john_l
Responses from john_l
| Looking for best sounding satellite/sub system I use a set of gallo nucleus and woofer ball on my office system. The sound has a hole in the midrange, but the sound is high resolution and images very well. I'm using a little 8w SET amp with my cal alpha DAC. Everyone who hears it likes it. www... | |
| Best Integrated Amp for the money On the used market I think it's the $2500 cary 300-SEI. You need high efficiency speakers but it has that Western Electric 300B magic. I have one and consider it a 'keeper'. Next up is a used ARC CA-50. Originally $4000, but now only 1600-1700 for... | |
| using passive volume control with Sony SCD-1 I have heard from the equipment hotrodder's that the single ended output is the best. I have not found this to be the case for me however. My preamp and amp are both balanced designs (Pass X1 and X350), alternatively Bat VK-5i and Ayre V-1x. The b... | |
| Review: California Audio Labs Alpha DA converter I completely agree with the above review. I use a much higher resolution hotrod sony in my main system. For my secondary system however, the DAC is a key piece. I use a phillips cdr 880 as a transport, and pipe it into my hotrodded Cary 300SEI sig... | |
| Verity Parsifal Encore VS. Vandersteen 5a The vandersteen 5a paired with the Tenor's was one of my very favorite sounds at the CES show. It paired the relaxed, powerhouse bass of the vandersteen with the airy, liquid musicality of the tenor's. SUPERB ! The 5a is a world class speaker. I u... | |
| Pass Labs X250 or X350 with Maggie 3.6Rs Disclaimer: Keep in mind that I am a pass labs dealer.Yesterday I had a friend over to try out his magnepan 1.6's with my X350. It was an amazingly good match. The bass of the 1.6's came out like I've never heard before. It was so much more powerf... | |
| Talon Khorus - Why So Many So Cheap? I also think the $4k 3.6's are one of the best out there, but we're comparing apples to oranges. They are the best for the money if you can live with the constraints of placement, appearance, amplifier load. They don't have anywhere close to the b... | |
| Talon Khorus - Why So Many So Cheap? I think the talon's are one of the best speakers I've heard. They have outstanding bass response. Their high range and upper mids are 1/2 a notch below the very best (which are in the 20-40k range or have limited bass), but the overall sound is ex... | |
| 1 million dollar speaker made by Kharma I hate to think what the Sultan would name them.... | |
| How much can low-fi subwoofer bring down a system? It will make your system sound bad. Timwat's delightful description is right on the money. I tried a high quality $1100 home theater sub with my $9K audio physic speakers and the result was terrible. They were completely out of sync speedwise. The... | |
| Wadia 860x vs Audio Aero Capitole Mark II 24/192? I've had the 850 and the AA mk I in my system at different times. I greatly preferred the AA. Wonderful tube harmonics and presentation. The 850 was very detailed, but not as musical to me. The AA is my favorite CD player so far. | |
| Avalon Eidolons best sound in 2003 CES ? I thought it was one of the better sounding rooms. In my top ten as well. To me the knockout rooms were the big tube based systems like vandersteen/Tenor, VTL, and ARC/Magnepan (arc SS that is). I think that 'top ten' is a better number to have. G... | |
| Questions about a new Ruby 2 cartridge I experimented around and settled on 47K for mine too. I use a pass labs aleph ono /benz ruby 2/ basis2500/gram2.2. Excellent high resolution sound, but also very relaxing and laid back in presentation. Finding a turntable god to tune your table u... | |
| Little Know Speaker Builders A local guy here in Portland builds a fine speaker called the Shamrock Eire. His name is Mike McCall and his website is www.shamrockaudio.com. Basically he only sells direct and passes the 50% cost savings on to the consumer. Mike's a real straig... | |
| Magneplanar 3.6R + Pass Aleph Amps Mate ? I wouldn't do it. I think you will be vastly underpowered. I had the 100w 2's with the 1.6's and they really didn't light up at all. Very clean, but the power really wasn't there. In fact I had never heard such a mismatch with the wonderful aleph'... |