john_l
Responses from john_l
| BAT or Levinson The levinson sound is quite a bit off from the Bat sound. Expect to gain:- (maybe) transparency (in a sense - more of a quiet background)- detail, but perhaps a little more thrown at you. - power and authority- a little more brightness. - A sounds... | |
| BelCanto DACs vs transport/IC quality I have a bc 1.0. I also have a cal audio alpha 24/96, and until recently a sigma II. I can tell a cheap transport from a top shelf transport with the cal's very easily. With the bc I it is very very close. There must be some reclocking mechanism i... | |
| Preamps with variable gain... pros and cons? The pass labs x1 can set hi OR Lo mode gain on a per-input basis. A great feature. The pass labs aleph P has per channel variable gain as does the BAT vk-5i. I found that the BAT sounded best with the gain set to MAX. Brought out the tube sound th... | |
| Wolcott 220 compatible with ribbon speakers? Conrad johnson mv-50, arc vt100m2, mccormack dna1RevAGold, pass labs aleph 2's in my home. I've heard them with naim nap (140?), a krell kav 300, and the huge classe 400 in other settings. | |
| Wolcott 220 compatible with ribbon speakers? Wolcotts blew away the 4-5 other 'well regarded' amps that I tried with the magnepans. The next closest competitor wasn't even in the same building. | |
| Sennheiser and Clou cables for HD580s? www.headphone.com has excellent service. I ran into the same problem with my 580's. I purchased clou cable red jaspis'. The good news is that they are very tough, well constructed, and do sound noticeably better. The bad news is that the cable is ... | |
| What music is not derivative? 4 33 | |
| Is it worth upgrading DVD to progressive scan? I could see a noticeable difference between my sony 7700/xbr200 and my friend's sony 9000/xbr400. The images seemed more solid and three dimensional. Not enough for me to upgrade though. The 7700 has a HUGE advantage over the 9000 in that it plays... | |
| Questions about a new Ruby 2 cartridge I too found that vta made a big difference. It will be bright sounding if the vta is too high. I bought my table already set up with the new benz 2. It sounded very good as it was. Because it was FREE, I had my table tuned/adjusted by a local turn... | |
| Vandersteen 3ASigs amp? I've he's used ARC ref or Cary V12 amps for the van 5's, and mccormack's with the 3a's. I've owned the 3aSigs and greatly favored the dna1reva amp with them. I'd go for a mccormack dna 1,2,225. I preferred it to my vt100 with the 3aSigs (vt100 did... | |
| New TT for around 2000--- need some advice When I was shopping for a replacement for my p25, I too looked into the 2000-2500 range. My top choices in order where the: 1. Nottingham Spacedeck with space arm and dynavector cartridge. This is a stellar performer at the 2500 mark. It has a lit... | |
| Cooling Help in a Closet Equipment Room Buy one of those stand alone ac units at frys! | |
| Are Nordost really the Rolls Royce of cables? Valhallas are the best I've used. | |
| Do I need a subwoofer for my audio physic sparks? You may also have cooked a driver. Try listening to one channel at a time and with a different amp if possible. It's fairly easy to roast an audio physic driver. I know of two people who have had this happen to them. If it's a harsh distortion, th... | |
| What percentage do you spend on each component? cabling 30% (valhalla/quattro-fil)Speakers 21% (eidolon)turntabl 13% (basis 2500/ruby2/gram 2.2)amp 10% (ayre v1x)pre 5% (bat vk5i)cdp 7% (full bore audiomod scd1)computer 5% (custom hd record/playback)phonosta 3% (pass ono)cassette 0% (aiwa-a con... |