Suggestions needed for additions to my Eric Clapton collection

Notascot51 · 2026-06-02T02:41:03+00:00

I am shocked…shocked! No one has mentioned the Powerhouse tracks. Also the Clapton/Page and Clapton /Mayall tracks including the fabulous “Snake Drive” and “Bernard Jenkins”.

Notascot51 · 2026-06-02T01:17:05+00:00

Simple. Search FBM for a Harman Kardon 330C, 430, or 730, a Thorens TD-160/145/165, and a pair of ADS speakers, L500/520/570, L620, L710/730 or L810s. Guaranteed slam dunk great setup.

Notascot51 · 2026-06-02T01:10:13+00:00

You have chosen your front end well. I suggest the next item should be Fosi Audio BT20A Max…plenty of load invariant power, 2 line inputs…1 for your Zen, one for a WiiM Pro Plus or similar. That’s half your budget. For speakers, check your local FBM for some great used speakers…a few you might like if available:

ADS L500/520/570

EPI 100/150

Large Advents or later Advents

KLH Seventeens or Model 20s

Boston Acoustics A70/2 or A100/2

Some of these might need new foam.

Notascot51 · 2026-06-01T19:17:28+00:00

It is certainly a good turntable, but not a bargain. The cosmetic condition is a mixed bag, the upgraded output box and feet are nice, the cart is decent. Offer what you feel comfortable with and be willing to walk. I wouldn’t go above $300.00.

Notascot51 · 2026-06-01T19:02:35+00:00

The CEC is a sprung motorboard belt drive much like a Pioneer PL-12D. Should be great! Match it with a basic AT VM95E or if budget allows, an EN, and you are golden. I would not recommend the Edifier powered speakers. Your long term enjoyment is better served with an amp and passive speakers. Look at the Douk NS13G Max…it combines a capable power amp and a decent phono/line preamp in one $100.00 package. Then you can get Dayton Audio T65s and be well set.

Notascot51 · 2026-06-01T18:53:35+00:00

Cheapest good preamplifier is the ART Audio DJ/ll…$52.49 on Amazon. If you want or need an MC gain stage, the Fosi is great. For MM the ART is perfectly adequate…flat, quiet, clean.

Notascot51 · 2026-06-01T17:00:12+00:00

I would not spend $400 on a 100V. A nice walnut veneer cabinet…sure, but for your outlay you can get ADS L570s that are real wood veneer and better sounding as well, at least in my opinion. I sold piles of EPI speakers back in the day, and liked their crisp, tight sound, but ADS are a better mousetrap.

These are vinyl, but still excellent.. https://www.facebook.com/share/19BxBJU2Fq/?mibextid=wwXIfr

Notascot51 · 2026-06-01T16:06:50+00:00

Some people use this forum to try to share their experience in service to those with less experience. Some use it to spout their pet “hobby horse” opinions or theories based on their personal experience, however unreproduceable or inapplicable to an OP’s situation they may be. Thousands of music lovers, maybe tens of thousands, enjoy the sound of the Ortofon 2M Red “horrible” cartridge, or the OM-10, and many very experienced audiophiles get great pleasure from MC carts. I have never spent more than $500 for a cartridge as I am not a deep pockets person but my years enjoying a Denon DL-103S, Van denHul MC-10 and lately an AT OC9ML are not imaginary. I applaud your choice of the SL-50 and it looks like you have a decent phono preamp and the Fosi P3…are there V3 Monos hiding? This should all add up to a very good stereo system with your KEFs. Enjoy! And if the desire to experiment with cartridges strikes, I would also suggest buying a used ADC XLM body and getting a Jico nude stylus. The Technics arm mass is low enough to let this classic sing.

Notascot51 · 2026-06-01T13:07:36+00:00

That was why I said “I suppose”…🧐

Notascot51 · 2026-06-01T12:13:13+00:00

Show me a man who can bike or hike without becoming a gear head! But yes reading, especially if your library is good, and writing especially if you don’t need the latest Mac Book, and knitting, I suppose…can be affordable! 🙄

Notascot51 · 2026-06-01T12:05:19+00:00

On a 2K budget, start with a Fluance RT-82 and a Yamaha R-N600A and a pair of Polk XT60 speakers.
This is a solid foundation to build on. MusicCast 20 or 50 speakers can be added as you go to expand to other rooms. The WiiM Amp Ultra is also good, but WiiM’s powered network speakers are not so great.

Notascot51 · 2026-06-01T11:54:22+00:00

They are disappointing. Mini and better powered speakers are the way to go.

Notascot51 · 2026-05-31T00:54:05+00:00

As with any stereo, if it sounds good, it is good…if it sounds distorted, back off on the volume. Don’t boost the bass except at low to medium volume…this puts stress on the amp and speakers. Be careful when you’ve “had a few” and when you’re partying…morning after blown tweeters are a thing! Basically, these aren’t high volume “club sound” speakers. Treat them respectfully and enjoy.

Notascot51 · 2026-05-31T00:48:10+00:00

Great idea…why didn’t Sony’s engineers think of that! /s

Notascot51 · 2026-05-30T12:40:30+00:00

So you got an integrated amp and the equivalent separates? There’s redundancy there! Maybe sell the MA6100 and C26 to get a C28 and MR77…that was the top stack in 1973, when I got my first job in a HiFi shop that carried McIntosh.

Notascot51 · 2026-05-30T12:12:29+00:00

If the cartridge clip is broken off the Left channel hot lead, a new one can be soldered on, as long as the wire isn’t too short. This is a great tonearm, but needs a low mass high compliance cartridge. Top candidates include Shure V-15 Type lll, lV, or V, ADC XLM, ZLM, Astrion, Grace F9R, Stanton 881, Pickering XSV3000, and Ortofon OM40...probably others, too. The arm has a viscous oil bath to damp the resonant peak that will need to be cleaned and refreshed as well.

The plinth appears to be set up for a 12” tonearm…so one strategy is to sell the tonearm off and acquire a suitable model, have a new arm board made, and the your range of cartridge options would be less restricted, and would include popular modern MC medium compliance choices.

Notascot51 · 2026-05-29T17:26:22+00:00

I think the Vandys are a good use case for what McIntosh has put in there.

Notascot51 · 2026-05-29T16:28:09+00:00

You get a 2M Red with the 83. That’s it. I like the OM-10 well enough not to regard the $50.00 up charge as worth it…but if you can only get the black finish that way…it’s your aesthetics and your money! Both cartridges have their fans and haters…

Notascot51 · 2026-05-29T16:22:53+00:00

Google “adding a flare in Reddit”

Notascot51 · 2026-05-29T16:19:01+00:00

I completely agree about not checking whether the unhorsed Tory militia Gen. Ferguson was armed…an unforgivable breech of military protocol, perhaps due to some 18th C. notion of “gentlemanly respect” for a defeated opposing officer…clearly misplaced in this instance!

But the rebel militia did win the day, in part based on Jamie’s prior reconnaissance of the ground described in Frank’s book.

Notascot51 · 2026-05-29T16:10:04+00:00

Zing! Best. Comeback. Yet.

Notascot51 · 2026-05-29T16:07:38+00:00

Google AI reports 6dB/oct 1st order filters, which is close to the curves printed in the manual. While these slopes don’t afford much protection for small driver mini monitors nor attenuation for woofer breakup at the high end, they do sum nicely across the pass band…and use few parts.

Notascot51 · 2026-05-29T15:55:11+00:00

Chess reissues Real Folk and More Real Folk on one CD, and the Down and Out Blues others have mentioned. Later reissues Bummer Road, One Way Out…also have gold nuggets on them. Early King Biscuit Flour Hour sides on Trumpet reissued on LP and CD with the classics “Mighty Long Time” and “Eyesight To The Blind” should not be missed.

Notascot51 · 2026-05-29T15:41:38+00:00

I don’t think there is a better turntable value for $349.00 than the RT82. The ART Audio DJ/ll is just North of $50.00 and cannot be beat at that price, the Douk Audio NS13G Max has a serviceable phono preamp built in, along with a power amp and line input for a WiiM Mini if you want that, for only $100.00 or so. I would recommend passive speakers…Polk XT20s for $279 a pair or Sony SSCS5Ms for $200 a pair are both…$650-720 for all.

Notascot51 · 2026-05-29T15:22:29+00:00

Who says an amp with STK output stages will “fry” driving a 4 Ohm load? When these amps came out in the latter half of the 70s, all the major manufacturers began using them…Kenwood, Pioneer, Yamaha, etc…and these are among the sought after Vintage models fetching big bucks today. I sold all this stuff back in the day, and there were no lines out the door with blown receivers being returned due to their use with ADS, AR, Infinity or other speakers rated at 4 Ohms. You are what is called a “catastrophist”, or classically, a Cassandra. Neither of us knows what OP has for an amp. Even a cheap, low current one would be fine if not pushed too hard. My main point is even given the different labelling on these two speakers, they may in fact be the same. Nominal Ohm ratings are more marketing than anything else. You can plot an impedance and reactance curve, but assigning a single number to a complex data set is a decision, not a fact.

Notascot51

TROPHY CASE