First post on the forum and funnily enough, as I just got a completely new system following a ten year hiatus (due to the fact that my now ex-wife hated any kind of noise, mostly including music), I was reminiscing about my old systems and the path that brought me to here:
1990
- Sony CDP-490, which was my 18th birthday present
- Trio Kenwood Ka2000 integrated amp inherited from my grandfather
- Kef concentric driver speakers inherited from my father
This was installed in my bedroom which was tiny, maybe 2m by 3m. The speakers were mounted on the wall above my bed and the CDP & amp in the space built into the underside of the bed.
1995 - bought from Moorgate acoustics in Sheffield after I graduated from univeristy
- Arcam Alpa One CDP and Integrated Amp
- Moraudant Short MS10 speakers
I only had this system a very short time as it travelled with me from Sheffield to London where I started my 'career'.
1996 - bought from Hifi Lounge as was at the top of Tottenham Court road in London. I remember vividly they used to sell very high end systems and my exceptionally modest system felt paltry in comparrison to sounds eminating from the other demo rooms
- Marantz CD 63SE MKII ostensibly because that was the MUST HAVE sub £500 CDP at the time
- Cyrus 3 integrated amp; added the PSX-R later
- Mission 771 stand mount speakers
- Audioquest Indigo interconnect & speaker cable
This is the system I owned the longest and travelled with me from London back to Manchester when I did my Masters and then to Chester.
2005 - bought from Adventures in HiFi in Chester
- Naim CDX-2; later added XPS-2
- Naim 202/200; later added Hi-Cap
- Dynaudio 52SE; later swapped for Shahinian Arcs in 2006
This was the system that made me feel I'd reall 'arrived' in the world of high(er) end audio. It was very exciting to buy and a crazy purchase only made possible by cashing in an endowment policy I no longer needed. Thish was the second poorest financial decision I ever made (after selling my flat in London to finance an MBA. I should have kept the flat, rented it out and borrowed the money!) But poor as that decision was, the system gave me a huge amount of joy. It moved with me from Chester to Croydon (where I lived happily without a TV for six months) and then into my girlfriend's house and then the family home after we married. I had it in a dedicated listening room for a few years and then when kids arrived and my wife's tolerance for noise and me disappearing upstairs to listen rather than watch telly evaporated, I ended up selling it all on.
2020 - bought from G-Point AUDIO and a huge milestone in my audiophile journey. I promised myself I would buy a dream (for me) system when I finally got into my own place and this is it!
- Lukasz LDM Mini server
- Lampizator Golden Gate DAC
- Silvercore 833 monobloc SET amps
- Horns FP10
- Hifidelity HFC CT1-U RCA interconnect & speaker cables
1990
- Sony CDP-490, which was my 18th birthday present
- Trio Kenwood Ka2000 integrated amp inherited from my grandfather
- Kef concentric driver speakers inherited from my father
This was installed in my bedroom which was tiny, maybe 2m by 3m. The speakers were mounted on the wall above my bed and the CDP & amp in the space built into the underside of the bed.
1995 - bought from Moorgate acoustics in Sheffield after I graduated from univeristy
- Arcam Alpa One CDP and Integrated Amp
- Moraudant Short MS10 speakers
I only had this system a very short time as it travelled with me from Sheffield to London where I started my 'career'.
1996 - bought from Hifi Lounge as was at the top of Tottenham Court road in London. I remember vividly they used to sell very high end systems and my exceptionally modest system felt paltry in comparrison to sounds eminating from the other demo rooms
- Marantz CD 63SE MKII ostensibly because that was the MUST HAVE sub £500 CDP at the time
- Cyrus 3 integrated amp; added the PSX-R later
- Mission 771 stand mount speakers
- Audioquest Indigo interconnect & speaker cable
This is the system I owned the longest and travelled with me from London back to Manchester when I did my Masters and then to Chester.
2005 - bought from Adventures in HiFi in Chester
- Naim CDX-2; later added XPS-2
- Naim 202/200; later added Hi-Cap
- Dynaudio 52SE; later swapped for Shahinian Arcs in 2006
This was the system that made me feel I'd reall 'arrived' in the world of high(er) end audio. It was very exciting to buy and a crazy purchase only made possible by cashing in an endowment policy I no longer needed. Thish was the second poorest financial decision I ever made (after selling my flat in London to finance an MBA. I should have kept the flat, rented it out and borrowed the money!) But poor as that decision was, the system gave me a huge amount of joy. It moved with me from Chester to Croydon (where I lived happily without a TV for six months) and then into my girlfriend's house and then the family home after we married. I had it in a dedicated listening room for a few years and then when kids arrived and my wife's tolerance for noise and me disappearing upstairs to listen rather than watch telly evaporated, I ended up selling it all on.
2020 - bought from G-Point AUDIO and a huge milestone in my audiophile journey. I promised myself I would buy a dream (for me) system when I finally got into my own place and this is it!
- Lukasz LDM Mini server
- Lampizator Golden Gate DAC
- Silvercore 833 monobloc SET amps
- Horns FP10
- Hifidelity HFC CT1-U RCA interconnect & speaker cables
