joey54
Responses from joey54
| Products you added to your system in 2021 that made most impact to your music enjoyment I added the internal DAC card in my Aesthetix Mimas integrated amplifier to replace my Ayre Codex. The improvement was very significant despite the relatively low cost of the DAC card. The only other change I made was to upgrade my AQ Castle Rock ... | |
| A decent integrated amp under 2K ... If you can live without a remote the Quicksilver integrated is a vey special amp that sounds great and is super reliable. It will have no trouble driving your speakers. Also, made in the USA. Good Luck! | |
| Preamp recommendations for my system please The Aesthetix Calypso or Pallene might be a good fit and are both balanced designs and sound great in every system I have heard them in.. Both are hybrid designs. I have not heard either with any Parasound amps so some additional research may be r... | |
| Solid state amp recommendations for Maggies? The Belles Virtuoso amplifier is an outstanding match with Magnepan speakers. The Audio Connection demos it with the the 1.7's and 3.7's if you are nearby NJ. Good Luck! | |
| "warm" solid state integrated amplifier If you can find one used the Primare i30 is a great match with Proac's and should help you achieve the sound you are looking for. I would steer clear of the newer Primare amps as they have gone to class D. At a much higher cost the Leben CS-600 ... | |
| Ayre ex-8 2.0 vs Bel Canto e1x I used the AX-7e with an Ayre Codex DAC to drive a pair of Harbeth SHL5+ for many years, When the EX-8 came out my dealer loaned it to me for 3 weeks. The EX-8 with built-in DAC was a dramatic improvement over ther AX-7e. I compared the amp and D... | |
| Help, which preamp to buy from my shortlist? Hard to make a recommendation without knowing what amplifier you are using. | |
| Tube Line Stage around $5k The Aesthetix Calypso or Pallene would be a great match with your Quicksilver amps and will meet your criteria. There is no information on the Pallene on the Aesthetix website but it'svessentially the premap section of the Mimas integrated and has... | |
| What do you think is the best power-amp between B&W speakers and Chord DAVE I haven’t heard the Chord but for an amplifier that works well the older, not Class D, Primare amps were a great fit with B&W speakers. If you want to stay current you won’t go wrong with Pass. | |
| Can someone suggest a lush tube integrated under $3000 used The Conrad Johnson CAV45 or 50 would suit your needs. Looks like you already thought about them. The CAV45 can often be found used for $3K. Good Luck! | |
| Best Integrated that you've heard under $5k Under $5,000 the no longer made Musical Fidelity Tri-Vista 300 was the best integrated I ever heard or owned. The serviceability became an issue so I moved on. Now I think the Aesthetix Mimas is the best I ever heard but it’s outside the $5K price... | |
| Amplifiers in use with big Harbeths (Mon 40 series) that work very well I had extremely good results with the original Monitor 40’s using a Pass Labs 250.5 and an Audio Research Ref 3 preamp. The Pass brought out the best qualities of the 40’s, articulate bass, wonderful midrange and extended treble. I tried a few com... | |
| You own a store, you sell 2 brands, which? Aesthetix and Vandersteen, best combination ever for me. | |
| Quboz/Aurender Issue Have you tried shutting down your ipad and stopping all background applications? The issue may be an Apple/iPad issue. I had a similar problem and fixed it by shutting down my iPad. | |
| Decide between ARC Ref 6SE and Aesthetix Calypso Eclipse With Richard's amps I would suggest going with the ARC. I am a huge Aesthetix fan and use the Aesthetix Mimas integrated amp to drive my Treo's. I think the Metis preamp might be the best preamp I've ever heard. But ARC preamps seem to bring out t... |