phono stage/preamp project the classic superpack help with set-up please

@elliottbnewcombjr

My father died a few years ago unfortunately but we shared our love of music and he would have liked me taking the time to do this properly. 

This is much too long a story to get into, but his records have lived in my parents attic (unused, but stored properly) for longer then I'm alive (I'm 35). I've never actually heard them (insert shock and horror). There is indeed a lot of old (probably good kit) up there, which belonged to his brother my uncle, who was a proper audiophile. He would've been able to tell me everything I could possibly need to know, but he died in 1993 when I was 9/10 years old. All of his equipment was then moved to my parents attic and I don't know which was his or my dads (bit of a hoarder situation up there). From what I remember there are about 4 sets bookshelf speakers among which bowers&wilkins and kef speakers (I remember my dad saying that was a good brand?); there are also a set of speakers the size of a wardrobe (how they got them up there I don't know) and I know of two turntables, but no idea of make or model at the moment. Because here's the kicker; I live in London and my parents house is in Holland. I simply haven't had the time until now. And I don't know what would be worth moving here and getting repaired/cleaned (decades of dust), but I could wait until covid is over and take pictures of everything next time I go over (I did move over my favourite records when I could, so they're in London). I might do that anyway because I'm quite curious about all of it!

Our living room is medium/average sized about 4.5 x 4.5 meters, square shaped, carpet floor/wooden boards underneath. The TT would be on a sturdy wooden cupboard in the middle of one of the walls with speakers either side.

I don't know all the terms you mention yet, but google is my friend ;-)

Thanks!

My advice is to go to the Zu showroom when you can.
Ask for demo and check it out if you want to buy from them.

There was a bookshelf version of Druid, this is a rare model, available right now on ebay in UK, i think this is the best you can get at £900 for a pair in UK. You could add an active sub later if needed. At this price i would buy myself for a kitchen, but i’m not in UK and internationl shipping is not possible with this seller. Grab them, they are nice and super high efficient, you can always upgrade drivers and supertweeter later with special kit from ZU. I have fully upgraded standfloor Druid MK4 in my room. 

Or you can find Tannoy showroom to compare. With this brand be carefull, because you need ONLY those Tannoy with THIS TYPE of driver. Make sure the speaker has only ONE driver, because nowadays they are making a lot of average cheap speakers (ignore them). From the vintage line of Tannoy this one is nice.

Buy what you like, Zu and Tannoy are really great.

Sounds like you should wait and see exactly what your Dad has in the attic!  Could be some real gems and you might find it very satisfying to restore some of the equipment.  I have a close friend who, like you, shared a love of music with his father. To this day, he still uses his dad’s beautiful Marantz 7c preamp and 8b amp.  
Let us know what’s hiding up there and I bet you will get some good advice on what to do with it.

Sorry to hear he is no longer with you.

My entire involvement in high quality sound is based on inheriting my wealthy uncle’s system in 1973 (Fisher President II made in 1958) when he died too young when I was 25.

http://www.fisherconsoles.com/President%20II.html

it's bigger than that indicates, it was around 35" high, 15" woofers, horn midrange, horn tweeters, 

Don’t count old stuff out. It can be ok, refurb, restored, sold .... I moved many parts out of the console, my current speakers are the ones from that unit restored in a custom rosewood enclosure. I still use the tube amps frequently, other components are downstairs silently looking good.

Is there anyone who can get into that attic, move some stuff around, get model/serial #s, take photos, remove covers from front of speakers to check the condition? Perhaps catalog/photograph it, move it to air conditioned storage unit before you get caught in a compromise situation. You might get a reduced cost for a storage unit now, later, if people lose their houses, large apartments, downsize, storage units get busy.

KEF are very nice, excellent, except, they are low sensitivity, so, they need more power than other speakers to make the same sound volume. You may find a decently powerful amp up there.

B&W Bowers and Wilkins are also very nice, usually higher sensitivity than KEF, so a smaller amp would be successful with them.

I just bought a pair of B&W bookshelf speakers, made in 1985, so they are 35 years old. they sound terrific, I added my Velodyne self powered sub for a bit more low bass, I have the best sounding system in my office than ever before.



Now, the behemoth speakers: inquiring minds want to know more.!!!

Think long, you have the rest of your life to mess with this, and, do you have any children? If so, you might want to get them involved now.