hickamore
Responses from hickamore
| Pass Labs xa-25 or Coda Continum #8 Ditto the Coda S5.5, which never ceases to amaze with my 92dB speakers and tube pre of 18.5 balanced gain in a large room. The one thing lacking is the sense of huge black sky overhead that you get from superpower amps. But as you are downsizing w... | |
| I'm a little perplexed/surprised by TMR and who sells to them..... TMR makes it easy. Some of us are willing to pay more for easy. And quick. And anonymous. And no strings attached. Never got top dollar, but never had it easier. Same as in real estate or any other market. | |
| Audio Grade Ethernet Cable @goofyfoot I am occupied at present, will get back to you. | |
| Audio Grade Ethernet Cable OP, if you follow advice to move the router far away and plug into a different circuit, I have an unused DH Labs ethernet cable which I think is 6M. Switched ISPs and the new company supplied a remote extender entering the floor under the rack hol... | |
| What exactly is critical listening? Who does it? Suppose I want to compare the sound of the same radio program via streamer/DAC vs. broadcast (FM tuner). I simply switch between input X and input Y on the preamp. That's an example of critical listening, and it's neither nonsense nor self-flatter... | |
| ??? Are Manufacturers Killing Our Hobby ??? If the manufacturers have covered all the bases, why can I not find a SS preamp with the versatility of the $800 Schitt Kara and the $7900 Coda 07x, but with a price in between those two and SQ approaching the latter? (This for backup system -- LS... | |
| ??? What Is Your Favorite Speaker Finish ??? To me, rosewood walks the perfect path between coarseness and refinement in my pine/oak listening room. The rosewood speakers stand out sufficiently from the background to announce their functionality, but harmoniously so, whereas high gloss or me... | |
| What Meatloaf and Beer Have Taught me about Audiophiles Maybe I missed something here. Have we some reason to suspect that audiophiles' tastes in food are markedly different from those of the "ask your smart speaker to play X" crowd? I personally am only a "B" level audiophile, but an "A" level gastron... | |
| ARC Select Worth Price? Upscale website gives this further detail: We deal with some fairly picky customers that want to make sure that their expensive ARC preamps, phono stages, and amps are as close to perfection as possible. For that customer we have 6H30’s in a grad... | |
| ARC Select Worth Price? Upscale sounds like a safe bet for my immediate needs. Thanks to all for the detail and reassurance. | |
| ARC Select Worth Price? @mulveling @ghdprentice Thank you! Exactly what I wanted to know before proceeding. I listen about 12-16 hours/day when not traveling, although only 2-3 of those hours are "serious" listening. The remainder is radio, sometimes analog and sometimes... | |
| Are there any recording artists you just can’t listen too? @mylogic I hope you are not under the mistaken impression that I dislike Neil Young. I love NY and always have! Southern Man and Ohio are at the top of all social conscience rock. They can inhabit my head for days, all these years later. Lyrics ar... | |
| Music streaming Qobuz for sound quality, but sometimes they don't carry an artist's best work. For example, Tom Russell Band, Poor Man's Dream album. All you get are shabby, feel-good live recordings of some cuts from that record. They also don't have the Poco al... | |
| Are there any recording artists you just can’t listen too? @stuartk Sorry, I didn't notice that you wanted to extend the topic. Let's view it through this lens: for "singer-songwriter-self-accompanists," the baseline is necessarily below the Mark Knopfler level -- let's say the Jim Croce level. Croce's pl... | |
| Best Audiophile Album in terms of Dynamic Range and Mastering Quality? @hilde45 +1 and thanks. I am presently creating a Qobuz "Audiophile" playlist leading off with Blue Coast recordings. We'll see whether my incoming preamp extracts more from this material than the outgoing. |