yyzsantabarbara
Responses from yyzsantabarbara
| I’m looking for an sleek integrated amp under $15k But as the football guy says, Mola Mola beats everything unless you want to really increase your price range. Funny how so many things supposedly sound better when they’re more expensive. Silly humans and their expectation bias. The Mola Mola M... | |
| I’m looking for an sleek integrated amp under $15k Stereophile had a review of the Boulder 866 and liked it. The reviewer then compared it to the Krell K-300i he had recently reviewed. You should have look at the reviewer's opinion. I owned the k-300i it sounds great but does not have a fancy GUI... | |
| Opinions about Daniel Hertz I asked Daniel Hertz and the US dealer if the Maria was similar to the PeachTree GAN1 but they did not go into much detail on that. Other than the A2D conversion for analog sources on the Maria what makes the Maria different from the GAN1. I know ... | |
| another rookie question - preamp or or power amp I had 2 very good integrateds amps, the KRELL K-300i and the CODA CSiB, I went separates with CODA 07x + CODA #8 replacing the CSiB. I also went Benchmark LA4 + KRELL Duo 175XD replacing the KRELL K-300i. While the integrated were very good and I... | |
| Better desktop DAC I spoke with someone on DM who plans to sell his PlayBack Designs Merlot DAC. The guy at PDB, Andreas K, is considered the father of DSD. The seller is moving up the line. I think he is selling in February. That Schitt Loki mentioned above may me... | |
| Best sounding headphones you have owned? State of the art sound for a relatively low cost is one of my headphone systems: RAAL CA-1a (like regular headphones, unlike the RAAL SR1a) ($2000 naked version) RAAL TL-1a speaker adapter box ($800) Schtt Mjolnir preamp ($1100) Schitt Aegir... | |
| Streamer Comparison and Suggestions If you are a ROON user, then the 3 streamers I owned would all work well. They best part is you do not need a superstar music server (also known as a computer). Lumin X1, this is a DAC and streamer. Lumin has released the streamer part of the X... | |
| Thiel Owners A lot of amps do not have published specs in the 2 Ohm region but that does not mean that it can operate there. My Benchmark AHB2 x 2 on the Thiel worked well but it did not make the low end shine. My new speakers are easier to drive and I will l... | |
| Preamp Shopping - Parasound, ML, McIntosh The CODA 07x is a tubey preamp. It is a bit noisier than I am accustomed to so I sold it. I have a CODA #16 amp so this was a surprising move by me. The Schitt Mjolnir is my headphone preamp but works with 2-channel. I find this one way better th... | |
| Power strip recommendations I have the $900 Audience power strip. It works well and also does a nice job with TV. I bought 2 for these when they had the introductory sale. I have a Torus RM15 power conditioner in my office system and use the Audience strips on the other sy... | |
| Magico A3 replacement I was looking to buy the A3 but I felt the following speakers were better, more coherent driver integration: Vivid Kaya 90 (maybe Kaya 45 for your room) Yamaha NS5000 (they are classified as "bookshelf" speakers). I bought these and they are n... | |
| Add I2s to Oppo players? My frame of reference for SACD players was one of the best ever built, the SONY SCD-1 which was modded my Vaccuum State to 5+ level. The D.BOB I mentioned is better in many ways to the SONY but the modded SONY still had a magical sound that could ... | |
| Does it bother you when you see inflated MSRP’s for used gear on AG? I inquired about a trade-in for an amp I owned. I was quoted 100% of the current MSRP price even though my amp was bought before the price increases during COVID. My takeaway is that this dealer plans to resell my amp relative to the current MSRP... | |
| Add I2s to Oppo players? I use the D.BOB to convert DSD from my OPPO (a real cheap one). The DSD goes into my Schitt Yggi+ DAC via SPDIF. It sounds amazing. GeerFab Audio D.BOB digital breakout box | Stereophile.com The Yggi DAC is way better than what is in the OPPO. ... | |
| Krell KSA-i400 Stereo Power Amplifier Thanks for the great feedback. I owned the AHB2 and loved it though it was not powerful enough for my then hard to drive speakers. One of the reasons I am so happy with the CODA #16 is that it has a very clean sound on top, almost as good as the... |