toddcowles
Responses from toddcowles
| PASS LABS XO.2 Preamplifier 3 Chassis or Pass Labs XP-10 I’ve owned the XP-20 for about 1.5 years now, picked it up used for $5k. Swapped out from a McIntosh c2500. I’ll second Karl’s sentiment, the XP-20 is dead quiet. Literally, you can hear what “black” sounds like. It’s extremely transparent, an... | |
| Upgrade from Ayre QB9 DAC Have you considered a PS Audio Direct Stream or Direct Stream Junior?I own the Ayre QB9 DSD and a DSJ. I use the Ayre QB9 as my dedicated headphone DAC. I have A/B’ed them, DSJ was more revealing in the midrange and upper frequencies. Little bi... | |
| Planning out a PS-Audio Stack, seeking advice balance of hardware vs dollars avalible For what it’s worth:I’ve ran the BHK pre, it sounded great, the only drawback, for me, was there are no tone controls. Some music was a little too sharp/sensitive on the higher frequencies, the inability to make slight adjustments made it a no go... | |
| Tube Pre-Amp, vs Solid State with Tone Controls/EQ to take edge off the top end? @almarg for the win! I was reading through this post, thinking a DEQX would solve this. I too faced the same issues with “awkward” high end frequencies, too bright, but not consistent. I say “awkward,” because the high end wasn’t consistent on ... | |
| Subwoofer recommendation for Dynaudio Confidence C4 I own a set of C4 signatures and use a REL R-528. It’s quite sufficient. If you do end up using 2 subs, you may face some challenges with getting them phased and integrated properly, key word being “may.” I use a DEQX to get the alignment for t... | |
| Next Gen replacement for McIntosh C2600 pre-amp Others will likely chime in, but that chassis has been out for a few years. I had a C2300, same chassis as C2600, and I bought that new about 4 years ago. The C2600 has updates to support DSD and had new tube circuitry. If I had to guess, the c... | |
| Moving to smaller room... Thank you yogiboy. But, I'm trading in the Dyn's and those are the only two versions of Harbeth's they have. | |
| VooDoo Cables I don't fully subscribe to the "cables make a difference scenario," but have splurged on expensive cables despite that. In system to system comparisons, with cable x vs y, it's very difficult to validate any improvement, other than your ears. In... | |
| DEQX Final Config and impressions... @ozzy contact him larry@deqx.com | |
| DEQX Final Config and impressions... @ozzy I don’t believe he’d have a problem with it being posted, but I sent him a text to verify. | |
| DEQX Final Config and impressions... @ozzy Hi Ozzy, Larry is an independent consultant and is outside of the support provided by DEQX. Used or new, he can help you configure it properly. | |
| VooDoo Cables @gwng8 I swapped out much more expensive shunyata’s with the VooDoo cables, couldn’t notice a difference. | |
| DAC's....Ayre versus PS Audio I own the QB-9 DSD and a Direct Steam Junior. Though the Junior isn’t the full fledged DS, it’s pretty darn close. I also have the Pass XP-20. It’s a really tough comparison. I did A/B them, for quite a bit and ended up putting the Ayre in my ... | |
| The ups and downs of tube vs. SS... I’ve owned both, tube preamp, SS amp, SS preamp, hybrid amp. I won’t overextend myself and state tubes sound better. I’ve purchased pricey NOS tubes and less expensive Gold Lions. In the end, I always found myself looking past if it’s tube or S... | |
| McIntosh C2500 to Pass Labs XP-20 Comparison @david_ten I do. I didn’t realize in many of Otis Redding’s mono recordings his vocals were panned way to the left. I’ve listened to them previously, but the chorus would eat up a lot of the soundstage; which colored the vocal pan. With the Pas... |