Have you ever made a change in your music system after reading a Hi Fi review?

I remember when I was about 16 and had a really nice little Pioneer amplifier, an SA5300 I think it was. I was an avid reader of HiFi Answers - I had a letter published once which made my day - and read a rave review of an amplifier made by the jockstrap and vest company. Like a twit I bought it mail order and it was a total piece of shit. Words cannot describe how useless it was. As well as sounding rubbish it had the build quality of a weetabix packet. 

It can be really hard for people who live in places where they can't audition the equipment first, and this is where the Forum comes in. But knowing whose advice and observations you can trust is a terrible minefield. From time to time people email me and ask what to do and I always feel so concerned that they might go for it and then not like what they have shelled out on. It seems to have worked ok though, or if it hasn't they've not told me....

The point I was trying to make is that prior to reading the review I didn't even know that I 'needed' to replace my speakers. As it happened, my monitors were mentioned in the review as point of comparison and since that two models shared a similar sound signature (as well as drivers) I decided to try the floor standers. The irony is that I made the change in the system after owning it for six weeks and then I left it untouched for another sixteen years.

The only item I ever bought unheard was a Red Dawn interconnect made by Nordost. There was none available for auditioning with a DIN termination so I had to order it directly from the manufacture. It did change the sound noticeably, extending the highs and adding transparency but it also thinned out human voices and somehow managed to deconstruct the timing of the musing. It took me three weeks of going back and forth before settling back on the original Chord wire that came with the 3.5 player.

Interestingly enough, the same reviewer who caused me to switch speakers 16 years ago has been raving lately about the LFD LE V integrated amp. Unfortunately, there are no dealers carrying the line in the Midwest so I am just left to read about it.

Mike-B Cisco SG100D-08 or -05 Series depending on the number of ports needed.  It does look like they have gone from more metal to a newer style box though.

I bought my Townshend Allegri preamp on a sale or return basis after the review by Martin Colloms. It stayed.

I believe MC still uses his in his reference system with his NAP500 power amp and Magico speakers.

I certainly did during my early twenties. Exploring different brands and sounds. Once I settled on Naim as a final destination reviews became irrelevent. I still dem everything, but it usually is just as confirmation as I usually buy what I am interested in. My experience with Naim is that the upgrade path works...

More recently I am finding the same with the LP12, although the costs are eye watering....

I doubt I will buy any more Naim stuff, but I still fancy a few LP12 bits when I can.

Stu

Dozey posted:

I bought my Townshend Allegri preamp on a sale or return basis after the review by Martin Colloms. It stayed.

I believe MC still uses his in his reference system with his NAP500 power amp and Magico speakers.

he does. it is an amazing preamp. So "not there" its almost unreal. 

I think its currently NDS/555PS into Allegri into 500DR into Magico S5Mk2

I wanted to have a Naim system after first reading about a Naim system in a magazine (HiFi Choice iirc)... took my 10+ years to get there though.  I should have just found a way to buy it back then and save all the buying and selling in the intervening period trying to find something I liked at a price I could afford.

I may do that now. There is a review of the Trenner & Friedl Sun in the current issue of stereophile and it is very tempting .

Mulberry posted:

I may do that now. There is a review of the Trenner & Friedl Sun in the current issue of stereophile and it is very tempting .

I am still looking for a chance to listen to an LFD V integrated amp which also got a rave review in Stereophile. Unfortunately, no one carries it in the Mid-west and it was not represented in the Hi Fi shows I attended.

I was quite underwhelmed when I had the NCSE at home a few years ago. Slow and uninvolving were my impressions, but it might have been the speakers or the good old taste (or lack of taste). 

Mulberry posted:

I was quite underwhelmed when I had the NCSE at home a few years ago. Slow and uninvolving were my impressions, but it might have been the speakers or the good old taste (or lack of taste). 

Thanks for letting me know. Interestingly enough, the Stereophile reviewer, Sam Tellig, preferred the LFD V (as well as the IV) to the larger NCSE.  Slow don't sound good though..

Not in my own system, but I did buy an Audioquest Jitterbug on Amazon - unheard, for a friend's system.  This after reading a Stereophile review (as well as other favorable comments including this forum).  I put it between his MacBook USB out and the Halide Design DAC HD, for input to Nait5i/nSats.  It did not disappoint, and was well worth the $50 spent.

Charlie

I also put the Audioquest Jitterbug between my MBP and external DACs bought it unheard based on reviews, it was a no brainer (like it or return it) and it was a very worthwhile £39 spent. 

Haim,

quite a while before he wrote the LFD review Sam Tellig was slowly losing some of his marbles (at least according to my impressions). His choice of gear was still above average, but his writing well below that of the other contributors. His "JA will never publish this" and other fake provocations always were so annoying.

Regarding the LFD, my impressons were perhaps due to the 4 Ohm three-way speaker I had back then (Meadowlark Heron) or the passive preamp stage inside the NCSE. Fully active integrateds simply tend to have more drive, especially when it comes to LP playback. Which is precisely why I ended up with the SN2 .

Anyway: Happy New Year to you (and everybody else around here)! And keep those photos coming. They are a real joy to see.

Mulberry posted:

Haim,

quite a while before he wrote the LFD review Sam Tellig was slowly losing some of his marbles (at least according to my impressions). His choice of gear was still above average, but his writing well below that of the other contributors. His "JA will never publish this" and other fake provocations always were so annoying.

Regarding the LFD, my impressons were perhaps due to the 4 Ohm three-way speaker I had back then (Meadowlark Heron) or the passive preamp stage inside the NCSE. Fully active integrateds simply tend to have more drive, especially when it comes to LP playback. Which is precisely why I ended up with the SN2 .

Anyway: Happy New Year to you (and everybody else around here)! And keep those photos coming. They are a real joy to see.

Ah, those Meadowlarks were decent sounding speakers.. I give credit to Mr. Tellig for pointing out the Proac Response 1.5 which I ended up with seventeen years ago. I still never got a chance to listen to the SN2. I just paid a visit (social) this week to the Naim dealer but they were busy demonstrating their new Unity Core so I did not want to interrupt and request a change of the set-up.

Happy New Year to you and to everyone else.

Skip's mention of analog planet in another thread reminded me Framer's review of the proteus was very nfluential In my decision to buy one though there were other factors.

I bought a Nait 5 based on reviews not long before the 5i replaced it, I regretted that one though looking back it may have been a setup issue, there was a smps in one of the other boxes.

Roadie Simon posted:

Yes...... Lingo 1 as soon as it came out. Couldn't listen to it because the shop hadn't got one (Audio T West Hampstead). Really wanted to be able to play 45's without the faff. Sonic improvement was a bonus

I did the very same thing, mainly hoping for an increase in sound quality. Playing 45's, easily, was the bonus.

Haim,

the Meadowlarks driven by Bow ZZ amp and CD-player were such a great system. Trying to improve things led to many "Verschlimmbesserungen" (worsening something while improving another thing) and a lot less music played. I think the electronics are fine now, the speakers a little too resolving. Hence my interest in the Suns. Another intriguing design are the Klangbau Monitor Ks. Both are based on Seas drivers, like those in your ProAcs, and birch plywood cabinets.

Yeti,

the Proteus is a good one. I got mine as a replacement for a Temper, whose cantilever somehow broke .

Mulberry posted:

 

 Trying to improve things led to many "Verschlimmbesserungen" (worsening something while improving another thing) and a lot less music played.

This "Verschlimmbesserungen" sounds very convincing. I definitely going to use it for my excuses to the wife. Now, if I could only pronounce it properly..