What hi fi system you got ?

[DoctorRad]

Not found mine to be fragile as yet… what should I be looking out for…?

 

[ferrus]

then bagged a 506 16bit with a, wait for it...

Leak stereo 70!

That was a very nice CD player. I nearly bought a 508, but there was something special about the 506
Never heard a stereo 70 but the 30 ( or was it 25? ) sounded pretty good - for a 60s/70s transistor amp

 

[tintin40]

I've owned a 207 pro & the 208 never had problem with them. Great shame that many manufacturers have turned their backs on CD.

 

[ferrus]

Great shame that many manufacturers have turned their backs on CD.

It is a shame tintin. As with a lot of technology, the underperformance of many products gives a false impression of the potential. - 16 bit has more to offer than many realise..

 

[grantoury]

I would love an old Meridian cd player, but worry about it dying and not being able to get it fixed. I almost exclusively listen to 16 bit tracks on cd and streaming.

I have had kef ls50s since december 2022 and am still enthralled with their cohesive sound. Point source bliss.

 

[2manyoranges]

Meridian 208 CD player / preamp
Rotel RB-850 power amp
Naim SBL speakers
Google Chromecast Audio

You'd have to pay a LOT more than the £750 that lot cost me to significantly better it, I'd wager. Analogue duties are handled by:

Townshend Elite Rock turntable
Rega RB300 tonearm
Goldring 1042 cartridge

Currently not set up as lacking a phono stage.

Ah the 1042.
Fantastically underestimated cartridge.
Excellent stylus shape - long lasting suspension.
I continue to have one at the heart of a pretty wild system, the other cartridge I have used as reference was a AN IO - er…at an impossible price (but a gift from within the trade)...honestly the IO was more finnicky and I returned quickly to the 1042…which is a remarkable thing…

actual real world price of the IO is in the WHAT!!!?! territory….

[Review] Audio Note IO1 Cartridge

Audio Note IO1 Cartridge, listening test on TNT-Audio by Graeme Budd, Internet HiFi magazine, www.tnt-audio.com

www.tnt-audio.com

 

[DoctorRad]

Ah the 1042. Fantastically underestimated cartridge. Excellent stylus shape - long lasting suspension.

The biggest upgrade I've ever made in vinyl playback was moving to a fine-line stylus from elliptical with the 1042… bigger even than putting a Linn Sondek on a Sound Organisation table.

Second-half-of-side distortion pretty much vanished, and it will take me a lot to be convinced that ANY elliptical stylus could compete. Frankly, it's like running a mountain bike with the wrong tyres

 

[2manyoranges]

The biggest upgrade I've ever made in vinyl playback was moving to a fine-line stylus from elliptical with the 1042… bigger even than putting a Linn Sondek on a Sound Organisation table.

Second-half-of-side distortion pretty much vanished, and it will take me a lot to be convinced that ANY elliptical stylus could compete. Frankly, it's like running a mountain bike with the wrong tyres

Exact.

I am running a 1042 on a 10 inch arm and that really tidies things up by another notch.

Def the right tyres. Good analogy.

Soundstage? There isn’t one. You are THERE in the specific venue in which the recording was made…in the basement for Aaron Neville’s live ‘Tell it like it is’ and in the hot void of the Fillmore East for the live Allman Brothers’ ‘Memory of Elizabeth Reed’…..

 

[Bombtrack]

My modest system consists of..

Voyd Turntable (Roksan Tabriz arm and Lyra Argo Cartridge)
Naim Stageline K phono stage (with Flatcap PSU)
Naim NAC272 Pre/Streamer (with TeddyCap PSU)
Naim NAP250 Power Amp
B&W CM7 Speakers

 

[2manyoranges]

Snap
Voyd


Helius
1042
Schiit passive pre
Audio Innovations 700
Snell Ks