How did you start out in this hobby?

[TooCool4]

I just wish i had had a chance to hear the IRSV. By all accounts it was life changing !!

You still can, PS Audio has one and they always say if you are in the area you can come and listen.

 

[Bodhi]

A friend of mine has the standard 1000ZXL it’s a lovely machine and sounds amazing but I would not want one, you can’t get parts which means you may have a nice door stop on your hands. I have a CR-7, for me it’s the best Nakamichi to have.

The mini cassette revival is good but I have not bought a pre-recorded cassette in years, I make my own recordings from LP's and I have a stockpile of new TDK MA-XG’s to use.

Willy Hermann can expertly service the 1000ZXL, and also does mods to swap out the stock transport with either a ZX-9 or Dragon transport, thereby improving both the sound and serviceability of the deck. But the CR-7 is a great deck & in the top four Nakamichi decks ever made.

My brother pretty much used his Yammy KX-1200U to record new vinyl albums also, then he just listened to tapes. He had some Dolby DBX recordings on Thats MR-X Pro tapes which sounded bloody good.

 

[Bodhi]

I just wish i had had a chance to hear the IRSV. By all accounts it was life changing !!

Yeah they are awesome speakers for sure. I'm glad I got to tick that off my bucket list! Going back to an old thread, here is how I described their sound...

"The IRS-V's produced incredible sound with etherial "reach out and touch it" imaging and thunderous bass which mimicked the live event. You could literally point at instruments as they moved across the sound stage. That was an awesome experience & definitely got me hooked on audio."

That said, Peter Breuninger who has lots of ear time on IRS Vs, incl: at HPs, Bill Legalls, and Kevin Olsen's house told me "Absolutely. The GTs play in the same league as the IRS-V's, and have a better midrange and bigger soundstage".

 

[Bodhi]

A Friends of mine had a Philips Laboratories Tuner 673 in the early 80s, some Grundig Monolit Loudspeaker, the First Philips CD 100. i forgot about the Preamp, maybe a Yamaha...! And after this evening my whole life changed and the hobby starts....
Hearing music with good sound is quality in living.
Sorry for my bad english by the way.

I love those light-bulb moments which can change your life. Part of the joy of our hobby is sharing it with others .

 

[Bodhi]

You still can, PS Audio has one and they always say if you are in the area you can come and listen.

Paul's pair have been extensively restored and upgraded, incl: hand-built replacement Emim's, Emits restored by Cory Johnson, new wiring & custom outboard x-overs designed by their Chief Engineer, Bob Stadtherr. They must be one of the best, if not the best sounding pair in the world.

 

[ThomasW]

I love those light-bulb moments which can change your life. Part of the joy of our hobby is sharing it with others .

Absolutely! For me it‘s the best to make a session with friends to hear some good music, drink coffee and eat something. We talk about music, amps,…far away from the things, we have to do everyday.
It‘s one of the best hobbies to relax and to chill, to enjoy, to meet friends.
And in the end of the day, it‘s just good music...

 

[Bodhi]

My idol Arnie Nudell started out working with speakers when he was 10-12 years old, going to electronics stores, putting together parts and pulling apart and modifying electronics. After graduating from University as an Aeronautical Engineer, Arnie joined Litton Industries where he developed a way to make a laser range-finder measure distance within a couple of feet, along with inertial navigation systems develooped for the F4D aircraft used in the Vietnam war.

During that time Arnie met John Ulrich who was also interested in music and audio. Together they started to think about how they could adapt some of the new aerospace technologies to loudspeakers. Arnie and John started working on ideas & developing speaker designs in Arnie's garage (see photo below). To build the cabinets, Arnie called Cary Christie who was in Insurance at the time, but was an excellent woodworker. And the genesis of Infinity Systems was born! The rest as they say is history!
Ps: Don't ask me how long it took to find the photo of Arnie's garage!


Arnie's garage in Woodland's Hill, CA


From Left, Cary Christie, John Ulrich and Arnie Nudell at Infinity Systems, Chatsworth California circa 1968

 

[TooCool4]

Willy Hermann can expertly service the 1000ZXL, and also does mods to swap out the stock transport with either a ZX-9 or Dragon transport, thereby improving both the sound and serviceability of the deck. But the CR-7 is a great deck & in the top four Nakamichi decks ever made.

My brother pretty much used his Yammy KX-1200U to record new vinyl albums also, then he just listened to tapes. He had some Dolby DBX recordings on Thats MR-X Pro tapes which sounded bloody good.

Not sure what company Willy Hermann works for but my friend sent his 1000ZXL to ESL in America for service, is that the same company Willy works for?

I am in the UK so is my friend and normally we use Bowers & Wilkins Nakamichi but since they don't have a lot of parts for 1000ZXL they tend not to take them in.
My Friend was very happy with the work by ESL.

Out of all the Nakamichi's i have listened to i would put the CR-7 in the top 3. The Dragon does not even come in the top 3, from the high-end of Nakamichi i have listened to 1000ZXL, ZX9, CR-7 and Dragon.

With regard to recording vinyl, i only ever record music i want to listen to on the move else i just listen to the vinyl.

 

[Bodhi]

@TooCool4 , Here is a link to Willy's business fyi. He is in Moraga, CA. Thanks for the tip about ESL. I've saved their details for my info.

Hmm yes I always avoid ranking specific Nakamichi models when these discussions come up. As the old saying goes, If you put 10 audiophiles in a room...you'll get 10 different opinions. Suffice to say I agree with your view about the CR-7.

My brother mostly listened to tapes, and to a lesser extent cd's to preserve his vinyl collection. But he still listened to some vinyl though.

 

[TooCool4]

Thanks Bodhi for the link it's always good to have. Since i am in the UK and Bowers & Wilkins still do CR-7 i am okay.

 

[Audio_Dog]

I started out making custom accessories for people who build, customize, and overclock their desktop PCs in 2001. My market started becoming over saturated with products from China. So, last year I started making custom replacement and isolation feet for Turntables to supplement my income. I'm still learning about the best noise isolating solutions for all types of audio equipment. This is why I joined the whatsbest community.

I was honored when Michael Fremer mentioned my custom Sorbothane feet in Stereophile (november 2018, technics SR-1000 article), but I haven't personally seen any sales from his mention. The majority of my sales has been to people restoring vintage turntables. I'm currently working on an easy height adjustable solution for wood plinth tables.

 

[Bodhi]

Thanks for your post @Audio_Dog. When I go to Shows it's always great to see new innovations and products hitting the market. The motto of the Industry Superannuation funds in my country is "From little things, big things grow". So keep at it and be persistent, and i'm sure your business will continue to grow. As I mentioned in my earlier post, Arnie Nudell of Infinity Systems fame started out building speakers in his garage back in 1968, and the rest as they say is history.

 

[MasterChief]

My older brother had an awesome stereo in the eighties: Pink Triangle, Nakamichi, Quad and Kef and I loved to hear him play music on it. When I was 14 he bought me a stereo for christmas, a Denon, Sansui and Pioneer Prologue system. And after that I was hooked for life.

 

[twitch]

started out in the sixties with my 45's and a record player, later acquiring an Lp or two to listen through my parents Stromberg Carlson console stereo, yes I became hooked !

My first legitimate system of my own was once out of college and working (70's) ......

Technics integrated amp, tuner, Dahlquist DQ10's, Kenwood KD500, SME 3009, Grace F9e super

 

[jackelsson]

Great thread!

For me it all started in the very early eighties with a complete Grundig system. Separates! Not bad for a 13 year old kid back then...

My absolute pride and joy was the tape deck. With a drawer! From there it took off to The Journey.

 

[DaveC]

A boombox my parents bought me in the mid-80s when I was about 10.

Shortly followed by my 1st ever album purchase, The Jimi Hendrix Experience, "Are You Experienced".

 

[the sound of Tao]

Kinda reversing the trend here... from big things small things did grow. Waaaay back in the 70’s as a young teenager I had great influences. Music was all. My uncle played jazz keyboards in a jazz rock fusion big band, so there was funk, rock and soul as well as big band, swing and trad jazz influences and while no one in my family or friends ever listened to classical I was inexplicably already loving the Big 3Bs... Bach, Beethoven and Brahms.

We lived in my family’s pub in Newcastle on the East coast of Oz and I was exploring the early proto punk pub scene as well and as an 11 year old worked every morning before school so I finally could save up enough for a killer stereo.

Well music was big but my budget was much more little... and given my early cultural influences of 2001 and Barberella I was seduced much more by style over content lol... my first little stereo eeeek (tho still loved anyways)...
While I moved on to sonically more substantial gear and my proper first stereo speakers were the way more big Brit IMF RSPM IV transmission lines but I still held onto to the little white stereo from space till it ultimately fell victim to the big Newcastle earthquake of 1989... sigh... but that’s a story for another day...

 

[TooCool4]

Shortly followed by my 1st ever album purchase, The Jimi Hendrix Experience, "Are You Experienced".

It’s funny that Hendrix album is so hyped up that I had to buy it and hear for myself what the hype was all about. I have had it for years now and have only listened to it once. Can’t stand it, not because it’s not good but it’s the opposite of what I like. I like sounds to be clean well defined and rendered, but Hendrix experimented with distortion. My ears don’t like that level of distortion, hence I am never going to get on with Hendrix since his stuff is all about distorted guitar.

I do have eclectic tastes in music, if you want to see my music collection click here