Thanks to everyone who now frequents this Forum :-)

[Zak33]

I'd just like to say that, THIS FORUM is a very cool, exciting, and frankly quite an intellectual place to be

Thank you to everyone who has participated in the various threads which, these last few weeks have had me both intrigued, in stitches and on the edge of my seat, SHOUTING!

And mostly, thanks to Kushti, who has been, quite literaly, my eyes and ears on Ebay

Seriously people, this is what makes HEXUS so nice to be a part of. I've learned literaly loads, and will continue, as ever to share my findings with you all.

Roll on Audio Nirvana.

(I miss Nirvana....Kurt....why, man, why?)

[Howard]

[kushtibari]

Thanks lad - but seeing as how the docs had me signed off for 3 weeks I've just been sitting back, listening to CD's, browsing the net, watching DVD's etc. Didn't have any money off my own so I was trying to spend yours


Did notice since I've been on here a bit more recently, that every third post/thread revival seemed to be from someone called Zak...

[menthel]

The problem with all of this is that it is so bleedin' expensive. I am just happy I don't have the itch to upgrade my home cinema at the moment. Unless I add a
PS3.

[Zak33]

The problem with all of this is that it is so bleedin' expensive. I am just happy I don't have the itch to upgrade my home cinema at the moment. Unless I add a
PS3.

but it's NOT.,,,,

I'm quite shocked at the value for money avaialble secnd hand

Think of a budget that you CAN spend.

Double it

Look for new stuff that fit's the bill....then find it, or last years model, second hand for half or less on Ebay.

My "new" Cambridge Audio Azur 640A arrives today

[Funkstar]

Think of a budget that you CAN spend.

Double it

Look for new stuff that fit's the bill....then find it, or last years model, second hand for half or less on Ebay.

So what you are saying is that with eBay, all you do is spend your budget?

genius! lol

[Zak33]

hmmm.....

what I mean is that it's really hard to know WHAT to look for on ebay....you get swamped.

So go at it like you are doing NEW.....that way you can find reviews.

Build a list of your "wanted" stuff, if you had double the money, then go spend half that on ebay.

But you gotta start with a budget in mind or you go over board.

[Funkstar]

Yeah, that makes sense. I was just being a little facetious

[menthel]

but it's NOT.,,,,

I'm quite shocked at the value for money avaialble secnd hand

Think of a budget that you CAN spend.

Double it

Look for new stuff that fit's the bill....then find it, or last years model, second hand for half or less on Ebay.

My "new" Cambridge Audio Azur 640A arrives today

It is when I have top consider the wife's handbag and shoe budget as well now she is doing a PHD! Now that would destroy NASA's budget, let alone my gadget budget!

[TooNice]

Can I highjack this thread to ask what got the people here into the world of audio fidelity? After all, activity and interest in this forum must've been indirectly linked to some event that got us interested in the first place

For me, it all started with the Koss Portapro. While I don't remember ever falling for the more wattage marketing gimmick (got some pretty decent Yamaha MM speakers that costed/weighted/sounded a tad more than traditional plastic satellite speakers), I had, until then, thought that headphones couldn't get -that- much better than some Sony earbuds. I mean, the bass on those Sony's were great compared to the generics, so what more could I expect.. right? Okay, I was sure the Sennheiser HD580/600/650 must've been real good, but three digits for a pair of cans??

Still, one day, after breaking one pair of Sony earbuds too many, I headed to 3dss (now little maintained website for PC speaker enthusiasts) and asked if there was anything less than £50 that could be better than Sony earbuds.. and would not break after 9 months. The Koss PortaPro was mentioned given that I did not have particularly amazing source (sound card/DAC), plus Koss offered lifetime guarantee on their products. So I splashed on £34.99 (I think) on them.. which is about twice what they go for on Amazon now. When I saw them I thought, they looked kinda funky looking, but being circumaural I was a lil skeptical that they would be spectacular (misconception from the poor quality of supra-aural headphones you find on the plane and generics).

Well, my jaw dropped within 10 seconds of listening. That's when I experienced my first 'wow' of audio bliss. I kept telling myself placebo, placebo, placebo, I am imagining things. I kept telling myself 'Those sounds were always there, I am just listening more closely than I used to'. Back after switching back and forth for many times, listening to dozens of tracks I was sold. And that planted the seed of upgraditis. It was only a matter of time for me to one day ask the question "£34.99 bought me such astounding sound.. what if I spend a little more?". The rest is history

That's my long story, and I am a bit curious to hear how others got into this.

[kushtibari]

I used to have a nice hifi years ago - Marantz, Audiolab, Castle etc.

Old house and new kids put paid to it. To chill out after work I'd go on the PC. Change of jobs meant I was on a PC at work all day so started to listen to music again to chill. One thing led to another (upgraditis) and ended up with a nice system again. I don't think it'll change for a while. Concentrating on buying CD and vinyl again. Theres still a few bargains around vinyl wise on the saturday markets.

[Zak33]

I started on Car Audio many many years ago. In 1992 I had a car with such a large volume of amp and speaker indulgence in it, that I welded the boot shut to stop anyone nicking it.

But recently, we (Sair and I) were sitting in a lovely little house in Stamford, with a few beers in us, after a nice meal and a lovely walk around the town, and our host "put some music on"

Those B&W's and that Arcam amp did it for me...... I grabbed by CD collection from the car and sat there, all night, listening, hearing stuff I didn;t know was there.

And right now.....down stairs...is a nice Cambridge Audio amp waiting to be wired in...

so goodbye

[Stoo]

I've always been a sucker for nice audio, but never really had the budget until recently (although I still don't to be honest...), furthest I've really got with it is my rio karma and ultimate ears super.fi 5 pro ear buds..

My home cinema system isn't really high end either being an Acoustic Energy Aego P5 5.1 set, But i've been looking into a Denon amp and some Kef speakers, which could easily grow an Arcam CD player and a few other gubbins

[Funkstar]

when i have the space, i'll start puting together decent stereo and surround setups. Right now i just don't have the room in my livingroom for all that.