ghdprentice
Responses from ghdprentice
| What is the best tonearm for a SOTA Nova turntable? I don’t think it will cost you a fortune. I would do the table upgrades. Then see where you are… a used Audio Research PH8 would really upgrade your analog end. I would imagine that would be around $8K. Then if it isn’t there a cartridge for $3K. | |
| Recommendations for HiFi Listening Room I have to recommend extensive auditioning of systems from different high end dealers. You want to find the sound you are really emotionally drawn to. It is ok to audition really expensive equipment… to find “the sound” you guys like. Include tube ... | |
| Streamer? Aurender's "caching streaming" ? how important is this feature? I highly recommend Aurender for their excellent sound quality for the money. That is all they do is streaming. I own two after a very exhaustive search. | |
| Disservice: XLR interconnects OP, Yes, USB cables make a difference… and it can be very large. Erase the 0 and 1 theory. It will point you in the wrong direction in audio every time. Everything matters and sometimes it seems the more counterintuitive the bigger the differe... | |
| What is the added value of a streamer over a networked dedicated Computer Yes. A high quality stand alone streamer will provide very large sonic improvements. I experimented for years with PCs and my Mac laptop… running on battery with most software shut down, with files in different places. Then I got my first ... | |
| Where to invest the most in the "digital chain"? The key to streamers is that they isolate vibration, electrical noise… etc. the signal sent to the DAC is incredibly important. They make a huge difference. Keeping the DAC and streamer separate (as long as they are both high quality) also makes a... | |
| Best software to rip CDs to Mac (Mini) You have what looks like a great system. I wouldn’t bother with ripping CDs any more. That was, oh so 10 years ago. I would get your streaming up to the rest of your system. Since my streaming in my headphone and main systems have been of great (e... | |
| Where to invest the most in the "digital chain"? Over the decades it has been proven over and over to me through experience that every part of the digital path is critical… and the more logically something shouldn’t matter, the more it does. Of course, I didn’t learn this. I just couldn’t get m... | |
| Advice for Streaming Newbies - Best Bang for Our Bucks If you are after outstanding sound quality then the key is a high quality streamer and high quality DAC. You can take inexpensive equipment and incrementally improve performance, but if you want real performance you want a carefully chosen streame... | |
| Aurender N200 @marco1 / OP, Yep. I got an Aurender N100 for my headphone system… which resulted in me getting my W20SE for my main sister. | |
| WILL IT MAKE A DIFFERENCE? My experience over the last fifty years has been a slow nearly inpercetible move towards tubes. First to an Audio Research tube preamp, then an Audio Research tubed phono stage, then ARC tubed amp… and finally an ARC tubed DAC. Each step added mu... | |
| How good does my system have to be to realize an improvement with cables? Typically, the rule of thumb is ~10% On the other hand typically your components need to be of a significant resolution and quality before you can really expect a big diffference. I guess, I would say $2,500 components. But, some folks do real... | |
| Silver Speaker Cables Thanks for the system info. I don’t know what the sound characteristics of your preamp is. But looking at how many functions it has, I would be a bit concerned it might not be up to silver… would you consider your system to be pretty warm? If yes,... | |
| Disservice: XLR interconnects Congradulations. Sounds to me as if you are endorsing high end cables… not specifically XLR. For the most part my experience has been that what usually counts is the quality of the interconnect more than whether they are single ended vs XLR. I... | |
| Where to invest the most in the "digital chain"? First the best DAC that you can afford. Then an equivalently high quality streamer. They both matter, and should be of similar caliber to your preamp, and amp… meaning , well chosen and of equal investment. My theory based on my experience wit... |