retiredaudioguy
Responses from retiredaudioguy
| Cary SLP 98 vs Benchmark LA4 FYI the Benchmark LA4 can be tried out at home for 30 days. To my (admittedly elderly) ears it is totally transparent and uncolored. | |
| Any piece of equipment you currently dream of ? Esoteric Grandioso. In about 2008 I purchased an Esoteric X-03SE, and was amazed at the improved SQ by every measure compared to the Sonic Frontiers DAC. In 2021 I switched to the K-01XS with another quantum leap in SQ. Perhaps the Grandioso w... | |
| I Was A Skeptic Now I'm Not So Sure It is true that digital cables matter. They should NOT, other than being a true 75 ohm transmission line. Surely, the digital data (which contains error correcting bits) should be buffered in RAM and then clocked to the DAC chips using an ultra ... | |
| Power Amp or DAC - weakest link, help please? You might take a look at Benchmark Media Systems. I have no personal knowledge of their DAC/Pre or PA products - but they offer a 30 day evaluation at home. The DAC3 L is a DAC + PRE and the AHB2 their PA. Their products are known for neutralit... | |
| What is the true impact of power supply differences - Japan, US, Australia? @jea48 Thank you. | |
| Vinyl Lovers-- Cartridges!!!! Do you have a daily driver? I have had my Koetsu Black for many years and it sounds good as new, but I listen to my vinyl only a few hours a week - I have about 3,000 LPs but my Esoteric K-01xs delivers, since that move vinyl time has declined. I did a bit of research and N... | |
| Directional wires/cables @jea48 I looked around for a primer on the subject and found this YouTube it's about a 40 minute chat but is, I think, rather good. Simple but not simplistic. He doesn't address directionality per se but does explain why different cables may so... | |
| Directional wires/cables FYI. In 1965 I got a 1st class honors degree (summa cum laude) in Mathematics, with Physics as a minor. My dad was a physicist (and a fellow of the Institute of Physics) and my elder brother taught high school students who were going to read phy... | |
| Directional wires/cables An electric current IS the flow of electrons (through a wire e.g.) from the -ve source, through the destination and then back to the +ve terminal of the source. See this article | |
| Directional wires/cables In an audio system the electrons are not flowing from the source to the destination component. The signals are AC - though a bit asymmetric -so about half the time they are flowing one way and about half the time the other way. Although, I guess... | |
| What does your Virtual System page say about you? Sources first seemed logical to me. Though I'll admit that when I was doing the entry it was more middle out. Also, i thought for a while about should the clock go since that is a separate branch. Matters were complicated by my having the Blues... | |
| The Streamer-Dac-Preamp Chain FWIW. Aurender N200, Esoteric K03, Benchmark LA4. Then you might add the Stanford Research FS725 clock. My chain is N100, K01 XS, Benchmark LA4, with the clock. The sound would be very similar - the new K03 might beat my K01-XS. The only real... | |
| Getting a Divorce and can now buy floor standing speakers Rockports. | |
| System advice Wild amp thought. Used CD Premier 11 https://www.ebay.com/itm/335765515669?itmmeta=01JJFEYBWRC4TW0DQGRE02C0TD If you don't like it you can probably get most of your money back. CJ amps of that era are just on the warm side of neutral to my ear... | |
| Retirement integrated amp for a “fiscal conservative” I may be late to this party, and my thought is not an integrated but... You could get a benchmark LA4 Pre and Pass Labs XA 25 for less than $8,000. The construction looks and feels bulletproof. I have these driving my Rockport Atria IIs, sourc... |