What ever happended to...................

Ha, where you from cuz? thanks for having fun, sure beats my crummy attitude earlier. The Wharfedale speaker...well to be honest, i just heard of them yesterday when I picked them up. Someone was tossing them out with their "Big trash" day and i scooped them. They're actually nice. Just do not know about them is all. Mahalo brother, Happy New Year.

Got my first computer from Tandy - a TRS80 if I remember correctly, 16k memory, green screen monitor, and cassette machine for data. Was ok, certainly better than their Realistic Hifi.

Had a Ferguson stereo to start with, and did many years of saving and dreaming over hifi mags, before getting my first hifi, a garrard SP25 with Shure M75 cartridge I think, an Eagle AA2 amp, and pair of Goodmans Havent speakers. Was lucky as a student, in that I discovered specialised hifi dealers quite early on, in hifi opportunities in Newcastle and lintone audio in Gateshead, so never used Comet for hifi components and  very quickly found Linn and Naim. Guess this changed my life in many ways!

dayjay posted:

I had a set of Heybrook HB1s from new when I was young.  Bought them from a shop in Wilmslow and powered them with an A&R Arcam Alpha Amp, gosh they were good speakers for what they cost.  Wish I'd kept them really 

I still have the pair I bought in late '84 - and what's more they're still my system speakers!

Tandy's in Norwich was Alan Partridge's favourite shop, and they let him shop there out of hours, as this video demonstrates:

Alan partridge knowing me knowing yule. Part 3 by CentralSouth

Kevin-W posted:

dayjay posted:

I had a set of Heybrook HB1s from new when I was young.  Bought them from a shop in Wilmslow and powered them with an A&R Arcam Alpha Amp, gosh they were good speakers for what they cost.  Wish I'd kept them really 

I still have the pair I bought in late '84 - and what's more they're still my system speakers!

I take it that they still sound great then Kevin?  From memory they were a very cultured and open speaker with great sound stage and clarity.  I really lived mine at the time

dayjay posted:

I take it that they still sound great then Kevin?  From memory they were a very cultured and open speaker with great sound stage and clarity.  I really lived mine at the time

They do indeed (they are on Linn Sara stands). One of these days I may change them, but there are other upgrades I would like to do first...

Kevin,

The HB1s might sound quite good, but I think you could do much better At very little cost. I used a pair for a couple of years in the early 80s (having downsized from Celestion Ditton 66s). I replaced them with a pair of Musical Fidelity MC2s which were better in every conceivable way. You could pick a pair of these up very cheaply on eBay.

I still have the HB1s, but they sound pretty horrible - I suspect because the rubber surrounds have perished.

From recollection, the HB2s were much better, as were the original (metal) AE1s which I also auditioned but couldn't afford at the time. I remember being astonished by how good these were. They were around 4 times the cost of the HB1s at the time, but could probably be picked up pretty cheaply nowadays.

Hi Hmack,

I probably could do better, but inertia is an extremely powerful force (especially in my life). One of these days I will change them...

Had a look at those MC2s - they might sound good but they are really, really ugly. Not sure those would be allowed in the house...

Good point Kevin. I have to admit they are pretty ugly. 

Do keep an eye out for the Acoustic Energy AE2. One of the finest (if not the finest of their day) small speakers you could get from the same era. Much bEtter looking than the HB1 in my opinion, smaller but with much better bass (with decent amplification).

One of the great buys from any era in my opinion.

The early ones had a metallic case - not sure how the later wooden models compare.

Sorry. Meant Acoustic Energy AE1s. The AE2s are probably even better but more expensive.

Whatever happened to Rogers ?

I still have my JR149s which came in a stupidly long box..................

.....and my Panthera integrated amp

I used to have a Cadet ?, beautiful sound !

Don Atkinson posted:

Whatever happened to Rogers ?

I still have my JR149s which came in a stupidly long box..................

.....and my Panthera integrated amp

I used to have a Cadet ?, beautiful sound !

I once told a Rogers Rep that the set of newly designed well reviewed speakers were in my words "absolutely crap" and made the drummer sound like he wes hitting dull tin cans. He phoned back two days later to say that I was right and they discovered the tweetrs needed tightening up.

Everyone else in the room at the demo was saying how good they were.

Next time I heard them they were a far better speaker.

My first player was a Dansette which I wired so that it had 2 speakers instead of one. Fond memories of that one.

The first piece of equipment I bought with my own money was a Rigonda.

Followed by Quad and then finally NAIM in the mid 70's from Russ Andrews and I have never looked back

Ah! the Rigonda. 

Russian make. The one and only time I saw a system of their's was in the Curry's store in Barnsley. About early to mid 70's. The highly polished gloss floor standing speakers stick in my mind.

I used to have a Rigonda setup. Two large speakers with their own amp inside and volume and tone controls on the top. These were connected to a BSR turntable via a Y split cable with Dins at either end, about 1973 I believe.

Tim

Not just Tandy, what about Technics - they were everywhere in the 1980's and then strangely just disappeared but they gave me  my first taste of hi-fi (my Father's rack system).  I gather they are in the process of relaunching a modest range.  Also Acoustic Research whose turntables and speakers inspired my teenage dreams.  I recently explored by bicycle the idyllic old Mordaunt Short factory at Durford Mill near Petersfield - they were my first speakers but the building is now home to some sort of consultancy firm.  My first turntable was a Systemdek (who also seem to have gone to the great gig in the sky) while my second was an Ariston RD110SL and sadly they too folded some years ago. 

It's incredible how many off the great names are no more.  Thankfully naim and Michell soldier on!!

Jonathan

There are some other firms from my early (c. 1970) hifi systems still out there today: notably B&W, Quad, Spendor and SME for example.... 

Jonathan Gorse posted:

Not just Tandy, what about Technics - they were everywhere in the 1980's and then strangely just disappeared but they gave me  my first taste of hi-fi (my Father's rack system).  I gather they are in the process of relaunching a modest range.  Also Acoustic Research whose turntables and speakers inspired my teenage dreams.  I recently explored by bicycle the idyllic old Mordaunt Short factory at Durford Mill near Petersfield - they were my first speakers but the building is now home to some sort of consultancy firm.  My first turntable was a Systemdek (who also seem to have gone to the great gig in the sky) while my second was an Ariston RD110SL and sadly they too folded some years ago. 

It's incredible how many off the great names are no more.  Thankfully naim and Michell soldier on!!

Jonathan

 

Systemdek is still going (with the massive 3d TT). IIRC they also make the ART range of speakers too ? I miss all the small manufacturers that made hi-fi so interesting in the 70's and 80's. I think CE legislation killed off a lot of the Hi-Fi cottage industry (which wasn't a bad thing in some cases) but it did make for some interesting equipment at the time. 

James

David Hendon posted:

There are some other firms from my early (c. 1970) hifi systems still out there today: notably B&W, Quad, Spendor and SME for example.... 

Yeah me to from the late 70s Linn, Michell, Thorens, Spendor, B&W (who I think go way back), Rotel, A&R Cambridge (Arcam) and many others all still going.

Regards,

Lindsay

Totally agree re: missing the small manufacturers and I'm thrilled to hear Systemdek are back and wish them every success!  Anyody heard their deck?

Jonathan

Jonathan Gorse posted:

Totally agree re: missing the small manufacturers and I'm thrilled to hear Systemdek are back and wish them every success!  Anyody heard their deck?

Jonathan

Jonathan, someone on this forum actually had one of the 3D TTs - can't remember who it was, but I remember them saying it sounded great, as it should do for £22,000!

The Strat (Fender) posted:

David Hendon posted:

There are some other firms from my early (c. 1970) hifi systems still out there today: notably B&W, Quad, Spendor and SME for example.... 

Yeah me to from the late 70s Linn, Michell, Thorens, Spendor, B&W (who I think go way back), Rotel, A&R Cambridge (Arcam) and many others all still going.

Regards,

Lindsay

B & W always made interesting loudspeakers.  In 1975 I had a pair of these which cost me £550, which was a lot then, bearing in mind that my flat in Maidenhead the same year cost just £10,000.

A quick "Google" puts 2 bed flats in Maidenhead at c.£400k.

So 40 x 550 = £22,000 for a half decent pair of speakers today seems quite reasonable..........

Actually Zoopla reckons the actual flat is about £250K now, so 25 x 550 = £13750 which is rather less outrageous.......