mlsstl

Responses from mlsstl

Sensitivity 86 v 90
What is your preferred listening volume in the room? Have you bought a sound level meter in order to get a real number to work with?  Note that one person's "loud" is another's "medium" and so on.  The size of the room is also a factor along with ... 
Spendor S3/5R2 or Wharfdale Jade 3
I'm also a Spendor fan. Have had several different models of their speakers in the past and currently have their 4/5. Don't hesitate to recommend them, particularly if you like accurate reproduction of unamplified acoustic instruments and natural ... 
Fantasy or reality? Inexpensive solid state preamps that get you 80% there?
I've had a Schiit Saga -- an excellent, very neutral preamp. The only problem I had was that it is unity gain. My setup needs a preamp with a bit more gain. I ended up switching to a Schiit Lyr 3 which has switchable gain. It has only one or two i... 
DIY Amp
Another option are the kits by Triode Electronics out of Chicago.  Basically modern Dynacos from the ST35 and ST70 up to the Mk III amps. See https://store.triodestore.com/ampsandgear.html    
Recs for small footprint integrated amp (<= 14 inches W) min 30 WRMS
While I love Schiit gear (I own a number of their pieces) the Ragnarok is bigger than what the OP requested, 16" wide versus the under 14" requested. A Schiit option that would work is their Asgard 3 combined with a Vidar amp. These are only 9" w... 
Power conditioner wire gauge? Serious issue
This is another classic -- always fun to watch the back and forth. This issue can be broken down into two separate areas. 1. House wiring safety. What size wiring needed is determined by the amperage of the circuit breaker used for that circuit ... 
Quobuz subscription
@anzaanimalclinic -- just a reminder that the OP was complaining about the mediocre sound quality of a few specific albums.  Understand that neither Qobuz, Tidal, Spotify or any of the other streaming actually record or produce music themselves. N... 
Quobuz subscription
@czarivey -- I've had a Qobuz subscription for several years now and have been very pleased with it. So, I tried out some of the albums you mentioned above by Masayoshi Takanaka and Eloy and can't say I was impressed by the recording quality. My D... 
Geshelli Labs J2 DAC
There is a short discussion thread on this over at Audioasylum in the Digital area.  
Budget amp that will give Magnepan 3.6Rs better depth of soundstage
That is a big set of speakers for a fairly small room! I had a pair of Maggie 1.6QRs when we moved some years ago and I tried to use them in a 14 X 15 room. They just didn't work well and I sold them. And squareness doesn't help. My 2 cents is th... 
Loud Snap at High Volume
OK, just listened to the piece. The drum rolls occur between 9 minutes into the piece to just over the 10 minute mark. There is an incredible amount of very, very deep bass involved, but I heard no cracks or snaps of any type on my stereo.  My sys... 
Loud Snap at High Volume
Just out of curiosity, what is the specific Mahler 8th recording that does this? It'd be interesting to look at what's in the recording at that point.  
Anyone dislike Ohm Walsh speakers?
@unsound -- you're right. I had a pair of the original Ohm Fs back in the mid-1970s.  They had no tweeter, but the cone was made from different materials -- metal at the top to handle highs, but bonded to a paper at the bottom.  Any original A and... 
Loud Snap at High Volume
The Borrensen web site says the tweeter crosses over at 2.5KHz.  That seems too high for the tweeter to generate a whiplash sound by itself.  However, my first guess goes with what Erik says -- a woofer bottoming out. That can make a cracking soun... 
Anyone dislike Ohm Walsh speakers?
@jaymark -- my understanding of most Ohm Walsh speakers is that the main driver has no crossover and runs up to 8KHz or above, and that the single tweeter just uses a single capacitor to cut off frequencies below that point. To my mind, that high ...