larryi
Responses from larryi
| differences between tube and solid state designs Trelja,I think you nailed it perfectly describing what tubes can do better than solid state. I do enjoy systems based on solid state amps, but NONE can, so far, deliver what a good tube amp can deliver. Unfortunately, there are a lot more BAD tube... | |
| What is the best phono preamp you have heard? Can't say, because I've heard precious few in my own system. But, I have "heard" (i.e., they were in systems that I heard playing) the Connoisseur, the top-of-the-line Boulder, an Audionote (uk) M-10, and a Kondo rig (I think M-77 with stepup). Th... | |
| CD Players – life of laser Imin2u,Unless you are hoping for a Guinness book entry, what is the purpose of constantly running the player? It seems like "break in" mania taken to an extreme. Long before the whole thing dies, why wouldn't you expect performance to deteriorate ... | |
| What is your favorite speaker wood or veneer? I like the deep red stained Maple of Sonus Faber Anniversarios and Stradivarius. Other interesting finishes can be found by going to the Avalonacoustics.com site and finding their page of different speaker finishes.For darker stained wood, I perso... | |
| CD Players – life of laser I don't know about ALL players, but for most, neither the laser nor the spindle motor is operating when a disc is in the machine but it is not playing and not left in "pause." Thus, the parts that more readily wear out, namely the transport and la... | |
| bat vk-51se vs. audio research ref2mkii I find that it is almost impossible to predict how two pieces of gear will interact and sound together. You must ultimately make a choice based on actual trial -- anything else is a crapshoot. Recently, I heard a trial of a 5 watt pushpull 45 amp ... | |
| What is Better? SS Amp+Tube CD OR Tube Amp+SS CD Bonger, Your friend assumes that solid state gear is "neutral" and "clean" while tube gear is somehow less pure. I think a lot of us would disagree. All gear has its characteristic sound, and it is hard to generalize about which is more neutral. T... | |
| levinson 32 heat Wadia,Most linestage/preamps are Class A biased. Given the low output of linestages, excessive heat is normally not an issue with solid state linestages. Besides, with the Ref. No. 32, the amplification stage, input switching and volume resistor l... | |
| Helikon LOADING My VTA adjustment is quite subtle. The arm, at the pivot, is .3mm down from dead parallel. That little difference can be heard. | |
| Helikon LOADING Loading affects the frequency balance -- LESS loading (higher value like 1k or 47k) means a more prominent peak in the treble response, but, it also means that the peak and fall off after the peak occurs at a higher frequency. Therefor, it is hard... | |
| cartridge demanatising Absolutely the wrong kind of demagnetization. With a cartridge, a strong "electrical" signal is sent through the coils of a moving coil cartridge to demagnetize certain iron parts of the cartridge which should not be magnetized. A bulk demagetizer... | |
| levinson 32 heat I don't know about incredibly hot, but mine does run surprisingly warm for a solid state device. I keep the power supply/control box and the actual preamp box on separate, open shelves, so I don't worry about ventilation. I leave mine active all t... | |
| Naim amps?? Power output is far from the only consideration in cost/quality of an amplifier. If one is operating very efficient speakers, only a few watts are required, so the emphasis for that kind of system will be on very high quality (musical) for the few... | |
| Rowland "house sound"? I am a bit hesitant when it comes to declaring that anything has a particular sound because so much depends on system interaction. So, this is a very general statement of what I have heard. To me, Rowlands are smooth, pleasant sounding amps that d... | |
| CTC Blowtorch Generally, those manufacturers that separate power supplies from the rest of the components recommend that the two NOT be stacked. If stacking results in the power transformer being in a bad location relative to sensitive circuits, it may be worse... |