john_l
Responses from john_l
| List or discuss your favorite music Check out the Cowboy Junkies 'Trinity Session'. They were a bunch of no-name family musicians who managed to aquire the Toronto Church of the Holy Trinity as a recording studio. It's country blues, but it's just beautifully done. A reviewer on cdn... | |
| Amplifiers for Vandersteen 2CE Sigs??? Lots of amplifiers work well. I auditioned several for my Vandersteens. Favorites in order: 1) Audio Research VT100mk2, VTL ST-85 & IT 85 (very cheap!), and McCormack DNA-1. McCormack has ALWAYS been a great solid state match for the Vanderste... | |
| Sonic Frontiers Power 2 Hi, I have not heard the Power 2, but I have read that many people do not find it musically involving. Very accurate though. I guess it depends on your taste. See the web site www.audioreview.com. Sonic Frontiers itself has quite a few reviews on ... | |
| Tubes? Transistors? Which are better? I had to make this decision recently as well. I listened to about a dozen tube and solid state amplifiers in my price range. I gradually realized that with the exception of the mccormack amp, I kept remembering the tube amplifiers as sounding good... | |
| Best Tube preamp under 2.5k Used I've quite impressed with the vtl 2.5. I think they sell new for 1500. The vtl it-85 integrated 85 watt is very good as well. I have heard great things about the Audio Research 2's, and 5's. The 2 can be found used for around 1000. If you don't ne... | |
| Biwire or Jumpers: which is better? I have tried it both ways with my old Vandersteens. I found that the biwire was superior in performance. It seems to be common wisdom as well. I have heard that you can further improve performance by bi-amping as well with your better quality amp ... | |
| Where can I find good value Tube AMP? I have heard some old refurbished Fisher receivers sound very good. They used to be top shelf equipment. www.echohifi.com has some old tube receivers. I've been to their retail store. Nice people to deal with. You would probably want to buy one th... | |
| VANDERSTEENS vs. THIELS If you wish to keep your midrange electronics, I think you should buy the vandersteens. Check out the 2ce signatures. Until recently, I used a high quality denon dra-1025 receiver with my vandersteen 2c's. Surprisingly good. One nice thing I have ... | |
| Best electrostatic in smaller room? Please help! For panel speakers, try the new maggie 1.6's. They are small enough to move around and sound excellent. Manepan also makes this really small speaker for $500 that you can use as a credit towards the 1.6 later. It is supposed to be the same sound q... | |
| Tube Amps with Vandersteen 2Ci's ??? I actually think a solid state amp is a better match for the vandersteens. The tube amp will cut out quite a bit of the bass. I assume you like bass if you bought vandersteens. If you need to trim some of the bass boom, tube amps are a good way to... | |
| Components match for Vandersteen 2Ce Signatures I have heard vandersteens with the VTL ST-85 and 2.5 preamp. This setup retails for 3200. I see them used now and then. It's only eighty-five watts of tube power - but it is a good sound. The base was a little weak, but it was a tube sound for und... | |
| Passive vs. active preamps I too have monoblock amps. I also have a passive pre-amp. I have read on Nordost's home page that you should use short interconnects and long speaker cables. Their reasoning being that the speaker cables carry much higher power. This of course con... | |
| Pre-amp for McCormack DNA 1 Deluxe That McCormack is a great amp. Every time I hear one I am impressed. I have heard this with both the mccormack passive pre-amp and the gfp-750. They both sounded wonderful. I couldn't tell them apart. You can probably get a used mccormack pre much... | |
| Do you need to use ALL balanced cables? Addenum: I am 2 Meter Nordost Red Dawn speaker cables, and a 2 meter interconnect between the preamp and the monoblocks. The CD to preamp is an old Esoteric Audio cable that I bought new for $70 ten years ago. The sound is excellent as it is. The ... |