john_l
Responses from john_l
| Latest Score on SACD for Redbook Playback?? I have the scd-1 and I think it has some of the best redbook cd playback I've heard. The hotrod tube driven modwright XA777 & the dcs/elgar are the only thing's I've heard that are better. Very detailed and clean sounding with the best bass I'... | |
| amp preference...Plinius or Pass labs I have found the pass labs to have the best sonics of any solid state amp I have heard. Dead quiet, ultra clean sound without the solid state jaggies. I have heard the monster plinius amp and came away thinking it reminded me a little of a krell a... | |
| How long have you had the SAME GEAR? I have the same Denon receiver I bought in 1990. I kept the same system Denon 1025/Sonographe cd/vandersteen 2c for ten years until going on a major upgrade binge. Right now, The ARC vt100m2, quattro-fil ic's and Audio Physic Avanti's are probably... | |
| Help Cables I'd try harmonic tech truthlinks and satori speaker cables. This will be very warm with a great sense of harmonics. If you want more detail, try some harmonic tech prosilway II's or Nordost red-dawn cables. The red dawns will be leaner but more tr... | |
| How many levels are there? I once (yes once) read a great write-in letter to stereophile. The guy was remarking on the high cost of krell 'the path' and other speaker cables. ( I think they were about 1200 or so). Anyway, to paraphrase extensively, he determined the 'foot s... | |
| Amp opinions- ATI-B&K-Pass Labs Abecollins:I am trying to suggest components that are not an enormous step pricewise from what is already present in the system. I agree with stereophile giving the gfp-750 a class A rating. I had it at the same time I owned the ARC Ref 1 and the ... | |
| Amp opinions- ATI-B&K-Pass Labs Vienna Acoustic speakers are very transparent and sensitive to their source equipment. I would go for the higher end amps with them. If solid state is your bag, I would look at the Pass labs Aleph series as well. I like those better than the x ser... | |
| Reducing background fizz and pops on Vinyl. I use a nitty-gritty pro auto record cleaner & LAST preservative. I find the record cleaner an indispensable component for vinyl playback. I use a rega 25 w/super elyse.Sometimes however I get a beat up record with lots of pops and crackles. L... | |
| 2 channel Poll: Vote: Do you use Tubes or SS? Both. Tube is primary at the moment: ARC vt100, ph3, bat vk5i.Solid State: Pass labs aleph 2 and aleph P. Prefer tubes, but sometimes like the ridiculously high resolutin of the pass labs gear. Seems that if I set up the stereo with the speakers w... | |
| Best Used CD Player 1500-3000 I chose the SCD-1 (mainly cuz it looks cool). Excellent CD playback and SACD. Plus it's killer to look at. I've heard that the 777 is sonically more of less identical. Since you have all tube equipment, you might want to try out a tubed cd player.... | |
| Best Dac you ever heard Craigs right on the money with the 360. That's one of the top three cd playback systems I've heard. Unbelievably quiet yet warm sounding. Other two are the DCS Delius w/192 upsampler, and the Dan wright modified, tube output, Sony XA 777. The Deli... | |
| Matching tubes on the Audio Research VT 100 mk II I have a vt100m2 too. Great amp. When it comes time to re-tube I do advise you to go to a tube good reseller like Kevin Deal of upscaleaudio.com. Audio research really overprices their tube sets imho. If you have a tube specialist in your area, th... | |
| Feeding Maggie The Wolcotts pretty much ruled, by a wide margin with my old maggie 1.6's. Whatever you do, make sure it is a tube amp. To me maggies sound much much better with tubes. I would get a conrad-johnson cav-50 if I were you. I drove mine with an old mv... | |
| Bi-wire for Magneplanar 1.6qr I have tried them both ways and there is a noticeable though not enormous improvement. I used nordost spm - two shotgun runs. I also tried them with this 'mystery' kimber - black and brown interwoven cable. | |
| A pass Labs X250 amp worth a divorce? Buy a used ARC vt100 to go with that ref1. That's one of the best front end's I've heard. |