moonwatcher

Responses from moonwatcher

Turntable suggestions for a newbie
@chayro +1 for the glass of water trick. Excellent. Just like in Jurassic Park.   
Bluesound mode not really cutting it
Your choice of a tube stage DAC is an interesting one. The reviews of the Glass FX Tube DAC/DSD WiFi are good, but have you taken it as far as it will go with the PSVANE 12AX7-S tube upgrade over the stock tube? As good as it is, it is a $900 DAC ... 
A brief review of GR Research Bully
@sns as we know it applies to all consumer goods...everything is built to a "price point". Manufacturers probably have very good data telling them about how many units they will sell at any price and how raising that price hurts sales. Figure ther... 
A brief review of GR Research Bully
I think Danny provides a good service. He generally only "upgrades" speakers sent to him by customers who are unhappy with them in some way. He then evaluates them, and when he can (not always worth it or technically doable) offers a crossover upg... 
Open baffle speakers
@bache No, I like them fine, just saying that you aren’t paying for that on most OB speakers. Your money should be going to making the other components better on OB designs. Would someone prefer the OB Caladans at $3500 or say the pretty Ash vene... 
Open baffle speakers
I’ve watched a lot of reviews of various OB speakers, but just like Magnepans (any dipole), they are a "non-starter" for me because my 15’ x 25’ living room simply will not allow me to pull them out away from the rear wall enough (or side walls if... 
Integrated Tube Amp approx. $2,500
Skunkie Designs Electronics did an extensive series of tear downs and reviews on both the Willsenton R8 and the Muzishare X7 over a period of months. It seems Willsenton took some of her feedback to heart and changed a few things in their circuitr... 
Bookshelf or stand mount help please
John Darko did some reviews of actives in this price range. Klipsch The Sevens and KEF LSX II LT. Worth a look. Note The Sevens usually go for more, but Amazon has them for $1100 now which is -15%. Not bad.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T5xQsb... 
Fezz vs Raven
Only thing I can say about Fezz is that during a review in Stereophile of one of their amps, the guy found out that one channel was down about 3dB from the other one. He never figured out why but did the review anyway. This issue was hopefully a "... 
Fezz vs Raven
A well-designed tube amp has "safety resistors" that will melt long before the tubes redline or "hot plate". Cheaper tube amps might not have this safety feature though.  But "Skunkie Designs Electronics" on YouTube has done tear downs and upgrade... 
Woofers blown -- Rogers LS 2a/2
Just remember to put 10 to 50 hours or so on them before they'll sound like your broke broken in ones.  Just curious, how did you blow the woofers without also blowing the tweeters? Generally it is the tweeters that get blown first when speakers ... 
Phono Preamp Selection
+1 for the Schiit Skoll ($399) +1 for the Moon LP110 v2. ($750, a bit out of his $500 target price. Older models of this used to be $600. Perhaps look for used).  
The Low Volume Loudness Dilemma
"Purists" are idiots. Unless you know exactly the volume the mastering engineer was playing a track, and have your room set up EXACTLY the same as they as they did with EXACTLY the same speakers, amps, and all associated gear, then I don’t care if... 
Qobuz
+1 to @sns Use one of the apps he describes. I used "TuneMyMusic" to transfer all my playlists, favorite albums, and tracks from Spotify to Tidal a couple years ago. Worked great and also offers the option of saving it as .csv files that can be op... 
Battle of the Older DAC
@vthokie83 how would you describe the bass of the Denafrips Pontus II DAC you have? Is it on the "smooth, diffuse" end or on the "solid, punchy, and textured" end of the spectrum? R2R DACs are generally well regarded for tonality, imaging, and sou...