jbuhl

Responses from jbuhl

Should I get a Roon Nucleus?
bump in sound quality from only changing roon core? Yep I think so.  I was comparing Roon side by side with my Bryston BDP Pi running MPD/Manic Moose and streaming Qobuz.  The Bryston bested the iMAC/Roon hands down enough so I was considering ... 
Should I get a Roon Nucleus?
I agree with @testrun. I switched over from an iMAC core host to a SGC i5. Stabilized the entire environment and got a nice little SQ bump with a deeper sound stage. Keep your BS as an endpoint.  Then later on add a LPS to the SGC.  
Sonus Faber Sonetto III
I auditioned a pair head to head with the Focal Aria 926 in my listening room.  Amplification was PS Audio S300 with Mullard valved pre.   The SF excelled with strings and voice.  But the Focals were better with a wider range of music so I kept th... 
Looking for Advice on Focal Speakers
I have the 926 powered by a Quad Artera. I demoed Sonus Faber and Quad S-5 side by side in my room and neither was able to nock the 926 from their perch. Although I really loved the imaging on the Quads. 926 sensitive to placement and mine have a... 
Tube preamp options
I heard the octave audio HP 300 SE at RMAF.  Really nice equipment.  Had it paired with the own amp and some Dynaudio towers.  Sweat sound.   
Integrated for Streaming
Bryston B135 over on TMR for around 50% off retail.  Bryston offers a  DAC module for  that as an upgrade.  You could add a Sonore Micro Rendu as your endpoint.   Might be able to stuff all that into you budget and clean up the boxes and get good ... 
Tube Rolling for Rogue Audio Cronus Magnum 2
12AU7 matched Mullards from Andy's Tube Services here.  I been meaning to call him and maybe try something new but the Mullards been sounding good for years.  
Streaming
What is your budget?  Do you have ethernet cable to your rig or Wifi?   What is the CD make and model?  CD player will have a DAC and if it has digital in you can use that.  Otherwise get a streamer with a DAC.  
Considering Towers in the $3000 range
You can view buying used as in home addition. I bought a pair of Quads and compared them against my existing Focals before I moved the Quads on down the road.   Didn't have any trouble selling them.  You can try 2 or 3 pair and still save money ov... 
Considering Towers in the $3000 range
Pair of Totem  Acoustic Forest Signature on here for $2.9K.    
Simaudio 400m / 860A vs PS Audio BHK250
@sdw @jbuhl I like how this turned into a PS Audio thread. Lol. I was hoping to go for the Moon gear but for $3k less I guess I could give the M1200’s a try. Full disclosure. I live just down the street from PS Audio and on occasion run into Pa... 
Simaudio 400m / 860A vs PS Audio BHK250
Call up PS Audio they will let you try/buy their class D mono blocks and you can test head to head with the BHK.  I had the S300 for several years and it sounded great and ran very cool.  Only sold it because I wanted to try class A/B and I found ... 
Downloads Versus Streaming
The SGC/ST like most of this stuff was an incremental bump and got things close enough to MPD that I stayed with Roon.   Roon also opens things up for sprinkling other low cost endpoints around the house like old Sonos zp90s that can be picked up ... 
Downloads Versus Streaming
Yeah a Small Green Computer Sonic Transport (SGC ST).  Runs bit calmer, way more stripped down.  Don't have to worry about all the Mac updates and baggage  that platform brings along.   Stability is rock solid as well (so far) and support is good.... 
Downloads Versus Streaming
Yeah I tested on a MAC mini.  After reading here and other places I finally took a leap of faith and put the core on a dedicated host (SGC ST i5) sitting at the rig and also hard wired to the Mesh Node. Made enough difference that I stuck with ROO...