Any HI-FI Buffs on here ?? I need some advice.

[raleighnut]

Both are right, to an extent.

In the pro/live audio world, “quality cables” are an essential. But that’s more to do with the physical construction, hard-wearing-ness, and how well they coil than their sonic properties.

It always amuses me, listening to the “audiophools”, with their directional crystalline cables, which apparently make the music sound so much more well defined. It’s funny that they’ll wire up their playback machines with stuff that costs a small mortgage, yet the recording studios which generated the material, and most of the world’s major broadcasters, will be cabled in stuff that costs less than 50p a metre...

There is a 'diminishing returns' thing going on with cabling though, once you get away from the cheap/free interconnects that are given away in the box and move to 'decent' cables (and more importantly the plugs) to a lead that costs £15-20 the gain in sound quality is noticeable but beyond that the difference is pretty minimal.
Likewise with speaker cabling, the difference between 'bell wire' and hefty cabling is very pronounced but again decent 96 strand QED cabling (I paid £1 a metre) is pretty much as good as it gets.

 

[Profpointy]

There are amazing thing discovered by hi fi engineers, particularly the genuinely new physics revealed by cable developments . If only they wrote up their claims in a proper journal they'd have the Nobel prizes sewn up for the next decade

 

[User482]

The Rega would be better as the SME was designed for light tracking weights and old cartridges like the Shure M75ED. It doesn't work well with MC types or those needing a bit more mass.
The standard 166 arm was not it's best feature and the Rega arm transforms it.
My friend fitted a Linn Basik arm on a TD150 and that worked very well too.

I have an SME IIIs on my Thorens TD-126. I settled on an Ortofon 530mk2 MM cartridge, as its high compliance would seem to be a good match for a low mass tonearm. I believe there are some suitable MC carts available if your pre-amp will take it.

(yes, I'm a riot).

 

[swee'pea99]

I'm going to have a guess at Pioneer PL12D

That was my old deck! Before I got my current Pro-ject 1.2. Which has served me very well for twenty-odd years. And will continue to do so pending the arrival of my new family member - a Rega Planar 2 with R200 tone arm, to which I will fit my Pickering XSV3000. I'm a bit giddy in anticipation - can you tell?

 

[Gorillacoffee]

I have what was a reasonably good "separates" system. Its Techniques and is perhaps 20 years old (it was one of their better ones at the time).
I have an amplifier, tuner, CD player and record deck
My speakers are Heybrook HB1's and would (I am told) cost a lot to get as good nowadays.
The amplifier is on the way out........can't get it repaired.
The CD player is also giving some problems.
Physically it is a BIG system
As an old fart I don't go for too much new technology but I am informed that what people tend to do now is........
stream music to a device and play it through those blue tooth speakers (don't know the name).
My questions are................
1) if I go for the streaming & blue tooth speakers thingies.........can I get a really good sound ?
2) How would I play my CDs & vinyls ?
3) Can I get a new compact system that is GOOD (I don't want a cheap tinny sound.
Any other thoughts from those 'in the know' would be appreciated.

Hi there.
I have some great old separates which are about the same age as yours. I had exactly the same problem but had a cheap solution to it. Do you own a smart phone like an iPhone or similar? If so... great. You can stream music using platforms such as Deezer or Spotify via your phone (there are free and paid for options to these services - I can explain more if required). I then used a simple "jack" to connect my phone to the separate - hey presto! Deezer and Spotify have millions of songs on them so you should be able to find all your old CD's.

If you are looking to invest in some new kit, I highly recommend Bose "Soundtouch". They do everything you need (via your Bluetooth device) to play music. They follow the same principle as above but rather than use a wire, it uses the magic of Wi-Fi technology.

Answers to your questions...
1 - yes but you get what you pay for
2 - You "should" be able to get all your music on Spotify and deezer - the quality will be better to
3 - yes you can but again, get what you pay for. I use Richer Sounds who are very competitive and can give you lots of advice - I have not bought a new stand alone compact system in some time as I use my phone and Bluetooth speakers.

Best wishes

 

[dim]

You don't mention your turntable...

I don't have one .... I only have cd's

 

[swee'pea99]

I don't have one .... I only have cd's

No time like the present!

 

[Chromatic]

That was my old deck! Before I got my current Pro-ject 1.2. Which has served me very well for twenty-odd years. And will continue to do so pending the arrival of my new family member - a Rega Planar 2 with R200 tone arm, to which I will fit my Pickering XSV3000. I'm a bit giddy in anticipation - can you tell?

When is it coming?

 

[Grant Fondo]

Recently picked up a Denon ceol streamer from Superfi its ace!

 

[swee'pea99]

When is it coming?

Not entirely sure yet. I bought it from someone on ebay; he's now got to find some pretty serious packing materials, and I've told him to take his time - it's not urgent, but it is very important. Then I have to arrange a courier. If I had to guess, I'd say probably more than a week, less than a fortnight.

 

[threebikesmcginty]

Not entirely sure yet. I bought it from someone on ebay; he's now got to find some pretty serious packing materials, and I've told him to take his time - it's not urgent, but it is very important. Then I have to arrange a courier. If I had to guess, I'd say probably more than a week, less than a fortnight.

 

[swee'pea99]

Thanks for that. You're a star. Or possibly an peanut, I get mixed up.

 

[threebikesmcginty]

Thanks for that. You're a star. Or possibly an peanut, I get mixed up.

I'll take that as a compliment!

 

[swee'pea99]

I'll take that as a compliment!

Why would you do that?

 

[threebikesmcginty]

Why would you do that?

Take everything as a compliment and it makes life much easier.