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[sidvee]

And, one of my very first system - from '92 (yes 20 years ago - told ya' all I was a dinosaur), a SONY rack system bought from Montgomery Ward's, for a princely sum of $700, with a newly acquired credit card (before this I had an Akai-Bush mini system in India with a CD player and net total of 3 or 4 cd's). Thoroughly enjoyed this system for 3 years. A friend of mine who was quite buzzed on budweiser:lol: is partly visible in front of the system. Actually it is quite amazing that the system survived all the partying that was done around it.
Cheers,
Sid

 

[prem]

Hi Sidvee

Those were the days.

 

[sidvee]

Those were the days.

Truer words have never been spoken.
Cheers,
Sid

 

[ranjeetrain]

I heard a Sony rack system in early 90s at an acquaintance. That is one of the sounds I will always remember.

These days Sony means low end. But there were better days, when Sony truly meant high fidelity. And to quote Prem, those were the days.

 

[sidvee]

Ok found another one from 2002, a decade ago - A sony cd player, MSB DAC, Antique sound labs pre amp and a NAD integrated used as an amp. driving Aurum Cantus speakers with a ribbon tweeter, that I picked up in Shanghai. Chinese Hi-fi was just getting popular at that time, and Aurum Cantus speakers were being bought by Red Rose Audio (Mark Levinsons new company) and rebranded and sold in the US for $2500- $3000. I remember paying $300 for these in Shanghai. Also visible on the carpet, the superb NHT super one speakers, that I used to listen to when I wanted a different sound from the Aurums. All electronics on a DIY modified flexy rack that I built myself with mdf, pvc and threaded rods. Also built an isolation stand for the Cd player that was outfitted with an inner cycle tyre tube, that can be seen under the cd player.
Cheers,
Sid

 

[sidvee]

And here is another one from 2000/2001. The amazing Magneplanar MMG. I had just unpacked it in my kitchen and it was so amazing to look at, that I took a picture of it right there. It was a superb speaker, midbass on up, and probably the best I had heard till I acquired the B&W 705, of-course the 705 was priced 3 times that of the Maggie. Of all the speakers I have had so far, the most memorable ones for me are the NHT super zeros (that I bought after the super ones and IMO sounded much better than the ones), the Maggie MMG's and my B&W 805's. I will add one more to this list, with pics. & name, next week and this was by far the best speaker I had, probably even better than my Harbeth Shl5. I got it in 1997/98 and held on to it till 2005/06. Unfortunately the company that made this is either defunct now (It was a highly respected American Company) or making some budget stuff. It was the one piece of equipment more than any, that really launched me into Hi-fi as a lifelong hobby. It was the first time I experienced lateral soundstaging, pin point imaging, airiness around instruments, smooth treble and bass impact, macro & micro dynamics etc. much before I knew what these terms meant. Stay tuned!
Cheers,
Sid

 

[arj]

great set of posts Sidvee.. enjoying reading this !

 

[himadri]

great set of posts Sidvee.. enjoying reading this !

+1 . Great going Sid, long overdue.
cheers

 

[apk]

Wow! it has really been an audio journey for you. Very nice to see your audio history for the past 20 years.

 

[reignofchaos]

Beautiful set of posts and an amazing audio journey. Thank you for the pictures.

 

[sidvee]

And finally the speaker that started it all for me (and my longest lasting pair of speakers, 7-8 years). The exceptional DCM Time Frame v8.0. These cost me $1000 a pair back in '97, which, at-least for me, was big bucks. Regardless they definitely are the best speaker that I have heard or owned, so far. They had two rear firing tweeters in the bevelled sides in addition to the front firing tweeter that really threw a superbly detailed and expansive soundstage (almost like a bipolar speaker). They also had sublime mid-range and superb bass extension and sounded very musical. They are shown here in my HT room that I had in my basement in the year 2000, had to move them here because they needed space to sound their best, and this room was 20' long by 12' wide. I had combined them with other speakers from the same range for a 7.1 setup, but I recall listening music more often on these than watching movies, even though I had a separate, quite decent, 2 channel setup upstairs. They sounded superb for either application, and to this day I miss the sound of these:sad:. Subconsciously whenever I audition a new pair of speakers I am comparing them to this sound. DCM - the company, however has fallen on bad times, were sold once or twice and now are back, but nowhere near their former glory as the makers of the famous Time Window and Time Frame series of speakers.
Cheers,
Sid

 

[sidvee]

And with this post, I conclude my 2-channel system journey that started back in 1992. Looking back, each was a learning experience, which continues even today and God willing will keep continuing till the day I have to go and meet Him (hopefully I will meet Him and not his counterpart down below).
Next, I will try to catalog my HT journey, which started in '93/'94 with my acquisition of a Sony dolby prologic receiver, a Sony Hi-fi VCR, Cerwin Vega/Atlantic technology 5 speaker setup and a 32" Sony CRT Tv.
Thank you all for reading my nostalgia filled posts.
Cheers,
Sid

 

[srinisundar]

Yep, very nicely written Sid, good to see that you are able to record it nicely and remember your 20 years journey in stereo. I have to remove the "0" and now i am in 2nd year of proper Stereo journey. Very Long way to go for me.

Regards

 

[sidvee]

now i am in 2nd year of proper Stereo journey. Very Long way to go for me.

Enjoy Srini, this is a beautiful journey to embark upon - almost spiritual in a way - and always remember that it is the music that counts, the equipment is simply a mean's to reproduce music. We get caught up so often in the equipment that we may loose sight of the goal.
Cheers,
Sid

 

[ranjeetrain]

We get caught up so often in the equipment that we may lose sight of the goal.

Well spoken. I always warn people against falling for the equipment lust.

Most people associate Audiophilia with hoarding gear. That makes one's signature look big but doesn't necessarily fill one's heart with contentment of a good-sounding system can give.

 

[srinisundar]

Well spoken. I always warn people against falling for the equipment lust.

Most people associate Audiophilia with hoarding gear. That makes one's signature look big but doesn't necessarily fill one's heart with contentment of a good-sounding system can give.

Myself in the list earlier

 

[ranjeetrain]

Heheh.. see what I said

 

[Nikhil]

Great stories Sid. Thanks for sharing!

 

[sidvee]

And to my original post on memorable speakers, I forgot to add one more speaker that I loved very much. It was the Kef q35 which I bought in 1998/99. With the UniQ driver, this small floor stander had imaging to die for, though it was quite light through the bass frequencies. It was the Kef q35 that really turned me on to the so called Brit-Fi sound and 15 years later I am still enjoying the British sound through my Harbeths, having gone through a few kef's and B&W's.
Cheers,
Sid

 

[prem]

Hi Sidvee

Try and listen to a Neodio cd player. I have not heard the Neodio but a few people whose ears i trust have heard it and think its brilliant. if i were to go back to cd playback this is the one i would have bought blind.