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sbayne

Responses from sbayne

Help: Shindo Mobrinson or EAR 868
I'd go with the EAR 868. I own Shindo gear but when it comes to EAR and BAT equipment I think fully balanced with their matching preamps is the way to go. 
Shindo advice
Asa, good questions. I personally have not heard all the Shindo preamps so its hard to say where the "sweet spot" is in the Shindo lineup. The same is true for a Catherine, if you are able to find one. I can tell you Matt Rotunda at Pitch Perfect ... 
Speaker recommendation. have $2,500
Check-out the new Magnepan 1.7. The retail is just under $2,000. Just saw these or I would have mentioned them before. http://www.enjoythemusic.com/ces_2010/preview/ 
Speaker recommendation. have $2,500
These have already been said but I will list them for you:Vandersteen 2CE MKIIMagnepan 1.6Gallo 3.1 Ref.I've owned all three of these speakers and would agree with the great press they have gotten. Also check-out Jim Salk's offerings. I've heard h... 
Would a Better Phono Amp Improve Budget System?
Great, practical questions. I wouldn't change out your equipment, especially if you are on a tight budget. I would mostly work on the positioning of your new speakers. Some people use equations, software programs, etc - I say use your ears to posi... 
Shindo Masseto Tubes and Fuses
Hatari, I used the Gold Lion reissues and Hi-Fi Tuning fuses in a pair of Dynaco MKIIIs. I thought they made significant improvements to those amps. On my Shindo gear I've used pretty much every footer/tube dampener offered by Mapleshade and Herbi... 
Shindo Masseto Tubes and Fuses
I hope you are going to get this response a lot: Don't mess with it! Ken Shindo builds his equipment very specifically and I can say from experience you will be able to change the sound but it ultimately won't be for the better. I've tried differe... 
Shindo lab pre amps
I've owned and heard many high-end preamps over the years. Most were very good but not until I owned and worked my way up the Shindo line of preamps did I realize how important an absolute top-notch preamp is to the overall sound of your system. C... 
EAR and Shindo
I owned Shindo's Monbrisson for a while and then moved-up to the Vosne-Romanee. The phono stages are very good alone but, as you have probably read or been told, a high quality step-up transformer really make the Shindo phono stages sing. The Audi... 
Calling all Garrard 301's owners/ sophisticated
I truly hope I'm stating the obvious, but what voltage is the table? Australia is 220-240V 50HZ. The US is 120v 60HZ. You didn't mention it so I thought I would. 
High efficiency speakers for Shindo
Shindo equipment and ZU Audio speakers are a natural match. Go for the Mark IVs with a Mini-Methond sub and you are well under your 5K price point or try to find a used set of the original Definitions. Good luck! 
Zu Druids low powered tube amp or high powered SS?
I've owned the Druids and the ZU Mini Method sub. I would recommend a fairly high powered SET amp (yes I know thats an oxy-moron) I used 10 watts for a while but when I went to a 25 watt SET amp based on the 845 tube the soundstage really opened u... 
Best sound at RMAF
I would say the TAD/Bel Canto room for overall realistic performance. The smaller rooms physically couldn't compete because of the limitations of the room. With that being said, however, I had to wonder why the guys with the smaller rooms didn't d... 
Von Schweikert Vr 4sr Tubes a good match?
Yes, VS speakers work very well with the right tube amps. One of the best systems I've ever heard had VR-7 HSE speakers with mono BAT VK-150SE mono amps. A number of local audiophile friends use BAT VK-75SE amps with VS VR-4 SR and/or VR-5 HSE spe... 
Cable elevators
Like a lot of things in high-end audio it depends on your system. If your cables are not shielded very well they will make a bigger difference. I had some Mapleshade speaker cables they made a big difference on, for example. My current set-up is v...