mapman
Responses from mapman
| Small room, "budget priced" speaker advice, please Rebbe,How are you liking the Unison? I've been doing some reading on it and it seems like a very nice find. I have some interest in the Unison SE integrated as well.Did you work something out with Unison regarding the phono preamp yet? I'm curious... | |
| Best Integrated, period. Sixmoons had trouble finding any significant faults with the Unico. And their description is pretty much what one would want to hear regarding a hybrid integrated design (versus tube or "tubeless", like the Rowland.Maybe not as muscular regarding ... | |
| recommend full featured preamps? That's a good pre-amp to start with.Any idea why the tone controls are needed?Can't you do some tube rolling with that model to tweak the sound? | |
| Best Integrated, period. "but it certainly is not the 'best integrated, period"Do you consider it to be at least in the same league as the others mentioned here, if not the best, period?If not in the same league, why? | |
| recommend full featured preamps? Also, the low cost for the Carver used today is a big plus. It provides lots of features but sounds VERY GOOD even without them. Over time, you may find ways to tweak your system using it that results in not needing the flexibility in the pre-amp ... | |
| recommend full featured preamps? Undertow,The Carver holography circuit is what I thought you might be referring to. It has nothing to do with compression or dynamic range. If your system lacks transparency, think of it as a magic "transparency" button. technically, it reduces cr... | |
| recommend full featured preamps? Carver pre-amps like the c-6 have a lot of unique features that you may or may not find useful. I'm sure Mac does as well, but I am reasonably certain that each has a different set. So it is not an apples and apples comparison if you are looking f... | |
| Best Integrated, period. Kiwi_1282001,It indicates you compared to MBL amplification but not what kind of hybrid amp you normally use with your planars?If the planars are anything like Magnepan, I could relate to how hybrid amplification could add a nice touch, again depe... | |
| recommend full featured preamps? Vegasears,Yes, that Behringer unit could be just what the doctor ordered with a good but less flexible pre-amp. Good call! | |
| Best Integrated, period. I'm interested in what amplification Kiwi thinks does sound best with the MBLs. Back in accordance with my point that there is no "best", from what I've read their sound in general leans more towards the detailed and analytic side of things, so I ... | |
| Cartridge mV questions The Needledoctor site indicates the clearaudio unify 9 arm works well with various Clearaudio phono cartridges. You might find some more useful info there.I suspect the ARC phono pre must accept both low and high output cartridges. Assuming that i... | |
| Best Integrated, period. Kiwi_1282001,What was the hybrid amplification you refer to in your review that you were comparing the Rowland unit to with the MBLs? | |
| recommend full featured preamps? "The addition of tone controls in your system will only compromise fidelity."I would agree with the audio purest perspective that use of tone controls are better avoided, if possible, but sometimes it isn't for whatever reason and the advantages o... | |
| Cartridge mV questions Slates,Matching cartridge to phono pre-amp and tonearm properly is unfortunately a complex subject. There are multiple parameters to consider in order to truly tune it best.A better approach might be to specify what table, tonearm and cartridge yo... | |
| Cartridge mV questions Lower voltage (ie lower compliance) cartridges will match best to tonearms with more mass to produce a resonance frequency below audible (20 hz or so) which is desirable for smoother response. Higher voltage matches to lower mass tonearms for same... |