dgarretson

Responses from dgarretson

Possibly the best pre-amp one can have
I agree that op amps can take on great character-- possibly surpassing tubes-- when powered by an optimal power source. The AD744 is a particularly good one (also used in the Merlin BBAM). Unfortunately in most commercial gear op amps are powered ... 
What makes instrument immediacy, -separation & -bo
I would add that the same improvements to circuits that reveal low-level information required for spacial cues, also reveal textural details & corrected pitch & timbre in voices & instruments. So it's not just about uncovering deep bac... 
What makes instrument immediacy, -separation & -bo
Interesting points about reverberant fields in the original performance, the relative contribution of first arrival vs. reflected sound, and hearing realistic piano sounds in the next room. However, after fixing the variables of room treatment &am... 
What makes instrument immediacy, -separation & -bo
Shadorne, I'm not convinced that recording in an actual performance hall is necessary to create a sensation of live performance in playback.In any case, there are certainly many recordings that are made live-in-the-studio & combine a sense of ... 
What makes instrument immediacy, -separation & -bo
Having recently progressed through stages of mods to a BAT VK tube amp, I've heard the qualities of which you speak all improve together in the same amplifier driving the same speakers. It's particularly interesting to me that soundstage size &... 
Best Band That Never Was
John Fahey's Blind Joe Death. 
Lyra Helikon and Phd owners please
Mark, My mistake as well! I see now that the Installation Instructions that came with my standard Helikon states .5mV output. 
Lee Hazlewood
Funny you say psychedelic: there are patches on "Cake or Death" that sound like Sgt. Pepper with stretches of freaked-out classical music alongside country & pop. Hazelwood may have posed as a red neck, but he was really a high culture/low cul... 
Lyra Helikon and Phd owners please
The published spec for the Helikon is .6mv gain. This would be considered a medium-gain MC cartridge. 
Lee Hazlewood
I'll leave it to others to assess his long & productive career. I'll only say that his last album "Cake and Death", made after his terminal diagnosis, is the best swan song since Warren Zevon's "The Wind." Hazelwood just did his thing & di... 
Which 1080p plasma?
The gap between Panny & Pioneer 1920 x 1080 plasma has closed to the point that Pioneer is going to have a tough time justifying its price to the marketplace. Prior to 1080p plasma the Elite was always a clear step up. It still is, but not by ... 
Watt/Puppies with SET or push-pull???
I have Zeroimpedance.com naked Autoformers with 8' of crimped-on Anticables-- both manufactured by Paul Speltz and available on 60-day trial. This Autoformer has 2x, 3x, and 4x taps.I had best results with WPs & Autoformers & mid-powered t... 
Is the RAM Modified Esound E5 the REAL THING?
Chris, RAM apparently has done lots of work inside the Wadia 7. I have a friend who has worked over the latest Wadia separates with battery power supplies. It's debatable whether any factory unit is ne plus ultra. 
Watt/Puppies with SET or push-pull???
Just for fun in my "B" system I've been using W3P2 with 3W 2A3 SETs & Speltz Autoformers. It works remarkably well. However without a 4x impedance multiplier the dip below 2 ohms with WP presents a difficult load to any SET. 
DIY clock upgrade?
John, while a dedicated power supply is desireable, Audiocom clocks work well on any decent 9V-12V power source drawn from within the CDP.I saw Allen Wright's comments in AA that the the XA777ES doesn't have enough room inside to do much meaningfu...