loomisjohnson

Responses from loomisjohnson

Sophomore Slump? The best 2nd albums of all time
lots of good picks above, but the ones that really register as showing the most evolutionary growth from the debut are nirvana/nevermind, meat puppets II and van morrison/astral weeks. 
RIP-Bill Pitcock lV
fantastic band--i've worn out numerous copies of their records. the guitar solos on "im on fire" and "sincerely" are incredible. 
What is your source for discovering new music?
i think pandora is the best tool for finding artists in the precise styles you like; i've grown lukewarm on xm/sirius, which like any broad commercial enterprise requires wading through alot of chaff to get to the good stuff. public libraries, at ... 
Perfect Debute Albums
ramonesbyrds--mr. tambourine manthe clashrem--murmur/chronic townelliott smith--roman candlevelvet underground and nicotelevision--marquee moonbig star #1are you experienced 
$500 Digital Source to Complete $2K Bedroom System
mf v-dac is a really good choice. for a narrow cdp transport, you might look at cambridge sonata (you should find one around $200). musical fidelity also makes a narrow cdp (x-ray), but it'll be pricier. 
Review: Yamaha CR-840 Vintage AM/FM Receiver Amplifier
coincidentally, i also just scored a virtually mint yam cr-820--$20 off of craigslist from a guy who was moving back to korea the next day. such a deal. sonically, i agree with tobias--i prefer the late 70s hk receivers (730/930), which sound warm... 
Review: Denon PMA-757 Amplifier
very interesting review--it's good to see you address a product from the "forgotton era" of audio. there's a general conception that these 80s components were markedly worse than the beautiful, silver-faced stuff of the late 70s. certainly aesthet... 
No Audiophiles in Hollywood
in "traffic", the psychopathic killer, after being kidnapped and tortured by the generale's men tells the generale that he has b&w speakers and makes his own cds--he says most people don't care but that it's very important to him. a moving tri... 
"Whatever Happened To The Audiophile?"
according to the npr article, "high end" sales totalled $200m in 2010 (i'm not sure about the statistic; i've read $1 billion elsewhere). for all the talk about vinyl's resurgence, only 2.4m total units were sold in 2010. these are staggeringly ti... 
The Feelies are back
waltersalas, is your user name a tribute to the guy from the silos (or are you the same guy)? very good band. in any event, i agree the feelies (despite their relatively sparse output) fully deserve to be mentioned in the same company as other 80s... 
Figure 8
to me, smith's greatest work was on his first three, lo-fi records. he always sounded ill-suited to the studio gloss of xo and figure 8--the songs were still there, but his voice and esp. his guitar playing was buried in all the production; it see... 
The Feelies are back
i'll be the contrarian--i love 'em on disc, esp. good earth, but was underwhelmed by their live show--thought they played great, but were somewhat reserved and detached + had those long, momentum-killing pauses between songs. i did dig the dual pe... 
any early 80's alt/soft punk fans out there?
The Bongos!!!That triggers some synapses. Great live band. 
Moving From AVR to Amp
personally, i'd (at least initially) keep the onkyo and your very good existing speaker config and get a three channel amp to power the fronts and center--perhaps something like a parasound or wyred4sound--i think you find signicancant improvement... 
Please help newb put a system together
mandd: i haven't a/b'd the inboard dac on the b&k with the well-regarded external dacs you've listed, although i'd surmise that the external dacs, being more modern standalone units, will sound better. however, (a) as a former b&k owner i ...