[shep]

Got your attention? Sunday morning and I'm bored...waiting...for update on my Trend amp, on cables I bought off E-Bay, etc. Thought I would share some thoughts. Over the years I got tired of Big and Heavy.
Maybe the accumulated affect of moving them around or just sour grapes because I couldn't afford them any more. So I stopped altogether, sold or gave everything away and thought I was "cured". Until..one day I "chanced" upon a review in a French mag. of the Flying Mole. My curiosity did the rest and here I am
reading page after page and waiting for stuff. In the meanwhile I had bought a neat little item called a Denon UD-M31. This is a FM, CD player amp combo which got rave reviews from various English hi-fi rags. It came as a deal with some bookshelf speakers that I think are made in Germany (Monitor 111). The speakers are, well inoffensive but the Denon is a gem. It sounds really nice, is made very well, costs nothing (250$ close-out price) and I really recommend you get one while you can, for a backup while waiting! Yeah, the aligator thing'ys for speaker in are a sorry sight. Anybody else have experience of mini's? say from Sony or Teac or JVC? Hell we can't all afford Hi-end gear! Something I'm waiting for is Money...to buy new speakers. I am looking seriously at some Dutch Transmission Lines from a Dutch firm called Crafty. And no I don't want to build my own thank you!

[Bemopti123]

If I am right, I think these sort of Denon micro stereos were usually paired with small Mission speakers.  Not bad at all.  If you get a higher efficiency speaker set, then you might be in for an affordable but luxuriously sounding stereo. 

It does not matter than people have thousands of $ spent in equipment, I admire those who have the worst if not, no systems at all, just a simple off the rack system or a music collection on an IPOD, but enjoying the music is the key to happiness.  Too many are lost between love of good "equipment" and love of music. 

[Jampot]

Sharp Ex111 (or some such) was the hot number in small all in ones here on AC - but I never was able to find it in Europe. (perhaps it had a different designation)

If you look here -

http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=23059.0

You can follow the adventures of lowrider with a Teac all in one dvd/fmtuner/amp. Some of the tweeks are simple but iirc the biggest improvement came by feeding it clean power....

A little light reading for a Sunday (before the yanks start getting up aa )

I may have mentioned before, my 'small is beautifull' system is a Clari-T and iMod both by Red Wine Audio, and as they both run on battery I don't have to consider clean power

Enjoy

Jim

[lextek]

I've enjoyed much time listening to a Tivoli radio.  Seems ehen you don't try to listen the music sounds better.

[JLM]

Audiophilia is an excercise in avoiding obsession.

It often starts at the big box stores where "impressive" bass boom and "zingy" highs sell to the uninitiated.  Next usually comes excessive detail (compunded by modern miking technics).  Then other compensations pop up, such as tube warmth, deep bass, and hyper imaging specificity.

Balancing all this at a high level while reproducing a high level of fidelity is the holy grail of audio.  It's much easier to pull up short and learn to be satisfied with something less but well balanced.  As mentioned above, it should be all about the music.

My experience indicates that "mellow" speakers (not highly detailed, tipped down a bit in treble but otherwise well balanced frequency response) can cover a multitude of shortcomings from source and/or amps.  The strategy for equipment matching needs to change depending on the "level" you're playing at.

[nodiak]

Hi shep,
Look on ebay France for JVC EX-P1. There's one listed for 390 Euros which is a new price. I paid 175 US for mine used and am satisfied.
I have the usa version (EX-A1) and like it, much better than the Teac amp I tried. Just my opinion.
The JVC is solid with alot of features and a sub out if desired. If you use the stock speakers you definitely need a sub (as they planned) because the speakers aren't much. I don't use the speakers and would recommend getting some others. A nice pair of 8" 2 ways or single driver speakers would make a good system (imo...). One nice thing is it uses 4ohm speakers so an efficient MTM style speaker would allow high output from the units ~30 watts.
Nothing about it is incredible in my opinion, but the sound is very good, it's well built and is versatile for 2 channel and ht (maybe all together that makes it incredible). I bet it's similar to the Denon you mentioned, no idea which is better.
There is an auxilary out so you can improve the playback with a dac too, which helps alot...alot.
I use mine for a simple ht system, and a dependable back up while I continue to play audio guy with other gear.
Also, seems there would be alot of folks near you with diy speakers they would demo and sell for good prices. Some of the first speakers I built used French Focal drivers in transmission lines.
Don 

[shep]

The only folks near me have sheep, not speakers. I'm still waiting for my Trent t-amp. I took apart the speakers that came with the Denon. (the tweak twitch) Cut off the push-on connectors and soldered. Cleaner and a wee
bit more "free" sounding. Got a set of caps to add to my Marantz. That is going to be less fun. Gotta do whatcha gotta do...

[Russell Dawkins]

Audiophilia is an excercise in avoiding obsession.

well said!

[mcgsxr]

I too have enjoyed the JVC EX A1 - I used it for more than 1 year, loving the simplicity.  I did run a Nakamichi cd player, Bolder modded Mensa ART DIO DAC, and sometimes a Monarchy SuperDIP also - the outboard processing absolutely kicks it up a good bit.

Great little amp - decent build quality, quite versatile, and designed with single drivers in mind.

Downside - the sub out trims the frequencies of the mains at an unspecified point.

I have also used the Teac FS-X1, and enjoyed it also - 30wpc, similar to the AL-700P, and also designed for single drivers.  This one isn currently in the family room, as the tuner/amp etc for casual listening.

I still swap in the JVC in the main system, but the 45-55 year old tube amp I bought off eBay seems better...