nighthawk
Responses from nighthawk
| Best solid state power amp for $1k If you can find one, an old Tandberg 3006A (150WPC). They generally go for $300 - $400 because of their age, but they sound really sweet. I've had both the Aragon 4004 Mk II and the Tandberg hooked up to my system and the Tandberg was quite a bit ... | |
| Multiple output preamps? The Rowland Synergy IIi has two balanced outputs, but both are always active. I'm curious, why do you need a switched output? Can't you achieve what you want by only turning on the power amp you want to listen to?Another possibility is to get a po... | |
| Good Scene to test surrounds The Matrix, lobby shooting scene. X-Men, rain storm at the concentration camp, you think you're going to get wet. | |
| Best Used Solid State Amp for less than $5000? Another vote for Rowland Model 10. | |
| Speaker Upgrade Suggestion I think you might like the Maggie 3.6, It's brighter than the 1.6. Also, I'd bet you'd like something in the JM Labs line. | |
| New preamp or other suggestions? Try some Cardas Golden Reference or Golden Cross ICs and speaker cables. They will tame the highs and flesh out the midbass. Purist Audio Venustas and AZ Matrix II would also be candidates. Stay away from silver! If changing cables doesn't accompl... | |
| Power conditioner for amps Make sure you can return the UOs if you don't like them. I bought a 20A one from Audio Advisor a while back and returned it because it limited the dynamics of my Rowland Model 10. The Rowland sounds best plugged directly into the wall. | |
| integrated amp that matches well w/ Soliloquy 5.3s I'm surprised you find the 5.3s bright. I think it may be coming from somewhere else in your system. Could you list your components so we could give better recommendations? BTW, I drive my Soliloquy 6.5s with a Rowland Model 10. Instrument tonalit... | |
| Any WARM, MUSICAL speakers out there? Warm and musical exactly describes the Soliloquy 6.5s. I'm going to disagree with most of you on the Vandy 5s. I've heard the Vandy 5s driven by ARC gear and they were cool sounding compared to my Soliloquy/Rowland combination. The Vandies threw a... | |
| Grain free, how to identify it To me, grain sounds like a very low-level distortion. You can hear it in both electronics and cables. You can have accurate tonality and still have grain. For electronics, it seems that the ones with the lowest levels of high-frequency distortions... | |
| Time for a total system upgrade Your speaker/amp combination will be the major determinant of the amount of listening fatigue you experience. My advice is listen to a lot of speakers, pick one, then find an amp that will drive them suitably. Since you seem to like speakers with ... | |
| IC for Moon/Revel Dmitrydr, have you considered that the cheapo Monster Cables you currently are using are probably warming the sound up somewhat? Monster tends to be warmish. If you get a neutral cable like Cardas NR, you may end up with a BRIGHTER sound than you ... | |
| IC for Moon/Revel Dmitrydr, yes both NR and AU24 can be perceived to lose some details if your system is already on the warm side. If your system is a little bright, however, they might be exactly what you need. It is pretty hard to "soften the highs" as you reques... | |
| What is your best kept secret in mid-fi? Move your speakers out from the front wall! At least three feet, but more is better. Will probably make more (positive) difference than anything else you can do. | |
| IC for Moon/Revel I tried the Van den Hul First Ultimate from the Cable Co. and was not impressed. Tonally not bad, but extremely grainy.For your application I'd try Cardas Neutral Reference or Audience AU24. Both are basically neutral, but very slightly warm. The ... |