Voyage back into HiFi separates

Awahwah

Awahwah

Awahwah

Associate
Joined
28 Oct 2009
Posts
2,342
Location
Dark Side of the Moon
During my college year I was quite heavily into HiFi but as I got older that changed. Went for more compact systems.

Anyway, most of my old stuff was in the loft so I thought, lets dig it all out and have a play. As it happened my old Sherwood AMP was dead and I almost put everything back in the loft.

Looking on the bay, I managed to pickup a Marantz PM4001 cheap - I was undecided on this AMP as a lot of people say it isn't their best effort. Well it arrived today and I've just hooked my old Morduant Short MS25i Pearls to it and I have to say I'm presently surprised - sounds very nice to me, deep bass, nice mids and maybe a little too high highs but overall this may start something...

Just thought I share for those who remember the speakers (think they are classed as vintage now) and the Marantz.
 
I had a pair of MS25s. Without trying to burst your bubble, they weren't great...
On a positive note, they're effectively free, and if you're enjoying what they're pushing out, then great stuff.
 
Nice thing about audio, the analog part of the tech plateaued decades ago. Last year I went back to a setup I originally had at uni nearly 20 years ago....still sounds great, and you can pick up older speakers for peanuts.
 
Speaking of seperates, I’m not sure about the ones you are referring to but I got these from my granny’s house, she had it in her living room for 10 years maybe even more. she was going to a compact Bluetooth stereo so I took it off her hands. Really surprised by the sound,now in my bedroom!

cjFDSPd.jpg
 
Today's experiment has invoked my interest again. To the point that I've been looking at new floorstanders.

As I've been out of the game for so long, can any recommend a couple that I should go and listen too?
 
Brings back memory's, before the fire I had a Sansui SSR 222 Mk 2 deck, Nad 342 PE amp, Castle Pembroke speakers, and now vinyl is back in fashion, Iam waiting for 8 tracks to come back:rolleyes:
 
Nos said:
Brings back memory's, before the fire I had a Sansui SSR 222 Mk 2 deck, Nad 342 PE amp, Castle Pembroke speakers, and now vinyl is back in fashion, Iam waiting for 8 tracks to come back:rolleyes:
Click to expand...

Pah! You and your new-fangled modern contraptions. It's wax cylinders or nothing. That's the hipster future, I tell ya :D:D:D
 
Awahwah said:
No idea :)

Up to £500. I have some OT coming in that I can push to this.
Click to expand...

Good. Too many people want to spend less than £300 on floorstanders and they're generally rubbish because most of the money goes into the cabinets and leaves little room for anything else. £500 is really the bottom budget for floor standers which are reasonable imo.

Main thing would be to look at what you think is missing/needs improving in your current setup. Then if i was you i'd take your amp to Richer Sounds and listen to various things. They excel at this end of the market and whilst second hand would probably get you a great pair of speakers it's a bit of a gamble sound wise as you're buying blind and won't know each brands characteristics.

Whilst irrelevant I've recently been eying up the Tannoy XT 6F which can be had around your budget from Peter Tyson as graded stock.
 
its all room dependant anyway , i would recommend going secondhand and if they don't work for you , just sell them .

as a side note , i'm struggling to find any modern speakers that beat my Celestion Ditton 130 at the moment
 
Try to avoid the 1990s - 2000s plasticy stuff. The very first and some of the later Philips CD Players are still the best sounding and super reliable however the tank built early models have no remote control and limited direct track access.
The CD101, 303, 200, 202, 850 Mk2, the very best were the CD960 and CD880. The Ohilips LH series were built for radio stations and studios and are very rare mainly in Japan. Studer professional are virtually the same. Revox CD Players using the Philips mech are highly rated. The lasers never pack up on these models and they last.

In terms of amplification old school monster Japanese amps such as Sansui are the ultimate.

In terms of loudspeakers Acoustic Reseach are iconic and natural sounding. Avoid later (late 1990s) metal or carbon fibre tweeters and go for traditional cloth domed dampened tweeters. The Ar90, 91, or 9 if you have the space will handle anything. Generally soeaking the bigger the better and must be a three way with at least a ten inch woofer.

If yoy can move before Brexit imposes tarriffs on stuff imported from the EU, seriously consider a Philips MFB (motional feedback system) from the numetous dealers and fan clubs in the Netherlands with a dedicated MFB PREAMP such as the AH280 and a pair of three way MFB boxes.
 
Some very good advice in this thread. Interesting insight on the Philips active MFB speakers from @Philips , and yes, as @signs says, the results with any speakers will depend very heavily on the room they're used in. The primary factors are how much space the speakers need around them, and the acoustics of the room.

I'd echo what @Marvt74 said about floorstanders; closer to £500 rather than £300 is where to aim for decent floorstanders. Having said that, Fyne Audio F302 are worth an audition. They're £400 a pair. They might be a touch bright coupled with the Marantz 4001 amp, but you may find you want a bit more power and control at some point in the future, so a bigger Marantz might be on the cards.

Where space is limited, @200sols suggestions of standmounters makes a lot of sense. Pushing floorstanders - even good ones - in to room corners will often result in lots of bass boom. That will spoil the performance.

The Elacs are large-ish multi-driver speakers, but surprisingly low efficiency which is quite unusual. Normally it's the small bookshelf speakers that are in the mid 80s dB and 6 Ohms. When speakers get larger then the efficiency normally goes up. 8 Ohm and 90dB isn't unusual. You may find that the Elacs need a lot of driving, and that might not be a good match with the 30Wpc Marantz amp. They're also said to be rather bass-light. If they've caught your eye then you should audition them if for no better reason than to satisfy your curiosity.
 
Some good advice chaps so thanks go to you all.

The 4001 was a £30 buy on the bay so I'm not 100% worried about keeping it. It has though, sparked the interest again.

My thoughts are (this will end in buying a new amp I know), new speakers to the 4001. See what is what and take it from there. I know that I won't speed 1000's on this but realistic that I can't scrimp either.

All of this setup is in the study, Nicholas isn't the biggest room out there but nor small either.

@lucid I'll take a look at the Fyne's.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom