sgmlaw

Responses from sgmlaw

FM antenna made simple
An indoor antenna may or may not help you in this situation. Unlike AM, antenna mounting height will make a large difference both in FM sensitivity and multipath rejection. Another factor to consider is whether you need a directional array to capt... 
1K speaker advice?
I'm not familiar with the C2, but an excellent used Thiel at that price point would be the CS1.5. This is a fine sounding floorstanding 2 way design. It is excellent with vocals and has wonderful timbre. I don't know what NAD model you have - if i... 
JOLIDA 302B Tube Int. Amp. Opinions?
The 302/502 Series is also a great tinkerer's amp. The strongest feature of this integrated is its trannys, which are quite good at this price point. For tube amps, the output transformers will make or break it, and this unit has good ones. The ba... 
Re-Tubing A Sonic Frontiers Pre Amp
Do you know what a dozen white label Amperexes or Siemens cost . . . that's a pretty good reason. Also, NOS upgrading just the final tube stage provides sufficient effect in this application. 
Re-Tubing A Sonic Frontiers Pre Amp
IMHO, the stock Sovteks with the SF Line series leave much to be desired - a very uninspiring midrange. Kevin Deal offers a full retube package that involves replacing only the back two tubes with first line NOS types, and the rest with NOS Russia... 
Help!! Jolida 502B tube biasing
My pleasure. 
Difference between "Watts" & "Currunts"?
While watts describes electrical power in a dynamic sense, current (amperage) describes electrical force in an absolute sense. Watts and current as electrical concepts are vaguely similar to horsepower and torque in mechanical engineering. Strictl... 
How did U get into this expensive hobby?
As a six year old, my father gave me an old broken down Philco radio for my bedroom. It sounded crummy, but played. After saving for months, I ran to the local electronics supply store and bought a fancy new "whizzer cone" speaker with a big fat m... 
Favorite Designer
Today: Bruce Rozenblit at Transcendent (OTL Amp) and Ric Schultz at EVS (Mods and DACs) - two very approachable renegades. Although both design some terrific sounding gear, they have completely opposing philosophies on the value of tweaks and exot... 
Tired of My Thiel's!!! UPGRADE TIME???
Jim Thiel is one of those designers who compromises in his smaller models by omission - IMHO a good thing. The smaller Thiels will forfeit an octave or so at the bottom in exchange for ruthless accuracy everywhere else. As you climb the ladder, yo... 
Help!! Jolida 502B tube biasing
Not too hard a task, although it's been some time since I ran my old one. Behind the power tubes and centered in front of the tranny cover is a five (5) terminal female jack. This jack is laid out in a row similar to the layout of the four power t... 
Opinons on Musical Fidelity A3 cr Preamp
It's somewhat difficult to quantify how much better any one product is over another. Does the retubed Line 1 stomp all over the A3cr? Absolutely not, and the MF has some very desirable strengths, including razor sharp but smooth full spectrum reso... 
Opinons on Musical Fidelity A3 cr Preamp
The Line 1 is exceedingly polite up the middle with the stock 6922s - I didn't like it either. However, there has been extensive commentary on the SF pre amps over the years and the universal theme is that these units come alive once you pull thos... 
Opinons on Musical Fidelity A3 cr Preamp
The A3cr is a very nice pre amp, although I would give it at least three solid weeks of audition in before making any appraisal. I bought an A3cr combo some months ago - together they make a very exciting pair. However, I wound up returning the pr... 
Pwr cable v Tubes
While both can make a difference, I think for this particular component you will get far more impact per dollar with tube changes. After a tube change, try upgrading the stock cord with an inexpensive 14/3 generic IEC. If that helps, then down the...