bjw54

Responses from bjw54

Shopping for new speakers-need ideas... Selling old DQ-10's...
I second the idea of getting rid of the piezo tweeter. DQ-10’s were my first high end speakers. After also having a issue with the highs I upgraded the crossover with better caps and swapping out the piezo to Decca ribbons. This upgrade took the s... 
Truly Balanced Cheaper Preamplifiers?
Schiit Freya + is your best bet. I run it’s balanced outputs to the balanced inputs of my amp. Everything Else in the system is single ended and it converts them to fully balanced. Before running balanced I ran all single ended with hi-end cabling... 
New Hobby Ultrasonic Record Cleaning
I have found that ultrasonic cleaning alone is not sufficient when cleaning very dirty records like the ones that you pick up at garage sales, flea markets and Goodwill. For those I first use my old trusty Spin Clean. A good scrubbing removes the ... 
Schiit order issue - anyone receiving shipments?
When I ordered my Freya+ it took over 2 months for delivery, but they did answeremails concerning the delay. I most recently sent them 3 emails about another issue and 4 days latter I have still not heard back from them. This is not normal,they ar... 
Amp repair cost — is this right?
Reach out to bigkidz. He is on this forum and has been building and repairing amps for many years. His creations are top notch and his repair work is as good as it gets and very reasonably priced. He is currently working on one of my amps. 
turntable recommendations
My vote is for a VPI Classic 3 with a ART 9. I was using this cartridge on my Classic 3 while waiting for my Koetsu to come back from  a Soundsmith  retipping. I still have it mounted on my second arm wand and listen to it often.This is a great co... 
vpi classic
I own a VPI Classic 3 and was running my Koetsu Black Gold Line for years until I snapped of the cantilever— boy did that suck! While waiting for it to come back from being repaired I purchased a old model ART9 from music direct. And I can Tell yo... 
Manufacturers
I have been a audiophile for 30 years and have had mostly positive experiences dealing with small audio manufacturers based in the United States. And mostly bad ones with some highly regarded  very large manufacturers. A small example of this is V... 
AT-ART9XI Cartridge - Reduced Compliance
I don’t know about the x1 or x2 because I have not heard them, but I do own the original ART9. I purchased it from Music Direct while wanting for a Sound Smith re-tip. I liked it so much on my VPI Classic 3 with a JMW-10.5 arm, I didn’t really mis... 
Tubed Preamp recommendations?
My vote is for the Freya +. I have owned a Counterpoint SA 5000 that I purchased new many years ago when they went out of business for $2500–it was a $5000 unit. I loved this preamp until it’s transformer went— taking with it a lot of other parts!...