abecollins
Responses from abecollins
| Preamp expriences? Good value amp I've had a few preamps in my system over the past year. My system at the time, consisted of CJ Premier 11a tube amp, Denon DCD-1650AR CD player used as transport, MSB Gold Link III 24/96 DAC, and Thicl CS 1.5 speakers. I tried the following preamp... | |
| ARC Support I have no experience with ARC service but I do own an LS16 preamp that isn't bad. It amuses me though that ARC comes out with revised models (MKII MKIII MKIV.... etc) every couple years! You would think with 30 years in the business they would hav... | |
| New All in One or Just a DAC? The CAL Icon MKII is a very decent player / transport but I prefer the Denon DCD-1650AR. I've had both of these in my system running as stand-alone CD players and later with the MSB Gold Link III DAC. The Denon is a current Stereophile Class-B pla... | |
| How did U get into this expensive hobby? I was blown away by the incredible sound from a friend's MV-52 tube amplifier from Conrad-Johnson. This was 8 years ago. He later introduced me to another person who was running Krell gear into Martin Logan speakers. I was hooked! I bought all use... | |
| What is a Transport? A transport spins the CD and reads the digital data off the CD media. This digital data stream is then sent to an external "digital-to-analog converter" or DAC for short. The DAC converts the digital data stream into a line level analog signal tha... | |
| What are the best CD-changers? Chazzbo wrote: "The question is how long will it last. The Adcom would be a good deal @$700 but it and the $1K and $1.5 K CAL crap out after some time."Everything craps out after some time!You can buy the Adcom for much less than $700 new and you ... | |
| CD Burners: Which one to buy? Before you run out and buy a CD-R/RW consider this... If your main goal is to create audio CD's I would buy a dedicated CD-R/RW for your audio equipment rack instead of a CD burner for your computer. It's much more convenient for a number of reaso... | |
| sony offers 3 new SACD players This is the multichannel version which replaces the SCD-777ES. Maybe this is why there are so many SCD-777ES units up for sale. My local consumer electronics store also blew out their inventory of SCD-777ES (at lower price than many used units adv... | |
| MSB price increase Ramesh, you asked if my Gold Link III had Full-Nelson upgrade. No. I'm not sure if its available for the Gold Link III (someone else can comment on this). I'll just say that the Gold Link III sounds better than the regular Link III with Full-Nelso... | |
| MSB price increase Hello Ramesh, It's a bargain at $1300 and I think MSB realized this and raised the price. It's still a great DAC at $1895 but getting a little expensive compared to some very good all in one CD players. I sold mine mainly because I wanted to reduc... | |
| Solid state amplifier $2K Used or New I've owned 3 Classe amps over the years, Classe 10, Classe CA-100, Classe CA-200. The 200 was the best and can be found for $1500 +/- depending on age and condition. For the price, its a lot of amp for the money. Personally, I didn't like Bryston ... | |
| best cd player for 2500- 3500 IMHO, my choice would be Cary 303 ($3000) or Cary 306 ($5000). You can find either of these new for far less than list prices shown and both are awesome and musical. I auditioned Levinson No.39 and although its a nice player it didn't do it for me... | |
| What are the best CD-changers? I'm surprised nobody has mentioned the Adcom GCD-700. With dual Burr-Brown 20-bit DACs these changers sound great on their own. The build quality and heft aren't quite on par with the CAL changer but they sound great and they're very decent especi... | |
| MSB price increase ...probably because this DAC holds it own just fine against $5K - $8K DACs. It ain't pretty but it's very very good. I owned one and the only reason I sold it is because I'm getting a $5K (list) Cary CD-306 CD player. You can still get the MSB Gol... | |
| What tube preamp to get to smooth out the sound????? I like the GFP-750 in active mode mated to my CJ Premier 11a tube amp. It has very good bass extension and control plus it doesn't roll off the treble. Compared to the tube preamps I own, its a little harsh but maybe I just prefer that tube sound.... |