dgarretson
Responses from dgarretson
| Remembering Frank Betz I bought many pieces from Frank at Soundex, and am sad to hear of his passing. He knew audio thoroughly & was a straight-up, low-key, fair trader. While visiting Soundex and waiting for Frank, I always enjoyed listening to him making deals on ... | |
| Looking for a good balanced preamp: Atma MP-3? Your impression of Atma-Sphere preamps is accurate: neutral, transparent, open & extended at the extremes, and great value if you need an integrated phono section. The tonality can be shifted with NOS 6SN7s. If you go for it, stretch for the V... | |
| SSM w/Rim Drive - Cloud 11 Vibration issues? I don't doubt that the speed stability of VPI's rim drive improves upon standard belt drive.Aiming for the correct amount of compliance in a drive system is probably an elusive design goal. With the 300RPM motor on a TNT, I heard significant impro... | |
| SSM w/Rim Drive - Cloud 11 Vibration issues? These posts suggest that there is a significant amount of noise & instability generated by VPI rim-drive motor/flywheel assembly. It would be interesting to compare this to Teres rim-drive, which is allegedly a quiet motor. Sayonara. | |
| SSM w/Rim Drive - Cloud 11 Vibration issues? Agreed, the rim-drive motor/flywheel assembly and the TT plinth should rest on one slab in order to fix the geometry between the two. Any play between the motor/flywheel assembly & the platter will compromise speed stability.You could fix thin... | |
| Have you heard the latest Merlin VSM-MXe speakers? Fosse, your experience mirrors mine with an Atma-Sphere MP-1 preamp. However, as the tape loop on this preamp is RCA only, and the LS output to amp is balanced differential XLR, it's not exactly an apples-to-apples comparison. | |
| Have you heard the latest Merlin VSM-MXe speakers? Spencer, The BAM is capacitor-coupled at input and will not be damaged by a DC pulse from an upstream component. Is it really possible that an amp could propagate DC leakage backwards through its input? I've never heard of an upstream component be... | |
| Vinyl vs. top-notch digital I'm curious to hear from anyone who has been able to obtain superlative vinyl playback through a digital preamp/processor like the Meridian. I suppose it's possible, but it's certainly antithetical to the usual approach of analog uber alas.If I we... | |
| B&W 800d's or MAGICO V3's? V3s offer startling openness, transparency, clarity, and dynamics, but for these qualities plus a more authoritative & seamless bass region I'll keep my Merlin VSM-MX. | |
| Your vinyl guilty pleasure??? For moods requiring romantic self-pity, Coldplay & The Cure are hard to beat.When breezy jazz is needed it's the lighter albums of Larry Carlton and Pat Metheny. | |
| Who does best SS preamp modifications? Kyle at RAM offers great solutions for SS electronics, including custom rectifiers & compact, high-performance Audiocom discrete DC regulators. Power circuit mods such as these can make a big difference, if you want to get beyond simple piece-... | |
| Audio Research PH3 The early PH3 was introduced by ARC as a budget piece, with the then-current SS PH2 selling for $1K more. I listened to both & bought the PH2. In turn the PH2 is substantially improved by replacing the stock MIT PPMFX coupling caps. The only s... | |
| Recommended 12au7/5814s for Atma-sphere MP-3 I haven't done much rolling with my MP-1, but I'm using a Raytheon 6SN7 in the forward position(differential amplifier where all LS gain is performed), a matched pair of 6SN7EH in the circlotron, and 6SN7EH in CCS. IMO the latest EH production sou... | |
| Sony XA9000ES mods? I'm sorry but I confused the two Sony models. I friend of mine extensively modified his DVP9000. He claims that with mods to clock, power, and analog section, this piece gets reasonably close to his modded 777ES. One good thing about the DVP9000 i... | |
| Sony XA9000ES mods? AFAIK, VSE primarily strokes the analog section. RAM works over clock and power supplies into the transport section. |