ghdprentice
Responses from ghdprentice
| Is Van den Hul Frog Gold a good choice for my rig? Yeah. It was my first audiophile tt / cartridge and it was simply revelatory. Speaking of jaw dropping. The surface noise I was so used to disappeared, the bass slapped me in the face. It was a completely different ball game. | |
| Tube Preamps Should Have This Feature @invalid Definitely that can be true. But is somewhat dependent on the specific equipment. I suspect both your pieces of equipment have solid state power supplies and tube amplification. Tube power supply life tends to be much shorter than the... | |
| System advice OP, Giving your desired sonic character… I definitely recommend auditioning the Linn. | |
| ARC amp differences. I have Sonus Faber Amati Tradition speakers and have powered them with the Reference 160s and Reference 160m monoblocks. I also auditioned the Serfino. They sound great, really a perfect match. I have also heard the Vsi 70 and the VT80. My listeni... | |
| Replace Ayre gear & kEF Reference 1s with KEF LS60s? Simplification sounds good. I have the QB-7(?) Twenty DAC. It is a great DAC. I get the appeal. However, if I was thinking that way, I would go the Linn DSM route. You can get the whole stack in one small box… and the performance is astounding. I ... | |
| System advice I just finished auditioning a Linn DSM in my system. This was configured as a streamer and their mid-level DAC. It was priced at $12K. The sound quality was definitely worthy of the price tag. It can be configured as a complete system and include ... | |
| Is Van den Hul Frog Gold a good choice for my rig? I lived very happily with a Van den Hull Frog and VPI Aries turntable for about fifteen years. Very musical, great bass, and quiet combo. a good choice for these reasons. | |
| Tube Preamps Should Have This Feature I have found the warm up time required to sound the very best is highly dependent on the make and model. For instance the Audio Research Reference 5 and SE had a very distinct ~ 10 - 12 minute warm up sound improvement… but a signal going through ... | |
| USB Cable @soix +1 | |
| Significant steps? (DAC) From the engineering and manufacturing perspective while the part cost goes up with higher quality DACs the engineering cost goes up much faster. It isn’t simply a matter of choosing “a better quality” part, it is a mater of choosing one that soun... | |
| Testing your system @oddiofyl Good thoughts. But for me. “The trick is to end up with gear that is so completing and alluring, you simple cannot imagine something could sound better. Happily that is where I am… although I know it is possible. Over the decad... | |
| Significant steps? (DAC) First, I have found that in the very low cost realm (say <$500 - $1,000) the technology does make a difference. I have had, for instance, a number of different ESS implementations, and in the low-end there is a sound. But as you move up, design... | |
| Audio Research Financial Troubles @jetter It’s all about cash flow. Ongoing operations have mismatches between purchases and the delay of revenue from sales as well as ongoing cash obligations to pay staff. It is a multi national company so it also has fluctuations in curren... | |
| DAC DIRECT IN TO AMPLIFIER OR TO PREAMPLIFIER A low hiss is not normal from a good quality or better tube preamp. Deed quiet is the mark. | |
| Testing your system Yes, choosing musically satisfying components as opposed to analyzing the level of detail and slam as your primary criteria is a great way to get a musically fulfilling and satisfying system. The trick is developing the skills and experience to do... |