jafox

Responses from jafox

Power Conditioner to the rescue
Tvad, thanks for the support. This was a new adventure for me. And I expected only a few minor improvements but the outcome was hardly minor. I can see Art and JD both nodding their heads, "we told you so, we told you so, finally you listened". Th... 
Audio Research Classic 150
Please do a search on these amps here in the forums. I have written much about these amps after owning them for over a year. And hopefully others have as well.The CL150's were so highly praised in their time (1989) and to be honest, I just don't g... 
input tube rolling on manley neo classic 250's
Interesting timing to this post as I just tried some different tubes on the input of the CAT JL-3 amps. The stock Yugo EI 12AU7 tube was every bit as musical and open as the Telefunken with the EI being more quiet and less prone to microphonics. T... 
Best solid state pre-amp below US $ 10.000,00 ??
Dgad - I fully understand what you have posted here and agree with your comments. As described above, my experiences parallel those of Tvad. And with vinyl as my primary source, driving my DAC into my amps is not really an option even if this was ... 
Best solid state pre-amp below US $ 10.000,00 ??
This has been an interesting thread with lots of expected recommendations. Now that the focus has shifted to also include tube units, it makes the quest a lot more fun.Dgad's comment, "If you are happy w. the Audio Aero direct, I am sure a preamp ... 
Electrostatic-vs-Planar strength, weakness
I can relate so much to what Duke has shared here. I owned Maggies for nearly 6 years, first the 3.3 and then 3.5. The tonality and dimensionality of the music is what won me over compared to box speakers. But the need to crank it up to get the sy... 
Tube Home Theater PreAmp?
Spudco: Does the Modwright need to be powered on to be used in pass-through mode? 
Tube Home Theater PreAmp?
Many tube line stages have "HT pass-through" where the volume control is out of the signal path via the source selector switch. The trick is to find one that can be used for such a purpose and NOT need to be powered on for such an application. I h... 
Do electrostatic speakers "break down" in time?
I think I'll skip on poking holes in my Sound-Lab A1s. 
Looking for phono stage recommendations
Ah shucks, no tubes hah? 
ARC VTM120 Any thoughts?
Pawlowski: There are a lot of VR4JR owners who would be willing to share their experiences on their search for an amp that works well here. This could save you considerable time and even a little money. Consider starting a new thread requesting id... 
ARC VTM120 Any thoughts?
Pawloski: I think that it is going to take some patience and luck to find a good deal on a pair of good sounding mono tube amps in your price range. But I have seen older VTL models like the 185/225/300 sell below the $2k mark. And these were huge... 
ARC VTM120 Any thoughts?
Blue Book price often has nothing to do with actual sonic quality so I would not focus on this too much. What the going price has been on Audiogon would be a far more worthy indicator of their "value".$1500 does seem a bit high considering that AR... 
Cats and audiophiles
The only place that our two cats sit in the basement are on the CAT amps. Go figure. There are always lots of little kitty paw prints on the top plate. 
Review: Aesthetix Calypso Line Stage Tube preamp
The Callisto's level controls have only 45 positions. Another 10 or 20 might be nice, but the 45-position control works mighty fine to get a sound level that works for me.