Your first real hi-fi and subsequent upgrades

We shared the same dealer, must have been around the same time too. Hamish, Derek and Steve. Brings back lots of memories that. I loved the original shop there in the old warehouse on the edge of Borough Market with the huge dem room upstairs.

My first real hi-fi was from there, LP12/Basik/K5 which I played for a short while through a Marantz PM310 and Goodmans speakers before upgrading to Nait 1 and Kans. When I bought the LP12 they delivered and installed all the way out in Essex near Brentwood where I lived at the time. Now that was customer service!

Ended up with LP12/Ekos/Troika/32.5/HiCap/Naxo/Hicap/3x250/Isobariks all on the sound org tables. Happy days. Marital bliss put an end to that for a couple of decades of course.

Some thoughts from a fairly recent returner to Naim (I had a Nait 1 many moons ago).

Spurred on by the acquisition of a Muso last Xmas - I auditioned and purchased a Unitilite + B&W 684S2 speakers as a replacement for my main system. I loved the SQ of the system but more importantly I found that the SQ of lossless rips streamed from the PC was at least equal to CD and as a consequence, very quickly, I found myself not playing CDs at all.

Smitten by the Naim bug and in search of more but on a budget I upgraded to a SU (+ 683S2 speakers) a couple of months ago . I find SU is way ahead of the Unitilite in all respects - a wonderful one box system. (Speakers are next on my upgrade horizon - at some point !). I still buy lots of CDs but simply rip and stream as soon as they arrive - I don't miss a CD player on my main system  at all. Couple this with Tidal and you have huge quantities of high quality music instantly accessible.

Based on my limited experience on 1 box systems I would advise you to skip the Uniti and go straight for the SU as I'm pretty sure you would find the CD player redundant in a short space of time.

Enjoy the journey !

I've been waiting for an excuse to upload this pic - my very first audio system... back in about 1963 when I was around 16 years young (that's 52 years ago).   I notice I had two decks then as I have today (not the same decks, btw).  And the amplification and speakers have been upgraded through the years too.. but I bet I still have all those 45's you see on the windowsill  

I bought my first real hifi when on holiday in Tokyo, a Technics turntable with a Sansui amp. I bought a pair of Wharefdale Lintons on return to the UK.

Whilst at University I took a variety of jobs which enabled me to buy a 2nd hand Hafler DH101 pre and Sony power amp (which is still in the loft). I then added an STD305S with a Rega arm and cartridge and Mission 700 speakers.

On entering the world of work my first major purchases were: LP12 / Ittock / Karma; and Naim 42/110.

M

In 1997 I was going into town to buy a terrible little stereo from Argos. My friend dragged me to a local hifi store (Zen Audio in Hull) where I discovered separates and fell in love with Naim. I was 17. I lusted after a Nait 3, Rega Planet and Dynaudio speakers for just over a year. I finally pulled the trigger with the first instalment of my student loan and some help from my brother, buying a Nac102, Nap140 and CD 3.5. I worked the summer holidays and upgraded the 3.5 to the CDX.

A few years ago I started upgrading. I sold my CDX and bought a Naim DAC. I then bought a Headline and Supercap DR with HD800s. Next, I sold my 140 (for not far off what I paid for it) to fund a 250.2. And I'm about to finally sell my 102 and buy a 252. I still have the Dynaudio speakers I used with my first system, which I'll replace after the pre upgrade.

It's all worked out pretty well. I paid £810 for the Nap140 in 1998 and sold it 13 years later for £540.

My first 'proper' system was an Akai AM-U110 amp with a Sony cassette deck (can't remember the model).  I saved for a Rotel RA 820 amp and shortly after, a Dual CS 505-2.  My parents wouldn't let me have speakers (I wonder why?) so listening was done on headphones; when they finally relented, I bought Wharfedale Dentons.

I left home as the age of CD dawned and as I travelled a lot, the Rotel and a Philips CD 104 (again, with headphones) fulfilled my musical needs.  First CD bought was Marillion's 'Fugazi'.  Went through a whole range of stuff from Yamaha, Pioneer and others before discovering Naim after a dem of a Nait 2 in 1990/1 which was used with B&W DM110 speakers.

The Naim journey then began: I've owned 72, 82, 252, 552; 180, 250 (passive and active), 300; CDI, CD2, CDX2, nDac, NDS; SBL, Allae (twice).

I'm now loving my UnitiServe, NDS, 555PSDR X 2, 552DR, 300 system into Wilson Benesch Vectors.  Just need to get the 300 DR upgrade and a bit of that old SL wire and I will be in a place I could only have dreamed of all those years ago!

Cheers,

Ian

lajlaj posted:

 

It's all worked out pretty well. I paid £810 for the Nap140 in 1998 and sold it 13 years later for £540.

I love hearing things like that.  Similarly, I owned a Cyrus CD8x CD player which was £1k new, but once I sold it, the actual cost to me was £240 for a little under 10 years use.  I was a bit lucky on that one though.  I went to my chosen dealer quite prepared to part with a grand, but the first thing they did was announce they were allowed to let me have one for £600 as there was a new model just around the corner.  These days in a similar situation, I suspect I would hold off and get the new model, but at the time walking out of the shop £400 better off than expected, and still clutching the player I'd been talking myself out of buying for around 2 years, well, that was a good day.

My system history is short and sweet, so here we go

1990 - Yamaha CD Player (model unknown)  - Rotel RA 940-BX amp - Heybrook Solo Speakers 

1995 - Marantz CD63 KI Signature CD Player - Amp Unchanged - Mission 752 Freedom Speakers

2005-ish - Cyrus CD8x CD Player - Cyrus 8vs Amp - Speakers Unchanged 

2015 - Dedicated PC Streamer - Naim DAC-V1 - Naim Supernait2 - Proac D18 Speakers

I loved all of my systems, but 2015 has brought things in to a different league again.  I remember a friend and I listening to the DAC-V1 feeding the previous Cyrus amp, just after I had ordered the SN2, and he said 'I am sure it will sound wonderful, but how much better can it really be?  What else can it really do?', and to be honest, I'd been wondering the same.  I don't think I've admitted this on the forum before, but I'd never even heard the thing until my own paid for unit arrived.  Same with the DAC actually.  Oh, and the Proacs, but the speakers at least were a drunken purchase from well known auction site.   Anyway, once SN2 installed, I realised straight away what an amp like this brought to the table.  No regrets at all with any of the recent blind (or deaf, I suppose) purchases, far and away the most enjoyable system I have ever owned.

1995-6: Yamaha surround amp/Kef Q90 speakers

1997: Bag End Infra 18 subwoofer added/Cerwin Vega V35 horn speakers/Yamaha pro amplifier.

2001: Cayin 251i amp. Tandberg CD4035 CD-player. ATC A7 speakers/Thorens 518

2002: Holfi Integra 8, then a Holfi 88SE, Klipsch standmounts.

2004: Sonus Faber Concertino. Doxa pre and power amplifier.  Magnum Dynalab radio. Audiolab 8000A.

2005-2014: Naim. CD3.5/CDX/CDS2/XPS/110/250/Nac 102/82/Hicap/52/SC/72/42.5/Nait 3/Nait 3R/Nait 2/Nait 2CB/Nait 1/SBL/IBL/Headline/Napsc.  All Olive kit except Headline/Napsc.

2006: Rega P25/Trichord Riaa/ Cyrus integrated amp with PSU

2007: Monitor Audio GR10

2008: Phonosophie P3/Aro and a Phonosophie Bi Amp 1-2 amplifier.

2011: Rega RP3/Rega Brio 1. gen/Rega Ela/

2014: Rega RP6/Devialet D200/Dynaudio Excite X12/Rega Jupiter

2015:Neat Momentum 3i/Harbeth M30.1

1. Marksnaim, It's great that someone else purchased their first system from the same dealer as me. Hamish sold me my Mantra back in the 1980's and serviced it in the York store last November. Even though everyone says any Linn dealer can service the Mantra, I made sure the deck was serviced by someone who had experience of it. Back in the day, I wish I had the extra £50-100 for an LP12, but currently my heavily upgraded Mantra sounds great. Money and marriage have prevented me from upgrading my system to your current level. Back in the day, though, I'm pretty sure that Hamish did connect my Mantra through Naim 32/250/HB1's during the same demo to show tat HB1's were good enough to hear future upgrades. It's amazing how I remember my first ever visit to a proper hi-fi dealer so well!
2. Borders Nick, What do you use to rip your CD's? When I listened to the Uniti 2, I mostly streamed through Tidal and found it was very good. But I also thought my newly serviced Mantra (with 5 minutes of Van Morrison and despite a power supply hum issue) sounded better than any streamed music that I heard through the Uniti 2. I like to physically place the "software" on a rotating platter or CD draw, so the CD player and my existing record player is a must. Also, it's nice to read the lyrics and look at the LP artwork which, for me, is not the same when looking at an iPad. I envisage using the streamer like a radio, i.e. to listen to new bands that I haven't heard before.

I was into stereo's and music at the age of about 12- my interest spurred along by my, then, best friend's older brothers who were always tinkering with their stereos. Japanese receiver and turntable throughout my high school years with regular trips to the record store.

Went to college in Chicago. Semi-stumbling home from an afternoon of beer and buddies at the local bar, I ran across a stereo shop in the garden level of an old two story storefront. Intrigued by the small, basement level shop I took the stairs down and walked into the early, 1985 , location of ProMusica. Two listening rooms and a hallway full of speakers and a cash register. Ken C. and John S. both in their element and filled with enthusiasm about music and Naim. The shop was small. The shop was dark. The shop was so different from any other stereo store I had ever witnessed. The stacks of CB gear  instantly drew me in with their esthetic, the sound they were making took my semi buzzed mind to the next level- I was intoxicated.

Many more sober visits to ProMusica and saving my pennies resulted in my first proper stereo- 42/110/Rega Planar3. Very fond memories indeed..

ATB,

Mark

From way back when I was in short trousers I was always a music addict.

Back in 1978 I was going to buy a new music centre when this friend of my Mum and Dad - fantastic chap sadly no longer with us - demonstrated me his Thorens 160(?)/Quad/Spendor system - wow!!!  Funds being limited I purchased a Pioneer 512D, Pioneer amp and little Wharfedale speakers. Nirvana.

1985 - upgraded to Ariston RD80/Linn LVX/Rotel 840BX/Heybrook HB1s, adding an Arcam Alpha CDP (killer spinner for £400) later. Through the expensive parenting years that system provided absolutely 000s of hours of entertainment until we moved to this house in 2001 at which point I cut a deal with the awesome Mrs S that I would invest in a reference level system.  At that point the Alpha died (it had done it's turn) and very shortly after the Ariston motor did similar so both were replaced with an Arcam CD93, Rega P25 (fantastic deck) and changed the amp for an Arcam A85 and acquired the Dyna Contour 1.8s in 2004.  

All good but I hankered for better and then lost the plot slightly. I made a decision that I was going to go all digital and sold the P25, intended to sell the vinyl as well but Mrs S stopped me and told me to mothball.  Went in search of a high end(ish) CDP/amp combination and auditioned amongst others Krell, Meridian, Audionet, MF, Cyrus etc but was put off Naim somewhat by a lot of the anti-rhetoric on other fora.  Eventually however having heard a CDX2/202/200 we had a home demo for a weekend and just kept playing CD after CD and ended up with a CDX2/XPS2/282HC/200 with the Dyns a configuration which for the most part is here today but for the CDS3 and 250DR, and adding an original spec Nait O5 tuner.

However----------------after a 4 year hiatus I came out of denial and gained financial approval for a new TT.  On the grounds that this was to be a lifetime purchase I took an inordinate amount of time to dem various models including a friend lending me his Gyro whilst he was abroad for 6 months.  Linn, Rega, Michell, Clearaudio - we came down to a final shortlist of the Avid Volvere and Roksan Xerxes with the latter getting the nod - a fantastic synergy with Naim amps.

And that is my story it all stays.......................until we have one final look at the speakers.................

Lanesra posted

1. Borders Nick, What do you use to rip your CD's? When I listened to the Uniti 2, I mostly streamed through Tidal and found it was very good. But I also thought my newly serviced Mantra (with 5 minutes of Van Morrison and despite a power supply hum issue) sounded better than any streamed music that I heard through the Uniti 2. I like to physically place the "software" on a rotating platter or CD draw, so the CD player and my existing record player is a must. Also, it's nice to read the lyrics and look at the LP artwork which, for me, is not the same when looking at an iPad. I envisage using the streamer like a radio, i.e. to listen to new bands that I haven't heard before.

I use a standard Win 8 PC using ITunes Ripping to ALAC format then use Minimserver upnp server software installed on the PC  (set to transcode to WAV format on the fly).  Sounds complicated I know - but was all new to me this time last year but using the advice and tips on this marvellous forum and on the Minimserver site the learning curve can be climbed very straightforwardly and quickly with fantastic results.

Streamed files sound  sublime and IMHO at were least as good as CD on the Unitilite. TIDAL isn't quite as good as Upnp WAV files but pretty damn good.

I haven't heard a Uniti but I was blown away by the SU compared to the Unitilite.

I hear what you say about the physicality of having the CD / vinyl and its accompanying case and I had those thoughts initially too however you can explore all sorts of stuff related what you are listening to on the IPad via the ROVI database (automatically accessed in the NAIM app) and obviously via Google and Tidal.  I find I now listen to lots more music Via Tidal and for longer before deciding what to buy & my musical horizons have increased enormously.

Streaming has been a total revelation for me !

Directly answering the OP:

Early 60s: my parents'' wind-up gramophone (and modest collection of classical 78s)!

Late 60s: my older brother got a 'Dansette' type record player, and I started listening to some of the music he was starting to collect when he was out - but there was trouble if he found out.

Hankering after something I could play when I wanted, and better sounding than my brother's record player, and by then being an avid reader of HiFi and electronic publications, I used combined Christmas and birthday present money to build my own system for ~£65, DIY enabling best value for money:- Garrard SP25 turntable in home-made plinth, Shure M3D cartridge, Sinclair Project 60 baseboard modular amp, reflex speakers using Eagle FR8 drivers. This was my first real system, in 1970 - very basic, but a start.

Upgrades

Turntable

Changed to Thorens TD150 a year or two later, which stayed until vinyl ripped and abandoned 10-12 years ago, though with plinth rebuilt in mid 1980s. Arm changed to Rega RB300 in mid 1980s. Numerous cartridges, MC from mid 1980s.

Amp:

~1972 upgraded to bridged version and better power supply, still Sinclair Project 60 modules.

~1976 Radford HD250.

~1978 MC 'head' amp added, DIY from Elektor magazine design

~1991 Musical Fidelity The Preamp 2a + P170 power amp

~2005 Tag McLaren PA10 preamp (on MF preamp going into oscillation on MC input)

~2008 Musical Fidelity P270 power amp

Speakers:

~1971 better DIY speakers, using KEF B139 + T15 with the Eagle FR8s as mid.

~1975 IMF TLS50s : A very interesting shopping experience with £300 budget (~ £2,000 - £2,500 in today's money I guess), at which fairly elevated price point I was amazed to find how every speaker sounded so completely different: not subtly, but mostly like chalk and cheese, though a few perhaps more like Comte and Brie. Whereas many of the speakers I listened to were the top of the respective manufacturers' ranges -the best they could do - these were only halfway up the IMF range, yet they sounded so much better than all the others I heard: well balanced, while at the same time the only ones with clean, deep bass - I fell in love, and it was an affair that lasted for 15 years...

~1990 IMF Ref Standard Prof Monitors (IMF's top of the range when I had bought the TLS50s, new costing twice the price, but these bought secondhand)

Digital sources:

~1989 Cambridge CD2 - nothing that I had heard before sounded any good.

~1999 Shearne Audio Phase 7 CD player - on the occasion of the CD2's demise. Very similar sounding to the CD2.

2013 Naim ND5XS (similar sound to Shearne CD player, as far as memory can compare given its prior demise). With Zyxel NSA325 NAS running Logitech Media Server.

2014 Naim XP5XS added

2014 Chord Hugo replaced XP5XS (latter's improvement had been subtle, Hugo greater, so better investment). Direct into power amp (TAG McLaren preamp now only used for ancillary purposes).

2015 Mac Mini running Serviio replaced Zyxel NAS

2015 Audirvana on the Mac Mini + Gustard U12 USB/spdif convertor isolator replaced ND5XS

Planned upgrades:

2016 try Bryston 4Bsst power amp

2016-2017 carry on playing with a DIY transmission line speaker project, incorporating ATC's dome mid.

If win lottery: audition PMC BB5SE & Fact 12 (latter for WAF reasons), ATC EL150, Tannoy Westminster Royal & Kingdom Royal, BMW Nautilus (snail), Naim Ovator 800, Wilson Benesch Cardinal, Ferguson Hill FH001 with (?)Wilson Benesch Taurus, and visit a Naim dealer to discover if Naim amplification will be the best to drive whichever are the best speakers.

My first real step into HiFi was the purchase of the Naim CDI.  The dealer wasn't really happy selling it to me to go with my Onix OA21. Was the first step on a really long ladder as I "got the bug".  (But the last one with that particular dealer).

Both the Onix and the CDI are still going strong in satellite systems...

Gavin 

First exposure was from my fathers home built valve amplifier and speakers. It was very popular to buy kits at a saving of cost and make them up at home, and I remember the garage looking like a miniature workshop.

not hifi but when I was in my early teens I got myself a 1970s Vox AC30 and a 1970s Fender Stratocaster - and with a friend who had a 1950s Ludwig jazz drum kit - I got my ear in as to what sounds good, loverly tones and the buzz of the springs on the snare when turned up to 11.

all my later friends were getting Technics SL1200s with PA heads and large speakers which didn't sound that good to me, I preferred my copy of a garrard idler drive turntable with a vintage Sony receiver and large Yamaha speakers.

Later did get some SL1200s with an Audiolab 8000 and Kef speakers but did most listening through Grado headphones as it was easier to get that "club" sound without annoying the neighbours. 

Went off vinyl when I got myself a Naim cd5x with Exposure 3010 and Ruark prelude 2 speakers.  Got into cables and supports, trying to define what I like as system sound.

I don't spend as much time in hifi shops as I did with musical instrument shops when I was younger . There was one guitar shop that was frequented 2 or 3 times a week with me asking the poor owner if I could try this guitar or that amp with these effects and with me playing the same rubbish rendition of something that was popular at the time. Wish I had the balls to do that now.

I liked what the Eposure 3010 and Naim CD5x did, my current system has taken that sound to another level with NDac and Karan KAI180 mk2.  Perhaps a preference might change in the future if my ears get caught with a different type of presentation.

cheers

Got hooked on music and audio when I was 5 with parents radiogram which always had Beatles and Stones singles.My dad had a reel to reel tape recorder and a microphone.When friends came over to play we would record our voices.My father had a big record collection of at least 2000 albums so music was a big part of the house growing up.

I think it was hearing a girlfriends father's system when I was 14 that really opened my ears to audio equipment.It was a LP12  Quad  pre and power and ESL 57 speakers.I then started buying HI FI Answers and reading about all this specialist stuff.

When I was 15 my dad gave me his Philips 202 record deck and I brought a NAD 3020 and some sennheiser headphones.The following year I got some Heybrook HB1 speakers which where fabulous.

In the next 10 years got threw loads of kit.Sharing a flat with a mate who worked for The Cornflake Shop in London a top Naim and Roksan dealer was great fun as he was always bring stuff back.Got rid of my Naim amps and got a Bryston pre and power which I still have in a 2 nd system.

25 years later getting fabulous sound from a Nagra PLL line stage

Dartzeel NHB 108 Poweramp which sounds more valve like then transistor

Nagra CDP     c.d player

Naim 01 tuner

Quad  2805 electrostatics

Thanks everyone, it's great to read all your reminiscences.

You all seem to have done far better than I have!

Here is a link to a previous discussion if it works?

https://forums.naimaudio.com/to...29#47323794970050329

Ken

Innocent Bystander posted:

Southweststokie posted:

Here is a link to a previous discussion if it works?

https://forums.naimaudio.com/to...29#47323794970050329

Ken

 

That thread, now closed, In fact complementary to this, as it asked how we started on the path, and this one asking about the path itself. Both questions and their answers are interesting!

1992: I'm 13 and inherit a pair of Bose 901 series IV (circa 1973) and a JVC receiver that's starting to develop dry joints on the left channel. But it sounds miles better hooked up to my Sony Discman than the ghetto blaster.

1993: I wonder into a proper hi-fi shop and looking scruffy and poor and they don't kick me out. I leave with a second hand, re-capped A&R Cambridge A60 to replace the JVC receiver. It's proper hifi.

1994: The Sony Discman becomes an Arcam Alpha One CD player. And a NAD 402 tuner is added (stonking machine at the price that vanished from people's memories). People think I'm strange. I have better hi-fi than a few of their dads.

1995: The A60 becomes a Linn Majik. It gelled with the Bose 901s which I didn't want to let go of. Nait 3 didn't quite cut the mustard in the demo. I began to worship at the temple of Linn. Later the same year, the 901s become a pair of Linn Keilidhs on Kustone plinths. The Alpha One turns into an Arcam Alpha 6 Plus CD Player. I have no life other than my part-time job and now have better hi-fi than most of my friends dads. A Denon Laserdisc player gets added (there was no cinema worth the name in my town).

1996: Source to speakers Linn is complete. The Arcam CD player becomes a Linn Mimik II. I start getting into home cinema and add a pair of Mission 731LEs for rears and a Yamaha add-on processor and Ruark centre channel.

1997: I'm at University in Manchester in a tiny room. My hifi is stored back at home and my main system is again the A60 with another pair of Mission 731LEs fed by something I don't remember.

1998: I've dropped out of Uni' but on the bright side I am listening to the full Linn again.

1999: Back at a new Uni' in Sheffield. Tiny room but stubbornly cramming Linn Mimik II, Majik on my desk driving a pair of Mission 73s that were only GBP75 new because a) their are shielded and b) anything more will fall off the desk. I've got my first pair of headphones too. Sennheiser HD600 with the Toltec surround headphone amp made for them.

2000: Out of the dormitory and into a student flat. My flatmates love me. I've putt the full Linn setup with the Keildihs in the living room with the Yamaha surrund processor, the Mission rears, the Laserdisc player and a DVD player.

2001: I emigrate to Japan never to return. Everything is sold except the Mission 73s, Sennheiser HD600 and a Rega Ear I picked up on my last day in the UK. My source is a Diamond RIO MP3 player. This is the start of 13 years in the hi-fi wilderness.

2003: I pick up an Onkyo micro sized CD player and a receiver for about GBP200 all in. That and the 73s are my main stereo for over a decade until 2014.

2005: I end up in Sapporo. It's cold and snowy for 6 months at a stretch and my girldfriend is never around while she finishes her MBA. I occupy myself by buying a Yamaha DVD player, a Yamaha THX receiver and a set of Bose AM10 series III 5.1 speakers with a Sanyo projector. I will buy almost no music for 9 years but will add 800 DVD and BR to my collection.

2013: Back in Tokyo for 6 years, married, about to move into a new home we build but system hasn't changed since 2003 (stereo) and 2005 (AV) respectively. Gutted I will be losing the cinema room I built (I built a soundproofed room within a room since it was a flat). But have earned some brownie points with my wife. Trip to the UK and back to my old dealer/employer. A 5 hour demonstration later and I have got Linn out of my system (excuse the punn) and ordered an NDX, XPSdr, 282, HCdr, 250.2, PMC Twenty.23s to replace the Onkyo/Mission setup that was less than GBP300 new. My infatuation with AV has subdued since the new home makes it impossible. New AV gear but if you're interested its on my profile. I also get a UQ2 and a pair of dinky QAcoustics 2010is for the office to tide me over before moving home.

2014: The gear arrives. I buy so much music in the following year it is astounding. I'm made redundant for the second time in 12 months so cheer myself up with a SCdr and rather than sell the HCdr it replaced, get a HeadLine 2 to make use of it.

2015: I show restraint. I only buy a new pair of Sennheiser HD800 to make proper use of the HeadLine. I justify it to my wife because it means I can listen without waking the baby or taking the HD600 from the office.

2016: My 250.2 is in the queue for DR upgrade and I'm talking with my dealer about a 252.

F_Z, with your use of the present tense to relay the past, there's a regular slot to be had for you as a contributor on In Our Time on BBC Radio Four    ;-)

Cheers, Chris

I started with a Rega Planar 3 (still have it) ex-dem, marvelous Creek CAS4040 second-hand, Mordaunt Short MS10s. Great little system.

Sold the Creek (which I still regret) and got a Nait 3 (first Naim) second-hand, very old Quad tuner and surprisingly good Micromega CD player. Replaced the speakers with Missions.

I got burgled and insurance paid for a new Nait 3 and CD3.5. They didn't take the Rega (no taste these thieves). Kept those for many years of happy listening, only replacing the Missions with excellent Dynaudio Audience 50s. That was my best-sounding system until very recently.

Around 2011 I sold the Nait, CD3.5 and Dynaudios, and bought an ex-dem Unitiqute and B&W CM5s (so I could wall mount). Loved the convenience, but the SQ was a big backward step. Also a Rega Mini Phono for occasional vinyl with the trusty Rega Planar 3, now with an Ortofon cartridge.

Around 2013, bought a NAP100 - sounded better. Then sold not-great CM5s and, after an exhaustive and exhausting search, bought wonderful ATC SCM11s speakers.

Then 2014, bought ex-dem 172xs and sold Qute. Finally, I was almost back at the SQ of the Nait/CD3.5!

Then 2015, sold NAP100 and bought a second-hand NAP200. With the ATCs (now on stands) and NACA5, this was the best system I've ever owned. I don't really hanker after anything better.

My first proper system was Pioneer PL12D, Shure M75II, Pioneer SA-7300 and AR4x. It was 1975, and I was 22. I then moved to AR2ax, then to AR16, then to Epicure10. Then I bought a better TT, but not so much better. Then a Thorens TD 147, with a Stanton 681eee.

I heard rumours about a new store been opened in town selling just British hifi - a real piece of news! So I visited it and came back home without my Thorens and with a rega Planar3. Then I bought a 2nd hand Naim Nait, and my first British, addictive system was built.

It was 1984 or 1985. Since then - safe for a very few very short hiatuses without Naim - I have had the following (in different periods of time):

Sources: 1 x NAT05, 2 x CD3.5, 2 x CD5, 1 x CD5i, 1 x CD5x, 1 x CD5x/converted to mechanism, 3 x CDX2 (first and second mechanism), 1 x DVD5, 1 x CDS3.

Power supplies: 3 x SNAPS, 1 x FC2, 1 x FC2x, 5 x HiCap ( all finishes, including one HC-DR), 1 x XP 5XS, 3 x XPS-2 (one converted to DR).

Integrated amps: 1 x Nait, 1 x Nait3, 2 x Nait5, 1 x Nait5i, 2 x NaitXS, 2 x Supernait.

Pre: 2 x 42.5, 1 x NAC112, 1 x NAC202, 2 x AV2.

Power: 1 x NAP90, 2 x NAP140, 1 x NAP150, 1 x NAP150x, 1 x NAP160, 1 x NAP175, 1 x NAP200.

Various lengths of NAC A4 and NAC A5, meters of SNAIC, 4 x HiLine.

Speakers: 4 x N-Sats (all finishes), 1 x N-Cent, 1 x Arivas, 2 x SBLs.

I may have forgotten something, but it's enough to qualify me as NaimNut© I believe.

I don't really think I had any serious hifi gear until I bought my first Naim piece.

I was seriously into audio when I was in High School and had a separates system of mostly japanese gear... some Sony and Akai if I remember correctly. Some of that gear made it's way to University with me.

Once I got out of school and into my first house the 5.1 craze was in full swing, and I went down that path. It ultimately killed my interest in audio. Set up was too difficult, too many speaker cables running in every direction, and I could never get music to sound like anything resembling music with a 5.1 set up. I gave up and went down the computer audio path (was a very early adopter to this)... mac, desktop speakers, various software reply solutions (but was never a fan of iTunes and still am not).

Then there were 2 events that changed my direction. The first was buying a little pair of B + W MM1's... they sounded so much better than my other desktop speakers and in doing research to figure out why this was the case, discovered that these speakers had a built in good quality DAC. Prior to this I didn't really know what a DAC was... afterwards I figured there must be something to this DAC business. 

The 2nd was taking my son to Bay Bloor Radio in Toronto... he was getting into audio and wanted to audition some good quality headphones. While visiting the shop I saw lots of higher end gear and thought that maybe it was time to get back into 2 channel audio. I asked the sales guy what he suggested for someone coming from a computer replay set up to higher end gear and he suggested without hesitation a Unitiqute.

Some months later, after much independent research and some listening I bought a SuperUniti and some Totem Arro's. 

5 years later, and I now have a 300 dr / 252 dr based system... digital audio is still a primary source for me (NDX > Chord Hugo TT), and I have added analog replay as well (Rega RP 10)... and a MUSO in the kitchen :-)

1984

CD: Yamaha CDX2
TT: Thorens TD166 Mk2
Amp: Homebrew Mk2 (heavily modified Hitachi 7 transistor MOSFET poweamp, Elna Cerafine caps, passive preamp)
Speakers: Castle Clyde

Modifications history:

1986 Speakers -> Spendor SP2
1994? CD -> Marantz CD63 KI signature
1998 Partington Super Dreadnought stands
2000 Amp -> Audiolab 8000s (didn't have time to rebuild the amp when all the electrolytics needed changing)
2006 CD -> Exposure CD 2010s
2012 Custom Design CS 104 signature stands
2014 Amp -> Nait XS-2,  CD -> ND5 XS.
2015 B&W ASW610 sub
2015 Glass shelves on rack, substantial acoustic room treatment.
2015 Digital Room Correction using Audacity