larryi

Responses from larryi

Volti does it again!
Speakers are extremely easy to damage in shipping and in moving it in out and around a listening room.  I am amazed at how many come back to a store with nicks or even worse damage when being borrowed for an audition.  Also, to be fair, anything t... 
Solid State Low powered Amplifiers
I very much liked the sound of First Watt amps if one must run solid state.  However, both of the amps I heard-J2 and SIT 2–ran a bit warm.  I would think you would be more in the market for a Class D amp.  
Volti does it again!
Volti speakers are very nicely built.  The founder started out as a cabinet maker and it shows in the wood work.  I like the sound too.  The Razz and Rival are lively sounding without harsh peaks are extreme nasal coloration found in some horn sys... 
Efficient speakers -- What was your journey from A to B to ?
Mapman, I heard the Goto speakers at the same first Capital Audiofest.  It was indeed a nice sounding horn system, but Goto systems are wildly impractical (giant, straight throated horns) in terms of size and price (more than most people's homes ... 
New Falcon distribution in the U.S.?
Falcon had local dealers signed up by MoFi.  But, MoFi was dropped as a distributor and so were the dealers.  Falcon is currently sold direct.  I find this a bit dubious--get someone to show and market the speakers and then dump them.   While my ... 
One DAC to Rule it All
The only thing I know is that, under certain circumstances, multiple ADC and DAC conversions do not substantially degrade the sound.  I heard a track on a test CD (a Jazz sampler/test signal CD by Chesky Records) that was of a sample of music that... 
Battle of the Open Baffles
I’ve heard several systems with Voxativ field coil drivers and they are remakably dynamic, which is why I am interested in how they sound in PAP systems.  My concern is with how bright and sharp sounding, something I heard with their driver and so... 
Bananas rule, spades drool. End of discussion.
I've had only one connection ever get totally loose and it involved a spade connection.  I currently run banana jacks.  That one time was pretty funny because I totally missed what happened and my travails involved an incredible coincidence.  I al... 
Finally...subwoofer that's aesthetically pleasing!
I don’t think the woofers look st all good.  The Stradd, on the other hand, do look good with the elastic string grill.  The problem with these grills is that they don’t last and replacement is not that cheap.  It is a good thing that the Strads l... 
Dipoles distance from front wall rectangle room??
The specific ideal location of any speaker can only be determined by trial and error.  With dipoles, one wants some distance to the wall behind the speaker.   If you can get five feet or more, the sound of the reflections of the back wave will be ... 
A phono preamp with equalization selector
It is pretty much established that by the 1960’s everyone used RIAA.  But, nonetheless, there are quite a few records that sound better using some other curve.  I heard a demonstration where 1980s recordings sounded better with the old Columbia cu... 
Best Circa 90's CDP
Yes, the Vacuum State modified SCD-1 was considerably more natural sounding than the unmodified SCD-1; it would be a contender for top sound.  I had a Wadia from that period that was also very good.  
Battle of the Open Baffles
It would be quite hard to ship the quintets as assembled speakers.  It does not look that hard to do the assembly.  They are, to me, very much worth the effort.  I’ve heard the Quintet with the wooden horn midrange/treble module, and the Trio with... 
Battle of the Open Baffles
Pure Audio Project speakers should be in the battle as well—terrific sounding speakers.  
Best Circa 90's CDP
In the 90’s, I liked the Linn CD12 a lot.  It was nearly $20k back then, so it was one of the more expensive machines.  It didn’t hurt that it was one of the most elegant looking machines out there. Audio Aero Capitole was another nice machine fr...