larryi
Responses from larryi
| Cartridge Upgrade Recommendations I like your whole system. Not only are the individual components very good, they work well as a system. I particularly like Synthesis amps driving AN-E speakers. Your Koetsu fits in well. The area to explore is cables. Lexus is very rich soun... | |
| Best Vintage tube amp / preamp manufacturer I am a fan of Acrosound trannies too, particularly the TO-330. | |
| Best Vintage tube amp / preamp manufacturer I recently heard that Acrosound amp. It sounded very good. My concern with it was with how hot it ran. The owner has had it a long time, so it appears to be durable, but I found that amount of heat a bit troubling. | |
| Don't Neglect to check your Caps! Caps in speakers can vary widely in terms of longevity. Film caps and paper in oil caps can last a very long time and some ancient caps are still very much sought after for their sound quality. I Have heard fantastic systems built recently that ... | |
| Best Vintage tube amp / preamp manufacturer Marantz vintage gear looks fantastic and has held value very well, but, the sound , to me anyway, is a bit disappointing. The same with most McIntosh gear--fantastic looking and decent sounding but the sound is not commensurate with the price of ... | |
| Unusual countries for audio gear I was impressed with the speakers and DAC from Cinnamon Audio (Portugal) that I heard at Capitol Audiofest thisbpadt November. | |
| Garrard 301 - Project I am not in the hunt for any tube. I already have my preferred tube and I expect it to outlast me. My only significant concern is with securing enough output tubes in my amp to last to the end. I run four 349 output tubes. Those are very rare ... | |
| Garrard 301 - Project Limited, and not growing supply (Chinese fakes don’t count), and high demand did that to the price. I’ve had mine for many years and they are still going strong. | |
| Garrard 301 - Project As I mentioned above, I run genuine, old, Telefunken ECC803S tubes in my phono stage. These take the Telefunken clarity and dynamics even further out to the extremes than the ECC83 tubes. I like them in my system, but I don’t think they have uni... | |
| Moving to Tube Separates or Tube Integrated + Phono Wow! That is very good general advice from Freediver. I am also a big fan of EL 84 amps of modest power output. That tube can be utilized in pretty modest amps to great result. For the same reason I like 6L6 amps and KT 66 amps. Vintage amps ... | |
| Band/artist documentaries. The "Decline of Western Civilization," "20 Feet from Stardom," and "Heartworn Highway" are particularly good mentions. I would add the following: "Festival Express" (train tour across Canada by The Band, Grateful Dead and The Flying Burrito Bros... | |
| Building a second, vinyl focused system. Speaker advice needed! (<$10k) I forgot to mention how unusual and good is the recommendation of the Indian speaker Rethm—they are extremely lively and engaging. The looks are a touch odd, but they are worth looking into. | |
| Building a second, vinyl focused system. Speaker advice needed! (<$10k) This is a thread with a lot of very good suggestions. The Volti speakers seem to tick most boxes, including the right looks. Their cabinets are superb. Although plain looking, the Audi Note speakers should be in the running, particularly if you... | |
| Integrated that blew you away Some of my most pleasantly surprising experiences were where something greatly exceeded expectations. Theses include instances where something inexpensive and/or very old delivers great sound. I recently heard a Scott 299C stereo integrated tube... | |
| Integrated that blew you away My favorite integrated is the Synthesis Audio A 40 (40 wpc KT -66 tube) or their A 100 amp (100 wpc KT-66). Both have built in DACs that are good and remove control. The only major negative, to me, is a lack of balance control. I hang out at an... |