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For me, first and formost, it's the music. If it weren't for music I wouldn't have any equipment. One mjor issue is that my budgetary constraints have always been tight. So any equipment has to provide a lot of performance for the money and has to last a long time.
As an example, cassettes were once the only really portable music. My UNCLE was sending me all over the world and the only really portable music source was the cassette. The Walkman was still years down the road so when deployed a boom box was it. For home use In 1977 I bought a Teac A-800 which was their top of the line consumer deck. It's sitting in my rack now and after more than forty years it's only needed occasional cleaning. In '78 I bought a Technics SL 1300 MkII turntable and it's still in use. Yeah, I know, not on the "approved" list. Amps, integrated amps and preamps have come and gone, some up on the shelf, some failed, some given to friends and relatives. My tuner is a Sansui picked up in '79 and it's still in the rack.
Anyhow, quite a few 78's so I have a Rega 78. Picked up a Pioneeer PLX-1000, set it up for mono. Then there is the PITA, a Well Tempered (purchased used) with the reference arm. Setting up a cartridge is nigh on to impossible. Change any one thing and something else is altered, change the anti skate, the VTA is altered and so on. One the other hand, it sounds pretty good. I saw the news about the new Technics turntable, 33-1/3, 45 and 78 rpm with detachable headshell. I'd just machine a gauge for the correct VTA for each cartrdge. Might need to see about some horse trading, A more expensive option would be a VPI with extra arms, gotta love the micrometer VTA adjustment. Maybe one of these years.
Current amp, preamp and CD are all Rotel purchased over several years. Wires, current loom is Kimber mid line. I've got more money in wire than any of the electronics. I know people in Atlanta and Houston that have good shops an I've borrowed some pretty expensive wires, expensive enough that extreme care was taken not to kill my bank account accidentally. Improvements over what I have were minimal and certainly not cost effective. The tested interconnects were more of an improvement than speaker wire.
Speakers, well, that's a whole seperate post. Working on acoustic treatments right now on the cheap. It is truly amazing what you can find with the right industrial supply catalogs and with a little woodworking skill for framing stuff it's starting to look as good as store bought for a lot less money.
On the whole, my setup is pretty satisfying. State of the art? Hardly. But with tuning and tweaking and killing a nasty room node it is capable of a bit more than some would expect. Bottom line is I enjoy listening to music with it and not feel deprived.
As an example, cassettes were once the only really portable music. My UNCLE was sending me all over the world and the only really portable music source was the cassette. The Walkman was still years down the road so when deployed a boom box was it. For home use In 1977 I bought a Teac A-800 which was their top of the line consumer deck. It's sitting in my rack now and after more than forty years it's only needed occasional cleaning. In '78 I bought a Technics SL 1300 MkII turntable and it's still in use. Yeah, I know, not on the "approved" list. Amps, integrated amps and preamps have come and gone, some up on the shelf, some failed, some given to friends and relatives. My tuner is a Sansui picked up in '79 and it's still in the rack.
Anyhow, quite a few 78's so I have a Rega 78. Picked up a Pioneeer PLX-1000, set it up for mono. Then there is the PITA, a Well Tempered (purchased used) with the reference arm. Setting up a cartridge is nigh on to impossible. Change any one thing and something else is altered, change the anti skate, the VTA is altered and so on. One the other hand, it sounds pretty good. I saw the news about the new Technics turntable, 33-1/3, 45 and 78 rpm with detachable headshell. I'd just machine a gauge for the correct VTA for each cartrdge. Might need to see about some horse trading, A more expensive option would be a VPI with extra arms, gotta love the micrometer VTA adjustment. Maybe one of these years.
Current amp, preamp and CD are all Rotel purchased over several years. Wires, current loom is Kimber mid line. I've got more money in wire than any of the electronics. I know people in Atlanta and Houston that have good shops an I've borrowed some pretty expensive wires, expensive enough that extreme care was taken not to kill my bank account accidentally. Improvements over what I have were minimal and certainly not cost effective. The tested interconnects were more of an improvement than speaker wire.
Speakers, well, that's a whole seperate post. Working on acoustic treatments right now on the cheap. It is truly amazing what you can find with the right industrial supply catalogs and with a little woodworking skill for framing stuff it's starting to look as good as store bought for a lot less money.
On the whole, my setup is pretty satisfying. State of the art? Hardly. But with tuning and tweaking and killing a nasty room node it is capable of a bit more than some would expect. Bottom line is I enjoy listening to music with it and not feel deprived.
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