Amplifier Experts?

[gridgway]

I try not to compare, but treat things on their own merits. Fab or not fab! If you try to compare modern versus old it goes wrong really easily. Can/do old cars cost a lot of money on repairs/resto? Yep, do they all the time? Nope Do new cars depreciate bucket loads? Yep. Do all of them do that? Nope?

So to my Fab/Not Fab list:

Fab
MP3s through my £12 chinese amp kit
Lossless streaming audio through my proper hi fi
Records on my LP12
996 GT3 RS
Crappy 73 RS Rep
69 LHD T
997 GT Clubsport
Rover 25

Not Fab
The rust in my RS Rep - which is why it had to go
Fezza 355
993 targa
946 Tip
Boxster 3.2S
Record decks that get all fuzzy as the needle gets into the middle

So is it right to compare a Rover 25 with a 355? Of course not!

Graham

[Ashley James]

Are you chaps really saying that if you buy an older classic car, you don’t have to spend far more than you would on a new one before it’s in really good condition and fit for say a 2,400 mile trip around Europe.

If you want I’ll list the cars I’ve owned over the years, mostly with good service history, that I’ve had to spend huge amounts on before they’re running as they were new.

I can also go through the work my son’s business does on cars to rectify cars that have been rebuilt, often for hundreds of thousands of pounds. One he’s just reset rear springs on, rebuilt shock absorbers, repaired the torque tube, rebuilt the steering, straightened the track rod and much more cost a million to restore!

It’s true my little 356c would have gone for years without any major issues, PRS had overhauled the transmission, the engine seemed good and there was very little rust.

We’d done a great deal to halt rusting, rebuilt the steering box and fitted a new interior from Lakewell.com, so about £10,000 I didn’t have to spend on my 718, but I wasn’t comfortable with the way the doors fitted, there was an ugly patch on one sill and under seal was beginning to flake off in the wheel arches, so I decided to have the body restored. It’ll be perfect, but I expect it’ll cost £50K.

My chum with a 964, which is immaculate has also cost about £10,000 and needs more.

In my experience all old cars need work, it’s very costly and you have to fork out unless you’re happy to soldier on with something that is unrepresentative of the marque.

[hot66]

apart from reg servicing & some fancy bilstein suspension , my 964 has only cost me a new alternator & a battery so far in over 3 years ..... and its going on a 3000 mile european trip soon

Ashley, in some regards you're correct, but you look at things from your old man comfort & ease chair .. its wrong to blanket state the new cars are cheaper & more fun. I run new cars as well ... replace each new car every 24months. They serve a purpose ... but there are reasons a lot of people enjoy the older more analgue cars

[mycar]

It's been a good buy that 964 James. How much have you spent on the 2.4S over the years ?

[hot66]

It's been a good buy that 964 James. How much have you spent on the 2.4S over the years ?

... best not to add 16 years worth of ownership up ... but bearing in mind full engine rebuild incl new crank and gearbox build , its enough ... but then again it’s not depreciated where as a new boxster bought in 2003 might have cost the same as I’ve spent

[964RS]

New cars depreciate like hell and still cost like any other car to maintain and aren't 100% free from engine rebuilds and other issues along the way. Then you have to consider the driving experience is that of a modern car, it's not what you are looking for when driving a classic, it is like comparing apples and pears. They both have their merits but it is horses for courses.

Classics needn't cost the earth either. My RSR has been all round Europe every year for the last 10 years and cost me the square root of f*** all to maintain. I don't think it's depreciated much during that time either...

[Ashley James]

I tend to buy second hand modern cars for around half the new price and keep them until I fancy a change. The 718 is one of very few nearly or new cars I’ve bought and probably the last. My Merc is four years old now with 33,000 so I shan’t be losing anything like what I’ve spent on my old cars.

[neilbardsley]

Ashley I saw, from inatagram, you visited this place

http://fwhifi.co.uk/

The web has lots of no nonsense information!

[Ashley James]

Ashley I saw, from inatagram, you visited this place

http://fwhifi.co.uk/

The web has lots of no nonsense information!

Yes I did, I’ve know John for decades, he deals in pilots watches, Leica stuff, old Quad, refurbished Spender BC1s, AVI, LS3 replicas and he restores/refurbishes turntables. He also records various classical music performances around Birmingham and restores and digitises Dance Band Music.

He’s very knowledgable and worth a visit. He used to drive round in an old Rolls-Royce or Bentley and may still have one.

[neilbardsley]

Sorry to ask on here but I'm getting lots of cracking then trying to play records on my turntable. Yamaha P220. I've cleaned the lp but it's still not not better. Some lps are worse than others. I've ordered a new stylus. Any other ideas?

This is the best picture of the stylus I could taky

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[Lightweight_911]

.
That's what happens to old records - it adds to the appeal/'atmosphere' ...

.

[neilbardsley]

Well this is so loud on some it's ruins the music

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[gridgway]

Doesn't sound right, certainly. Can you try the album on someone else's deck to compare?

[neilbardsley]

Actually I've just put another LP on and it much better so I'm putting it down to the 3 lps I tried before

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[Jonny Hart]

Much of my work was on the pro side but I did have a turntable till the late eighties. Afterwards we periodically used them for shows, once a £15,000 one but in an AB, the problems are obvious and believers think you can’t design a phono stage.

Vinyl is hugely profitable for ailing record companies and the marketing is flawless, even Iron Man uses a turntable but I prefer streaming from the cloud to my system.

Yes I remember you frowning when I told you I preferred vinyl over cds. Mind you I have been playing some cd recently and the quality is very good

Lots of my CDs have delaminated, leaving the last couple of tracks unplayable. I loathe having bought them in the noughties. Wish I'd stuck to vinyl all along as I have an annoying 10 year gap my record collection.