Vintage Hi-Fi

Jem · Post by **Jem** » Thu Jul 10, 14 11:50 am

Decided to buy myself a new hi-fi but didn't want anything modern as it wouldn't fit in the retro vibe I've going on in the narrow boat.

So that got me thinking back to my early twenties when I'd take trips into London just to gaze at the hi-fi mecca of Tottenham Court Road. The whole road was more or less devoted to hi-fi shops - some selling new stuff and others that had their windows crammed full of dusty amps, receivers and turntables.

However, there was one shop in particular that stood out amongst all the others. It was situated at the end of the road by Warren Street Station and only specialised in hi-end stuff and most of it British made. You may remember names like Rogers, Naim, Leak, Quad, Cambridge, Thorens etc. The Quad stuff looked like something out of Star Trek.

So anyway, here's what I've bought. Just got to find a Leak turntable now but they're super rare and go for £hundreds.

Jem · Post by **Jem** » Thu Jul 10, 14 11:51 am

Dave-R · Post by **Dave-R** » Thu Jul 10, 14 12:09 pm

Lovely old units those. Look like the ones the old guy living next to me has.

When I was in my teens I was given two very nice Quad mono valve amps.

I re-wired the existing pre-amps so they worked together as a stereo pair. Very nice warm sound. You never forget the smell of warm valves either. Lovely.

Lost them when I started sleeping with dirty women and my Mum threw all my stuff out.

Jem · Post by **Jem** » Thu Jul 10, 14 1:13 pm

I'll never forget the first time I saw one of these. It was almost the price of a car!

RobTwin · Post by **RobTwin** » Thu Jul 10, 14 1:20 pm

Dave wrote:Lovely old units those. Look like the ones the old guy living next to me has.

When I was in my teens I was given two very nice Quad mono valve amps.

I re-wired the existing pre-amps so they worked together as a stereo pair. Very nice warm sound. You never forget the smell of warm valves either. Lovely.

Lost them when I started sleeping with dirty women and my Mum threw all my stuff out.

Sod the hi-fi, let's hear more about the dirty women, Dave

Dave999 · Post by **Dave999** » Thu Jul 10, 14 1:22 pm

whasat? leak delta 50 or 70

smashin had one of them drving mordaut short festivals IIs

would you consider a garrard 401 Thorens TD or lenco GL88

range of prices but all nice as well stick an RB250 or RB300 arm on it and you have a smashin smashin deck

the leaks are nice but you don't have to put all of your eggs in the RANK orginisation basket.

its a slippy slope mind

i ended up here

Dave

Dave-R · Post by **Dave-R** » Thu Jul 10, 14 1:40 pm

It's the source device and pre-amp sections that are the most important. The power amp stage less so.

Speakers greatly depend on the surroundings.

Dave-R · Post by **Dave-R** » Thu Jul 10, 14 1:50 pm

Have you seen the "top end" turntables these days that have two or even three tone arms?

What's that all about then??

Jem · Post by **Jem** » Thu Jul 10, 14 4:13 pm

Dave999 wrote:whasat? leak delta 50 or 70

smashin had one of them drving mordaut short festivals IIs

would you consider a garrard 401 Thorens TD or lenco GL88

range of prices but all nice as well stick an RB250 or RB300 arm on it and you have a smashin smashin deck

the leaks are nice but you don't have to put all of your eggs in the RANK orginisation basket.

its a slippy slope mind

i ended up here

Dave

Nice bit of kit that Dave and looks VERY expensive.

Glad you brought up the subject of speakers because I haven't bought those yet. There's a gazillion different kinds going for almost nothing on Ebay. Are Mordaunts the way to go with the Leak set-up or would you recommend something else? Please remember that I'm not listening out for a Triangle tone on an audiophile pressing - Just something that gives reasonable performance.

Carl · Post by **Carl** » Thu Jul 10, 14 4:48 pm

keV8 on here has a pair of Tannoy Monitor Golds he has been thinking of selling. Speakers are 12inch in 3ft cabinets. Best speakers you can get.

Ivor · Post by **Ivor** » Thu Jul 10, 14 5:20 pm

Here you go Jem, a Goldring Transcription deck, no vinyl freak should be without one!

I've got one of these babies, a Garrard AT 60

Talking my era now

Or how about an Oracle Delphi?

Finally, 150 large buys you the absolute nobblers!

Carl · Post by **Carl** » Thu Jul 10, 14 6:02 pm

Best Turntable I ever had was my Rega Planar 3

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TW71 · Post by **TW71** » Thu Jul 10, 14 7:25 pm

Carl wrote:Best Turntable I ever had was my Rega Planar 3

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Do you use the felt mat Carl?

I have planer 3, 1979 vintage, rb200 arm rewired and tweaked by 'Audiokarma'

Like Dave999 says its a slippery slope. Mopars or serious Hi Fi?

Well maybe some can do both but both can get silly expensive.

Gareth · Post by **Gareth** » Thu Jul 10, 14 9:30 pm

Jem, if you want to stick with retro looks check out Systemdek turntables. Decent decks for the money these days. Allow a bit of spare cash for servicing on any old turntable just in case. Old amps can sound slow and lack clarity too if they are overdue for capacitor replacement. For speakers I would look at something like a compact pair of Rogers speakers. You should find a pair on Ebay for reasonable money.

Happy hunting !

Dave-R · Post by **Dave-R** » Fri Jul 11, 14 8:27 am

Some fancy looking decks there.

I'll stick with my boring old Linn Sondek LP12 thanks.