Great thread!. I'm also British, so I guess I fit right in?
The first set of speakers I owned were inherited from my Dad, and they were dual concentric full-range types. Wharfedale Super 10's they were called. We would drive those from a Sansui 350.
For most of my life, I put up with a pair of KEF 104.AB. Huge speakers, and very much hated by wives. Bass that could shake the foundation of the house. I also owned a pair of Heybrook HB1's- although the sound was boring and lifeless.
During the Heybrook, and then later the KEF 104 era, these were driven by a NAD 3020 (which I still have right here, and still going strong), and fed by a Garrard 301 fitted with a Rega RB300 arm (not the best pairing. A Linn would've been better).
Back in the days when one could still pick up a 301 for £25! Which was how much my second Garrard cost me. The first Garrard, also from my Dad, was an SP25 mk4, which was a horrible deck (don't buy!). Other decks didn't rumble as bad as those horrible things. After moving up from the south to the midlands, I then stumbled across another Garrard, a 401, complete with SME arm in a perspex and wood plinth, and Shure cartridge all for a bargain price of £19 (including delivery) from Cash Converters. I absolutely s**t you not. This of course was back in the mid 90's, and since then CC have discovered eBay.
Sadly I no longer have any of the Garrards. I wasn't that big a fan of the 401 anyway. It was too clunky, but the 301 was a design classic, however I left that in a Hi-Fi comrade's garage in Firle, Lewes where I hail from originally, to be 'lost' and never to be seen again.
But not all is lost. Today I have not one turntable but two (I'm sure many here have far more), but neither of them are British- German and Swiss (can you guess?). But I still have a lovely wife-friendly pair of Tannoys (Mercury F1 customs), as well as the NAD of course.
Now, one set of speakers I do own (but are currently at my father-in-law's house, so due to restrictions I can't use them), are a really rare set of British speakers made by Arc. Arc 050. I'm surprised these haven't come up
in conversation yet. Strange design, although makes perfect sense for signal quality boffins, the crossovers are mounted *outside* rather than inside of the cabinet.
Anyone else have a pair of these old Brit ARC classics? There's relatively little info on the web about them, but I did find this bit of true Brit hifi history. The man behind the ARC 050, Russ Andrews:
https://www.russandrews.com/history/