larryi
Responses from larryi
| Tube tester? Good advice from oddiofyl about warming up the tube sufficiently in the tester. I recommended the Orange tester as a reasonably-priced modern alternative, but, someone who uses it at a dealership told me that it does not operate at high power and... | |
| Harbeth 30.2 or Falcon Gold Badge In the same size range as the Falcon, I also like the ProAc Tablette. Played at reasonable volume levels this is a warm, rich, yet still nimble sounding speaker; like the other speakers mentioned, with sort of faked bass, but still very musically... | |
| Harbeth 30.2 or Falcon Gold Badge I have heard both in the same location and it is an interesting comparison. At somewhat modest listening levels, both are quite nice sounding. The Falcon, more so than the Harbeth, is sort of faking deep bass by bumping up the response in the 80... | |
| First Watt J2 & speaker pairing ? I had a J2 in my system for two weeks (borrowed from a friend) and it was one of the better sounding solid state amps I’ve heard—vivid and lively when playing at modest levels and not lifeless and non-engaging as is the case with many other solid ... | |
| Synthesis Amplifiers: One of High End's Best Kept Secrets? I like the Soro amp a lot, likewise the AN Oto. The comparison should be interesting. I've heard various AN speakers with the A100 and A40, and these amps play very well with AN speakers. Both Synthesis amps will be loafing a bit playing any AN... | |
| 6L6 vs EL34 I am a fan of the 6L6 tube, and a bigger fan of its cousin—the 350B (crazy expensive but good sounding). Another similar sounding tube is the KT66. | |
| Dummy Speaker Load If you google "dummy load resistors" you will find examples of 100 watt 8 ohm non-inductive resistors. These will allow one to play the amp at higher levels than the 10 watt resistors. Attach these resistors to appropriate heat sinks and binding... | |
| Vibration isolation or absorption? As I stated before, vibration control is a matter of tuning. Not only does the approach matter, but also the degree of vibration damping or transfer that matters. I attended a demonstration of Symposium platforms that all work in the same way, b... | |
| Vibration isolation or absorption? Like almost everything involving vibration damping/control, it is a matter of tuning, so there is no definitive answer. I've tried various speakers on damping platforms (the entire bottom of the speaker is in contact with a platform designed to t... | |
| What's your experience with snooty HiFi salesmen? I may ;have just been lucky, but, I have not had many bad experiences at audio shops. I have seen many customer/shop interactions, including adverse interactions, and in the most cases, I would put "blame" (if that is a fair word) on the customer... | |
| Replacing dead woofer on ProAc Tablette Sig 50 (NYC area)? Do not throw them out. ProAc Tablettes are very nice sounding speakers. I would try to find the right replacement driver--not something off the shelf that might be a close, but not ideal, match for the original driver. Locate the right driver, ... | |
| Recommendations for a vacum tube tester For a low-cost device, the Orange is pretty good. It is very easy to use, and gives realistic assessments (it is a tougher grader than a TV-7 which seems to find every tube is strong). But, a friend noticed that it seems a bit under powered when... | |
| Are audiophile products designed to initially impress then fatigue to make you upgrade? I don't know of any specific product or instance where something was specifically designed for early death. Anyone postulating such should, at a minimum, suggests candidates and some explanation as to why and how it was designed to fail. But, it... | |
| First impressions of the Audio Desk Record Cleaner I have used mine only on records that have remained noisy after multiple, thorough cleanings with a vacuum machine (Nitty Gritty). For almost all of these records the added ultrasonic cleaning made no difference. But once in a while a record I t... | |
| Is soundstage width a myth? Amused to death was processed using something called Q-Sound. This is a clever processing that mimics what happens when sound from sources to the extreme left or right or even behind hit the listeners head. If, for example, a source is located d... |