yesiam_a_pirate
Responses from yesiam_a_pirate
| Magnepan 1.7i vs 2.7i? Because the 3.7 and 2.7 are the same size (24x71) I'd go with the 3.7x. I have had all 3 of the Maggies in this topic and BY FAR the 3.7x is the king. (insert approved audiophile superlatives here). There is a "secret" that the Maggie insiders do... | |
| New electrical wiring specifications Don't forget to use two 9' copper earth ground rods wired in series with #6 solid core ground wire to the panel ground landing. Interestingly, the rods need to be 9' earth covered but not necessarily driven vertically. what you want is grounding... | |
| glowing red output tube, but don't think it's red-plating I've lived through a red-plating event and the screening resistor blowing up in a spectacular fashion. Indoor fireworks isn't fun. From my 1-time experience and the successor investigation, repair(s), re-tubing, etc. here's my opinion: Red Plati... | |
| what system musicians prefer? Do they care? Funny and true story: In 1980 I was able to spend some time at Ted Nugent's house in central MI. I was 18. He had a slate fireplace hearth that went wall to wall- elevated about 8" off the floor level as was the style in 1960s houses in that are... | |
| How reliable is PS audio equipment? I did have problems with the "card" that accepted the internet input on my DirectStream Mark 1 DAC. It gave me fits. I complained to them (politely) and was given a retail trade-and a discount on a new DirectStream II and and AirLens. Not only h... | |
| MBL Insolvent A sad fact is that the 2 channel high end audiophile is aging out and dying off. The successor generation has little use for high end gear. Another observation is that the people and or companies that make high end gear are not getting rich of... | |
| Why the huge increase in the price of Sonus Farber Amanti G5 speakers. Bose bought Sonus and apparently made the determination to charge more. This is the "new business model" used by private equity and rollup investors. Raise prices and cut value. No surprise here- we were all expecting this. Now get ready for qual... | |
| What is a good all around high quality speaker to purchase? One overlooked piece of the puzzle is how well the components play with each other. Brightly voiced speakers (like your B&Ws) driven by transistor preamps and amps can be harsh and glaring. Smooth-voiced speakers like Sonus match better with... | |
| Harman To Acquire B&W, Denon, Polk And Marantz From Masimo In $350 Million Deal Shrinking values in a shrinking universe of HiFi (and MidFi) brands. Even the cornerstone legacy brands are suffering. I think that a peculiar alchemy of lost creativity (including sucky music), lowering competencies, really cheap electronics ... | |
| Which would be preferable, an older Audio Research Corp. VT130 or a newer SS Rotel 1552? I have a VT130. In fact it's on my old virtual system page here. I re-tubed it using ARC tubes which was expensive. However my dealer let me have them at his cost so not that painful. I acquired the amp "by accident". It was thrown in an a SP15 ... | |
| What Meatloaf and Beer Have Taught me about Audiophiles What a fun and interesting post! Thanks Erik. My mom (who is a woman of excellent character) may well be the worst cook in in the lower 48 and her meatloaf was so bad even the dog wouldn't eat it. Some decades later a little Southern Belle fri... | |
| ARC Select Worth Price? I had 2 iffy Sovtek 6550s in my ARC power amp. I replaced them with what I thought were well priced NOS Sovtek 6550 from Upscale. Now I am not an absolute expert on Sovtek tubes and their iterations throughout the eras but I do recognize obvious... | |
| Audio Research LS28SE vs McIntosh C53 IMO it boils down to personal preference. What does your ear tell you? ARC makes the finest preamps in the world in many studied pro's opinion. MAC has a warm, engaging "house sound" that has been carefully curated over decades. Which music y... | |
| Are there any recording artists you just can’t listen too? Kiss- they are laugh-out-loud-at-them horrible musicians. However, they were (are) VERY good businessmen- in the PT Barnum sense of the word. | |
| Bryston or Yamaha? The Bryston preamps are notoriously quiet and neutral. I'm a tube guy but also own a BR-20 which I love. Not until you get into the $22,000+ range in preamps do you hear better (by only a little bit) sound. |