tobias

Responses from tobias

poor source material
As Fafafion suggests, you could start to think about component upgrades. If you find the right combination of pieces, the poorly-recorded music can sound much better.There is a caveat, though. Systems, and people's listening tastes, can take diffe... 
How to hook up home theater.......
Aargh, the peanuts, the peanuts... 
suggest valve amplifier for Living Voice speakers
What about the Audio Note Interstage 300B or the Border Patrol S20 ? Both offer about 20 wpc and use interstage transformers. The AN did very well at RMAF, the BP got a rave from Roy Gregory. Haven't heard them, but would love to. 
Catchy tunes that sound great?
IIRC, you can talk all you want about a riveting tune that's impossible to get out of your head _while_ Cage's 4'33" is playing. It's four minutes 33 secs of silence--or rather, of ambient auditory information.Now, 4 min 33 secs of silence in my h... 
matching tt to music
I find Onhwy61's observation rather interesting. The last VPI I listened hard to was in the Soundsmith room at the Montreal show in April. Don't know the VPI model, I presumed it was the full Monty since Soundsmith is a dealer, and the TT had a Sc... 
matching tt to music
The 10x5 sounds warm and full on its own, without any transformers or whatever between it and the first amplification stage. I listened to it on a Roksan Xerxes with a Rega 250 or 300 and IIRC a Kora phonostage. 
matching tt to music
Well, you might add a Dynavector 10x5 to your list of cartridge choices. It sounds very much like your description and would fit your Rega fine. 
"Budget" cable advice, please
My experience with Monster cables is limited to the Interlink 400 II, which was fine for the $35 I paid.I have a couple of Auricle Audio interconnects. These are auctioned here and can be picked up quite reasonably.I also have a couple of Acoustic... 
DAC gain, or amp volume?
Found out last week my Mini-DAC's gain was set *way* high. Sonic effect: harshness in upper mids, congestion, little play in the preamp's volume control. Got this advice: if you are using a tube preamp you may be able to work with a higher gain se... 
Blue Note reissues as an investment?
What Blindjim says makes sense to me. IMHO collecting anything is a question of passion ( or obsession ) and that is the best reason to do it. Often enough, if you go for what you love, that love will be returned some way down the road. 
Amp Stands, Butcher Blocks Etc.
I took my Shanling SP-80 tube monoblocks off the floor and put them on custom-made 3-inch maple platforms. What a difference this made to the sound : clearer mids, cleaner highs and tighter, weightier bass. I used the Mapleshade guidelines and put... 
New Music: Oh Laura
Hi Jdoris, at this point I am tipped slightly towards Firecracker... Toby 
New Music: Oh Laura
If the Be Good Tanyas did it for you, you might also like the Wailin' Jennys.http://www.thewailinjennys.com/ 
what are"fun" speakers?
I have seen "fun" applied to economically-priced speakers which made you want to dance. As examples, IME "fun" applies to the Royd Minstrel (low sensitivity) and the Triangle Titus (90 dB). 
Analog digital converters
I use an M-Audio Audiophile USB outboard sound "card" that I found on eBay and paid well under $100 for. However I would love to have an Apogee Rosetta 200 one day, for well over ten times the price. In between, my choice would be an Apogee Mini-M...