ghdprentice

Responses from ghdprentice

I am just very happy with my system.
Cool. Congradulations. It is great having a system you really enjoy. Typically I am thrilled with my system for about seven to ten years until I start to realize I might have enough funds to start thinking about an upgrade cycle.   It would be g... 
Cable differences -- power, interconnect, digital, and in what order?
As in most high end audio, it depends. From my experience (50 years) in general speaker cables, power cords, and interconnects. But they are all important and there are many exceptions.   To really get a handle on the sound characteristics and t... 
Shortest Product Demo Ever: Had to Hit the Eject Button and Get the #*@% Out of There?
I have had quite a few short auditions like that. Often it will be some young kid in an audio store that says listen to this, and the distortion and high frequency noise chases me out in a couple seconds. Usually a low cost system. But I will walk... 
Monitor Stands - Made of Stone
Typically stone is not used because of it resonance.. I have a one inch thick plate of granite under my amp. I used springs above and vibrapods below to isolate the granite and the steal stand with spikes it sits on , so mostly it is supplying wei... 
Streamer with toslink output
Toslink is usually the most inferior connection.  
How rare is an audiophile
After pursuing high end audio and being an executive (meaning circulating with lots of other management and thousands of employees) I have never randomly met one that I know of. Not one. So, the number is small. 300K… that probably is not a bad gu... 
How many of you streaming?
I stream Qobuz. I virtually always listen to whole albums.    I have streamed on my main system for twelve years or so. I was always hopping around. The reason was my streaming (and CD) leg was not musical and fulfilling. I worked over the last f... 
How does one pick in this situation?
@rmdmoore    +1 Take a trip… listen to a wide variety of speakers, without prejudice. You want to find a brand (they have house sound) that has an emotional connection.    Take your wife, take her out in the evening. Let her shop somewhere else... 
Phono Cable Breakin
Phono cables are a real problem. Yes, break in is very real. You want well over 100 hours before drawing any conclusions on sound. 200 hours is safer. The signal strength on a phono cable is minuscule and the effect on a system can be substantial,... 
The weirdness of it all
I guess I misinterpreted your post. Ithought you had opened yourself up to new possibilities. Oh, well. Your loss, not mine.  
I downloaded high-res files and...
Appropriate companion streamers for a Audio Research CD9 DAC is a Aurender W20SE. Or the really good but not as good the Aurrender N20. This is matching equally capable components.   
The weirdness of it all
@recklesskelly  Then you have some real treats in your future. I recommend try some high end cables from a local dealer or from the cable company. In general, I consider them to be components. “…good quality, well constructed… Nothing crazy” is a... 
Spectral amplifiers and Duelund cables
+1 above.   I came so close to buying a Spectral amp… I absolutely loved the sound, but that requirement stopped me. At the time I could afford the amp… but not the cables and interconnects.   
Poll: Most impactful component
The answer depends on the system.   My system is balanced and optimized, with all components compatible and at the same level. So, there is only one answer, upgrade my speakers from Sonus Faber Amati traditional to Sonus Faber Lillium. While the... 
What should I do - PS Audio DAC with or without Preamp
👍😊 For most every system this is true. The preamp is the heart and soul of a system.