mcondon

Responses from mcondon

Finding a Power Cord that sounds great
I have tried quite a few power cords, including very expensive power cords from Synergistic Research and Shunyata. I have tried Kaplan and did not like them in my system...BPT cords are better.Although I won't claim they are better than a top-of-t... 
SR Power Cell 10 SE Vs, Bybee Purifier PC
My searches of Jack Bybee's work as a physicist turn up absolutely zero citations in the academic literature. Maybe when people say he is a physicist, they mean he teaches high school physics, not that he is on the short list for the Nobel Prize. ... 
Esoteric X03SE vs Ayon CD-2 or CD-5
I have owned the Ayon CD-2 and the PS Audio Perfect Wave DAC+Transport. The Perfect Wave combo is simply much better. The "street" price is around $4K new from a number of e-tailers, including Underwood HiFi. The lowest price I have seen on a new ... 
Power cables and power conditioners
Synergistic Research PowerCell, any model, is very good. I get improved dynamics and better frequency extension, but without any brightness or leanness. Definitely not clinical, etched, or lean. However, it seems like you need to use Syn. Research... 
Digital cable to feed my PS Audio PW DAC
I would contact Steve Brunelle (Audiogon username: sts), the man behind Gabriel Gold and ask him to make you one of his coaxial digital cables. I have tried many digital cables and the Gabriel Gold digital cable has been the best I have used with ... 
Wyred DACS
The last word in my post above should be "Wavelength" not "Ayre". 
Wyred DACS
I assume the I2S input on the W4S DAC2 is meant to be used with the PS Audio Perfect Wave Transport, which AFAIK is the only "off the shelf" transport that transmits I2S via HDMI. It therefore seems to me that the W4S DAC2 by doing both asynch USB... 
Wadia 170i linked to Esoteric UX-1
"Thanks for responding. Since I want to keep the UX-1 (it was modded by David Schulte), I guess I'll just add an independent DAC."That is the right decision, IMO. I would definitely not launch as good a source as the UX-1 just to get a Wadia 170i ... 
Opinions on Wyred 4 Sound ICE amps
Dob,The person who started this thread asked about the Wyred 4 Sound amps, not about Spectron, Mark Levinson, Kharma, or Weiss switching amplifiers. I owned a Wyred 4 Sound amp, so felt I could offer first-hand impressions. The amps you mention ma... 
Wadia 170i linked to Esoteric UX-1
If the UX-1 does not have a coaxial digital input, you cannot access its DAC. You need either a separate DAC or a CD player with a coaxial digital in to hear the Wadia at its best, since the main point of the Wadia is to extract the digital signal... 
Sony SCD-XA5400ES-Best SACD for under $10,000
Bjpd5ya1, you are doing an effective job of ruining what might have otherwise been a good thread. Your posts are barely coherent rants whose main contention as far as I can gather is that a Sony CD player assembled in Malaysia selling for $1500 ca... 
Opinions on Wyred 4 Sound ICE amps
I would demo the Bel Canto ICE amp (Ref 1000m). I went to Stereo Exchange in Manhattan and listened to the Bel Canto Ref 1000m as well as a McIntosh MC275, Meridian G57, and an Ayre. No question, the Bel Canto was different, and not at all to my t... 
Argentum Acoustics Mythos ICs anyone?
I did a search on these and an owner somewhere commented that they were somewhat bright/revealing and certainly not giant killers. The fact that Positive Feedback gushed over them but nobody else knows much about them or has great things to say is... 
Cables for McIntosh Equipment
I am using Gabriel Gold Revelation MK2 ICs and Gabriel Gold Extreme speaker cable with my McIntosh MC275 and am quite very happy. My speakers have a tendency to sound a bit bright and the Mac with NOS Telefunkens can be a bit too etched at higher ... 
Grover Huffhman Sx
Are these cables bright or lean? Some earlier versions of Grover Huffman's cables seemed to have that reputation. Also, when I read the oft-repeated statement "if the recording is lousy, your system will sound lousy too", I get nervous. There are ...