Inmate Systems - Audio Asylum

ColinR's Quad and KEF System
IP Address: 217.43.23.45	Last Update: June 30, 2012 at 02:30:39
Amplifier:	Pair Quad 606-2's, Quad 606, four Quad 405-2's, pair Quad 410-2 monoblocks, Quad 520f, Quad 520M. Pair of Crown DC 300A's from Abbey Road rebuilt to mkII specifications. A Rotel RA 1210, cost £10, well it was reviewed in the first hi-fi comic I ever bought Hi-fi Answers September 1973!
Preamplifier (or None if Integrated):	Six Quad 44's, two Quad 34's, plus a box of spare input modules.
Speakers:	Main systems, two pairs of Cambridge Audio R50 transmission lines, two pairs of KEF Ref 105-2, one pair KEF Cantata (SP1056), KEF Ref 101 and a pair of Meridian M2's, with a Quad 44 pre :o}. The rest of the collection consists of two pairs JR149's and one pair each of :- KEF Coda, Cadenza, Chorale, Corelli, Calinda, Ref 103, Ref 103-2, Ref 104aB, Caprice II, Carlton II, Carlton III. Atkinson SOTA transmission lines. Lentek Monitor transmission lines. LNB Paralab 20 three-way and two-way. Mordaunt Short MS 737, Mordaunt Short MS 235. Monitor Audio MA5 mkII, Monitor Audio MA4 mkII, Monitor Audio MA1 mkII. Stag Audio Ambassador 30. Tangent TM1, Tangent TM3. Celef "Micros" Chartwell & Audiomaster LS3/5a and about ten spare drive units.
Sources:
CD Player/DAC:	Two Teac VRDS-8 CD players. Two Teac T1 transports, two Teac D-T1 DACs.
Turntable/Phono Stage:	Thorens 321 with SME III Shure V15 IIIMR, Thorens TD-321 SME III Ortofon 30H, Thorens 321 with SME 3009 S2 detachable Shure V15 III, Thorens 321 with SME M2 Sumiko Blue Point Evo III, ERA 6X SME 3009 S2 fixed, Ortofon VMS30EII. Three spare 321 arm boards, two boxed full SME III's and various other cartridges in the 'bits box'.
Other Source(s):	Four Quad FM4's, a Rotel RT 1220. Two Revox B77mkII. Akai GX-F71, Teac V-8030S, two Pioneer CT-S740S cassette decks.
Other Accessories/Room/Misc.:
Speaker Cables/Interconnects:	Supra, Cable Talk, Van der Hul, Naim, homemade 'Hammerhead Shark', plus others.
Other (Power Conditioner, Racks etc.):	Distributed FM system. Dolby A,B & DBX noise reduction units. Two dual third octave equalisers for tape dubbing. Stands, various Apollo and Target racks. Speakers all spiked. Dedicated filtered power lines to hi-fi areas.
Tweaks:	Lots of little ones and Quad phono input boards modified to correctly load the Shure cartridges (38k/220pF - shunting down to 35k or 32k doesn't add much more). R50's currently have 18 & 24db/octave crossovers. Other speakers have been checked with an LCR meter and some have been recapped.
Room Comments/Treatments:	In the lounge and dining rooms hi-fi's have priority, hence minimal furnishings with a balance of reflective and absorbant surfaces. The two bedroom systems are a bit over the top, but I can live with that ;o}.
Music Preferences and Comments:
Music Used (Genre/Selections):	Jazz of all kinds. Electronic, Fusion and Rock from the 70's. Non-vocal Classical.
System Goals/Comments:	To reproduce a large record and tape collecton of the 70's and early 80's.
System Strengths:	They do their job.
System Weaknesses:	They are old.
Video/HT System: None