bjlefebvre
Super Member
I keep meaning to add a thread on my evolving system but never got around to it. But I was just sitting on the sofa, listening to some Horace Silver, and it hit me - my system has turned almost completely Japanese in the nearly three years I've been living here.
Started out with a Pro-Ject Debut Carbon/ Ortofon 2M Blue plugged into a Tivoli Model 2 w/ subwoofer when I moved here. Eventually ditched the Tivoli for a Yamaha A-S501 and a pair of Dali Zensors1.
Then I discovered Yahoo Auction Japan. Holy crap. I sold the Pro-Ject and Tivoli stuff (most of it at break-even level) and started buying Japanese gear.
Fast forward 18 months and it's a Yamaha A-S801 (Yahoo Auction), Denon semi-automatic table (Yahoo Auction), Denon 103s (Yahoo Auction) put into aftermarket bodies (USA!) going through a Denon SUT (Yahoo Auction) and into Yamaha NS-690 speakers (Yahoo Auction). The tuner was $20 at a recycle shop. The only thing that isn't Japanese in my system now is the Chromecast Audio and the Empire carts I occasionally use.
I guess I know what the Japanese sound is. Strangely, I don't have any info on what a good Japanese phono amp might be. I'm getting ready to pull the trigger on a Parks Audio Budgie.
We're planning on heading back to the States next year. I was halfway thinking of trading all this stuff in and using the money for a Rogue Audio amp and VPI turntable - maybe try to go All American, just for the hell of it. I don't know - kind of liking these 690s.....
Started out with a Pro-Ject Debut Carbon/ Ortofon 2M Blue plugged into a Tivoli Model 2 w/ subwoofer when I moved here. Eventually ditched the Tivoli for a Yamaha A-S501 and a pair of Dali Zensors1.
Then I discovered Yahoo Auction Japan. Holy crap. I sold the Pro-Ject and Tivoli stuff (most of it at break-even level) and started buying Japanese gear.
Fast forward 18 months and it's a Yamaha A-S801 (Yahoo Auction), Denon semi-automatic table (Yahoo Auction), Denon 103s (Yahoo Auction) put into aftermarket bodies (USA!) going through a Denon SUT (Yahoo Auction) and into Yamaha NS-690 speakers (Yahoo Auction). The tuner was $20 at a recycle shop. The only thing that isn't Japanese in my system now is the Chromecast Audio and the Empire carts I occasionally use.
I guess I know what the Japanese sound is. Strangely, I don't have any info on what a good Japanese phono amp might be. I'm getting ready to pull the trigger on a Parks Audio Budgie.
We're planning on heading back to the States next year. I was halfway thinking of trading all this stuff in and using the money for a Rogue Audio amp and VPI turntable - maybe try to go All American, just for the hell of it. I don't know - kind of liking these 690s.....
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