About me

David Hembrow's HiFi Pages.

I've written about a few different pieces of hifi that I've owned and put together a few short web pages. Hopefully these will contain some information of use to other Hi-Fi enthusiasts. I'll be adding to the list as time goes on and I find the time to do some more.

Turntables and tonearms

Manticore Mantra Turntable My current turntable which replaced the Goldring. It is fitted with a:

Linn LVX Basik+ tonearm Often overlooked due to the later Linn Akito and the enduring Rega RB250 and RB300, these arms are good.

The Dual CS505-2 turntable and Audio Technica AT-110E cartridge a classic 1980s entry-level turntable and a very good budget cartridge.

Goldring 88 Turntable a classic 1960s idler-wheel transcription turntable which makes an excellent base for creating your own high end turntable.

Elite Rock turntable review.

Garrard 301 and 401 reviews from contemporary magazines.

NEAT tonearm a 1960s tonearm which is little documented elsewhere (or here, for that matter).

Digital sources

S1MP3 Chinese MP3 players. Often ignored, these MP3 players actually have remarkably good performance.

Coming soon - modifications to Philips CD473 CD player with TDA1541 DAC

Tuners

Arcam Delta 80 AM/FM tuner an unusually designed hifi tuner from the 1980s.

Arcam Delta 150 NICAM Stereo Tuner a unique product offering unparalleled TV quality with a not very bright future due to the upcoming end of analogue transmissions in the UK.

Amplifiers

Quad 33 / 303 pre-amp / power amp combo.

Rotel RB850 power amplifier a bargain when it first appeared, and more or less faultless so far as I'm concerned. Still heart of my system.

2A3 valve (tube) amplifier from 1930s magazine.

Speakers

Coming soon - Quad ESL57 speakers (see articles below)

Wharfedale Active Diamond speakers.

Heineken Speakerkratjes Heineken recently "gave away" MP3 / Computer speakers with beer. Not really HiFi. They sound better while consuming the beer...

Articles

Peter Walker's articles on electrostatic speaker design - Written by the designer of Quad speakers and electronics in the 1950s.

Make sure that "CDs" that you buy are in fact real CDs. I wrote up the story of the problems we had in trying to get a working CD from Sony BMG.

For many years I worked in the computer industry in Cambridge, mainly on embedded software. These days we live in Assen in the Netherlands and I make willow baskets and arrange cycle tours. I also have a page of bicycle reviews and ride stories.