quite the 80 / 20 rule, but IME I have found that you can do about 90% of the SQ for about 10% of the cost. Mind you, that doesn't mean there is anything at all wrong in pursuing the other 10%; most of us would if we could

 

[la toilette]

I don't think this should surprise anyone really.

For me the most significant steps up in terms of quality I've experienced when changing kit were the very first ones I made i.e. from all-in-one midi system to cheap 2nd hand separates, and then my first amp upgrade and my first properly decent speakers. Everything else since then has really been minor improvements, swapping one compromise for another or just sideways moves. I've certainly considered cashing it all in and buying much cheaper stuff, especially as I now have a good idea of what I could pick up for a couple of hundred notes that would probably sound bloody ace!

As Mike says above in fact

 

[awkwardbydesign]

It's all been downhill since the Dansette in 1970.

 

[lordmortlock]

This is a lot to do with expectation I think. It's easier to just relax and enjoy listening to a 'cheap' system. There's no pressure for it to perform.

 

[MJ.]

This is a lot to do with expectation I think. It's easier to just relax and enjoy listening to a 'cheap' system. There's no pressure for it to perform.

Certainly an element Jake.

If you're expecting nothing and get a fair bit you do tend to be pleasantly surprised

 

[mad-moon]

Hahahahahahahahahahaha...lambs to the slaughter... :rofl:

 

[bandit pilot]

Certainly an element Jake.If you're expecting nothing and get a fair bit you do tend to be pleasantly surprised

This is exactly where the upgrade bug bites. You sit there happy with your small outlay system that just works, and you start thinking how much better it must be if you spend ten times that much. So off you trot down the shop with your piggy bank, drop a house on a system, and then spend 3 more houses tweaking it to perform up to your expectations.

It's bloody madness!

 

[Pussycat]

It's all been downhill since the Dansette in 1970.

And it was an antique even then !

 

[bandit pilot]

And it was an antique even then !

I think it was Pye Black Tulip system, or something like it, that used to chug tunes out at my Mum's. It was The Beatles or The Beatles.

 

[ThELiZ]

This is exactly where the upgrade bug bites. You sit there happy with your small outlay system that just works, and you start thinking how much better it must be if you spend ten times that much. So off you trot down the shop with your piggy bank, drop a house on a system, and then spend 3 more houses tweaking it to perform up to your expectations. It's bloody madness!

This is exactly what happened to me!

 

[MJ.]

This is exactly where the upgrade bug bites. You sit there happy with your small outlay system that just works, and you start thinking how much better it must be if you spend ten times that much. So off you trot down the shop with your piggy bank, drop a house on a system, and then spend 3 more houses tweaking it to perform up to your expectations. It's bloody madness!

I went through that 8 - 10 years back and thoroughly enjoyed it; spent 4 or 5 years happily buying better and better (more expensive) kit and spent less time really listening to music.

Then life caught up with me, gave me a damn good kicking and I had to sell off all my gear. I'm still bottom dwelling kit wise (and, realistically, probably always will be now) but enjoying the music more and the 'hi-fi' game just as much.

Glad I've seen both ends though and it has taught me that you can enjoy good music and a pretty good SQ from a couple of hundred quid up, so I know I'll never be without some half decent tunes

 

[Pete the Feet]

Sitting in a pub or restaurant with a bit of decent music in the background often makes me think what have I wasted my money on?

Sent from my C1905 using Tapatalk 2