larryi
Responses from larryi
| Sonus Faber Stradivari A friend has a pair. I have listened mostly to jazz on his setup (he is both and avid jazz listener and a jazz guitar player). This speaker sound very, very good--very natural and realistic tonal balance, rich and saturated harmonics, and lack of ... | |
| Mark Levinson 326s I own a Reference 32 preamp (same as 326, except with power supply in a separate box). I did not do any sort of rigorous testing so I cannot say if any particular setting is the "best." I don't think that the different choices reflect actual diffe... | |
| Budget vacuum tube preamp? I know that going with a tube preamp/linestage and solid state amplifier is an often recommended combination. But, you should at least address certain issues before going that route. First, I have found the interaction of any particular tube lines... | |
| full range single speaker I heard the top of the line model(sorry, I don't know the name) driven by a Thoress amp one time and by a Tron amp another time. I like the very lively sound that these speakers deliver. The Surreal Sound speaker, which is similarly priced, is als... | |
| full range single speaker A good full-range driver in a proper enclosure can certainly do much better than 80 db, and can sound very alive, fast and dynamic. But, as with everything in audio, there are tradeoffs, particularly in the way of a lack of bass extension and a so... | |
| how make your speker faster I don't think there is any "answer" that would be universally applicable, so, any suggestion must come with a caveat that one must accept trial and error as the only means to improving dynamics and the perception of speed.Speakers tend to sound sl... | |
| Long term Hovland amp owners, are you still happy? I am not an owner, but, I have listened extensively to a friend's system that had the same combination. I think they produced very good sound for solid state back then, and I doubt much has changed since then (most "progress" is essentially market... | |
| What's the oldest piece of gear in your system? I seem to be caught in some sort of weird time machine--it has been getting older at a much higher rate than the progression of time. The newest addition to the system is a newly built custom preamp that has a lot of parts that are were manufactur... | |
| Spendors comparable to Harbeth C7ES3? My own personal preference if for the Spendor Classic sound-- not as lean and "modern" sounding (more woody and harmonically rich)-- as compared to the S series. Some might find the Classic series to be too "boxy," but in that case, the Harbeths w... | |
| A Capital Audiofest 2012 thread The only commercial panel speaker I saw at the show was the GT Audio planar magnetic/ribbon speaker. It sounded decent, particularly with price factored in, but, it was not that memorable. The other panel speaker I heard was a DIY full range elect... | |
| A Capital Audiofest 2012 thread The most interesting aspect of the show was how many exhibitors used some form of full range/extended range driver (Lowther, Feastrix, Tangband) in either single driver or multiple driver systems. The sound of MANY of these systems was quite good.... | |
| Why are so many albums poorly remastered onto cd Mapman,I generally find classical reissues to have good sound, often better than the original vinyl issue (e.g., DG recordings from the 1970s). A lot of jazz reissues sound good too. For me, much of the pop/rock catalogue sounds quite bad in recen... | |
| Why are so many albums poorly remastered onto cd Yes, there are some reissues that suffer from tapes deteriorating over time, and a whole lot more reissues and new issues that suffer from shoddy and indifferent mastering/production.But, I would guess that the primary driver for the pervasiveness... | |
| Best songs played by non-author artists... I like many cover albums. Among my favorites:"Odetta Sings Dylan" (amazingly good version of "Times They are a Changin'")."If I Were A Carpenter" (various artists covering Richard and Karen Carpenter songs--check out "Yesterday Once More" done by ... | |
| Tube amp for ProAc Tablette Anniversary Cayin represents terrific value--good sound, great construction. So does Prologue (another Chinese made brand), and American brands like Rogue. I have also heard DeHavilland amps that sounded quite good that are well within the $5,000 mark. |