panzrwagn

Responses from panzrwagn

What are the most balanced relatively neutral cartridges at each price level ?
Under $500? Ortofon 2m Bronze or Hana EH. Under $1000? Ortofon 2m Black or Hana SL or SH Mk 2. Also, The Hana S Mk 2 carts are probably the best overall value available.  Under $2000? Hana SL or SH,  Over $2000? Hana Umami Blue ($2500) or Red (... 
Picking speakers 3000-5000 budget
One speaker not mentioned is the Monitor Audio Silver 500 7G. Stereophile Class A rated, Absolute Sound, HI-Fi News, Soundstage, and about any other magazine who listened to them gave them highest reviews and 'Best of ...' awards. My first thought... 
Chinese DAC's
@vinylvalet @fthompson251 @nonoise Thank you. My realization of global supply chains began with a 1984 VW Jetta, engine and transmission made in Germany, tires from Brazil, Glass from the US, stereo from Japan, wheels from Italy and body built and... 
Chinese DAC's
For those who skipped Econ 101 or took it before about 1990, we now live in an inextricably interconnected world of global supply chains. The finished component relies on parts from several global sources, and those parts, semiconductors and, yes,... 
Which amplifier
Both are obviously very nice amps. For me, I’d consider a McIntosh MA-252 integrated. At 100W/ch that’s more than adequate power and the hybrid tube preamp/solid state power amp should match up nicely with the Cornwalls. And I personally love the ... 
Listening Room or Components or my ears?
Totally agree that the first order of business is room acoustics. Everything else mentioned only treats the input into the room, not the output of the room to your ears. The critical distance, the point at which the reflected sound level equals th... 
2 Channel system sounds weak and lackluster
Until you address room acoustics, nothing you do will matter much to improve your sound quality. Given your room dimensions, the critical distance, the point at which the reverberant sound level equals the direct sound level is between 18 and 24" ... 
Considering switching to XLR cables,
This year I celebrate my 50th anniversary of working with XLR connectors, also marking my transition from college hifi guy to professional audio. In every imaginable parameter the XLR is superior to the RCA connector. But that's not the question.... 
Looking for a more solid-feeling turntable (and maybe a new preamp)
Two major factors (at least) here: 1) Your arm mass may be a little low for the Dynavector's compliance. That will wipe out bass on a vinyl rig faster than anything else. 2) I have never been able to square Rega low-mass 'theory' with either physi... 
Using non-terminated speaker wire?
Bare wire is fine, but I would tin the ends with silver solder to eliminate stray 'whiskers' that can short amplifier outputs. Not good.   
No sound from Mack !!!
Bad speaker switch on the C26. In the days before garden-hose gauge speaker wire, running speaker wire back to the preamp for speaker switching convenience wasn't unusual. Neither was those switches failing over time due to the current loads invol... 
New split AC System impact on sound.
Installing anything but an heat pump, except in the most extreme climates, given the performance of modern heat pump technology, is simply wasteful. Our combined gas and electric bills in our new house, annualized, are almost half our previous hou... 
Speakers sound too bright.
@rwalsh07 "Pretty much bare wall, no room treatment, flooring is a mixture of carpet and laminate flooring." There's the vast majority of your problem .  Until you address the room, there's nothing any tweek, speak, or electronics change can do t... 
Shipping costs- WTF
I recently shipped a pair of Magnepan .7s and stands via FedEx. The delivered the stands and lost the Magnepans! After two weeks of supposed 'looking' they declared the shipment lost and I filed a claim for the value of the speakers as sold and sh... 
Vinyl sounds better (shots fired)
Digital recording has a hard ceiling and a hard floor. Meaning, when your recording level is all '1s' anything a ove that is clipped, totally. Anything below all '0s' doesn't exist. Analog had 3-6dB headroom above 0dB and at least 10dB below the n...