Keith G wrote:


My exploration into all this has been a staggering success AFAIAC - I have
proved (to myself, if no other) that the *speakers* drive the whole 'hifi'
thing *bigtime*! I would/will put this sound I'm getting off a cheap POS amp
against anything I've heard to date!! In fact, I'll go as far as to say I
don't much care about sources and amplification, the speakers can (and do)
make or break it all!!

I shudder to think how much money people are throwing at the game, trying to
get a pair of iffy speakers to sound good. I swapped the Pinkies for a pair
of very respectable JM-Labs the other day and the sound (from the exact same
kit) slumped like punctured tyre!! I've got turntables/tuners/CDPs here that
cost nowt and they all sound superb on the firewood horns, irrrespective of
the amplifiers used!!

Its revised my views completely, my advice to anyone looking for good sound
on the cheap would/will be 'build a pair of speakers and then chuck any old
kit at them' - I reckon you could get a superb tuner/CDP system going for
less than 200 quid!!

If me little mic weren't bust I'd post a track or two!!

(Off to check out the mic anyway..... :-)


This reminds of the ludicrous situation that was common in the mid
eighties when Linn in particular suggested a Linn-Ittok-Asak combination
for use with a little Nytech or NAIM amp and Linn Kan 'speakers. The
results were truly horrible entirely due to the appalling 'speakers. I
really felt for people who had wasted their money in that way but what
could a layman do when every mag recommended such folly.

When I was in retail at the time I tried to fight against it, putting
'speakers first, then decent amplification and a CD player, but went
bust for my pains. Ah well.....

S.