After a bit of hum-ing and hah-ing, I settled on:
- Michell Focus One with ADC Alt-1 arm and an A&R cartridge into a
Creek 4040 amplifier into
Monitor Audio R-252 speakers on low stands.
Only a month or so after leaving the marital home, however, some lil’ darlin’ went and liberated my cameras, guitars and CD’s, along with the amplifier, speakers and cassette deck, leaving the vinyl and turntable – bless’em
A dear friend donated a NAD 3120 amplifier and I bought a pair of Wharfdale Series 5 Diamonds and some Apollo stands to get things going again. Then, at some juncture, I swapped the A&R for an Ortofon Super OM10 cartridge and, a few months back, swapped the Wharfdales for a pair of Tannoy Mercury M2’s, which another chum no longer had use for, and it’s that system which I enjoy today.
A month or so ago, the urge to consider upgrading the system came over me and, after a perusal of some mag’s, I decided to eschew full-scale replacement and, instead, set about tweaking the system to maximise its potential.
To that end, I’m proposing to:
- Return deck to Michell for full service and Focus One S upgrade (motor noise being a worsening problem over the years)
Have the NAD 3120 serviced and tweaked by Fidele Audio
Replace the stylus with an OM-20
Fill the speaker stands with sand
Add internal bracing to the speaker cabinets
Expectations are that an already very musical system will be that little bit more open, with improved detail and a tighter bass but time will tell!
Any thoughts or comments on these proposals are very welcome.
