Wow! A short list. A Stromberg-Carlson mono reciever with a wire recorder and 78 turntable (from my grandparents) with great FM reception. Next a Dynaco Stereo 120 Power amp. Last a pair of Kenwood L-07m II's. I have had those for 20+ years and still love em. |
Started with tubes, went through some Solid State, now back to mostly tubes. I'm a Packrat, get rid of little, don't upgrade so much as add systems (Bedroom, Basement, Home Theatre, "Listening Room", Living Room, daughter's room = 6 systems)
Pilot (monaural) AF850 in Garrard console (still have in a box somewhere)
Dynaco ST-70 (factory wired, now modified, see below)
McIntosh MA-5100 (still use)
McIntosh MC-240 (girlfriend stole)
Carver ?? (gone, thank god)
Pioneer Elite M-91 (strong & harsh & gone)
Classe CA150 then CA200 (still use)
then the vintage tube bug hit...
Fisher SA-100 (sweet!)
Eico HF-81 (still use)
rebuilt my ST-70 from high school with Alan Kimmel/Welborne mod (still use)
Bottlehead Paramour 2A3 (in process)
looking for a modern small tube amp, but haven't fallen in love with any yet (Jadis? Manley? VTL?)
I spend a lot more on LP's than I do on equipment and have NEVER had a "state of the art" system. But it's certainly easy to revisit my old sound, cuz I still have it somewhere! |
Lafayette integrated (a25?)
Marantz 4300 (left it with the ex-wife who promptly got rid of it, among other things)
Adcom 555 I
Golden Tube Audio SE-40
Golden Tube SE-100 (packed away with a shot resistor)
Conrad-Johnson Premier 11A (packed away, makes occasional appearances)
Conrad-Johnson Premier 140 (my mainstay)
These span a 38 year period. The last two are my favorites but they all had/have their areas where they shine and all have very, very good memories associated with them. |
Sony receiver
Adcom GFA 535 x2 (biamp, 60wpc ea)
McCormack DNA-1
BAT VK-500 |
Onkyo 2 channel reciever
Onkyo 5 channel
Onkyo 7 channel
Parasound
Rotel |
I stick with stereo. No multi-channel nonsense. I like to keep things relatively simple (considering the possibilities).
1972: Dynaco SCA80Q integrated amp (kit, not a good start)
1973: Marantz 1060 integrated amp (much better)
1973: Marantz 240 pwr amp w/ Dynaco PAT-5 pre
1974: Marantz 240 pwr amp w/ Marantz 7T pre
1975: Marantz 240 pwr amp w/ DB System DB1a pre
1976: 2 Dynaco ST70 modified tube monoblocks w/ DB Sys. pre
1977: Julius Futterman H3aa monoblocks w/ DB Systems pre
1980: Modified Dyna ST70 (6SN7 input section) w/ DB Sys. pre
1983: 2 McIntosh MC40 tube amps w/ ARC SP6B tube pre
1983: Also Bedini 25/25 class A transistor amp, secondary
1985: Julius Futterman tube monoblocks w/ ARC SP6B tube pre
1986: Julius Futterman monoblocks w/ NYAL NCP-2 tube pre
1990: NYAL NCP-2 tube pre into powered Meridian M20 speakers
1994: NYAL NCP-2 tube pre into powered B&O 8000 speakers
1997: Golden Tube SE100 tube amp w/ N.E.W. P3 tube pre
1999: Luxman 3045B tube monoblocks w/ NEW P3 tube pre
1999: Also Acoustic Masterpiece M-101 SE KT88 amp
2002: Audion Silver Night 300B integrated amp for music
2002: Audion Sterling KT88 ETSE integrated amp (for rock)
2005: 2 Audion Black Shadow 845 tube monoblocks w/ Audion Premier 1.0 tube preamp.
2005: Also A/V system uses 2 Audiopax 88 tube monoblocks w/ Django TVC (Transformer Volume Control) using the 6db gain option.
Notes: After a 30 year tour of duty in my brother's systems, my original Marantz 240 is back in my hands. Since 1997 using linestages, my phono preamps have been:
1998: EAR MC3 transformer + Wright Wpp tube RIAA section
2001: Bel Canto Phono-1
2004: Audion Premier phono preamp
This year I returned to a full-function preamp, the Audion Premier 1.0 for line and phono, with Blackhead transformer. |
Pioneer, Rotel, Bryston, Classe, Gryphon |
Started at 17 years old with an NAD, then went to:
Denon
Rotel
B&K
EAD
PS Audio HCA-2
Pass X-250
Pass X-350
Classe 201
I now have a Bel Canto Evo4 Gen2 running bridged which I think will stick around a while. The only other one that I loved was the big Pass X-350, but I had to sell it for financial reasons at the time, that was a hell of an amp, it would be a good shootout between the BC and Pass. |
I have a Samsung/Luxman amp: http://public.fotki.com/Thorens/samsung_irreal/100_0327_new.html ,Luxman D-500 CD player and Ecouton/Audiolabor LQL 150 speacers.Also vintage Marantz Model 6350 LP player,Pioneer CT 950 tape deck and SONY TC 765 Reel-to-Reel.Second AMP Symphonic Line RG-9 Mk3. Samsung MORE better,than SL. |
Sony ST 515 (1978 still going strong. Gifted it to a friend's college going son. Was his first real upgrade and was he thrilled!).
Marantz ST 4800 (1998)for a separate HT system in the bedroom.
Arcam FMJ A 22 (2000).
Arcam FMJ P25 (2001).
Bryston 4BST(2002).
Bryston BP 25(2002)
ARC LS2B(2003)
Bryston 14 BST(2003)
ARC SP 16 (2004).
Marantz SR 5300 for HT.
The 14 BST blew up a few days back. Plan to trade in the 14 BST for a new 14 BSST, subject to a satisfactory deal with the local Bryston dealer.
Its been a long and enjoyable journey.
Happy listening. |
Onkyo TX-11 (1983), Onkyo Integra TX108 (1986), Threshold T-100 (1997) still have it, Threshold T-200 (2005) here to stay. |
Mine is pretty short, and at this point I can't see it getting any longer anytime soon...
Sony Pro-Logic Receiver (don't remember the model)
Music Reference RM-9
Lamm M2.1
The Lamms may very well be here for life. I can't find a flaw in them, and the only things that still intrigue me are a few megabuck SETs. |
I've recently found well designed integrated amps that outperform top level separates...i.e...Krell 400xi is an amazingly dynamic, transparent and extended unit with tonal color on par with the best available. With the right cabling it is a giant killer!! |
It's getting fuzzy after all these years
Onkyo
Nikko
Nakamichi
Dennon
Hafler
McCormack
Threshold
Musical Fidelity
Blue Circle (this is it for a long while) |
Sounds like your my age!! |
Started here:
1. Sony integrated HT Proc (Best Buy new in 1999)
2. Yamaha integrated HT Proc of (Best Buy 2002)
3. Pioneer Elite integrated HT Proc of (Best Buy-ish 2004)
Here it begins really:
4. Outlaw 950 pre w/ Outlaw 7100 multi ch amp
5. Levaing HT alone for a while bought OCM 200
6. Bought OCM 500
7. Bought OCM 88 Preamp
8. Bought wife diamond ring |
Pioneer something reciever
NAD 208 Thx
NAD 218 Thx
Parasound 2205a
Parasound A21
Parasound 1206 (still have)
McIntosh 502
Bryston 14 SST
Innersound ESL 300 MKIII (great amp, still using)
Musical Fidelity NuVista 300 (Bi-amping Maggies with the Innersound and this) |
Lafayette SQ 4-Ch integrated, 3W/channel
Pilot 225 25W/channel
NAD 3020
NAD 3140
ODL HT2
Odyssey Stratos monoblock
Odyssey Stratos Xtreme monoblocks |
Onkyo TX-787, Rotel RDV-1098, Theta Dreadnaught |
Updated:
1980 - Akai something-or-other
1984 - Naim Nait (the first version)
1985 - Musical Fidelity A1
1986 - Cyrus II/PSX
1994 - SimAudio 4070
2003 - Sugden Au51P
2003 - KR18 BSI
2003 - Coincident MP300B
2003 - Wavelength Triton Blue
2004 - deHavilland Aries 845G
2004 - Canary CA-339
2005 - Audion Silver Night PX25
I just took delivery of the Audion. I think I'll be standing pat for a while - Nirvana beckons. |
Back again....In this order, going back some 25 years:
Akai Receiver
Nakamichi Stasis Receiver
Van Alstine Omega III 440HC
Electrocompaniet ECI-4 SE Integrated Amp
Spectron Musician II
Parasound Halo JC-1
ASL Hurricane 200DT
Berning ZH270
Joule Electra VZN-100
Plinius SA-102
Ayre V-5X
BAT VK-600 w/BP
McCormack DNA-500 (current, and loving it!) |
When I started with this disease we all have (1986), it was a Carver amp. Two years later i bought a PS Audio 200C and it was wonderful, giving me good service without a repair ever. Just recently bought a Belles 350A from Jman66, and it sounds great, just what i was looking for. |
Pioneer SA 6500-Integrated
Yahmaha 1010-integrated
Nad power amp (model eludes me at the moment).
Classe' Ten
and in my dreams-four Wytech Opals. |
Yamaha ?
Nad 3020
Cambridge Audio ?? (Stan Curtis design Pre Richer sounds !)
Mission Cyrus 2 with PSX
Musical Fidelity A100
Musical Fidelity A270 with the Pre Amp
Audio Research LS22 and Mark Levinson ML3 power amp
Musical Fidelity TriVista 300
and a little 300B 7W triode for the bedroom ! |
Quad 306 and 34 pre
Leak stereo 20 and stepped passive pre
Leak tl12+ and stepped pre
Homemade triode monoblocks and nuance pre
This is an evolution, except that the stereo 20 is the sweetest amp here. You can feel it humming along to the music, i kid you not. would have loved to have heard it with the nuance pre.
Want an audible illusions pre |
Fisher 400 receiver
Original Amber preamp and amp (for around a decade, these kept me SO happy, but I accidentally shorted out the amp and it was not repairable, so....)
Adcom 545 (big sonic step backward, alas, based on excellent reviews, argh!)
Forte 4a with PS Audio preamp (nice)
Forte 4a with Audible Illusions M3 (better)
Bryston 2 (or was it 2a?) with AI M3, later M3a (better)
Conrad Johnson 11a (huge improvement, score!)
Conrad Johnson Premier 12 monoblocks (tighter, more authority)
adding Conrad Johnson 17 LS preamp
toyed wiht First Sound Premier Deluxe II preamp (should have bought one..)
This was my sonic high water mark.
Then I got the DOWNGRADE bug. I decided to try out integrateds, big time. After reading so many raving reviews of cheap solid state integrateds and tiring of maintaining tubes... (Sam, are you seeing this?)
LFD Mistral (wonderful but not as lifelike as tubes)
Plinius 8200 mk II (wonderful but not as lifelike as tubes)
M something, model 208 receiver (nice but not nearly as lifelike as tubes)
Ok, what about tubes.....
Cary SLI-80 integrated, after heavy tube rolling, NICE. Have stuck with this.
DK VS-1 Mk II (NO, NO, did you have to bring that up ; - )
Actually the DK is my favorite non-SET integrated to date, but the looks don't really work in my living room. And, you do have to tube roll and leave it on constantly. It betters my Cary in authority and bass control, by a wide, wide margin, while being reasonably close in overall naturalness and offering better detail and bite. Sigh.
I expect to go back to tube separates.
Sigh.
Art |
rotel 1060
classe 151
audio research VS110
Bryston 4bsst
Pass Lab x150.5
Jeff Rowland 201
Pass Lab x250.5
Rogue 90
Classe CA-2200 delta
Musical Fidelity KW500
Antique Sound Lab 845 1009 Monos |
Nakamichi reciever (50w/50w)
Adcom 545II (100w/100w)
Jolida 302 (40w/40w)
Linn Majik (33w/33w)
Linn LK 100 (60w/60w)
Linn Klout ( 80w/80w my favorite by far)
Pass Labs Aleph 30 (30w/30w) |
fisher
dynaco st 70
carver 1.0
citation
b&k st-140
mccormack dna 0.5
SMC Revision A (on the dna)
SMC Revision Platinum + Carbon/siltech (on the dna) |
06-24-04: Strabo
Yammaha RXV-750 75wpc - Used for 10 years
Denon 4802 125wpc? - Returned after 30 days for refund
Sonic Frontiers PVA-5 125wpc - Still used for center and surround duty in HT
Lexicon NT-512 140wpc - Great amp, but still not what I was looking for. Need to sell soon.
AES-25 Superamp DJH 35wpc push pull. - Now we are getting somewhere.
**************************
A year later:
Sold the Lexicon.
Sold the Superamp.
Picked up a VAC PA100/100 and am very happy after trying a few different tubes. |
1 Aiwa receiver...back when I was a student..an all Aiwa set up: hey I was poor
2. NAD integrated...driving Alison speakers
3. Aragon power amp: pre-amp/DAC was TACT
4. Chged power amp to TACT for all digital set up
5. Something missing...chged amps to Linn Klimaxx solo monoblocks
6. Chged pre-amp to DCC2 as purchased the Meitner set up |
Primary amplification began with:
Radio Shack 80watt Receiver. Nice unit with seperate AM and FM tuners.
Sansui BA-3000 and BA-2000 to bi-amp Dahlquist Q-10 system.
Tandberg 2080 Receiver to replace Sansui stack. It did too!
Two Aragon 8002's, one just for the woofers in my Dahlquist DQ-20i's. These are really good amp's and somewhat overshadowed by their 8008 BB big brothers. Two of these are stonger yet more refined than the big horses. IMO
In secondary systems I have 4 Denon DRA-775 stereo receivers spread around the house and garage areas. Fairly good units for todays environment. |
07-25-04: Matrix
TECHNICS RECEIVER
HK AVR 25 II GOOD RECEIVER
KENWOOD RECEIVER JUNK
ADCOM GFA-5800
PS AUDIO
MUSE MONO BLOCKS DRY SOUNDING
THRESHOLD S/150 (POSSIBLY THE BEST SOUNDING SOLID STATE-I WISH I KEPT IT...)
THRESHOLD S/300
ROGUE 120 MONO'S LIVED WITH FOR ABOUT A MONTH, DECIDED TO MUCH MONEY and not exactly what I wanted.
CODA 10.5 VERY GOOD AND CLOSE TO THE S/150 WITH A LITTLE MORE POWER AND THE NEWER "ESOTERIC LOOK"...
ODYSSEY STRATOS VERY HAPPY WITH FOR THE PRICE, 10.5 WAS A LITTLE BETTER, but odyssey wins.
CARY 70B SIGNATURE TRUE TUBES 65 WATT PER CHANNEL
Now for the Big mistake I went back to Surround Sound, New Denon Avr 3805, with SACD and all the bells and whistles, complete 7 channel system, it was satisfying for about 2 months and then I found I was missing a lot....
Back to 2 channel all the stuff is gone and could not be happier,
Current amplifiers
Odyssey Extreme Mono blocks' Excellent |
Sima w-2002, and soon Moon I-3 |
I started this silly pastime in 1963
Grundig consol stereo (parents)
Dynaco 35 (kit)
McIntosh 275 (I should be hung for selling this for more power)
Phase Linear 1000
Carver 4000 (little switching power supply 400w/c terrible)
Crown DC300
PS Audio (200watt/channel) don't remember the model #
Krell KSA-200s
Krell FPB-300cx |
I resurrected my Nikko, YES NIKKO, NR-1015 receiver and it only made me thirst for more power - BIGGER COWBELLS, EVEN! Now I am waiting on the delivery of the legendary Sansui G8000. I've had two contractors come in here and put R rods in the walls, point the foundation of the house and install flying buttresses to keep the walls from being flattened when I crank this puppy up.
Peter
|
Hafler 180?, It's been awhile; Aragon 4004 Mk2, Chord, BelCanto Evo 200.2, and presently the Rogue 150s |
From old to new
Sony receiver
NAD 40 watt
Carver m400?
Rotel 980bx
Conrad Johnson MF2500
Creek integrated
McCormack DNA 0.5 |
Update- 1966 to 2005:
Lafayette Solid State Int.Amp,Olsen Tube Rec.,Pioneer SA-9100, Kenwood L07-Ms,GAS Son of Ampzilla,GAS Ampzilla II,Threshold 400A, Marantz 8b,ARC D-76,ARC D-150A,ARC D-79A, Futterman OTLs,Rappaport Amp-1,Quicksilver MS-190,Electron Kinetic Eagle 7A,MFA M-120,MFA M-150,MFA M-200,NRG A200S,Spectral DMA-80,Pass Aleph 3,Mesa Baron,Sonic Frontiers Power OneSE,Gamut D200 Mk.II,Spectron Musician II,TacT M2150,TacT S2150. |
Carver 1.0
Adcom 565 mono's
Classe 15
Plinius SA100 MK2(Then upgraded to MK3 status)
BAT Vk75
ASL 1009 mono's |
Time to update my last post from 08-10-04:
1988-93 Pioneer A-656 MKII (ALR Nummer 3 stand speakers)
1993-97 Harman Kardon HK1400 (ALR Nummer 3 stand speakers)
1998-03 Rega Mira (Original) (Mission 751 monitor speakers)
2003-04 Linn Classic (Mission 751 monitor speakers)
2004-04 Linn Wakonda/LK85 (Mission 751 monitor speakers)
2004-05 Jolida JD302B (Mission 751, Spendor S3/5, Omega Super 3)
2004-04 Audio Aero Prima (very nice, but returned due to problems)
2004-04 Unison Unico (awful sound, sold after 3 months)
2005 Sonic Impact T-amp (Cain Abby)
2005 Bottlehead S.E.X amp (Cain Abby)
2005 First Watt F1 (Cain Abby)
2005 Fi Super X 2A3 amp (Cain Abby)
I guess the list got quite a bit longer :-) since last time.... |
Updated:
Sony receiver
Adcom GFA 535 x2 (biamp, 60wpc ea)
McCormack DNA-1
BAT VK-500
BAT VK-75se (tubes!) |
this is Tim,
I have upgraded to Symphonic LIne RG4, it made a huge difference.
|
Pioneer SX-838 receiver
Yamaha CR-2040 receiver
conrad-johnson MV-75A
PS Audio 200c
conrad-johnson premier 12's |
Let's see...
1971: Dynaco SCA-80 integrated (40 Wpc solid state)
1973: SAE (100 Wpc) power amp
1978: 40 WpC Pioneer integrated (went back to school)
1985-1999: had nothing more than a boom box
1999: Quad 405-II (100 Wpc)
2000: Bryston 4B (original), Quad 606, Meitner MTR-101 monos
2000-2005: Muse Model 100 (x 2), Classé Model 15, Bryston 4B-SST, OCM 500, had MTR-101s upgraded, Bryston B100-SST integrated, Meitner STR-55 (upgraded in 2004), Quad II monos (tube; rebuilt to original specs); AudioNote tube amp of unknown model (10 wpc push-pull).
The Meitner MTRs have stayed in my main system, as I haven't auditioned anything else that I've liked as much.
The Meitner STR-55 remains in my office syste for the same reason.
The OCM 500 was a very good amp--I preferred it to a brand new Bryston 4B-SST, but I'm severely downsizing the living room system because it hardly ever gets used, so now I'm back to the Muse Model 100. |
1974 Sherwood Receiver;
1977 NAD integrated;
1982 Dynaco ST70;
1991 VTL Compact 80;
1997 Decware Zen SE84b;
2002 Bottlehead Paramour 2a3;
2003 Welborne 300b DRD. |
Why not it's interesting reading and I'm a team player.
Caztech
Bryston 3B
Bryston 3BST
Pair of Bryston 3BST's
Bryston 4BST
Bryston 14BST
Spectron Musician II
Cary V12,went tubes,superior synergy with Electrostats.
And that's all she wrote. |
Fuzzy memories -
Dyna Stereo 120
Dyna MK III's (still use for guitar)
Kenwood integrated amp
SAE 100wpc Amp
SAE 300wpc Amp (Jim B. design I think)
Threshold 4000 200wpc class A (Nelson Pass design)
(2) Threshold 4000's
OK, I stopped evolving, but that's why I'm reading what all of you have to say. |
My list is not nearly as impressive. I do feel I have ended up with a winner.
Musical Fidelity 3.2CR
VAC Avitar SE
Sonic Euphoria PLC |
hafler dh 500 for years,then adcom 5800 ,parasound hca 3500,now legacy monos |
