jrw1971
Responses from jrw1971
| Better Records White Hot Stampers: Now the Story Can Be Told! Tom Port must have thick skin. Personally, I’m a big fan of White Hots. Own too many to admit. It’s real, what MC is saying. Except for the part about Picasso painting Starry Night. | |
| For ARC lovers, Problems? I own several ARC pieces, and just recently sold a REF40. The main stuff is all current REF SE series, except for the 160S. Now, the 160S uses fuses to protect the resistors/tubes (I think), and I have blown two fuses over the last year, for rea... | |
| Looking for a new phono preamp The PS Audio is fantastic. I owned one. Moved up recently, but I made a huge leap. For $2.5k, and I say this after 8 different phonostages in as many years, I think it’s a no-brainer. They do have the 30 day return policy you mention. | |
| Speaker Upgrade Recommendation for Current Analog System - under $10,000 Budget OP — I’ve owned a pair of NOLA Contender 2s for 5 years. Really lovely speaker. Happy to discuss my experience, compared to owning Vandy Treo CTs, NOLA KOs, Harbeth 30.2s, Wilson Audio Sabrinas, and recently, DAWs. Don’t know the Golden Ears so... | |
| Equal $$ for Phono OR Streaming? I’m a vinyl guy, and I happen to think the very highest levels of check-the-box / by-the-book sound quality, plus enchantment, plus wow factor, are monopolized by vinyl. But I enjoy digital 20% of the time and I’ve spent time and money going thro... | |
| Do different streamers really sound different when using an external DAC I second feldmen4’s comments. I had the same experience, except with a PS Audio DirectStream DAC. First using Node 2, then using the Bridge II card, each with the same DAC. PS Audio’s Bridge II is far better as a streamer than the Node 2. More... | |
| Best DAC For My Setup Under $10k I own the PS Audio Directstream with Bridge II. It is excellent. But I’ve placed it in a smaller system, because once I heard the Mola Mola Tambaqui, I was toast. It’s a really really good DAC. Detailed and clean joined forces with musical and ... | |
| A stupid question for which there's no sensible answer. I may have missed it, but I don’t think anyone has mentioned what I would consider the easiest, cheapest thing OP should do: try Roon or Audirvana. Running a signal direct from a Mac to a DAC means the Mac’s internal audio "enhancers" are mucking... | |
| I expected more from my speakers (not high end) Respectfully disagree. Kenjit’s post was hostile, but also dumb. OP is at the front end of a trip we’ve all been on. System sounds uninspired, unengaging, dull, and compressed. We’ve all heard that before, and we all know that a better amp wit... | |
| Ok to adjust balance to achieve center vocal image? Lots of ideas here. If it were me, easily my first theory — especially since you said it was not previously doing this, presumably in the same room and with the same/similar gear — would be that my azimuth had fallen into a leaning position and t... | |
| Audio research ref 6SE vs world OP — are you arbitrarily using ARC REF6SE as a benchmark because you know its sound? My big system uses that pre-amp, and I’m in love with it. It beats what I’ve used before in that room by a wide margin, but then again everything I used before ... | |
| Audio Research VT80SE amp vs Prima Luna EVO 400 or 300 Balanced only. It’s a fully balanced amp, and you might want to give that issue a think. Not sure how it would like single ended outputs adapted to XLR from an unbalanced pre. Evo from what I recall is unbalanced (even with the XLR input option... | |
| Audio Research VT80SE amp vs Prima Luna EVO 400 or 300 @BIF,Ken Kessler thinks the REF 75SE is the best amp they ever made, current lineup included. And he literally compiled/authored the latest book about ARC. So, no, I would not agree with the marketer's notion that the 160S blows away the 150SE o... | |
| Audio Research VT80SE amp vs Prima Luna EVO 400 or 300 Flame — hard to say. Different rooms and very different speakers. Some time ago when I replaced the 75SE with the 160S, in the same room and system, paired with DAWs, the 160S brought dynamics and “jump factor" to a whole new level. It is dynam... | |
| Audio Research VT80SE amp vs Prima Luna EVO 400 or 300 OP — I went from a Prima Luna HP Dialogue Premium integrated to an ARC 160S amp and REF 6SE preamp. Never regretted that. I concede it’s not a fair comparison to start with, but I still use my PL in another room and I’ve obviously made my own me... |