sfar

Responses from sfar

New CDP for $500?
Another vote for the Music Hall players. I had a CD25 with upgraded opamps and it was a very, very satisfying piece of gear. I switched to a universal player for space reasons but I wish I'd kept the CD25. 
iPod directly into amp
I'll join the chorus here and recommend a dock for the iPod going to a good quality integrated. I've used that setup with both Creek and Audio Refinement Complete integrateds and been very happy with both.You can get good information about docks b... 
Analog to Digital
I don't have experience with any of them but here's a vendor that sells several different brands, http://www.sonicsense.com/anadigi.htm. I own the Benchmark digital to analog converter and like it a lot. I would expect their A to D converter is a ... 
Sanus, Skylan stand questions
No experience with the Skylans but I used the Sanus Steel Foundation stands for awhile and passed them along to a friend when I sold her my Soliloquy 5.0's. They're nice stands, well made and good looking. When you fill the tubes with sand they're... 
Speakers to make even Raffi sound good?
I'd agree with the Polk recommendation, even the smaller Polk R15's sound amazingly good at their usual discounted price of $79 and I've seen them on sale at Fry's for $49 a pair.A truly kid-proof option that would be a step up from the cubes woul... 
A viable portable system?
I use two options at opposite ends of the quality spectrum. On the 60gb iPod I keep Apple Lossless files because even with the large file sizes I can still keep more tunes on there than I can possibly listen to, even on a long trip. All my music i... 
Wife/girlfriend or audio: if you had to chose?
I posted these lines from the late Steve Goodman some time ago in the "best lines in a song" thread but it's probably just as appropriate for this thread.My baby came to me this morningAnd said I'm kinda confusedShe said, "If me and B.B. King was ... 
A viable portable system?
Thanks, Quadophile, that's an interesting and useful post. I concur with your recommendation of the Sennheiser PX200 for an ultra-portable, inexpensive setup. I've used a pair for traveling with a 60gb iPod full of files in Apple Lossless format a... 
DVD / 5 channel receiver combo
The NAD L73 is a DVD player plus 5-channel receiver. Check it out here. 
DAC reclocking noise?
I use the same setup of an iMac G5 to an Airport Express and then on to a Benchmark DAC via the optical connection. There's no extraneous noise of any kind so, at least in my setup, the issue isn't the G5 to Airport connection. 
How do you "unfreeze" an ipod?
Swampwalker, sorry you've had bad experiences with yours but I've had four iPods and have never had any of them freeze up even once. They've been far more reliable than any of the PC's I've owned. 
Please help me buy an iPod
-A safe bet with a great price is to buy a refurbished iPod directly from the Apple Store. The stock varies but right now there's a broad selection. As an example, a 30 Gb Video iPod in either white or black is $179. There's a warranty directly fr... 
How do you "unfreeze" an ipod?
There's a page of instructions on the Apple support site 
Office speakers?
I would second the recommendation for the Usher 520's. Another small speaker I own and like even more is the Soliloquy SAT 5. It's harder to find because Soliloquy is out of business but it's a great small speaker. 
"new country" music recomendations please
The Wood Brothers "Ways Not To Lose" is one of the best CD's I've discovered in a long time. It's got great lyrics and spectacular musicianship, a wonderful mix of dobro and stand-up bass, that you'd probably classify as country if you had to pin ...