desktopguy
Responses from desktopguy
| Better R2R DAC Recommendation? +1 for the MHDT Labs Orchid. Especially after I rolled the stock tube, it got even better (and it started out sounding very good). Don't forget the considerable goodness a quality DDC can bring to the DAC party. As soon as I put my new Matrix Au... | |
| Buying used vs new speakers from a technology perspective For the past 15 years I’ve had a series of 2-way speakers in my 2.1 home office system, which I’ve continously upgraded. Here’s a factor no one has mentioned: it may be harder to find among modern designs, a speaker configuration that was more co... | |
| Feel free to talk me off the ledge All my audio gear is squished into a 13’ x 13’ home office. Yet still I manage to fit 10 lbs of crap in a 5 pound bag. It’s a 2.1 system and has been through at least 6 previous pairs of 2-ways (that go on the desktop for nearfield listening). 3-... | |
| Need speaker recommendations. I second the recommendation for sealed/acoustic suspension speakers. The obvious choice for high-end sound is ATC (various models of differing sizes and costs). I have a pair of passive ATCs (SCM12 Pros) and find their sound very impressive. The... | |
| How many systems do you have? Three separate systems: 1 - Living Room: 2-channel, old but tasteful SS gear from the late ’80s, Boston Acoustic A40 speakers (wonderful little 2-ways) + cheap subs. This is strictly for casual music during dinner parties & social gatherings ... | |
| Your single most significant purchase mistake? (great thread) I learned at least something from the few truly bad components I ever owned. But the first was the worst (and the most learning): it was an Infinity floorstanding 3-way with ribbon tweeter, 3" midrange and 10" woofer in a tall, sha... | |
| Tiny Room (6' x 9') speaker advice Your request presents a conundrum: 1 - For a tiny room like this I wouldn’t go with any speaker that wasn’t a sealed/acoustic suspension design (I’ve had 4 pairs of those in my home office). They interact less with the room than pretty much any p... | |
| Do I really need an " Audio Grade Network Switch "? I don’t even have a streaming network, but feel compelled to respond. Count me in the "everything matters (sonically)" camp. That doesn’t mean I have an electrical engineering degree and would enjoy debating this point with every wonk that pops u... | |
| What a pile of Schiit Schiit is an interesting company. The 2 principals of the company have decades of experience in high-end audio (Sumo/Stoddard & Theta/Moffat). Theta was a particularly visionary brand in early digital...one that resonates to this day with the ... | |
| Need help choosing a new DAC I have the MHDT Orchid (with choice of 2 "rolled" NOS tubes for the buffer circuit) and heartily recommend this DAC. It sounds wonderful, is very compact, and allows tube swaps in the buffer circuit. NOS is the way to go in digital, and this is ... | |
| How long do you or should you keep your gear. My main desktop speakers are KEF 103.2s (circa ~1984). The caps were redone by the 1st owner. Other than that, they’re mint--and spectacular. The amp is a 250 wpc class d design (Wyred4Sound ST-500)...a terrific match: My twin brother still uses ... | |
| Finally Learned: Subs serve much larger role than adding more low bass @wspohn Correct on all points. I didn’t want to try to explain that stuff, which gets tricky. In conversation with Richard Vandersteen, he admitted that the electronic crossover, while sonically ideal for the subs, was less than ideal for the m... | |
| Headphones vs full range speakers I’ve gone pretty far down the headphone rabbit hole in the past 6 years. Currently I have 7 headphone amps, 3 of which can serve as system preamp for my desktop audio system (2 x 2-way nearfield monitors + sub); and 5 or 6 headphones at any given ... | |
| Finally Learned: Subs serve much larger role than adding more low bass My first experience with subs was memorable. I got a used pair of Vandersteen 4’s, large 4-way speakers with a powerful integrated sub built into the base of each speaker. Each sub (located in its own enclosure with a slotted port) consisted of 2 ... | |
| Replacement for current speakers suggestions @bogiedr1 ... sorry you face such serious health concerns. From your descriptions, our sonic preferences are quite close. If it were me, I’d go out and find a gently used pair of Vandersteen 3A. All the Vandy models are musical to a fault, in my ... |