ricktpt
Responses from ricktpt
| Can anyone recommend an FM Receiver that would play into a relatively high end system? HD creates self-noise that degrades the frankly better-sounding analog signals. If stations would put news/talk on the HD side and music on the analog side, I'd be less critical of it. Many great tuners aren't of the "conspicuous consumption bra... | |
| Bob Carver tube amps I've owned a lot of Carver gear since 1986 and they were excellent in both sound quality and reliability. But it's fair to say that his products evolved and that his engineering genius and passion could occasionally outpace his business sense. I... | |
| What are some of the better tuners out there? Seek out the semi-hostile fowards Pacific Rim tuners Stereophile review. Disinformation B.S. is rampant in some of those responses, but seeking out the review would be a good FIRST step to separating the crap from actual FACTS. The F-93 Elite... | |
| Tuner Information Center...gospel? With the passing of time, there are (through my direct experience, aggregated over decades) some emergent biases, some acknowledged, some not. These are just my observations and I acknowledge that they are also limited to the perspectives of a si... | |
| Top Ten Tuners of all Time?? I should probably add a Yamaha T-2 and an honorable mention for the M-D Etude to my above list. I forgot about the T-2 because once restoration work was finished I put it away for a rainy day and recently brought it back out. Very difficult to wo... | |
| McIntosh - is it that great? It’s iconically great-sounding gear and THAT’S the reason its value is comparatively inflation-proof. Like Nak’s analog cassette decks, it’s the target at which other brands (Sunfire, PL, Carver, Pioneer SPEC, Superscope Marantz, etc) have paid th... | |
| What are some of the better tuners out there? Seek out a Pioneer Elite F-93. It slayed the Day-Sequerra and the Naim Tuner in its Stereopile review. The only reason it wasn't given the five star treatment was that it was Pacific Rim sourced and at that time and in that place, Pacific Rim Tu... | |
| Pioneer RT-707 reel to reel decks J-Corder chose it for their 7" machine and the auction prices tell the story. (Up to $1500, if realigned/restored.) Arguably the best Quarter 7" track machine ever made. I've always been seriously underwhelmed by the Scandanavia "Uber Alles" me... | |
| Top Ten Tuners of all Time?? I've owned many tuners and receivers and the ones I didn't move along because they killed (these are usually multiples owned, but in the case of the Mac only one) the competition in both RF and Audio are:Pioneer Elite F-93 (The American undergroun... | |
| Carver Power Amps I've owned an A-760x since it was new in 1998. And it eats (yes at the frequency extremes as well, I have the test gear and have been there and DONE THAT) the lunch of any Parasound, Adcoms (I still own two 555's, they're in my garage system) or ... | |
| MAC Autoformers? If you read Ken Kessler's book, there's significant disagreement about Autoformers between the various designers. I think it might've had marginally better relevance in the very early days of Solid State. Now there are even CAR stereo amps that ... | |
| Why Don't More People Love Audio? In Music programs (Public, Private, Parochial, it doesn't really matter, but if you're interested, the Parochial fared the best, and I take no pleasure in saying it, because those gigs are the ones that pay the most execrably) kids can't be bother... | |
| Why Don't More People Love Audio? Insight from a retired Musician/Teacher/Audio restorer? Most people (over the age of 40 or so now, more than ever) have never been TAUGHT to listen critically. Don't believe me? Here's a non "My Brand's awesome and yours is pathetic" analogy: ... | |
| Carver Power Amps This thread is ancient, but DanVetC had it right. I’ve owned one new (since 1998) and it runs some VERY difficult to drive Stereo Integrity 15" D2’s (a pair of them) and the in room (on just those two subs) is 14Hz, minus 3dB. People who don’t lik... | |
| Marantz vs. Pioneer Receivers Pioneer. Hands down. Followed closely by Marantz. None were bad, but they all have their house sound and therefore all have their own adherents. But the integrity of the Marantz VR's and circuit boards (just one aspect) never seemed to hold up... |