dgarretson

Responses from dgarretson

DACs and reproduced sound
It's a panglossian notion that the failings of one area of a system can be ameliorated by the failings in another. Not IME. 
DACs and reproduced sound
The Benchmark has some good things as well as some budget compromises inside. There is an active aftermarket of modifiers offering upgrades in areas like soft recovery diodes, Bybees, op amps, and chassis sheilding. Modified units have received go... 
DACs and reproduced sound
In simple terms, a DAC's analog section is no more or less compromised than any preamp or amplifier circuitry, except for the presence of high-frequency analog filters. In contrast, the adverse signature of the digital domain and digital/analog co... 
indie/alternative favorites
I'm with you regarding Blonde Redhead and Swervedriver. One of best and most under-appreciated indie bands of the late '90s was Acetone(Cindy, If You Only Knew, NY, and eponymous). Sinuous, slippery, and heroin-chic. 
Amp ideas for Soliloquy SM2a3 speakers
Never heard the speakers, but when I purchased Cary 2A3SE monoblocks Dennis Had suggested them to me as an excellent match. My recollection is that there was some tie-in between Soliloquy and Cary in development of those. 
Best Rock Albums in 2009, so far
Ditto Wilco & nice to know Sonic Youth is in good form. Other good recent releases available on vinyl include Grizzly Bear Veckatimest, Elvis Costello Secret, Profane & Sugarcane, and Eels Hombre Lobo(though on Eels albums he makes the unf... 
If you like Levon Helm
Levon's two excellent solo albums have more of the sound and feel of The Band than any other member's solo work. One yearns for Robertson and Hudson to visit his barn. 
Covering silver wire for use as a speaker cable
2mm cotton sleeves from RAM for proper litz braid, or various sized rolls of polyolefin HS tube from McMaster Carr if you just want to bundle 10 or so strands together inside one tube. 
Covering silver wire for use as a speaker cable
Reference Audio Mods has it. Bend back the tip to make a tight curve with a smooth point and snake it through. If you want to send several strands together through a single sleeve, wrap the tips tightly in teflon tape. Be forewarned that jewelers ... 
Covering silver wire for use as a speaker cable
If the wire is bare, pass it through polyurethane and let it dry & cure hanging overnight. Then snake each strand through a long 2mm cotton sleeve and make a loose litz braid of all strands. Soak a 1" band of ERS cloth in Goop cement and wrap ... 
What do you see as the downside of tubes?
Jafox, from your comments and thorough review of Aria and Counterpoint, it would appear that these products owe their distinction primarily to tube power supplies. The flexibility of Aria in accommodating extensive rolling of tube families may als... 
What do you see as the downside of tubes?
Jafox, the advantage you hear with Aria may owe more to TX2575 resistors than to tube vs. SS paradigm. Lately to get a better grip on the tube vs. SS debate I've been all out modifying a SS ARC PH-2 in parallel with an Atma-Sphere MP-1 phono secti... 
Modification Nightmares
The time it takes to perform mods can be significant, as is the cost of premium piece parts. I envy the pros who can do this work well at a profit. As an amateur modder with limited time to give to the hobby, the only way for me to justify time sp... 
The Bad Plus - where to start?
Ditto "Vistas", and for an equally catchy but higher-browed treatment, try James Carter/Cyrus Chestnut/Ali Jackson/Reginald Veal "Gold Sounds", which is prog jazz covers of Pavement songs. 
New Aluminum Platter from VPI
Johnbrown, That is a good experiment, and one that may be worth continuing with a DC motor or other AC motors to compare to Hurst. The question remains as to whether there are other AC motors that behave any better than Hurst w/r to cogging. Anoth...