HiFi Subjectivist ¦ Audio Forum ¦ NVA User Group

Just being nosey Was it worth it Nobody is going to own up to getting it wrong, or are they ?

I have wasted loadsamoney over the years and still have most of the mistakes in a cupboard or in bits. Spent loads on diy components as well ( transformers, caps, diodes, resistors, regulators etc etc). It pains me to think about it.

I am not sure I can remember what I paid for what I am using

Naim CD3.5 - £1000 new in 1997.
Linn LP12 - £150 used in 1999
Naim Aro - £950 new
Lyra Argo - £700 new in 2004
Avondale taps2 psu - £300 used in 2015
NVA amps (six of) - no idea, lets say £700
Phono1 - £220 new (I think)
5" bipole speakers with 4 tweeters per side - not a clue, lets say £300
BMU - £300 used in 2018

Can't be bothered to add that lot up. Can't begin to work out what I have spent on all the other diy bollox I have bought. Probably best I don't think about it.

Was it worth it ? Well, the nva bits definitely were but not sure about all the Naim and linn bollox I have consumed over the years. Discovering nva was the best thing that ever happened to me as far as hifi is concerned.

Currently-
Diy turntable- donor TD321 was £150 1990
Arb tonearm £150
Ortofon vivo blue £99
Ortofon Mca 10 £50
Nva A20 £400
Nva phono 1 £200
MF M1 Clic £250
Linn mimik £180
Teufel Connector £90
Diy speakers £200
Cables????????????
Not using-
little dot Dac1 £200
Kuzhmo pre £200
Realistic input switch £15
Lenco GL59 £250
Grado platinum reference £360
Nagaoka mp200 £60
Fiio EO9k / E17 £90
Oehlbach xxl masterclock £50

Ps
Agree that Nva changed my music life
Best buys ever- had cables long before amps etc

I have not kept count and it is not easy to calculate with NVA trade ins and upgrades. I would say in the region of 15K, including the second system and headphone rigs. NVA definetly the best value.

Far too much over the years.
The current system, i have no idea, but its not a huge amount.
Or maybe it is. Dunno.

We all could have bought a Cambridge Evo 75 for £1800 and saved a shed load of money. All in one player. Tomorrow's hifi today

The main system as specified in my signature here cost about €4500. My second system clocks in at €3000 or so and there are other bits like DACs and headphones lying around that will bring the total to over the €10,000 mark.

The CD and LP collection has cost me, at the very least, 5x as much.

Current system is the wrong side of £10k and counting but I enjoy the process of developing it bit by bit and obviously the music it produces. Hopefully I will reach a natural stopping point later this year and my other hobbies will get more focus.

I really have no idea.
I remember the Quad FM4 cost £300, the 99FM was £600 but the rest, probably considerably less than I would have to pay to replace it. My tape machines would be hard to replace but the X10 is the most expensive single item I have bought.

Nothing, aside from a couple of drive belts, is less than 20 years old, what I paid compared to the value of that money today looks small.

Yikes, I am not sure its a good idea to do this. Ummmm. Do remember I shop the used market for the most part, and there are few pieces I bought new, but what I do buy used is usually close to new shape or I don't want it. My prices except for the AVM are in USD.

JBL 4365 speakers MSRP 18,000 bought $8000
Velodyne HGS 12 suwoofers X2 MSRP $2000 each bought $500 each

AVM Audio AMP Essential monoblocks MSRP 8800 Euro bought $2000
Halcro DM8 pre-amp MSRP $14,700 bought $3500

SOTA Cosmos Eclipse turntable $10,000 bought $6000
SME V tone arm MSRP $3500 bought $1700
Transfiguration Proteus MSRP $6000 bought $2000

Well Tempered Reference turntable MSRP $5500 bought $1400
Ikeda 9 Kawami MSRP $1800 bought $400
ZYX 4D MSRP $4300 bought $2200

Esoteric E-03 phono stage MSRP $6000 buy $2000

Audio Magic Kukama DAC MSRP $2500 buy $1200
Mivera Audio Purestream DAC MSRP $3500 buy $1100

cabling is from Wireworld, PI Audio Group, and VH Audio. Power conditioning is from TLA Audio. Have a Mac Mini from 2014 and an Intel Nuc i7 for computers for music servers.

In waiting Dynavector DV505 tone arm MSRP $2500 in 1979 bought $1250