drbarney1
Responses from drbarney1
| If the DAC is the same, how different do CD transports sound? If a DAC is good enough, it buffers by storing bits and releases them in a precise enough clock, the bits just before conversion should correct inaccuracies in most transports. It becomes hard to hear the difference between the transport and a fil... | |
| Can a system sound too Holographic? In the 1930's Bell Labs determined that the best simulate the sound of an orchestra in a concert hall with proper acoustics, there should be three channels, the center channel playing the sum of right and left channels. Magnepan did listening test... | |
| 300b lovers Stereophile published an article on the Westinghouse 300B, which, unlike cheap modern 300B triodes, had a triple coated cathode which lasted longer and was the secret to the better sound. If you can tolerate less power the NOS 45 globe tubes were ... | |
| Sat front row at the symphony... This is why I find the difference between a sound system costing $5000 and one costing $700,000 almost trivial. Both are too far from the live concert hall sound to make much difference. I have heard $50,000 speakers that did not sound as good to ... | |
| Is it possible for a high end manufacturer to overprice their goods? I am not convinced you always get what you pay for and I am skeptical of extreme prices. In 2005 the WAVAC 833A stereo amplifier was reviewed in Stereoplile magazine. Its price was $350,000. It had the grid of the 833A transformer coupled from a 3... | |
| Were you an audiophile in the 1980s and 1990s? In the late 1990's Stereophile ran an article about the 300B "God's tube" single ended triode. You could buy as a kit or a schematic to build your own such SET from Cary Audio in North Carolina. I built my first SET and began my journey. The moder... | |
| Never heard an amp do this before, ideas? When I had to live in an apartment I had an upstairs neighbor who played his stereo so loud that it disturbed my piece, quiet, privacy, and my right to choose for myself what music I wanted to hear. He bullied me with his trashy music when I asked... | |
| Really Inexpensive Systems That Sounded Great? Get a book on vacuum tube design and go for SET in the preamplifier and amplifier. They are easy to design and to build. You can do the same with open baffle speaker designs using full range speakers that require very little power. 2A3 or 45 triod... | |
| When were the best tube amps made? With a single ended tube amp it is easy to build your own. But to keep it linear you can't push a tube very hard. You need heavy duty transmitter tubes. There is a WAVAC SET that sold for $350,000 that you can build with under $2000 in retail part... | |
| Best turntable under $4000 I could never afford Dr. Feikert's turntable, but I admire it for two reasons. First, I know what it takes to earn a PhD and it is very probable Dr. Feikert applied the same conscientious attention to detail in designing and perfecting his turntab... | |
| Headphones vs speakers…. There is a difficulty most people do not have with "luxury" high end headphones. They are all made with leather and I have ethical objections to killing animals for their body parts or for food. If I wanted the headphone experience, this is a limi... | |
| Hi-end audio is a big zero I wanted SET sound with Magnapan speakers (0.7 with DWMs are the biggest I can fit into my little 26-foot-diameter house.) I could not bring my amplifier to audition it because it has too many separate components: twin KV power supplies, cathode h... | |
| So, I listened to a $1Million Dollar System I am confident in assuming those who found a million dollar system lacking were not rationalising their way out of suffering envy. I am a little put off by such a system only well suited to one listener in a minuscule sweet spot and not so speci... | |
| Are advances in technology making speakers better? If a manufacturer tries to masterbate the economy with upgrades every few years or even months, should we trust them to make their designs a labor of love? I don't trust manipulative people or corporations. There is too much fraud and snake oil in... | |
| Share your ‘I MacGyver’d it’ solutions I fought back against neighbors who blasted shitmusic from an outdoor stereo by using microwave oven parts in a homemade sheet-copper horn antenna to microwave and stop their stereo. I was in my last year of the coursework for my PhD in physics an... |