Replacing my 15 year old great sounding Conrad-Johnson GAT preamp with their new ART 88 preamp… turned out to be wonderful improvement.
The Nordost Valhalla 2 speaker cables left the system for some new Wireworld Platimum Eclipse solid silver cables… much warmer. The Wilson’s love them.
Replaced the non functional JL Audio f113 sub with a pair of B&W DB subs, also a great move.
Now for that Apex upgrade for the Bartok? Maybe in 2024.
Great listening and a Happy New Year to all !
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And you did great! And a Happy Listening 2024!
That 80ish demographic is almost exactly what started me on my big spending 2023 - I turned an improbable 85 years of age in 2023. It started me thinking that I wanted these precious last years of my life to be good listening years. Demographics suggest that women who live to be 85 can expect another 7 years. I wanted those years to be the best audio experience I could afford. I am quite pleased with my acquisitions as I think each one has incrementally improved my audio system.
I started this thread by documenting my acquisitions (the Luxman CL-38uC preamplifier and Luxman MQ-88uC amplifier and Ayre DX-5 DSD SACD player and Bang&Olufsen Beogram 4004 turntable and Nakamichi DR-1 tape cassette player) and they have all added immensely to my enjoyment of my music system because each one has improved my system. There was one more acquisition that didn’t get included in 2023 and that was a subwoofer. Quad electrostatics are notoriously bass shy and I wanted to add a subwoofer. One providentially came my way just today! A used Legend PSW1250. With that I think my system is finally complete. Maybe I might upgrade some power cables.
2023 was a very expensive year.
Did change my Dali Epicon 6 for Epicon 8
Did buy Holo May KTE R2R DAC and did buy a Gryphon Diablo 300 with phono module
So I think 2024 will be a very cheap year because I’m out of money right now
2 Likes
Torben_Rick
(Torben - A Dane living in Hamburg - Roon Lifer)
63
ELAC Debut ConneX DCB41 as computer speakers. Figured out that I spend most of my time working so having a HiFi system is nice but it is much more practical to have good speakers on my desk.
Added Marantz CD6007 to my main system.
Also bought a bunch of small stuff that taken together can easily be more expensive than the big purchases (zerostat gun, audiotechnica cleaning accessories for the turntable, pro-ject clamp, speaker stands, etc.)
After much looking, researching and listening, I picked up an Innuos Zen mini SSD with separate power supply. I also got a Border Patrol DAC SE-i and a Triode Wire Labs Passion USB cable. Picked up a bunch of vinyl, too, now that i reflect on the year in review.
I bought a Yamaha RN2000a amp and a pair of ELAC Solano BS283 bookshelf speakers and this just might be my forever system
Absolutely perfect for my setup
I don’t dare count how many CDs I’ve purchased in 2023! At least most of them were at low used prices. Thanks to Roon and streaming, new CDs are no longer necessary. Thank you Amazon, eBay and Discogs! But I also acquired an Ayre DX-5 DSD SACD player and discovered the much too high cost of SACDs. I’ve had to ration those purchases. Many come from Japan or Europe and when the cost of postage is added it makes them even more costly.
This year was ‘the year of odds and ends’. Stuff to fill gaps for the secondary and tertiary systems. Generally I get used gear, as why pay retail?!?
In 2023, I got:
PS Audio PerfectWave SACD Transport (Used. For the I2S DSD output, mostly)
Hegel H190 (New! What a perfect little integrated!)
Wiim Pro Plus streamer (New. Because my Apple Airport Express would no longer connect to my modern network, and I can’t get the newer MacOSs to see it to change the configuration)
I also got my Brooklyn Amp+ repaired. One day I turned it on, and it shot a spark across the room. Luckily, they fixed it gratis.
Sadly, my Parasound Halo A51 developed a hum. I haven’t totally ruled out a ground loop I can fix externally. I’m hoping I don’t have to send it out. Parasound’s support has been less-than-stellar totally ignoring me after the initial reply which was a non-answer to my questions. So now the Hegel, which was the core of the Tertiary system is amping the primary system’s 803Ds.
I have to chime in again because I forgot to mention yet another newbie piece of equipment to my music system. Two Tripp-Lite 500 watt Isolation Transformers. I have my analog gear plugged into one and my digital gear in the other. They have reduced EMI noise from more than 1000 mVp.p to about 60 mVp.p.
I had been advised to install a dedicated line, but an electrician laid out a facsimile of a dedicated line from my panel into the living room where my music system lives and it measured just the same as all the other circuits in my house. IOW, it would have been a worthless expense.
Them were definitely the days!!
When I discovered that Quad speakers were perfect for my musical tastes I also discovered they were way more expensive than I could afford. But then I discovered that the prices in the UK were less than half what they were in the US. I found a London dealer who would sell me speakers if set foot inside their store. Providentially my brother had a business trip to London and he set foot in the store on my behalf and I wound up with Quad ESL-63s and I also bought a Quad 405/2 power amplifier and a Quad 44 preamp and an FM tuner. All for less than the cost of the speakers alone in the US.
Mike, I note with interest that you had the same amplifier. That was a little unusual because it was not the usual amp paired with the Quad 44, instead it was intended for use in pro systems, but I wanted it anyway and apparently you did too.
The progression was the 33/303 (which I never had) then the preamp went to 34 then to 44
The power amp was 303, old and still trusty I hear, then the “power dumping technology” 405
My pre-amp was a 33 originally then I went 34.(looking at pictures I am wondering if I did go 44 or not) The power amp was originally a 405 as purchased but upgraded by Quad to the 405-II after sales . It involved a bigger and better power supply.
I lived less than a 100 miles from Huntingdon so I took the 405 for a ride to be upgraded and I had the 33 “serviced back to original spec” while I was there. Quad were very snooty , I spotted the little Quad light had been changed , I got “It wouldn’t be original spec if we hadn’t !!”
I have a rack mount ex bbc 521f in the studio that had got noisy (similar circuit to the 405). I dropped it in, and for a very modest price it is now working perfectly.
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(zerostat gun, audiotechnica cleaning accessories for the turntable, pro-ject clamp, speaker stands, etc.)
