soix
Responses from soix
| Upsampling the way to go? ? The upsampling is only as good as the implementation. If the implementation isn't done with care the added circuitry can easily overwhelm any benefits of upsampling. Better to buy a well-executed non-upsampling DAC than a mediocre upsampling DAC. ... | |
| Cheap Sony SACD players: best STOCK/MODified For anyone who may not have seen it--Ric Schultz at EVS(www.tweakaudio.com) has done a nice little overview of what's possible with various CD, SACD, and Universal players. Go into the "What's New" section and work your way to the "Players" sectio... | |
| Modified McCormack DNA 0.5 vs. DNA 125 At a B-mod level I'd probably take the DNA-225 as Steve McCormack has said that for the most part he's incorporated that level of parts in the new amps, although my choice would change if I found a serious bargain on a DNA-1 Rev. B(same holds for ... | |
| Speaker Placement Info Needed With your speakers only 20" from the back wall you're probably getting a lot of room reinforcement, which is not necessarily a bad thing depending on your room, equipment, and tastes. I'd first try moving them out about 4' from the wall just to se... | |
| stuck in a quandry -what's best solely on quality? You pretty much hit the nail on the head. A lot of stereo preamps these days have a "video" input that you can use for this purpose, but any line-level input will work and you're right that the preamp will need at least two inputs(or one input and... | |
| Best used amp for around 500 You can probably find a used McCormack DNA-0.5 for around that price, and you have the flexibility to have it modded through SMcAudio by Steve McCormack in the future if you want to turn it into a real killer amp. Best of luck.Tim | |
| stuck in a quandry -what's best solely on quality? I'd keep the Stratos powering the front 2 channels, buy a relatively inexpensive Denon receiver(or similar) with preamp outs to handle processing and power for center/surrounds, and put your money into a high-quality stereo preamp for critical 2-c... | |
| Best used DAC 500 or less, need help Just to fill in a couple pieces of info. from the Kana's post above, the EVS DAC II does not use op amps(Ric doesn't much like them so designed the DAC to not use them--I believe it uses a FET output stage). Also, although I'm sure the CAL DAC is ... | |
| Nautilus owners upgrade to what? If you've got upwards of $5k to spend I'd highly recommend finding a Silverline dealer(not always easy) and trying the Sonatina II or Sonata II. Incredible speakers that will work well with a variety of electronics. I also thought the Thiel CS1.6 ... | |
| Best used DAC 500 or less, need help I'll second Phild's EVS Millennium DAC recommendation. The parts in the DAC 1, if it were produced by a major manufacturer, would mandate a $2000 price tag or higher, but if you can find one used you can probably get it for around $400. The DAC II... | |
| jukebox w. DAC, can it be good? I agree that with a good digital cable, a good DAC, and a good jitter-reduction device, a jukebox with a halfway decent transport and coax digital out will sound pretty damn good and will probably make you feel that you're not missing much at all.... | |
| Best SS 200 wpc amps I know someone who went to the B&W factory and they had Levinson amps plugged into the N800s for what it's worth. I know Electrocompaniet makes some nice high-current designs and even named their Nemo amp to coincide with the Nautilus line, so... | |
| Anyone recommend the best small speakers for cheap Probably the best sound per dollar I'm aware of would be the Axiom speakers that are really getting some nice press and reviews from owners. Given what I've read they would seem to be at another level over the NHTs, and I'd forget the Gallos if yo... | |
| Speakers to match this system.... I'd agree with all the recommendations above--all great. It would help a great deal if you tell us a bit about your preferences, then we can be a little more specific about why one model might be more appropriate than another or offer other recomm... | |
| What should I upgrade next? I thought it was interesting you happened to mention Maggies as a potential speaker choice as I couldn't think of a better example of why you should pick speakers first from a practical system building perspective. Ribbon speakers(which I believe ... |