Am I the only one who seeks matching components?

[leesonic]

Just wondering, am I the only one the seeks out matching components to go with a new piece of equipment they get?

I recently got a Fisher FM-2421 tuner, and also a Yamaha CT-800 tuner. Now I find myself trawling eBay and Craigslist during the early hours of the morning, looking for matching amps.

I also have a Sansui AU-D11II and a AU-D7, and I find myself looking for tuners to match them.

If I start looking for cassette decks too, I think I'll go crazy. Luckily (or not) there were less CD players around at that time, otherwise that would be something else to look for.

Lee.

 

[hatrack71]

Nope, I do it all the time. Rogue, McIntosh, Cary, VTL, B&K, CJ, Bottlehead, ASL, Quicksilver, etc.. I have a lot of matching sets in the audio vault. It's one of the funnest things about this hobby for me.

 

[GD70]

Me too. To me, they were designed to go together, both visually and sonically.

 

[carcrazy]

I did for my last purchases, Jeff Rowland amp, pre-amp and phono amp from the same year of production (package deal).

 

[whoaru99]

No, you're not.

I have a Yamaha T-80, C-80, M-80 stack. I seldom use the components all together, but that is how I acquired them and they certainly do look right together.

 

[Oerets]

Not really that important for me. I go for overall performance of each unit. If they are from the same manufacturer it is a plus.

I do have a majority Hitachi system in one room but another room a mating of tube and SS, Fisher Carver Marantz Technics Sony.



Barney

 

[MacNoob]

I think a better question would be "Does anyone NOT care about matching components?"

 

[gadget73]

Its nice, but it would usually end me up with gear I don't use. I don't spend much time listening to the radio so I'm not real motivated to find the tuner. I would like to have the preamp that matches my Bogen stereo amp though.

 

[Yamaki]

Nope, you are not alone in this quest. By way of warning, view the picture below.

My Yamaha search led me to this:

 

[mark902]

when i got my sony ta-n86b, i felt absolutely compelled to find the matching ta-e86b. even if it cost me a thousand dollars, plus sixty bucks of shipping to canada, plus exchange, plus a hundred and fifteen dollars worth of ups raperage fees when it got to my door.

i even passed on a similarly priced ta-e88 within canada because i knew i'd never find a matching ta-n88. plus it was a 100v model. and the colour difference between it and my ta-n86b would drive me crazy.

 

[river25]

I keep visual styles together... that is I do not like a silver faced component in with a black system and vice versa. I also like to keep period-ish in that (for example) an amp with LED bar power meters matches with a (for example) cassette deck with LED bars, and I put units with analog VUs together.

I am not that into same brand/period but I have a few peices like that.

 

[petehall347]

i prefer them all matching .same make same series
i remember publications like what hi-fi they had matches for different makers so as an example a certain tuner was compatible with a certain amp from a different maker .. suppose its a bit subjective really and its what works best for you .

 

[mhardy6647]

well - I can tell you with some authority that the matching amplifier for a Yamaha CT-800 is well worth searching out.

The CA-800 is one of my favorite Yamaha pieces to actually listen to (and they all sound good).

 

[SoCal Sam]

I also want to "complete the set" for my favorite separates. Sometimes it is a mission. It took several years for a KT-917 with rack handles AND in the right condition to show up.

 

[Daunia 70]

Nope,you're not alone.. I'm on a daily Ebay UK lookout for a few components,namely a Sansui TU-X1 tuner and now a Sansui CA-3000 pre-amp for the recently acquired BA-5000 power-amp. Of-course,I've got other pre-amps (and integrated amps) I could use,but somehow just won't really feel 100% satisfied until I get the matching set.. Sure is an addictive hobby!

 

[cgutz]

If I can match I do so. If it can't be done reasonable, I complement. Right now my main rack is a mix of silver and black face, but there is good system synergy.

 

[Br1ck]

There is something I find satisfying about a PAS 3 stacked on an ST 70. Haven't gone out of my way to match, but it's nice when it happens.

Now my DIY stuff could be described as matching......crude

 

[Lavane]

Me too. To me, they were designed to go together, both visually and sonically.

:thmbsp: Spend time swapping preamps and amps around.

 

[Tinnkindling]

Within limits. Right now, I'm using a silver-faced pre-amp with a black power amp, because the matching pre-amp is hard to find, and very expensive. Not only that, but it most likely does not sound much different.

If a good deal on the matching pre-amp comes along, of course I'll take it!

 

[JLange2010]

I actually asked this question myself a while back in a post about my growing Nikko collection. I started with a Gamma I tuner because I had heard great things about it and I wanted a tuner for my modern (Arcam) system. Later, I stumbled on to a Beta II preamp for next to nothing. That meant that I just had to have an Alpha II amp. That one was no bargain, but when you want to complete the set...The latest was again, I discovered that there was a matching equalizer made - fortunately that one was back in the low cost realm again, though I'm not even sure what to do with it.

By the way, the Gamma I tuner was replaced in my modern system because I found a reasonable deal on a matching Arcam tuner. It might all be my particular manifestation of OCD, I can't say that I am skilled enough at listening to pick up on any symbiosis with matching components. But they sure look cool.