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| Last night, wide-angle on iPhone. Tap to enlarge. Listening to Elgar’s Symphony number 1 on vinyl a Christmas present from John |
Newly refurbished sound system finally comes alive!
We bought this high-end system back in 2002…. Wow, nearly two decades ago.*
The thinking was: buy quality for, well… quality. And longevity. And so it’s proven. But time worked its entropy. Bits of it stopped working. One expert suggested scrapping and starting afresh. But I decided to refurbish. That’s worked out more satisfying. We’ve brought an old friend back to life.
We bought this high-end system back in 2002…. Wow, nearly two decades ago.*
The thinking was: buy quality for, well… quality. And longevity. And so it’s proven. But time worked its entropy. Bits of it stopped working. One expert suggested scrapping and starting afresh. But I decided to refurbish. That’s worked out more satisfying. We’ve brought an old friend back to life.
The Jadis Amplifier, made in France, uses old-fashioned tubes, for a “richer sound”. It had stopped working on one channel. Amazingly, the very same shop where we bought it 18 years ago is still operating — we couriered it over and they fixed it, with new French tubes. That took six weeks.
Then the Dali Euphonia Speakers, made in Denmark. The tweeters had broken for reasons not clear even to Freddy, the owner of Hi Fi Gear who came to look at them. He imported replacement Dali tweeters and installed them for me. As well as new high-end cables. That took twelve weeks.
And that was the core of the system — Amplifier and Speakers — renovated. Then, a couple of new items, both from Freddy:
A new Dual Turntable, made in Germany. And a new Cambridge CD player, made in the UK.
So now, after a little effort and modest expenditure, we’re back to having a top end hi-fi system and the pleasure of listening to the hiss, the snap, crackle and pop of real records!
Vinyl!
Of which I still have examples from early sixties: Them, Them Again, The Animals, Sgt Peppers (2 of, for some reason), Electric Ladyland, Bluesbreakers…
And thanks fo Freddy for the excellent service, coming all the way out here, as he did, three times to make it all happen.
And that was the core of the system — Amplifier and Speakers — renovated. Then, a couple of new items, both from Freddy:
A new Dual Turntable, made in Germany. And a new Cambridge CD player, made in the UK.
So now, after a little effort and modest expenditure, we’re back to having a top end hi-fi system and the pleasure of listening to the hiss, the snap, crackle and pop of real records!
Vinyl!
Of which I still have examples from early sixties: Them, Them Again, The Animals, Sgt Peppers (2 of, for some reason), Electric Ladyland, Bluesbreakers…
And thanks fo Freddy for the excellent service, coming all the way out here, as he did, three times to make it all happen.
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* Time flies like an arrow
Fruit flies like a banana
~ Sometimes attributed to Groucho Marx
