jallan

Responses from jallan

Bose buys McIntosh
This seems like a lifestyle corporate purchase for an iconic lifestyle brand. McIntosh certainly makes quality equipment, but most is far from state of the art. The use of the auto formers really adds a distinctive sound character and the use of t... 
Are You Old Enough to Remember Those Jaw-Dropping Manufacturer Demos?
In November 1979 I was in San Diego attending the Geological Society of America meeting as a grad student, and a dealer demonstrated the Hill Plasmatronics for me. I still have the one page color brochure. What a nice guy- the owner of the shop di... 
Capital Audiofest Coming Up!
@lalitk I think you are correct!  
Capital Audiofest Coming Up!
I thought that the CAF was really fabulous. Going over all three days made the show far more relaxing. Most valuable to me were the many pleasant and informative discussions that I had with manufacturers and attendees. I really enjoyed an extensiv... 
6SN7GT VT231 TUBES
Bad not Nad!   
6SN7GT VT231 TUBES
I meant to say that I used the Sylvania Nad Boy in the buffer of my Saga.  
6SN7GT VT231 TUBES
+1 for Raytheon VT-231’s! The Ken-Rad VT-231’s have the most solid bass of all the 6SN7’s I’ve heard in my Cary SLP05, Schiit Freya+, and Schiit Saga. The 5692 versions are smooth sounding. My favorite combos now are a quad of Raytheons in the Car... 
Reliability - what’s your experience been?
I’ve only had one string of bad reliability. Arcam came out with a new line of excellent sounding universal players, and I bought two. Both of these had their laser assemblies fail three times each before I gave up after 2-3 years of ownership. Th... 
My wife weighed in…she wants piano white tower/bookshelf
ATC SCM40 in white- listened to them in this color yesterday at CAF. $7000 in passive.  
Who remembers California Audio Labs?
I had the CAL Delta and Alpha combo. Very warm and musical, but resolution wasn’t its strength. I still have them, but I have to say that streaming through my Bluesound Node II is more resolving.   what sank CAL from memory was their movement int... 
Bluesound Node130 LPS upgrade...
I have seen used Aurender NH100 streamers for as little as $800 used. I would consider going this route. It’s FAR superior to my Bluesound Node 2i.  
Solid State Preamp to replace tube unit
C-J is notorious for being hard on preamp tubes. This was one of the factors why I bought a Cary instead. There was just too many reports in the ET series of the 6922 tube lasting only a short time.   most tube preamps are easier on their tubes.... 
ATC active vs. passive
I have passive ATC SCM40 v.2 speakers in a 22 by 24 foot room, which replaced similar ATC SCM35 speakers. I replaced the speakers after 18 years of ownership primarily because the production of the tweeters was moved in house, and the treble becam... 
Holographic DAC With Air And Decay
Can’t beat the Yggdrasil!  
What exactly is PRaT???
I’ve got 53 years in the hobby since I bought a pair of Advents and I still don’t understand the term. I don’t think it’s very useful.