Recent content by Down South

How much do the original Philips/Marantz CDPs' go for? I believe some buy them just to get the TDA 1541 chips. I must say that the design was avante-garde. I can't get back to the UK because of my wife's ongoing health problems, that's where the CDP is, in the loft of my wife's friend.

And arrogantly,nowhere in your post do we find 'in my opinion'.

But people with money love to pay for bling and status. How often do you see uber expensive power cords selling for US$1-2K and the company spiel is we can't possibly talk about the materials used or the construction because our competitors will copy it - so what's to stop said competitors...

I had a first generation Marantz CD63. Probably because I was using a 70s Technics amp and a pair of AR 3as, great bass but the rest was crap I wasn't impressed. Moved on to another Marantz the 63KI which I found sounded better than the much vaunted first gen.63 and I used it from 92 - 2016...

No I'm not trying to make this site racist - what I said about the western reaction to the Japanese d/d decks is factual history. Also make your reply to those who claim that Malaysia and other Asian countries are making sub standard products that once were produced in Japan. Anyone who worked...

This is harking back to the vitriolic attack in the US and UK audio press when the Japanese d/d superdecks first appeared in the 70s. It was blatantly racist then. Manufacturing now is all about robotics - do you really think that SMD components are soldered by human hands? It really doesn't...

In another thread I was heavily criticized by some hairshirts for daring to 'intifere with what the recording engineers/artists had laid down on vinyl. For me the whole point of listening to music, live/recorded whatever is to enjoy the experience to 'my' satisfaction not someone else's. This is...

In the 60s' and 70s' I listened to lots of great music played in 'bedsits'. For every musician that get's 'well known' there are a hundred just as good that don't. That's as real as hearing music gets. I went to the first Knebworth, got to see Bob Marley at the Ahoy Halle in Rotterdam 1980. Went...

In 1999 I bought a s/hand Technics SL120 for my wife,we each had our own audio system because we had totally different music. I wanted to see how different a d/d deck was from belt drive. At that time I was using the original crap Rega 2 and Rega 3 .120 unlike the 1200 was sold without an arm...

I bought a Marantz CD6007 made in Vietnam - works perfectly. Most speakers now are made in China, whatever the brand. The Turks are making well engineered products. Had a new immersion heater fitted, bad final inspection, didn't pick up faults, had to be replaced - made in France. There are few...

Interesting post. I have a 3-1 contract with Bouygues here in France and with the TV part I get 7 music channels - Intermezzo and Stingray are unbelievably good, music of all genres and so much more. I also get urban/latin/african and another I can't remember the name of. All of these present...

In another 283 years Vivaldi's music will still be vital and alive simply because it is timeless. I was lucky enough to be living in a small town in Galicia where every July there is a big Celtic musical festival with bands of pipers from all over NW Spain and internationally. The Breton...

Neither Elvis or Sinatra wrote their own songs, the Beatles did. For those not around in the 60s' and 70s' it was the time of the singer/songwriters, the balladiers It was the time when songs were about real life as it was being lived. For sure there were plenty who grew their hair long and...

What is worth talking about is fixed / detachable headshell. Also remember that commercial people think about production cost all the time, this applies to almost every aspect of audio equipment. A straight arm, fixed h/shell is a lot cheaper to manufacture than an S shape and detachable...

Yorkshire Mouth, the reaction to your initial post was 'as expected'. I take issue with your start point. When the Japanese first presented their direct drive decks to the world at the beginning of the 70s' most of the West (Germany excepted) ruthlessly and in many cases racially reacted to...