charles7

Responses from charles7

What speakers work with low wattage class A amps
A FirstWatt F8 amplifier (by Nelson Pass) drives my Focal Aria 906's just fine, even though the speakers are rated at only 89.5 dB sensitivity. So does a Quicksilver integrated amp. The listening room is moderate size, not a big bare box. The F8 ... 
Unscrupulous ebay buyers
If you have a local craigslist in your city, and if it has a reasonable amount of audiophile equipment activity, it works best. You and the other party meet, you make the exchange, and you are done. The downside is that you may wait a long time. ... 
Ray Charles - "Rap is not music"
Most rap is heard out of vehicle speakers over-amped to severe distortion, bass-heavy to the point of pneumatic force on the stomachs of the involuntary listeners.    
Analyzing DACs
I pair a JDS-Lab_Atom DAC to a Van Alstine Transcendence RB 10 preamp. The JDS is well-rated on ASR, is inexpensive, and sounds better than the DAC built into a HEOS2 box, for example. I put the money into the Van Alstine. It is moderately expens... 
Van Alstine pre-amplifiers
Van Alstine Transcendence RB 10 feeds a FirstWatt F8. No exaggeration of richness, and no defects, no brightness and no muddy bass. Just an excellent and accurate musicality.  
Tube Preamp --> Solid State Amp
@chocaholic  First, I must correct that my amp is an F8, not F7. Rated 15 dB gain. My Focals are the 906 Arias, rated 89.5 dB sensitivity.   No problem with volume. My ears are 8 feet from the speakers. They never sound as though they have not re... 
Tube Preamp --> Solid State Amp
You can run the output from a tube preamp into one of the integrated amp inputs. As noted in a previous post, you don't want a preamp with high gain. In any case, you would experiment with combinations of the two volume controls to find the best s... 
Qobuz dropping rights to my favorites. A pox on their house (resubmit)
If I like a track, I buy the .flac file, usually from PrestoMusic.com. Occasionally, only a CD is available; I usually don't want all the tracks, so it is a rare occasion when I buy the CD.    
HELP!!!! Newbie looking for a decent 2 channel power amp in the $1,000 range
No preamp, just direct from a DAC? I second your aversion to Emotiva. I tried one of their products and found it bright and just not what I would call hi-fi. Van Alstine Vision SET 120 Power Amplifier, $1,199.00. https://avahifi.com/collections/... 
Tube-Curious/Pre-amp
Yes, a tube pre-amp paired to a solid state power amp is the best way to use tubes. Tube power amps that get it right are expensive, and maintaining a power tube complement can be a pain, to your wallet among other things. My Van Alstine Transcen... 
Mid-fi tube vs high-end SS
I don't know the Van Alstine DVA 225, but my system uses his Transcendence 10RB preamp into a FirstWatt F8 (by Pass). With compatible speakers, the sound is musical (not "artificial") but not colored one way or the other. It made me a believer in... 
Bob Carver tube amps
I just read two recent reviews in Audio Science review..it was horrible with two amps.. he even found a loose screw in the box And worse. They documented that the actual power output of the 275 was a small fraction of the published "spec." As ... 
My first tube integrated: which one to get?
Yup, Quicksilver Integrated. Ideal for a small room and speakers of reasonably high sensitivity such as your Focal 926's. Worked great with my Focal 906's.  
Looking for Advice on Focal Speakers
I am happy with Focal 906's. A light cotton curtain over the window right behind the listening seat was quite helpful. I bought the used 906 pair at about half price on craigslist.    
Pass Then vs. Pass Now
My FirstWatt F8 is terrific, driven by a tube preamp. Your Devore Gibbon 3xl speakers have a high enough sensitivity that the F8 can drive them just fine.