Mateored, High Emotion Audio loudspeakers are Minnesota made, as are Magnaplanar.
I don't see that anyone has mentioned this but the issue of volume control in the digital world is one that is fraught with difficulties. The problem is that most players/DACs put out way too much voltage and so has to be knocked down in order to not overload the amp like crazy!
This often means that with digital volume controls the level will be set rather low, which can rob the signal of resolution. If a passive analog control is used, you often get loss of bass and impact as you run the volume control down from full, which you need to do because most digital products have too much output (4-6 volts is typical and most amps need 1-2 volts for **full** output).
Built-in analog controls work the best, IMO, if they are properly designed and used- they should never be in series with the output of the unit for example- instead they should drive the output buffer of the unit.
The Wadias used to have a set of switches that would lower their output, and so allow them to use the upper ranges of their volume control, which offered better resolution.
I point this out because frequently the only way to get around this problem is with an active line stage that has an analog control capable of giving you good control of the signal without coloration. Right now this is one of the bigger problems faced in the digital world. It seems to come from the fact that the Digital to Analog conversion produces a fairly high output, combined with the fact that most digital designers don't seem to understand how much voltage that amplifiers need. Both are very solvable issues, but poorly understood.
Back to your regular programming...
I don't see that anyone has mentioned this but the issue of volume control in the digital world is one that is fraught with difficulties. The problem is that most players/DACs put out way too much voltage and so has to be knocked down in order to not overload the amp like crazy!
This often means that with digital volume controls the level will be set rather low, which can rob the signal of resolution. If a passive analog control is used, you often get loss of bass and impact as you run the volume control down from full, which you need to do because most digital products have too much output (4-6 volts is typical and most amps need 1-2 volts for **full** output).
Built-in analog controls work the best, IMO, if they are properly designed and used- they should never be in series with the output of the unit for example- instead they should drive the output buffer of the unit.
The Wadias used to have a set of switches that would lower their output, and so allow them to use the upper ranges of their volume control, which offered better resolution.
I point this out because frequently the only way to get around this problem is with an active line stage that has an analog control capable of giving you good control of the signal without coloration. Right now this is one of the bigger problems faced in the digital world. It seems to come from the fact that the Digital to Analog conversion produces a fairly high output, combined with the fact that most digital designers don't seem to understand how much voltage that amplifiers need. Both are very solvable issues, but poorly understood.
Back to your regular programming...