When ........

[Dorsetmike]

I've got Technics too, the SL-DL1 transcription deck, receiver, cassete and CD players driving a pair of KEFs. Linked to the PC so I can copy Vinyl or Cassette to Hard disc to burn to CD, or so that I can play Last.fm through it.

Wish I still had my original pair of KEFKIT 3s. You bought the front panel with speakers and crossovers mounted, they also supplied acoustic wadding and built your own enclosure to the dimensions they provided, IIRC about 30"x18"x18" in those days (mid 70s) I had a Goodmans module 90, a real window rattling set up. I worked for Plessey who owned Garrard so was able to get one of the belt drive Zero 100 decks, "cosmetic second" for peanuts, still got it, coupled to a Pioneer set.

[teddy]

Mike
My deck is SG SERVO SLBD22D. I used to have a Goodmans tuner/amp with a valve bass end but I changed it for the NAD because it used to come in with such a bang I feared for my speaker cones. I suppose I could have designed a smoothing circuit for it but I never seemed to have time. I envy you the KEFs. Lovely speakers. The dimensions are about the same as my Pioneers and I find with the bass porting they will handle just about any sort of music without any of the top end brightness that a lot of Japanese speakers seemed to suffer from.

teddy

[JHC]

teddy and Mike
Teddy you have had a rough time, get it sorted

This is my HiFi set up as you will note all separates, in custom made cabinet with Louvre doors.
It is all old stuff now but still gives good results
From top right clockwise Technics CD player this is now my weak link being about 20 yrs old and beginning to be a bit temperamental but it has been a solid workhorse and no complaints, below this a Technics TT sitting on top of a Carver C1 pre amp,
Below this a Audiolab Tuner again about 20 yrs old, I do not use this now as FM coverage is about zilch where I live so have to rely on Sky and Internet Radio. To the immediate left is a Plinius SA-100 class A amplifier made in NZ and is acclaimed the world over for value for dollar, above this is a Sony Tape deck with dolby B,C and S
This of course was purchased before I entered the computer world and recorded my own CDs, I use KEF 104 ref speakers. Below all of this are a few of my old LPs and my Sennheiser head phones and accumulated junk

[teddy]

Very nice Colin, it all reminds me of me. Old but very good performance.

[JHC]

Yep, you have hit the nail on the head

[teddy]

Anyone agree that, leaving pops and hisses aside, you get a much nicer sound from vinyl than CDs. I believe they were (are) recorded on a wide range.

teddy

[Dorsetmike]

Vinyl are analogue, main limitation is the range between softest and loudest passages, you can only make the grooves to a certain depth: AFAIK CDs are all digital and there will be some losses in the conversion to digital. The higher the sampling rate the nearer digital is to the original sound. There is usually some compromise with digital, the higher the sampling rate the larger the resultant file hence less playing time on a CD, with broadcast higher sampling rates require more bandwidth, so less channels available.

That's my understanding of it anyway.

[JHC]

Mike, teddy have you heard HDCD? I have not but believe it has not been taken up by many consumers (I could be wrong) this among other considerations is why I am not sure which way to go about replacing my CD player, I think vinyls sound excellent on a top notch TT, but unless you have bottomless pockets a CD is as near to the original sound

[teddy]

I think that I would have to be pretty certain that the new fornat was definitive before I laid out mega bucks. Add to rhat my failing hearing and it reduces the desirability of HD even more

teddy

[Dorsetmike]

I would disagree with the need for mega bucks now, my Technics set up although not top of the range only cost me £60 second hand, so many people now seem to be disposing of quality kit as we knew it a few years back to invest in surround sound and similar fripperies, or some of the "mini Hi Fi" sets that are available under pressure from the "not the in thing/it takes too much space/too fiddly to operate" schools of current thought.

[teddy]

We used to have three decent secondhand hifi shops within striking distance but now there are none. The nearest shop that sells equipment, not counting places like currys, is 15 miles away and only sells B&O. And that is mega bucks. Apart from that its the local papers or general second hand stores. Very hard to find some one to talk technicalities with.

teddy

[Dorsetmike]

Tye place I bought mine from is more like a modern version of a pawn shop people take things in to get a short term cash advance and ideally get it back within a month paying a fair chunk of interest if they don't redeem within 2 months it's sold, others just sell stuff outright. Either way some good things often sell cheaply, cameras, audio and TV. tools, musical instruments, mobile phones, computers and peripherals and loads of CDs.

They even give a warranty which varies between 30 days and 6 months depending on the item.

[JHC]

So what is the position regarding HDCD? I realise that a new player would be retro capable but has it caught on in the UK?????

[teddy]

As far as I know Colin it has not reached our shores yet. I think they are all trying to sell HD TVs and digital radios at the moment ready for when we lose our analouge service in a year or two. They probably do not want to distract the market. I have just seen the first 3D camcorder over here, price £1350.00. I expext HDCD will be launched just before Christmas to maximise on the additional spending that occurs at that time. Anyway I am never first in the que as I like to see what bugs are present before I buy. Not to mention being mean and awaiting the discount/secondhand market like Mike.

teddy

[JHC]

I am surprised that they are not in the UK they must have been around for at least 6yrs or more they are in NZ but around the $50+ mark and for some reason not promoted (std CD from $5+) I reckon they they will die, none of our local music group has any in their collection, how about the US of A anyone know?