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tkhill

Responses from tkhill

Recommended for Americana Fans: Amanda Ann Platt and the Honeycutters
Absolutely wonderful! Thanks from Wilmington, NC. (the best place to live in CONUS).    
Any regrets in selling gear?
BGW 250C, McIntosh 275, Hafler DH 101  
Drinking Songs playlest... What am I missing?
Red necks, white socks, and Blue Ribbon Beer. Colorado Cool Aid. both by Johnny Paycheck    
Budget integrated amp?
Musical Paradise MP 301 MK 3. It has two line inputs, fairly low power (what are you driving?), sounds terrific, and could be put in a suitcase—a heavy suitcase. Convertible from 110 to 220 with a switch. Significantly less than $1000  
Amplifier recommendation
Merle? Haggard or Watson?  
List Of Small Company Tube Amps
Check out Musical Paradise, esp. if don't want to sell a kidney for an upgrade.    
Quality of recording while evaluating speakers
The old rule was garbage in/garbage out.The new streaming rule: good stuff in, maybe garbage out.  
List Of Small Company Tube Amps
Gary Huang makes great-sounding, bulletproof gear that you can actually afford. https://www.musicalparadise.ca/store/ I LOVE my MK301 MK3! (And have owned McIntosh, Dyna and Sophia, plus sever other ss amps).  
Sophia Electric is not honest
Does anyone out there have a spec. sheet for this amplifier (Sophia EL 34 A/B)? Sophia now denies having any documentation. These are not my favorite people!  
Is My Tube Amp Unfixable? Help Needed
Replace the output tube with a known good & then work your way back. It's also possible the tube sockets are wonky. Clean them with a drop of deoxit sprayed on a periodontal brush. Also clean the pins. Good luck.  
Replacement Tubes
Tube Depot https://www.tubedepot.com/  
Why is solid state more popular when tubes are better?
Is it really a contest? I thought it was a hobby. Upon returning from abroad with a modestly priced Chifi tube amp, I sold all my solid-state gear and upgraded (?) to tubes because I like the sound more.  
Should I steer clear of class D amps
I've no familiarity with current NAD products. Those I owned were excellent values. "Class D" always sounded a bit like snake oil to me. The data seems to show it. As to tubes sucking up power, I recently installed a vintage Sophia EL 34-based am... 
advice for headphones?
My AKG K240DFs have served me well in every application for thirty years. Made in Austria, the build quality is excellent. You may need an amplifier to use them on your laptop or other low-power devices, as they are 600-ohm headsets.    
Can’t buy output tubes anywhere except from manufacturers at high prices.
You can count on viva tubes https://www.tubedepot.com/ brent jesse  as vendors The JJ El34s & 6CA7s are my go to.