chenry

Responses from chenry

DAC suggestions for a reasonably modest system
Denefrips Enya or Ares 12th should work for you at a little less than $1K, or if you are wanting to hit your max spend, the Pontus or the Gustard R26.  
Streaming Curious
The Bluesound Node is a good choice of streamer. It is easy to set up and use and has a good app, almost as good as SONOS. It has a decent DAC, but you might want to use a separate DAC and use one of the digital outputs from the Node to a separate... 
Amp — Leave on or turn off
Off. If you prefer, a digital timer might be the thing to rely on if you are prone to forget.  
on the cheap
WiiM Pro Plus. I have set up two low-cost systems for my college-student nieces (vintage Technics receiver + Wiim Pro + refurbed KLH 20 speakers and a KLH model 20 player/receiver/amp refurbed with a WiiM Pro.) They tested out well and reports are... 
Preamp advice
Given the price limit specified and the preference for valves, you might try the Schiitt Freya + preamp. It is selectable between a passive  setting, zero gain, a "buffered" solid state stage and a tube stage (octal, 4 tubes) with 12dB gain. It is... 
Finally upgrading my amp
You might look at the Peachtree Carina 300. It has a dual parallel DAC (ESS Sabre 9038-type) and 300W and a phono stage. For a little over your budget is the Carina GaN, with a GanFET design. Both have a headphone amp included. For about $1700 is... 
Best Covers
Lanie Gardner's cover Stevie Nicks' Dreams is getting lots of play. I don't think I have heard anyone do this song better.  
Looking for 200 watt Amp to drive Dynaudio Heritage speakers
Peachtree Carina GaN. Integrated, 200W, GaNFET, has a phono section (MM) if needed, does not require a DAC.   
Looking for recommendations for integrated with a more “organic” sound.
I am not sure what would or would not qualify as "organic." If you are looking for what some people term a "musical"  as opposed to a precise presentation, then class A amps, Musical Fidelity A1 or possibly a Sugden A21 SE Signature might fit your... 
New Falcon ls3/5a Silvers in the house
You have a nice used Yamaha with well-known provenance and which plays a 83dB BBC monitor speaker well, and it had a selectable class-A setting, rare at any price. If you are happy with the Yamaha (which are excellent amplifiers, especially for th... 
Do You Buy Speakers Without Hearing Them?
Yes, multiple times. I have bought usually with a right to test and return, and fortunately have not needed to do so. Most have been standmounts, so shipping could have been done without freight shipping with crating and palleting. In each case pu... 
Borresen Loudspeakers
They are pushing into premium active speaker territory on price, even three-way actives. Nice to see the ribbon planar tweeter, but in a two-way, they should have gone with a Purifi woofer.  
Tube Integrated Amp Recommendation
The AR I/50 and Margules I-240 are both excellent. The Margules is class-A. There is a head-to-head comparison online (YT) with intro and commentary in Spanish, but with extended play by both units. The newer version Willsenton R8 shouldn’t set y... 
Audition of a Sugden in the Seattle area
Gig Harbor carries them in the Seattle area. I bought my A21SE Signature from BEK HiFi in Allentown, PA.  
Ken Fritz article
goodlistening64: It wouldn't surprise me if the chimes were working on only one of the clocks and the other three were silenced, probably because there is never perfect synchrony.  Most modern chime clocks have this feature (and a feature to sele...