Inspired by @Marc's call to arms and the @Amber Technology promotion, here's a potted history / showcase of my system.

 

Most here will know the minefield buying Hi-Fi can seem to be, for most it entails making a purchase that is inevitably drawn to the very top of the allotted budget if not surpassing it - sometimes in multiple amounts. Not sure what the compulsion to push that fiscal boundary is but once our original 'good enough system' is strived and saved for then finally within reach, 'good enough' - ain't!

My introduction to that concept came at the tender age of fifteen, a green (as grass) new apprentice, tired of the Dansette player by the radiator in my tiny back bedroom I leafed through my mum's shopping catalogue (the internet buying of the day) and found (so early in my audiophile journey) - Nirvarna.

 

Within days my ultimate sound system, a Silver Stereo Sound System (by the Yorkshire Electricity Board overalls, - below) was delivered to my family's door and I was indeed in paradise, especially as I was promoted to the larger middle bedroom when the  second of my four sisters got married. For a couple of months that is, then my fickle ear started to wander to more exotic, serious and audiophile recognised equipment. Wharfedale, Pioneer, Garrard, Akai (solid gear in the sixties/seventies) Ariston, Marantz. I got through quite a pile of gear on next-to-nothing wages. Add to that the money spent on L.P.'s / cassettes and truly MOST of my meagre income went on music and it's reproduction. Even more so as the Silver system Hire-Purchase agreement was being paid off years after the system got ditched. Hard lesson learned there.

I think the L.P. just visible in the cupboard there is Elton John 'Madman Across the Water' Still play that record to this day, not sure what's on the platter. The photo below that pertains to nothing in this thread but does show my other love, a Lambretta L. I. Slimstyle with all the trimmings. Someone kick that damn dog willya!

 

The eighties was a bit of a musical and equipment wasteland for me with the wife, kids and working away from home accumulating heaps of cash being my priority but once I had a family of my own and moved to Perth, Australia I started, once again to tire of my old system and wanting to get more modern than the Ariston Q-Deck, Wharfedale Dovedales and Marantz PM17 amp I got me a CD Player. Denon DCD3000, quite capable and novel to me and Dynaudio Audience 82's.

 

Crap photo but can't find a better one of the Dyns.

 

The Marantz never quite had the balls to drive the Dynaudio's but I didn't realise this at the time, just never was satisfied with the music, nowhere near the musicality of the Wharfedales, bass in spades but that midrange grain and treble scratch really grated. I discovered WAR Audio and their super hi-end gear, which was marvelous beyond my previous imagination. If I'd had the balls I would have gone all-out and bought one of Pat O'Brian's more prestigious offerings but just couldn't bring myself to do more than go the DIY route as he sold some fabulous kits. Mine was a rather middling set of Access mid-bass and Orca tweeter drivers in MTM configuration with Pat's crossover, and cabinets made by a cabinet maker mate. In their original state they too never quite tickled my fancy either. Again that PM17 amp never could drive the speakers to their full capability, trouble was I loved that amp. Beautiful object, heavy, glamorous and hi-tech for it's day, just not powerful enough I suspect. I later added a Wico Acustic 10" bass driver and went active as shown, but they never were quite the end-game I was looking for.

Currently used Redback active crossover and Marantz 6-channel amp.

 

A complete rethink was required, Pat at WAR was pretty sick of me hanging around but not spending to the required moolah. His showroom was quite a hang-out for audiophiles keen to share in his incredible systems, equipment and music. Some with the necessary funds to be prospective hi-end purchasers, many not. As Pat usually didn't have completed stock of most of his designs it was difficult to appreciate what you may be laying out tens of thousands of dollars for, and to be serious I needed to see and hear the finished object that I was forking-out for rather than the plans or mock-ups that he could offer so that direction lost it's appeal.

 

At this time in 2007 I discovered Stereonet and everything changed. Suddenly I wasn't floundering in shallow muddy water anymore, I was part of an ocean of like minded hobbyists with advice and experience to offer and suggestions on how to spend my hard-earned with purpose and clear thinking. From the advice I got came "Grimmie in Wonderland" a thread I posted back then of my travels and travails through Perth and Melbourne searching for a higher end system with a budget to achieve that end. https://www.stereonet.com/forums/showthread.php/5694-Grimmie-in-Wonderland  -It is quite a long read but ended up with the SGR Audio MT3A active speakers and a Bel Canto CD Player

 

 These original MTA's had the fat black DALEK shape which I enjoyed almost as much as the music they produced accompanied by a correspondingly shaped, albeit smaller, crossover/amp housing that tucked in behind (not shown).  Always meant to be a nascent stage of the development of the MT loudspeaker these temporary Mini Me's were soon replaced with outboard crossovers (top shelf by the Bel Canto) with three separate , 2 X Elite 15S plus 1 X 30S, stereo amps all then duly re-named the MTF system. Mid-range and tweeter driver upgrades followed and refinements  tweaked untill eight years ago these arrived.

The MT3.2 active loudspeaker system with built-in amps crossovers and parametric EQ controls and sub-woofer integration management.

 

Between the arrival of these beauties and the handshake on the MT deal in '08 other gear came and went. From the death of my old Ariston Q-deck I lived without vinyl playback for years. Vinyl was indeed dead to me, spinning CD's far outstripped record playing so it didn't bother me except that I had a cupboard full of old music and an old Goldring Lenco bought for a hundred bucks years previous that I did have a hankering to re-visit so tried that. Whilst it did scratch the vinyl revival a bit it sure didn't sound too great, tried buying new arm and stylus, had it renovated and repaired by enthusiasts and professionals but nothing worked to make it make decent music so gave up and gave it away. A Sonab 85S did the trick as a stop-gap for a few months but eventually had to make a more suitable investment and bought a Nottingham Analogue Hyperspace deck with Ace-Space arm from a Stereonet member here in Perth then mounted a 2M Black to give me fantastic L.P. playback the system deserves. Also added a second arm, the one previously tried on the Lenco, see the link for bodgy-dodgy story. Actually works a treat though.

 

 

 

Getting bored yet? It'd be a miracle if not but there's one more bit of componentry that deserves a mention, my AMR DP777 DAC/Pre that I purchased around 2014/15 from Max Media in Sydney. Despite taking some stick from the purist audiophiles who didn't appreciate that AMR wouldn't divulge the DAC chip type I find it a beautiful piece of equipment. To be honest I'm not sure there's a huge immediate difference playing CD's direct from the Bel Canto to active speakers but the lift in performance is enough to appreciate the greater musical enjoyment, especially on longer, louder sessions.

 

The two TT arm combinations are fed to my AMR DP777 pre by different phono stages, the Shure through a Graham Slee Communicator Gram Amp 2 with upgraded LPS while the 2MBlack outputs to a Vincent PHO-701 and plugged into the two available analogue inputs. The volume control is analogue too, no reverse digital conversion used with a valve output stage. I was without the AMR for about a year when it broke-down after 18 months or so, but Cameron from Max Media went above and beyond to not only repair but upgrade practically the entire guts to level 2. Very happy with the increase in performance.

 

 

Here's a pic of the whole system in situ today. As you may see I have no room treatment anymore. It's something I've been meaning to take seriously for a long time but of course to do properly the weaknesses of the room / system interaction should be measured prior to deciding the correct requirements. A badly treated room can be worse than a neglected one and I don't know how, nor do I have the equipment to achieve that.

 

 

You may notice the WAR's peeking out the back there, I have them set up as TV / background music source entirely separate from the stereo system. Let's face it, I couldn't sell them for anything like their worth and storing in a cupboard or back room's not on so may as well make use of them.

 

There you go, hope you enjoyed the write-up, thanks for your indulgence.

 

P.S. A few more retro pics;

 

 

Edited October 9, 20214 yr by Grimmie

That was an enjoyable, and not at all boring, road - to read and view.

 

Thanks for posting this, Grimmie.

I had intended to trim down and simplify my system for some time, there seemed no point to having those WAR Audio speakers for TV sound. Total overkill with two shelves taken by the external crossover and multi channel amp (which had one channel blown) so stripped the whole lot out and started afresh.

 

The amount of cables, power supplies and components packed in there was amazing once all out.

TBC. Almost midnight.

Edited March 7Mar 7 by Grimmie

The poor old WAR's I made, well, semi-DIY, assembled from pro-manufactured cabinets and Access / Orca / WICO speaker kits not long after we first emigrated 35 years ago. I love them dearly but have no use for them now. 😢languishing in the garage.

If I do ever want to re-use them it will mean buying a 6-channel amp from somewhere as the bass channel is knackered. Whilst thy are worth it sound wise I just have no use for them anywhere. End of an era!

I had fully intended to leave out the ancient Yamaha 5.1 surround system upon re-assembly but decided against and found a nice small pair of speakers to do general TV watching duties. The AV amp hadn't been switched on in years but luckily didn't go bang when re-energised.

After all that work it doesn't look all that different but not quite as cluttered (I know, the two diff-abs either side don't help the clean lines but they do help the sound) and four components are due to be replaced very soon. The AMR soon to be at the bottom of Lake Goollelal and the wee silver pre-amp / volume control that was lent to me by the latest would-be repairer of said AMR.

One thing that loan has shown me is just how amazingly the sound can improve with a decent pre. This is nothing special at all from the looks of the build but the sheer dynamics and 'groove' that simple thing has injected into the music is awesome, and very informative.

I used the word replaced, - more of that later. Don't get too excited, we're not talking Goldmund or Gryphon, can't rush to that. Hopefully the plan will be a marginal improvement over current units.

So I have finally given up the ghost on my AMR DP777 DAC pre, it’s beyond repair apparently and I’m fed-up of messing with it. The analogue inputs still work but from all the digital side of things, - bugger all! Not sure how long you should expect a five-and-a-half grand unit to last (plus another $1300 in repairs after 3 years when it konked-out) I bought this in 2012 so 14 years, but I guess a lemon’s a lemon and comes a time to cut the anchor rope.

 

So after a procrastinating age I believe I have settled on the new front end at last to go with my active SGR Audio MT3.2’s.

 

I have two arms on my Notts Analogue Hyperspace. The original Ace Space unipivot with non-removable headshell (which currently has a Ortofon 2M Black) and then a Jelco SA750D (with Shure V15III). My intention for some time has been to try out a decent MC cart and I reckon now’s the time.

 

So, the plan is:

Eversolo Z10 DAC / Pre - I’ve been looking at the Z8 for a while, great review by Amir on ASR. Fab measurements and universally acknowledged as excellent sound, and on the recommendations from others surely the Z10 will be even better. It has more connectivity to boot so can act as a true DAC + analogue pre. Shades of the AMR DP777 maybe, half the price but hopefully better performance and reliability.

Ortofon MC30 cartridge, priced at a grand. (Heard great things about this one and the sweet spot in the range, apparently). Not sure if I should maybe look at another 500 bucks for the X40, the reviews seem to opine that the difference between the two is more taste than quality Though if you own either or know of a giant killer in that price range would love to hear the advice. @cafe67 @hugo_wilco

Ultrafidelity OAD UP1 Phono You may have heard of this one, Aussie made and should be the perfect match for the MC X30 / 40

 

I originally wanted a double input Phono stage (like the Project RS2) to take the two arms but reckoned if I retain my Vincent 701 for the MM side of things (for which I can swap the two carts using pre-loaded headshells on the Jelco arm) and keep the single input of the UP1 for the MC side of things (on Ace Space arm) then that’ll work OK. A bit of a bother to drag the unit out and change the dip switches for load capacitance each time but not like digging a hundred metre trench.

 

So the connection arrangement would be;

Vincent 701 via RCA and UP1 via XLR to the two analogue inputs of the Z10.

My Bel Canto CDP via AES digital

TV via optical.

Maybe a future streamer via USB

 

After years of angst and purchase paralysis I thought “this is a plan”. Then something of a bombshell hit me. The very polarising and controversial Parks Waxwing phono has been skimming under my radar for some time. Yes, it digitises the analogue signal from your phono stage which is anathema to vinyl purists and contradictory to established thinking but has many fans and what I really fancy is the ‘Magic” feature. A ridiculously named attribute but I find it seriously desirable due to the fact I have so many records from my mis-spent youth that seem like it’s raining in the background, - under a tin roof! and it promises to make the sins of careless kid that I was disappear, almost. I can connect it digitally or analogue as I wish.

 

OK, it’s hard to justify to the purse string puller but I reckon at ~$900 I can take the chance and replace the trusty old Vincent. At least for a while and I’ll let you all know how the experiment goes. Might even be an excuse for a GTG or two to try out in other local audiophile systems. I bet they’ll love to hate it.

 

 All I need now is a muggins to buy an AMR shaped boat anchor.

Hi @Grimmie

Sorry cant comment on the ortofon , other than what I’ve read in reviews

This could perhaps be a good buy ?

Cheers Dave

Edited March 8Mar 8 by cafe67

Ah! thanks Dave, I thought for some reason you had gone over to the X series.

Just to show my ignorance again, - the Hana SH is high output is it not. Always thought they were a bit of a mid-way compromise 'tween MM & MC, or the MC to get if you don't have a step-up tranny / stage.

@hugo_wilco I'm sure you got yourself a X40 no? How's that going for you?

I have a low hours Accuphase AC-5 needle if you're interested, @Grimmie

On 08/03/2026 at 12:43 PM, Grimmie said:

So I have finally given up the ghost on my AMR DP777 DAC pre, it’s beyond repair apparently and I’m fed-up of messing with it. The analogue inputs still work but from all the digital side of things, - bugger all! Not sure how long you should expect a five-and-a-half grand unit to last (plus another $1300 in repairs after 3 years when it konked-out) I bought this in 2012 so 14 years, but I guess a lemon’s a lemon and comes

Shame to hear about your AMR DP777 dac/pre. I had one too back in 2013, did the upgrade to the quad core board, and then 6 months later the AES input karked it, spoke to Cam, had to send it back to AMR in the UK to get it fixed. I couldnt be bothered and i had a sneeky suspicion that its going to give me problems down the track. So i got rid off it at half the price and warned the buyer. AMR made some really great gear when Thorsten Loesch was given creative direction, before they cheaped out and bailed on the high end market.

Also, dont be afraid of the Park's Audio Waxwing. I had the earlier version Puffin and loved it. Yeah the magic function can be handy, imo i dont think its a gimick.

1 hour ago, Capt. Shanks said:

Shame to hear about your AMR DP777 dac/pre. I had one too back in 2013, did the upgrade to the quad core board, and then 6 months later the AES input karked it, spoke to Cam, had to send it back to AMR in the UK to get it fixed. I couldnt be bothered and i had a sneeky suspicion that its going to give me problems down the track. So i got rid off it at half the price and warned the buyer. AMR made some really great gear when Thorsten Loesch was given creative direction, before they cheaped out and bailed on the high end market.

Just had a look at the AMR website , they don’t seem to be selling anything now - all the 77 gear is listed as legacy products

Hmmm... I guess I got sucked in by a fly-by-night company, they sure seemed like the real deal at the time and had some quality products. I don't think I'll bother with ifi gear in future seeing as they're an offshoot. With the AMR, I bought it in 2012 had about 18 months without it while it was repaired then it went faulty again 18 months or so again. So 14 years minus 3, I got 11 out of it. Good value???

My worry is whether the Eversolo products will go the same way. Again, they're a company that has great stuff, well reviewed and great value but not a long-time reliable company like Accuphase, Marantz or Esoteric. I would for sure prefer a long-established brand but they will be many times the price for a similar product. I guess it's a case of 'you pays your money, you takes your chance'

7 hours ago, AccMagi7s said:

I have a low hours Accuphase AC-5 needle if you're interested, @Grimmie

I have ordered the Ortofon but I will have a look at the Accuphase, they don't make bad stuff.

9 hours ago, Grimmie said:

Hmmm... I guess I got sucked in by a fly-by-night company, they sure seemed like the real deal at the time and had some quality products. I don't think I'll bother with ifi gear in future seeing as they're an offshoot. With the AMR, I bought it in 2012 had about 18 months without it while it was repaired then it went faulty again 18 months or so again. So 14 years minus 3, I got 11 out of it. Good value???

Same here, but hey, at least you’ve gotten a good few years of use out of it. I was really surprised when I heard AMR pulled out of the high-end market to focus more on budget and midrange gear through iFi.

9 hours ago, Grimmie said:

My worry is whether the Eversolo products will go the same way. Again, they're a company that has great stuff, well reviewed and great value but not a long-time reliable company like Accuphase, Marantz or Esoteric. I would for sure prefer a long-established brand but they will be many times the price for a similar product. I guess it's a case of 'you pays your money, you takes your chance'

You never really know. I don’t think there’s ever a true “end-game” system, just a “point in time” system, IMO. For the moment, Eversolo have made some really good gear at very competitive prices. They’re a tech company after all, and they’re constantly releasing firmware updates.

If you have an iFi piece… *cough* ZenStream *cough* …you’d be lucky to get an update once a year. I have one, and I had to dumb it down to using it purely as a Roon endpoint, because that’s the only thing it’s really good for, before I upgraded to an Eversolo DMP-A6 as a streamer.

As you mentioned earlier, the more esoteric brands—pardon the pun :)—only really shine when you’re using other components from the same brand and range. Once you start mixing and matching, you lose the synergy and voicing that make them unique.

Thanks Cap'n and your right of course, so many names come and go, get bought-out, sell-out or over-reach themselves and collapse. Despite the potentially enormous profits these businesses so often come-a-gutsah from bad management.

On 10/3/2026 at 12:03 AM, Grimmie said:

My worry is whether the Eversolo products will go the same way. Again, they're a company that has great stuff, well reviewed and great value but not a long-time reliable company like Accuphase, Marantz or Esoteric. I would for sure prefer a long-established brand but they will be many times the price for a similar product. I guess it's a case of 'you pays your money, you takes your chance'

Hi grimmie

Not to confuse your decision but I went from Eversolo a8 to esoteric n05xd streamer dac that’s a pre as well and it knocked the a8 literally out the park …

I see there is one for sale in your neck of woods … maybe look to check out see what you think ? If nothing else will set mind at ease one way or another …