whitestix

Responses from whitestix

Bad experience with Red Dragon Audio
UPDATE:  I received an apologetic letter from Ryan Tews and a refund for the return of my S500.  I think he has sorted out some staffing issues that were the cause of the refund confusion in my case.  His gear is excellent and I will continue to s... 
Bad experience with Red Dragon Audio
I hate to flame any audio company, but I returned a Red Dragon amp about a month ago and after many emails to them asking about the status of the refund, it still hasn't happened.  I sent back a similar amp to Audio Advisors that I was auditioning... 
2017 California Audio Show in Oakland, CA - Partial Review
Erik,I live in Sacramento and completely forgot about the show!  Where are you located?  I'd like to meet up with you sometime.  Mark 
Preamp w/ a budget of $2000
I have the VTA SP14 preamp for sale on US Audio Mart.   Don Sachs has greatly customized the basic SP14 and has one for sale at the moment for under $2K.  I have that same amp in my main system and it is the finest preamp I have ever heard in my s... 
DIY Pass Labs First Watt F5 amp impressions
Kenny,Did I miss your post regarding your impressions of the LTA amp you acquired?  Kosst, I am using a Don Sach's 6SN7-based preamp with my F5 and can say that it is a match made in heaven.  I have plenty of gain with my Spatial Audio OB speakers... 
DIY Pass Labs First Watt F5 amp impressions
Kosst,Great information!  You clearly know your way around electronics. I am going to attend Burning Amp this fall down the road in San Francisco to meet "Papa" again.  It is funny that you mention the KEF LS50's.  I bought them shortly after they... 
DIY Pass Labs First Watt F5 amp impressions
Gents,I just returned from hearing a $6K Bryston 4B3 amp in a pal's system and got home to my system with the F5 warmed up and am hearing artifacts to the same music I was just listening to in my pal's system that were absent in his system.  The B... 
DIY Pass Labs First Watt F5 amp impressions
Let me be the first to say that I am very happy to hear you are enjoying the sound of your First Watt amp build!  I have had a ton of amps in the past 45 or so years and the F5, with a pair of compatible speakers, is  a sheer glimpse of audio nirv... 
DIY Pass Labs First Watt F5 amp impressions
I'll bet you are getting very eager to complete the project and fire it up in your system.  I wish I had auditioned a First Watt amp 5 or 6 amps earlier as I would have saved a lot of dough.  Let us know how your masterpiece sounds when it is up a... 
DIY Pass Labs First Watt F5 amp impressions
Update:  I earlier stated that the F5 runs as hot as a tube amp with four KT88 tubes.  That assertion is clearly wrong.  While the F5 runs much warmer than class A/B amps I have had, it generates nowhere near the heat generated by a robust tube am... 
2017 Honest Cabling that doesn’t promote bankruptcy
I have upgraded to Cerious Technologies Graphene PC and IC's in my system and they are quite good.  For my speakers, I found a significant improvement upgrading to the Supra Ply 3.4 tinned copper wire.  For my bedroom system, vintage WE 16 ga. tin... 
What is your speaker ownership history since 1995?
Very interesting thread started here  I thought I had the jones bad for speaker upgrades, but am a plebe compared to some of your fellows.  List of speakers from 1973 to 2017: Rectilinear III Highboys (outstanding speakers!) AR bookshelfs JBL L100... 
DIY Pass Labs First Watt F5 amp impressions
Pass Labs sells factory-built First Watt amps, as well as panoply of Pass Labs amps.  A great source is Mark at Reno Hifi.  Mine was built by a guy who took the plans that Nelson Pass has generously made freely available for DIY folks.  This fello... 
DIY Pass Labs First Watt F5 amp impressions
I too await a report on the LTA amp from Kenny.  I seem to recall Julius Futterman might have been a early designer and user of this circuitry.  
DIY Pass Labs First Watt F5 amp impressions
Larryi, Thanks for you keen observations.  I would agree that there is a slightly hard edge to the leading attack of notes with F5.