larryi
Responses from larryi
| Better amp or better tubes? Although they were expensive, the 1990's Western Electric reissues are extremely durable; I know a number of people still using those after 20 years of use. A lot depends on the design of the amp. If it does not push tubes very hard, they will l... | |
| High Output Preamp for First Watt SIT-3? In the under $4,000 price range, for the amount of power you have, I would consider Tekton Double Impacts, Rethm Bhaava, and Audio Note AN-K speakers (or other models used). | |
| Are manufacturer AC cables good enough? Most manufacturers of high end gear expect that customers will want to choose a different power cord so their gear comes with stuff (a notable exception is NAIM). On the plus side, the customer is not paying more for the gear coming with a better... | |
| Direct Drive vs. Idler Drive vs. Belt drive Even with magnetic levitation designs, there are quite different approaches. The ClearAudio and Verdier, etc., designs float the platter, with a shaft only used to center the platter. Some designs use magnetic levitation to reduce the load on a ... | |
| best power conditioners under 4k I can hardly say what is "best," but I've owned a few brands over theyears (Furman, Shunyata, Isotek) and I am really happy with my recent purchase of Isotek pwer conditioners (Titan and EVO3 Sigma). I bought these after hearing a demonstration b... | |
| Jazz for someone who doesn't like jazz. It is really hard to guess what might click with any given listener. I know someone who, when he was first interested in jazz, borrowed some CDs from me. He liked Coltrane, so I put together a bunch of Coltrane CD's, and just for laughs, I threw... | |
| NOS 300B vs Takayuki 300B New Old Stock WE 300B's (not the 1990's reissue), go for crazy amounts of money. I haven't heard a comparison, but, I have heard amps using used, but testing strong, original WE tubes (engraved base) and the amp sounded very good. But, those tub... | |
| Are 500 hours too many for a used hi-end cartridge? Under ideal conditions, top quality cartridges can exceed 2,000 hours of playing life. But, you have no way of knowing if records played were pristine and impeccably cleaned, that alignment and setup were optimal, etc. I would guess that a big c... | |
| VTA on the fly I am in agreement that small changes do affect the sound. My final adjustments are always smaller than 1 mm. I know that, if you do the math, this represents a ridiculously small change in VTA/SRA, but, this can be heard in the way millercarbon ... | |
| VTA on the fly VTA on the fly is a handy feature, particularly if you will be adjusting VTA a lot. But, it may also mean that the tonearm is not being held as rigidly as possible or that the VTA adjustment mechanism will become a source of unwanted resonant beh... | |
| Which brand of 45 tubes do you use? I liked the Joule Electra OTL I heard. It was a nice warm sounding amp that retained the explosive dynamics and immediacy of OTL's without sounding harsh or rough. But, the particular amp I heard developed bad tube sockets that cause it to occas... | |
| Which brand of 45 tubes do you use? I don't know if any particular sound I heard is characteristic of meshplates, but, the sound of EML's solid plate 2a3 is much more like other 2a3's--very tight, dynamic, slightly lean and punchy sounding. I own very dynamic sounding speakers so I... | |
| Which brand of 45 tubes do you use? I liked the meshplate even though it was a bit over the top. I liked the wide open soundstage, but, if someone said the tube sounded "phasey," I wouldn't disagree. I used it in a parallel single-ended amp (Audio Note Kageki) and it had a reasona... | |
| Which brand of 45 tubes do you use? I never got to try genuine NOS tubes; at best, I could get my hands on old tubes that tested strong. Most of the brands I heard, like the National Unions, sounded very good. They also don't cost a fortune. I haven't tried EML 45's, but, I have ... | |
| What country builds the best audio equipment? Is this akin to a total medal count at the Olympics? While there may be an overall medal winner, if one's interest is particularized (like being interested in gymnastics, but not swimming), the answer might be quite different. In music systems, ... |