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Could use some help, please

I once heard the sound of the felt pad just before the hammer hit the string on a piano. What impressed me was that this was not a live piano but a recorded reproduction. On that day I was hooked.

Since then, and three grown children later I have dreamed of having a Hi Fi system that could truly reproduce music as if I were there. My dream has remained out of my reach over the last 30 years.

I am disabled, confined to a wheelchair every moment that I am awake. Home bound and only getting out to see the occasional doctor or clinic. I live on a fixed income along with my wife and grandson. My dream of a Hi Fi has consistently had to take a back seat to the every day challenges of keeping a roof overhead at below poverty level income.

I'm very proud of my accomplishments and over coming the adversities of disabled life, so it is with great internal conflict that I convey the following;

So far I've manage to put together an Onkyo A-RV401 Amp, T-403 Tuner, DX-702 CD Player, TA-RW344 Cassette and a CP-1100A Turntable. The Amp, tuner, tape deck, and turntable were an Ebay surprise I found for $50 as a set. The CD was another Ebay prize I picked up for $6.50. Originally I had found a DX-1500 CD but was damaged during shipping. For speakers I picked up an older pair of Kenwood JL-802 speakers at the local flea market for $20 and a really old pair of Sansui SP-50's from Goodwill for $5.00.

Although, this system is far superior to the Emerson it replaced, I'm still not hearing real music. The Kenwoods have a tendency to get muddy sounding in the mid to upper mid range tones. They also require higher power levels to get any bass response out of them making it difficult to have conversations. We have taken a liking to the old Sansui's on lower volume levels. Their sound is not bad for the age but there is no definition to the sound. There is also no 3-D range, if I'm using the term correctly. When the Kenwoods are turned up the music fills the room and surrounds the listener, where the sound from the Sansui speakers is flat and just there.

I'm thinking my biggest weakness lies in the speakers. (Though I am sure many feel the whole system may be lacking.) I'm up to $75 so far which for some may not be very much, but for me, that's a large dent in my monthly income.

I have bid on several sets of Kef's and Bostons only to watch them price themselves out of range in the last hour of the auction. My friend suggested that someone on this site may have a pair of speakers that are old, cosmetically damaged or even being used as the rears in a surround sound. If any of you have a pair of speakers sitting there that you would part with for a very small amount of money, please let me know. I sure could use them. In fact, any advice you might have, even on a DIY speaker you have personally used with good results would be welcome. Any advice on getting the most out of the system I have now would also be greatly appreciated.

Thanks for this great site and for all I have learned from reading here.


http://neverthoughtithappen.blogspot.com/
dave52355
mechans
3,048 posts
 
Do you need floor standers? How big is the space? what do you listen too? How loud? I could help but would need some guidance. I have a lot of stuff but it sounds like what you really need is is a tube amp. I have a lotof unused gear. Tube amps not really excepta vintage piece.
Come to think of it we might as a group consider all physically challenged and financially strained individuals and create a pool of equipment to donate as gifts or present at heavily discounted prices like the cost of shipping. I didn't hear what he wanted other than soundstage.
This would require some one to decide how things get distributed etc. Email me on the side. Imight have a good solution.
dmailer's avatar
dmailer
235 posts
 
Dave, I picked up a pair of Athena - Audition B1.2 monitor speakers new on sale at Music Direct for $120.00. These speakers perform way above their low price. I have seen these come up on Audiogon as low as around $60 per pair. There are some on-line reviews of this speaker you could read as well.
maineiac
649 posts
 
Dave,

I have a pair of Tannoy M4 that I haven't used in a while. Please let me know if these would work for you. Feel free to e-mail me. I'm pretty sure I can help you out.

http://www.smr-home-theatre.org/Reviews/Tannoy/index.html
dave52355 OP
20 posts
 
Again thank you for all your responses. The room is 15 ft X 20 ft X 10 ft. Open on the one end leading to the kitchen area and the other end has a patio door and large picture window. The Onkyo system sits on a long wall but is 4 ft short do to a opening to the bedroom hall. The floor is covered with a very low nap and cheap carpet.

As per music. I like all. Most days I'm listening to NPR. I really enjoy violin and piano works together. When alone and the dog is outside the volume gets turned up substantially and I enjoy a little Pink Floyd, CSN, Bob Seager, Jackson Brown, George Thorogood just about anything from the mid 60's till now. I also enjoy light jazz and been known to drop in a Christmas CD at times. I am not into Rap so much not because of the music, but of the language. Plus when my grandson is home from school, a little Peter Paul and Mary really calms him down. It really depends on my mood.

As for volume. If there are others in the house I don't like to talk over music. I'm 55 years old and enjoy a good conversation. I have noticed the volume level is dependant on the quality of the music produced. And left alone I've been known to crank it up to concert levels. :)

I hope this helps with the questions, and I thank you all for showing such an interest.
chadnliz
3,736 posts
 
I too am disabled and on fixed income and I have been helped by many here putting my system together, most of it donated, I have cables and such doing nothing if you need any...I am in same boat as you so if you can swing shipping let me know!
I posted an idea of collecting gear to donate to a wounded Irag veteran to be determined and was sad to see almost nobody wanting to help with that idea, I am glad to see you are most likely going to see results. Being in our position I can safely say that music is great therapy for you aswell as me, I have a spinal disease and the music can make the pain go away for a breif amount of time. This is one of the worst hobbies to fall in love with being broke lol!
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