Impractical Hi-Fi

I've had most of this since 1991 I think. I made the valve amplifier in 1995 (from a kit). It has only caught fire once and I've fixed the problem that caused that (and used it long after the whole fire incident), but I still am very nervous of turning it back on as it's moved house since it was last on in about 2015. So for now it's just sitting there looking pretty and the boring grey stuff does all the work. That hadn't been on since the late 1990s but there was a disappointing lack of smoke and bangs when I turned it all on again.

If I was a real Hi-Fi cultist there would be a very expensive turntable just out of shot with my 360gram expensively-remastered copy of [insert terrible 80s soft-rock album here], but in fact it all runs from my phone/laptop over wifi.

But only because the (OK, not expensive and not actually working right now) turntable is next door, driving the even more impractical Hi-Fi in there.

Pretty sure I can't hear the difference between any of this and a cheap mp3 player now, if there is a difference: I just like the old electronics. Also I never did like 80's soft rock (but I did see some of that stuff being recorded and if you think your 32-bit 192kHz super-high-resolution remaster is capturing magic extra detail ... well).

The astute will notice the device on the top left. Very occasionally it is still possible to hear those curious transmissions of unknown origin which it was designed to receive. The periodicity has changed over the years: it is believed this may be a result of the orbit decaying. Let us hope that some way can be found of boosting it once more before it finally reenters: what that vessel carries should never again be within the atmosphere, that much is certain.