garfish

Responses from garfish

Replacement tubes for Sonic Frontiers Line 2 SE?
My Line 2 came back from up-grade to the SE level with NOS Brimars, and they were too soft and uninvolving for my taste. So I put a pair of Brimars in just the 2 driver positions (gain positions), and used stock Sovteks in the other four positions... 
Your ONE all time favorite love song?
Thanks everyone! Cheers. Craig 
Good & Inexpensive Amplifier Stand for ARC VT100
I agree with Timo on the Sanus amp stand from Audio Advisor-- comes with removeable spikes, looks nice, will hold about a ton and under $100. I used it with a 90 lb. SS amp. 
Your ONE all time favorite love song?
Jimbo3-- thanks for the reminder that Roberta Flack's "The First Time Ever I say Your Face" was originally released on the LP "First Take"-- that I owned at one time, but regretably it disappeared along with the rest of my record collection.Paulwp... 
Any small monitors that dont sound thin and bright
I can recommend the PSB Stratus Minis-- good soundstaging and a nicely detailed but mellow speaker for under $1K new, and they really do bass quite well down to 40-45 HZ or so. Good Luck. Craig 
Your ONE all time favorite love song?
Hifiho is right-- one is tough! I'm also really big on Otis Redding's " I've Been Loving You Too Long", Buddy Guy's "Black Night is Falling", and also his "Let Me Show You".Also, Koko Taylor "Walking the Backstreets", and I've always liked "I Will... 
Reliability of Sonic Frontiers gear?
I've used Sonic Frontiers pre-amps for near 10 years and the only problem I had was caused by ME-- when changing wires late at night with equipment ON etc-- you know the story. I can highly recommend their components. Cheers. Craig 
Which components knocked you out on first listen?
No in store demo system has ever done it for me-- I have to hear the component in my own system to be able to judge its character and worth. But in home, I've heard (and bought) some really good ones:1. Vandersteen 5 speakers; great mid-range clar... 
Senior Audiophiles - Audiophile since the 60-70's?
Nice thread Brian-- I've enjoyed the respones. I was 13 years old in 1956, and along with my slightly older sister, we wore out 45s by Gene Vincent, Buddy Holly, Elvis, Fats Domino, Chuck Berry, Jerry Lee Lewis, Ricky Nelson and many other early R... 
To biwire or not to biwire...?
Re: Vandersteen Audio's speaker Owner's Manual(s): based on extensive testing, Vandersteen strongly recommends true bi-wiring with their speakers. I now use internal bi-wired cables by Synergistic Research and like them a lot-- the bass wire in th... 
Anyone had Vandersteen 3's upgraded to 3A Sig?
Excellent post by Sdcampbell above, and I agree. I had 3As up-graded to 3A sigs 3-4 years ago and found it worthwhile for the reasons Scott gives (above).At the time, Richard Vandersteen flatly told me that when speakers are shipped to them via UP... 
How do you know when preamp tubes go bad?
I pretty much agree with Mezmo's observations, and would just add that when the 6 tubes in my pre-amp (SF Line 2SE) get to be 12-14 months old, music quality starts getting a bit hard, bright, strident, and progressively more fatiguing. I keep the... 
All time classics? Your top 3 or 4?
1. The various Vandersteen 2C speaker models have become classics, as have 2. McCormack DNA.5 and DNA-1 amplifiers. These are both very high value products that have stood the test of time. I also agree with the 3. Syn. Res. Master Coupler power c... 
Who has Vanderstein 5 speakers?
Hi Scott and KF; the last few months I've kind of become an Audiogon "lurker" and just check the ads daily-- been trying to learn high end digital photography lately; digital camera, software, printer, scanner etc. It's taking a lot of time.Indeed... 
Holy SnickerDoodles Read This
Hi Lak; I've been accumulating outlets too and do think highly of the FIM 880 and I also use Hubbell outlets. I plug my Vand. 5 speakers into Acme silver outlets (non-cryo), and they work well for that purpose, but of course this is only driving t...