bigboypete

Responses from bigboypete

Friends hi-fi system not very good, what do you do or say?
Here is some life advice: If you don't have anything nice to say, shut the f*&^# up.  This rule applies well beyond the question asked.  Cheers!  
Should Amps be plugged into a power conditioner?
This was a really illuminating discussion.  I have always had a McIntosh power amp (currently a MC 312) plugged into a Furman Elite 15 power conditioner and never thought much about it.  After reading this discussion, I tried plugging the amp into... 
Handling Heavy Amps
That is surprising that your dealer is willing to pass up on an expensive sale by not offering to have a couple of employees deliver the amp to your home. Have you asked? I purchased a McIntosh MC 312 clocking in at 138 lbs in its box from Magnoli... 
Mcintosh pre amp pricing
Congratulations indeed.  I bought new C53 to replace a 20+ year old C41 last month.  (The C41 is now sitting on my shelf, but my son is eyeing for when he gets a bigger apartment).  I have to say the C53 is a big sonic upgrade and the DA2 digital ... 
LOUDEST Concert and Tinnitus
Hot Tuna at the Palladium in November 1977.  I can still hear that concert more than 45 years later!  
How long do speakers last?
I have a pair of JSE .8 Infinite Slope speakers that I purchased in 1988 that still sound so great. I ended up giving them to my son in Philly last year when I no longer needed them in my secondary system and he loves them. They have had no recond... 
Vinyl - One Word - WOW!!
I just got a Project Debut Carbon Evo for the holidays. This is my first turntable since the 70's, and it does indeed sound stunning with a good vinyl pressing.  (If you like Phish, try the LP on LP releases for great sounding vinyl).  Even more r... 
Music Servers/External Drives
Lanx0003 makes a good point.  If you use an external hard drive, BACK IT UP REGULARLY!!!  They have a tendency to fail with little or no notice.  I keep a clone of my main drive connected to a difference stereo in the house.  I find that the Seaga... 
Music Servers/External Drives
I recommend using Exact Audio Copy for ripping CDs.  It provides a bit perfect rip and is free shareware.  I don't think that you can rip to ALAC, but conversion between ALAC, FLAC, WAV and many other lossy and lossless formats is easy with DBPowe... 
Recommendations for good sounding streamer
I'm partial to Cambridge Audio streamers.  They are a bit more expensive (around $1,100), but are very versitile in terms of connection options.  I have an Azur 851N that I use primarily to play purchased music from a hard drive, but it also has s... 
Favorite religious song
Palm Sunday -- Jerry Garcia Band 3/18/78 Warner Theater, Wash. DC    
McIntosh -- good for show, not for sound, says dealer
I've been powering B&W 702 signatures with a 20 year old 200 watt/channel McIntosh MC 202 solid state amp, and every time I think about updating the amp, I say to myself: "Why?  This amp sounds great and has the muscle to power to 702s as they... 
Recommended USB Cables.
I recently put an Audioquest Diamond USB 3.0 cable between a Seagate external drive (housing 24 and 16 bit FLAC and ALAC files) and a Cambridge Audio 851N streamer and was amazed by the results.  There is no other way to put it other than that the... 
Underpowered?
So I am powering the B&W 702 Signatures with a 20 year old McIntosh MC 202 (200 watt) solid state amp with a MC C41 solid state pre-amp and the B&W's just come alive every time I power them up.  The sound stage and clarity are stunning whe... 
AQ JitterBug with high-end music server/streamer and high-end DAC?
I attached a Jitterbug from a Seagate 8 TB HD into a Cambridge Audio 851N streamer and heard an immediate improvement.  The sound seemed warmer and less harsh.  I was not using an audiophile grade USB cable, so I'm not sure if that made a differen...