desktopguy
Responses from desktopguy
| Do I really Need a Digital to Digital Converter? I have an MHDT Labs Orchid DAC in my main desktop system. For years I ran it off the digital coax signal from a SPDIF converter. A couple years ago I decided to try a DDC. Ended up buying the first generation Matrix Audio X-SPDIF converter. I inst... | |
| What speaker could safely be ordered without hearing it first? This topic is kinda like target shooting w/a blindfold on. But here goes nothing. I see 2 generic possibilities: 1 - If speakers are to be located near the back wall: go for high quality sealed/acoustic suspension design. Easy pick of those: pret... | |
| Why is solid state more popular when tubes are better? "PREFERRING something (tube equipment) does not mean it is BETTER." What he said! 3 comments: 1 - I love tubes 2 - I love solid state 3 - Each does some, but not all, of the wonderful things the other can do (I need them both for different r... | |
| Why do speakers improve with more powerful amps? "So why the hell do people buy inefficient speakers?" Speaking only for myself, I buy speakers that: A - fit the space I have for them; and B - sound good to me In my case (home office/desktop audio), the speakers that fit the space and sound ... | |
| Amp question with size constraints Several years ago I finally bagged my 10-year audio affair with powered desktop speakers. There were precious few of these (at that time, anyway) designed with audio purity and excellence in mind. I got a gently used pair of ATC monitors and found... | |
| Returns I've had numerous dealings with both Music Direct and Crutchfield over the years. I have nothing but praise for both companies. Everything I purchased from them worked perfectly, was packaged and shipped exactly as expected, and I was able to con... | |
| "Too much gain"? (Cary SLP05 question) @immatthewj, sure. If gain issues exist in the system (in my case, due to relatively high voltage output of the upstream DAC), this results in my using the downstream volume pot (of the headphone amplifier/preamplifier being fed signal from the DA... | |
| "Too much gain"? (Cary SLP05 question) @docroasty, I've never heard any Cary electronics. I've used the Rothwell attenuators (single-ended, rated @-10 dB) only on the Kinki Studio THR-1 headphone amp/preamp. In that application, the Rothwells did nothing I could detect to the overall s... | |
| How do you high pass your main speakers? I’m familiar with ATCs (mine pair is the ATC SCM12 Pro passive monitor). These are sealed/acoustic suspension designs with terrific bass that disappears rather abruptly below the resonance frequiency, which I believe is in the mid-40s. As for the... | |
| Prospectives on Chi-Fi (who is Lord Melton?) OK, here's my 2 cents. In my audio journey, first decades ago in big 2-channel gear, and in the last 10 years, all desktop audio & headphone audio, I tend to follow talented designers and the companies they build to real... | |
| Sat front row at the symphony... It was purely by accident, but one of the best things that ever happened to me was attending large-scale classical concerts and opera performances well before my obsession with high-end audio, and continuing through the years when I had the most g... | |
| Low level listening This is a topic close to my heart: I listen to low volume classical ~11-12 hrs/day and so it's important to me that I actually hear the music. From long trial and error, I found 2 interrelated factors that help with this: 1 - Use relatively ineff... | |
| LOUDEST Concert and Tinnitus Woodstock was very loud. So were two Jimi Hendrix concerts; a number of Jefferson Airplane concerts; Jeff Back. But the loudest, the one that hurt me in the moment and continues to, was Junior Brown at the Turning Point, a tiny cellar club in Pier... | |
| What is your experience with amp power? In this home office setup, I’ve come to really appreciate 2 pairs of fairly large, sealed 2-way speakers. Both are relatively inefficient, as most sealed/acoustic suspension speakers are. So on the rare occasions when I really crank the system, ha... | |
| New Class D amplifiers +1 to Wyred4Sound IcePower class D amps. I have the ST500, which I bought used. It sounds at least as good as any solid state amp I've had. Just as important, it doesn't have thin/parched harmonics, dry treble, or that soulless "accuracy" class D ... |