crustycoot

Responses from crustycoot

What am I missing?
To me, it’s the recording, not the format.  Dynamic, well rendered recordings can be  heard in their glory in 16/44 Redbook CDA, whether streaming or from CD.  Using more data may squeeze a bit more realism out, but mediocre recordings are far mor... 
Advice? Less than $4k, solid state preamp, neutral to gentle
Just pointing out that 3 subwoofers is only an issue if the preamp has no monaural sub output. So a Parasound Halo P6 would be perfect with a Y connector to creat a 3rd output. No need to spend more of your tuition money on a backup pre.   
Only two tracks to test your system, forever!
Only 2??  Waahhh!   OK. “Walking On The Moon” by Yuri Honig Trio…open and dynamic Mahler 6th by the Boston Philharmonic Youth Orchestra on CD or Tidal…live.  I was there and the recording nails it. Runners Up: “Kit Carson” by Bruce Cockburn on ... 
Counter weights on your turntable...another dirty little secret?
Dadawada has it exactly.  Talk to a tech at Fine Sounds and get the right counterweight.  The other option is to add weight to the headshell. A half gram of Bluetack will also damp any resonance.   
Newbie want to improve what I have
Sopra No.1s are one of my favorite 2ways ever. Congratulations on your purchase! The key with this sport is fitting the system to the room in terms of proximity to adjacent room boundaries, overall room volume, etc.  The normally rational Erik Squ... 
Lost it to Black Friday! Ordered it!
Roy, What appealed to you about the GAN mini 5? I have one too, as summertime relief from my Dyna tube amps. Seems good to me despite the disappointing results obtained by ASR. Curious to hear your reaction.   
Just how many options does 1 need in a 2 way bookshelf design?
The 6” 2-way is the most versatile and practical speaker design for home stereo is why.  A 6” woofer can go deep enough to blend with a sub, and high enough before breakup to match a dome tweeter and maintain good off axis linearity.  Bigger woofe... 
New TT vs Cartridge/isolation upgrade
The Bronze engine is different…it uses silver plated wire, and the cost difference is trivial between stylus and cartridge, so get the whole Bronze. I too recommend keeping the RPM1 and addressing you upgrade itch with a cartridge. For under $500,... 
New transport or repair CD player
Meridian is expensive to buy, and to fix. The Repair Shop in GA has a monopoly on their parts and they have the expertise to be sure. Trust them to send it back in tip top working order. Those players are hard to beat.   
I need an Audio Detective
 I have worked in Audio stores for almost 50 years and only encountered a similar situation once.  Guy had bought a Fisher HiFi VHS machine and brought it back saying it didn’t work.  We hooked it up and it was fine. 2nd unit, same result.  I went... 
A double bass is the best instrument to pair with vocals
Hick, So you don’t like JT?  Is that your point?  Others might not agree…I hope you can accept that.  
Recommend a good tube power amp in the 100 wpc range for under $4k
Your plan is misguided.  Unless you perform surgery on your speakers to hardwire the LF input terminals of the to the woofer and the HF inputs to the correct circuitry traces for the upper crossover (MR/TW) you will be “double crossing” your speak... 
Do speaker cables really make a difference ?
When I got Magneplanar MG3s 38 years ago I replaced the 10 gauge Monster Cable (zip cord on steroids) with FMS 1810, much less copper, but designed with multiple thin solid core conductors like AQ, and these were 20+ foot runs. The increase in cla... 
A double bass is the best instrument to pair with vocals
The Jennifer Warnes track “Ballad of a Runaway Horse” is used by John Hunter to tune speaker placement in his Masters program, featuring voice and acoustic bass.  But for a more universal answer, it would be piano, as in lieder. Schubert and Mahle... 
Old school shootout: Snell A/III vs. Original B&W 801
In Boston we had a radio show called Shop Talk on WBUR that was the model for the much more widely known Car Talk. It featured a psychiatrist audiophile and a physicist playing the romantic music lover vs the hard-headed objectivist. The shrink ha...