calvinandhobbes
Responses from calvinandhobbes
| better power supply for Qutest I powered the Qutest with a portable jump start battery/power bank and also with a phone power bank using the USB-A outlet to connect to the micro USB port on the Qutest. Doing this reduced the noise floor and took away a bit of harshness. NOTE: i... | |
| Differences in YouTube, Spotify, etc. Qobuz, because it sounds best. My ranking of streaming service sound quality (as of November 2020) 1. Qobuz 2. Primephonic - now acquired by Apple 3. Spotify Premium (320 kbps Ogg Vorbis which is not lossless) - sounds surprisingly decent to... | |
| recommend PRAT Integrated amplifiers (not Naim) Naim amplification does have PRaT, but I’ve now heard other brands that offer sufficient PRaT but with more tonal color and richness than what I’ve heard from Naim amps. Pass amps stand out to me in this respect. @ghdprentice I’ll have to check ou... | |
| recommend PRAT Integrated amplifiers (not Naim) 100% @superhonestben. With music I know, I immediately hear the lack of PRaT. I used to play the violin and listen to a good amount of live music. The presence of PRaT allows what's going on in the music to make sense to me. I hear this in live mu... | |
| recommend PRAT Integrated amplifiers (not Naim) Another vote for Pass amps | |
| Did your system getting better the more money you spent or more experience you gained? It's helpful to be able to spend money, but it's more important to have the listening skills and experience to know what truly sounds better & not just different. | |
| Best RCA interconnect up to ~$100? A third vote for DH Labs interconnects. I got 2 pairs of used 1-meter DH Labs BL-1 Series 2 interconnects for $75 total off of eBay. One of my best audio buys ever. | |
| Recommend me a DAC under 3k Another vote for the Pontus II DAC. FWIW, at least on the Pontus DAC, the choice of power cord can affect the clarity, resolution, and timing of the DAC a lot. And the most expensive power cord may not sound the best. The power cords that I've tr... | |
| Significant steps? (DAC) I know that the Chord Qutest has been well liked at the $1500k price point, but my personal experience with having both in my system is that the Denafrips Pontus II is a big step up in refinement, detail, naturalness of sound for acoustic instrume... | |
| Question: What are some of your best pieces of advise to someone new to the hobby? Listen, Listen, Listen before buying equipment. And listen to music that they like. | |
| Sugden Amps Well, I would definitely describe the Sugden as being on the 'not fatiguing' side of the spectrum for a solid-state amp and it does sound warm, BUT ideally I think you should try to hear it with your speakers. It's got a very rich, syrupy warm sou... | |
| "Audiophile" Power Cables: The Greatest Audio Conspiracy Theory of All Time? From an electrical engineer that designs audio equipment: https://the-hifi-podcast-with-darren-and-duncan.simplecast.com/episodes/shielding-grounding-draining-and-isolation https://the-hifi-podcast-with-darren-and-duncan.simplecast.com/episodes/... | |
| "Audiophile" Power Cables: The Greatest Audio Conspiracy Theory of All Time? @waytoomuchstuff Can you PM me the link to your survey? I don't think it was in your last post dated 4/27. | |
| "Audiophile" Power Cables: The Greatest Audio Conspiracy Theory of All Time? @waytoomuchstuff Yes, please do send me the link to your survey. | |
| "Audiophile" Power Cables: The Greatest Audio Conspiracy Theory of All Time? Here's my vote on the side that power cables can matter. I've tried 11 power cords on my Denafrips Pontus II DAC. Some were loaned by a friend. Other purchased and returned via Amazon Prime. Tripp-Lite Heavy Duty: $15 WAudio 10AWG HiFi Power... |