loomisjohnson
Responses from loomisjohnson
| White Album Deluxe Anniversary edition i don't generally get into these multi-disc reissues, which usually seem like unnecessary cash-ins, but this one is worthwhile--you get a very candid look at their creative process + you learn how much george martin added to the mix. john and paul... | |
| CD Player /Built in Headphone Amp i use an integra dvd 8.3 universal player in an office system and it has a surprisingly good headphone out with a good inboard dac--you can easily find one for <$100 on ebay | |
| Amp/Preamps vs. High end AV Receivers you might try moving in stages by adding a separate power amp and using your avr as a pre--almost all mass market avrs benefit from external amping. you can always get a separate pre later. | |
| Opinion of Acurus 2 and 3 channel amplifiers is ... what? agree (as usual) with willand--i owned the a150 and was very pleased--very neutral and less colored than comparably priced b&k, parasound, adcom, etc. | |
| Thoughts on Big Star it's a pretty big leap from big star to captain beefheart (who i never got into; never was a zappa fan either despite earnest effort). what i suspect may be offputting to some about big star is how they pushed the boundaries of traditional melodic... | |
| Thoughts on Big Star i'm a little surprised at the polarized reactions--to my ears big star (unlike most "cult" artists) is all about melody and should have very broad appeal, like the beatles or the hollies. at the end of the day, though, either you dig it or you do... | |
| If I plug my phone into an external DAC, does it bypass the internal DAC in the phone? the lg v30 (which they're blowing out for cheap now) is as good-sounding a phone as you'll find--it outperforms a number of daps and headphone amps i've heard. only quirk is you either have to use higher impedance headphones (>50o) or trick the... | |
| Thoughts on Big Star i forgot about the "keep an eye" set--it's got excellent versions of most of their best songs + its live tracks cut the sorta sloppy "live at missouri university" and "big star live" discs, altho the latter has a killer version of the loudon wainw... | |
| Bands with great second albums i think "translate slowly" was the debut, but it's a great record--curiously unavailable on spotify, so i found the disc and it really does hold up well. their later records aren't as good.i'll also throw out dwight twilley "twilley don't mind"--n... | |
| The best books on music for my money the best music book, at least of its type, is "music: what happened", by the late scott miller (ex game theory, loud family)--really, really incisive= analysis of his favorite songs each year since the 50s. he writes very well about n... | |
| Thoughts on Big Star radio city is one of my all-time top ten, although at various times i prefer "third"---all the studio records are brilliant. i would also pick up chris bell's solo record, "i am the cosmos", which is just as worthy. | |
| Best bookshelf speakers from your list, with your criteria i like the canton, which have a giant bass for a small speaker--a buddy of mine got a pair on accessories4less for $499 and is very happy. I wasn't awed by the wharfedale and haven't heard the dali. in approximat... | |
| pioneer sx 780 receiver i picked up a 780 for $10 at a garage sale and was shocked at how good it sounded--it was significantly better than most of the vintage hk, yamaha and marantz i've cycled thru. since it was sitting unused i ended up passing it along to a buddy (a ... | |
| A/D/S Fans: help me find a center channel i would stay in the ads family--the L570 is often available around $100/pair on ebay and is terrific at that price--you can use one as a center and have a spare. | |
| Musical Sound Quality of AV Surround receiver vs. pure Stereo aux, you may very well be correct--could be gain or could be the inboard amps not be being up to snuff--his speakers may be relatively hard to drive. an integrated with ht bypass is defintely a good fix, but not necessarily the cheapest. |