rotarius

Responses from rotarius

Help me to choose turntable below 1600$.
You can get a used or refurb Technics sl1200mk2 or it's variants and they are bullet proof.  Spend the rest of the money on a nice cart.   
Jelco SA-750D or Rega RB250
It doesn't work that way. I mean if you stick an AT440MLA on either tonearm, you are not going to get midbass bloom. As for the collar, yes the stock one does not cause severe problems and is fine for most people.  However, if you try to print out... 
Jelco SA-750D or Rega RB250
I have mounted both on my Sl1200mk3 with custom armboards.  Yes, the Jelco just looks and feels like a better made product.  It tracks well and works great with MC carts.  I love mine.  The RB250 is not very adjustable, mounting and aligning is mo... 
New Schiit Freya or used Conrad Johnson PV-10AL/BL, or?
Axememan, the stand out ones for me were Belles 20A and the Cary/AES units I have owned along with the Mapletree.  Those would be SLP-88, AES AE-3 DJH and a modded AE-3.  I did not like SLP-308 or the AE-3 MkII as much as the others.  In stock for... 
New Schiit Freya or used Conrad Johnson PV-10AL/BL, or?
@axememan You should have been more patient. I have had 14 tube preamps thus far. Most of them are well regarded like Quicksilver, Belles, Cary, Rogue, etc. The Mapletree is easily in the top 5 of the bunch. Maybe I need to try the Freya, a lot of... 
Preamp issue?
Please don't put the 6h30 in your preamp!  There are plenty of NOS and new 12au7 options you can try and they are quite cheap.  You can do a lot better than EH. 
New Schiit Freya or used Conrad Johnson PV-10AL/BL, or?
@kalali You should also consider the Mapletree Line 2, you cannot do better at the $800 price point.  It can also be customized for inputs, outputs, gain, whatever you want. Hard to find used and they sell quick but new ones do look nicer.  
Going from computer audio to dedicated streamer
RPi dacs are getting very good these days.  I use RPi with Hifiberry Digi+ as a media player connected to my MF V90 dac.  Software is the latest Moode player release.  It just beats everything I have tried so far, Node 2, Sony UHP-H1 and a bunch o... 
Glare on Choral recordings, classical vocals
Paul, I had the the 2CE sigs once upon a time and large scale classical just sounded horrible no matter what amp they were hooked too.  I recall pairing them with a Bryston 4BST and a Belles 150a, pretty good amps imo.  That midrange driver got co... 
Glare on Choral recordings, classical vocals
Wait, what speakers do you have?  There are plenty of speakers that just sound great with small ensembles but sound horrible with large scale works at any volume.  Time to upgrade speakers? 
Measurements - Clearly Explained
Erik, Agon has always been big on "alternate" facts, long before the term came about.  Where else can you find clever lil clocks and pebbles? 
Cryogenic treatment of tubes? Anyone with experience positive or negative?
I have a Cryoset pair of Tungsol reissue 12ax7 that got a bit noisy after a month of use.  A standard pair was supplied with my Jolida amp and there seems to be no difference between them other than the standard pair did not get noisy. 
Primaluna dialogue premium HP tube rolling suggestions to reduce brightness
Try any of the US made black plates before you spend lots of money on European ones.  Raytheon, RCA, etc.   
I'm selling speakers for the first time and concerned about fraud
Shipping speakers overseas is not advisable even if both of you had perfect feedback!  What happens when they are damaged in transit?  Are you going to file a claim with the courier and refund the buyer?  You don't need the hassle, like others hav... 
General Initial Impressions--Genalex Gold Lion KT88 Reissue
I am in the minority here, I don't think GL KT88 is all that different from other New sensor ones like EH KT88.  Maybe a bit more polite and prettier but that's it.  So, the EH were a much better value for me.