a bit of old fashioned fun :)

hey all


I was bumbling round the internet just now, as is my want when I feel like it...

I read the following (I think we had this thread YEARS ago... but it was so long it might be fun to do it again....).....


So what's your top ten?? Over to you gents.


In May 2006, Hi-Fi Choice's reviewers sat round an email client program and between them came up with the 50 most important hi-fi components ever sold in the UK. The results were published in an award-winning supplement Hi-Fi that Rocked the World. If you missed it, here's the top ten:

1. Linn Sondek LP12 turntable
2. NAD 3020 integrated amplifier
3. Quad Electrostatic loudspeaker
4. Rega Planar 3 turntable
5. Pioneer A400 integrated amplifier
6. B&W Nautilus 801 loudspeaker
7. BBC LS3/5a loudspeaker
8. Marantz CD-63 MkII KI Signature CD player
9. Garrard 301 turntable
10. Wharfedale Diamond loudspeaker

So... what would you choose?

 

Quad Electrostatics

 

thats the shortest 1-10 list I've ever seen Labarum !

Here's mine..


1) Altec VOTT. Would cinema's have been the same without them? This is also first because horn speakers are my heart and soul, they are everything music reproduction would and should and could always be. I love them.
2) Tannoy15" D/C drive unit. Enough said
3) Lowther, probably in the ubiquitous Acousta cab. Full range driver par excellence.
4) Quad ESL 57. What a stand-out invention
5) Philips CD100. The first CD player I ever saw !
6) The bright yellow Sony walkman. Tape would never be the same again!
7) The Leak Stereo 20. To me, it's an iconic valve amp.
8) Technics 1210. God is a DJ, and thanks Technics for keeping vinyl going.
9) The computer hard-drive. Hasn't it just changed music for us all? It's a hifi component in it's own right, and globally significant
10) A personal one, perhaps not a legend, but without 'living voice' speakers and definitive audio - I would not be the raving hifi nut I am today.

 

I thought about my answers to this today and it was interesting to compare the results against what I'd have chosen a decade ago. Very little of what I'd have selected then now makes my list. So here goes.

1) Quad ESL57. As Chris says, a truly stand-out product and when you hear a pair of these today you can't help but be astonished that such performance was created so long ago.

2) Rega RB300. Ground breaking design that sent a shock wave through the market. It was a budget priced arm (£90 back in the day) with top drawer performance.

3) Denon DL110. Similar to the above in many ways - just superb sound for pocket money. Still doing the business 30 years after its introduction.

4) Quad 405, or more precisely 'current dumping'. The 405 circuit is another example of the Walker genius. Near Class A performance, compact, decently powerful, reliable and with a self correcting circuit so that it was easy to manufacture consistently and had a long service life. Good value too.

5) Michell Gyrodec. Just beautiful looks and engineering. Classic and timeless.

6) BBC LS3/6 and derivatives (BC1/Rogers Export/Studio etc). These things all have a sweetness and purity that escapes most modern speaker systems. Closest thing to a Quad in a box and better in some respects.

7) Sony CDP101. First domestic CD player to market back in the 80s. Whatever your views on digital v analogue, the Sony and Philips mentioned by Chris ushered in a whole new era.

8) SME V. Probably the best tonearm in the world.

9) iPod/iTunes. Doing what CD did in the 80s. A revolution for most people.

10) Meridian 100 series. Beautiful design.

 

Mine, in no particular order:

Garrard 301. Just about the earliest genuine hi-fi grade turntable and still one of the most capable designs. Staggeringly good for 1954. Staggeringly good today. The very definition of over-engineering.

Thorens TD-124. The turntable defined: the most ergonomically sensible and user-friendly manual turntable ever made. The absolute peak of vinyl replay technology.

SME 3009 / 3012. The pickup arm defined: an astonishingly advanced and versatile design for it's time and still a very capable performer 50 years later. Maybe not the best pickup arm in the world, but certainly the most beautiful. A timeless classic.

Decca FFSS / London. Remarkably visceral and dynamic cartridges, again proof that stereo vinyl was born perfect and got worse with time / technological 'advances'.

Ortofon SPU. Another 50+ year old design that gives up nothing at all compared to modern equivalents.

Quad ESL 57. The panel loudspeaker defined in 1957. Still almost unbeatable.

Tannoy Silver / Red / Gold Dual Concentric. The moving coil speaker defined: a point source, high efficiency, full-range driver. A true monitor device, and used as such the world over. Loudspeaker technology has moved backwards at a most alarming pace ever since.

Leak Stereo 20. I strongly suspect this should be here, but I need to spend some time with one first.

Quad 303. Ubiquitous and bomb-proof power amp. A product that straddled the domestic and pro-audio market for decades and is still manufacturer supported and perfectly usable today.

The Apple iPod. Music made portable. And disposable. Part genius, part nightmare, but genuinely useful.

Tony.

 

TANNOY BERBLEY'S,
goldring lenco gl 78,t/t
quad 405 pwr,
amcrom ic 150 pre-amp
luxman l85v int,
tva 1x valve amp,
and more tannoy's
nando.

 

Again, in no particular order:

Garrard 301 tt
Quad 33/303
Cyrus II amplifier
Naim Nait (not 'original' but a milestone of sorts)
Hitachi TRQ 290 portable cassette recorder
Apple iPod
ESL 57s
dpa 50S preamplifier
dpa PDM1 DAC
Kimber pbj interconnect cable (this should maybe have been the 1st sony walkman....)

 

jvc jas11 amp,.
nando

 

forgot an icon, my spendor bc1's still super,

 

And how could I have forgotten the Sugden A48 and T48 I used for nearly 30 years?

A Mk II just like this

 

I think that, aesthetically, 70's period Sugden is rather challenged

Never has a good listen to any though and I'm sure its fine kit.


One item that narrowly missed my list is the Decca London.
A good well fettled London with a decent tip is a stunning listen on about 50% of a record collection IME.
Mono or near mono recordings usually sound far better than stereo due to the issues around the split compliance.

 

How many times can I have Tannoy/JBL in the list? .

 

hi dev, as many as you want, smile.........
nando.

 

Won a design award, Rob. Funny how things change!

 

quad 405 pwr amp had the worst specs yet to me not only won an award bu it sounded absollutly superve. another icom imo.

 

I am running an upgraded 405-2 now and it sounds - superb!

 

Good grief!

I guess these things have to be viewed in context for the period.
In a well appointed 70s living room alongside other period kit it would look fine.

 

Specs are mostly fine. It got lambasted a little later in the early 80s because output fell when driving anything below 5 ohms. So it isn't the best choice for nominally 4 ohm rated speakers.

Sounds lovely into my nominally 11 ohm Rogers.

 

http://www.audioconsult.dk/old sugden/a48.htm

Design Council Award 1979

Orange was all the rage!

 

Ahem, primrose

In Quad's case it was marigold.