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1: General Asylum, Bring "Outside" back! (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2021-10-26, 10:28:17 (72.45.9.247)
From the former moderator. ;-0 .......
2: Critic's Corner, RE: Reality is the opposite of your expectations though (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2021-10-22, 13:18:49 (72.45.9.247)
Not sure that your argument follows from the facts. A low volume manufacturer can afford 100 per cent QC. For example, the first pair of B&W speakers that I bought, in 1978 or 79, include the actual r .......
3: Critic's Corner, RE: I think the question of "perfection" is more of a "Navajo rug" thing... (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2021-10-22, 13:10:10 (72.45.9.247)
Your comment begs the question as to whether the design goal of some of these long-term electronics guys (like D'Agostino) is just to make something that sounds "different" from their earlier products .......
4: Critic's Corner, RE: Nice to have you back, plus I learned a word (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2021-10-22, 12:57:51 (72.45.9.247)
As a long-time amateur film photographer, I'm familiar with the term as it customarily is used. So, yeah, I was using it figuratively. .......
5: Critic's Corner, RE: While we're dumping on Stereophile a bit can someone remind (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2021-10-22, 12:53:35 (72.45.9.247)
Yeah, I noticed this mis-use of the term . . . but I'm not a total nag. So I didn't comment. .......
6: Critic's Corner, kerfluffle at S'phile website over JVS review of latest D'Agostino amp (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2021-10-21, 19:07:13 (72.45.9.247)
With trepidation, I bring this comment here because S'phile editor Jim Austin has closed comments on a very recently posted JVS review of Dan D'Agostino's latest megabuck ($44K for the monoblock pair) .......
7: Speaker Asylum, RE: KLH 5 (New) (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2021-06-13, 18:22:28 (72.45.9.247)
Darko Audio has a review, although I did not find it terribly informative. .......
8: General Asylum, You should warn your friend (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2021-02-13, 15:26:41 (72.45.9.247)
that even the cheap universal players from Sony and others, which claim to play SACDs, do not generate an analog output. They have a digital HDMI output. So, he would need a modern home theater receiv .......
9: Vinyl Asylum, Definitely replace the belt (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2021-01-01, 19:34:41 (72.45.9.247)
I have a HW-19 that I've had for at least 10 years. When I moved from my big house in 2015 and went no fixed address for 10 months, everything went in storage. By 2017, we had bought a new, smaller ho .......
10: General Asylum, RE: I bought used KEF LS50s for $700 (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2021-01-01, 19:01:52 (72.45.9.247)
Well, I paid more for mine 3 years ago . . . but that was before the "new, improved" version was released. It's a great little speaker, and I have carefully and seamlessly integrated it with a REL sub .......
11: Inmate Central, RE: How to Make a Workaholic Retire (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2020-11-26, 17:20:03 (72.45.9.247)
It's really a question of whether the putative retiree's self-image is entirely a product of his/her job. if it is, then retirement can be fatal. Workaholics are good candidates for this because, if t .......
12: Inmate Central, Covid-19 (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2020-11-22, 10:00:05 (72.45.9.247)
Being of that age (over70) and having slightly compromised lungs (because of anti-cancer radiation treatments that "spilled over" a little), I take the coronovirus thing seriously. Living now in a .......
13: Inmate Central, translation, please! (nt) (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2020-11-22, 09:09:40 (72.45.9.247)
.......
14: Inmate Central, I feel the ghost of "Outside" coming in (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2020-11-21, 19:27:28 (72.45.9.247)
As the one and only moderator of that den of iniquity (1999-whenever it was banished), I should know! .......
15: Vinyl Asylum, RE: You would be surprised and disappointed (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2020-11-18, 16:58:01 (72.45.9.247)
if you assumed that MM carts are hum free. They run to a high impedance input which is very good at picking up RFI. I've been running an MC for years into a step up (2 carts, actually) and both have b .......
16: Inmate Central, promise not to tell (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2020-11-13, 13:20:49 (72.45.9.247)
Having had the Airstream for 5 years and having made 6 cross-country trips (all by different routes) with it, plus visited all of New England, the Great Smokies and so on, I think it may be coming to .......
17: Inmate Central, RE: My sister and BIL have tested positive for the "creeping crud" (Covid)... (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2020-11-12, 11:17:12 (72.45.9.247)
Add me to the list of well-wishers. About 3 weeks ago, my wife and I returned from a 2+ month trip across the country and back to see our new grandson in California with no ill effects. We did it i .......
18: Critic's Corner, RE: Sue Kraft Died (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2020-11-10, 14:25:19 (72.45.9.247)
Very sorry to hear this. She was a fun, knowledgeable active participant at the Asylum for many years. And one of an apparently small number of women audiophiles. My condolences to her family and frie .......
19: General Asylum, RE: How about monofilament fishing line? (nt) (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2020-11-10, 14:09:04 (72.45.9.247)
.......
20: General Asylum, Yes (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2020-04-07, 14:13:08 (24.145.117.29)
My son-in-law (who seems to have money burning a hole in his pocket) has a Sonos streaming set up. Apparently he visited "Magnolia" at Best Buy and saw some of the stuff they had there, because he was .......
21: Inmate Central, RE: Buh, bye... (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2020-04-07, 14:00:24 (24.145.117.29)
Did you read the transcript of the former Acting Sec'y's entire rant? Amazing. The Captain's letter pales in comparison. .......
22: Inmate Central, postscript (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2020-04-07, 13:58:47 (24.145.117.29)
Modly resigned, not doubt after someone whispered in his ear that either SecNav or Potus "lacked confidence" in him. Good. However, at least publicly, nothing but crickets from Rear Adm. Stuart Baker, .......
23: Inmate Central, RE: OK, but still fired... (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2020-04-06, 21:54:56 (24.145.117.29)
Yeah, but Modly should look in the mirror when he recites that mantra, and ask the question about himself. Having read the transcript of the acting secretary's rant (which is the only way to describe .......
24: Inmate Central, Especially those living in NYC (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2020-04-04, 14:20:37 (24.145.117.29)
with its tiny apartments (other than for the ultra-rich). .......
25: Speaker Asylum, RE: AR upgrades (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2020-04-04, 13:41:14 (24.145.117.29)
Not sure about the tweeter replacement, assuming the original is still working fine. The pots are problematic . . . because they're pots! I might start by simply bypassing them. I would also consider .......
26: Speaker Asylum, RE: AR2Xa speakers (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2020-03-28, 15:54:02 (24.145.117.29)
I assume you mean AR2ax. I owned a pair of these for several years back in the late 60s/early 70s. First drove them with a Dynaco Stereo 70 -- an EL34 based push pull tube amp. They sounded better wit .......
27: Computer Audio Asylum, RE: DIY Music Server-related question (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2020-01-30, 18:29:48 (71.126.175.37)
After futzing about this for, literally, years, I'm about to take the plunge and acquire a one-box DAC/music streamer. The manufacturer of that box makes an application that seems to work reasonably w .......
28: Inmate Central, RE: NBA superstar Kobe Bryant has died in a helicopter crash (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2020-01-26, 16:39:15 (71.126.175.37)
I think I saw a report that his 13 year old daughter was aboard; his wife was not. Sad all around . . . Bryant seemed well on the way to building the next phase of his life after having been a basketb .......
29: Speaker Asylum, Good for you (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2020-01-26, 15:59:10 (71.126.175.37)
In my opinion the point of diminishing returns on audio should always be kept in mind, at least for those of "limited financial resources," which is probably 95% of us here. With loudspeakers, what se .......
30: Amp/Preamp Asylum, Welcome to the world of digital audio (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2020-01-26, 15:25:26 (71.126.175.37)
Where obsolescence is right around the corner. Remember what we all went through with computers 30 years ago: get a 286, then 386, then 486, then a Pentium and so on, so you could keep running the lat .......
31: General Asylum, RE: Will Reel to Reel make a bigger comeback than vinyl? (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2020-01-26, 15:03:04 (71.126.175.37)
Tape is actually pretty perishable stuff. It stretches; it de-oxidizes, it prints through and I've had tape do other very weird stuff spontaneously while in proper storage. Commercially-made R2R tape .......
32: Speaker Asylum, not my experience (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2019-12-15, 15:28:40 (24.145.117.29)
Not my experience at all. I bought a pair to replace my aging Joseph Audio RM7si signatures. Using everything else the same, I found the Josephs had more extended bass, an inferior midrange and (perha .......
33: Vinyl Asylum, Yikes! (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2019-11-09, 18:11:03 (24.145.117.29)
Having a trough full of that stuff hanging over my precious record would scare the beejeezus out of me, regardless of how sublime the sound that results. .......
34: General Asylum, RE: Never liked the looks of or wanted any of their products ...............nt (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2019-10-10, 18:05:31 (71.126.175.37)
If I'm not mistaken, the company was one of the first ton design "phase-coherent" loudspeakers. Not just 1st order crossovers but featuring a special driver dedicated to reproducing a narrow band of o .......
35: Vinyl Asylum, RE: Vintage vs modern (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2019-09-15, 18:41:43 (71.126.175.37)
My guess is that most of the difference is attributable to the cartridge. The Stanton 500E is a sweet cartridge. That's what I mounted in my first serious turntable --an AR XA-- in 1968. I subsequentl .......
36: Critic's Corner, RE: Michael Lavorgna is retiring!! (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2019-08-10, 14:09:24 (24.145.117.29)
I was a regular visitor to his branch of the Stereophile website, but was a less frequent visitor to his new site. Not surprisingly, it took a while to get rolling. Small-scale manufacturers only have .......
37: Digital Drive, Cheap Sony Blu-Ray player (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2019-08-08, 16:16:26 (24.145.117.29)
that plays SACD . . . and similar products. The problem is that they all are geared to the home theatre market and have no analog outputs. Their only output is digital (HDMI), so unless the OP has a h .......
38: General Asylum, RE: Lessons learned.....the hard way (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2019-08-01, 09:15:10 (24.145.117.29)
I have 3 credit cards, which I have had forever. Although we run most of our purchases through one card, I run some recurring purchases (health insurance, Easy Pass toll charges) through another one a .......
39: Critic's Corner, RE: A little harsh, but yes. (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2019-07-31, 10:31:25 (24.145.117.29)
Other than horrible-sounding Klipschorns driven by horrible-sounding 1970s solid state electronics, the only horns I've heard were Avantegardes (Duos, I think) driven by an all-BAT tube system playing .......
40: Critic's Corner, A little harsh, but yes. (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2019-07-30, 13:57:49 (24.145.117.29)
I started buying high fidelity equipment in 1969. In the early 1970s , Sony began making some very good standalone FM tuners. I know; I owned one. I also owned various Dynaco electronics, both tube an .......
41: Inmate Central, RE: Talking about future power generation and the future of nuclear power ..... (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2019-07-17, 17:24:24 (71.126.175.37)
The US Navy has been operating nuclear-powered vessels since the late 1950s . . without a problem. On a larger scale, France has the greatest percentage of nuclear-generated electricity of any country .......
42: Critic's Corner, RE: An Inconvenient Truth . . . (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2019-07-16, 13:59:46 (24.145.117.29)
Meh. I like Darko's website and his reviews. First, he doesn't exaggerate the differences between components that do not sound all that different. Second, he avoids the florid, over-written style that .......
43: Computer Audio Asylum, RE: Exactly, Bruce ... (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2019-07-09, 08:31:22 (24.145.117.29)
Sometimes, you gotta step back and get perspective on things. Be honest! How many times have you bought a new piece of gear, hooked it up and then dragged out your favorite old warhorse recording and .......
44: Computer Audio Asylum, exactly (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2019-07-09, 05:06:15 (24.145.117.29)
I was not looking for the least expensive solution. For that, I could buy one of the earlier Audioquest DACs and save a few $100s. Frankly, all of the Allo products and similar raspbery pi products st .......
45: Computer Audio Asylum, Cheap and easy . . . but any good? (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2019-07-08, 08:44:07 (24.145.117.29)
So, I'm looking around and I see the new NAD M10, which runs BlueOS, and combines a super-easy UI streamer with a Sabre DAC and a 100 wpch Class D amplifier. All for about US$2400. Now I have no need .......
46: Inmate Central, RE: Here's What's Considered Middle Class in Your State... (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2019-07-01, 10:08:45 (24.145.117.29)
Nice photo. Everything else is rubbish. First "middle class" is a pretty arbitrary distinction. Secondly, the income bands characterized as "middle class" have a 3:1 spread or more. It doesn't take mu .......
47: Digital Drive, RE: Transport for Denafrips Ares? (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2019-06-09, 12:09:51 (24.145.117.29)
Why not continue to use the Oppo as a transport to feed your new DAC? And, as others have suggested, start ripping your CDs to mass storage? The number of manufacturers of optical drives is shrinking, .......
48: Computer Audio Asylum, RE: Sirius (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2019-05-01, 16:07:41 (24.145.117.29)
Sirius broadcasts in mono and must use an incredibly low bitrate. In my truck (which has Sirius) both Pandora and Spotify streamed from my iPhone sound much much better (actually, I think it uses a ha .......
49: Digital Drive, RE: Streaming .............................. (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2019-04-26, 08:09:11 (24.145.117.29)
They agree to it, because it doesn't really matter to them. It's a "why not?" situation; and, of course, they have no bargaining power. Under the old system, the record companies essentially partnered .......
50: General Asylum, Re: Why drink bourbon... (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2019-04-26, 07:59:29 (24.145.117.29)
Wine is for food. Bourbon is for drinking . . . .......
51: Digital Drive, RE: Streaming .............................. (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2019-04-25, 18:40:21 (24.145.117.29)
it's all about the price, cut-throat. The price per play paid by streaming services is tiny. It's calculated to be remunerative only to the mega-artists who get gajillions of play. if it were otherwis .......
52: Vinyl Asylum, RE: BAT VK10 PSE w/ superpac VS. JC3+ (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2019-04-25, 18:26:52 (24.145.117.29)
I'm sure they sound different. There's a characteristic "BAT sound." You either like it or you don't. I have one of BAT's lesser (than the VK-P10) phono stages. This is one of those instances where yo .......
53: General Asylum, RE: Rock band takes on the Supreme Court and wins! (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2019-04-25, 18:08:06 (24.145.117.29)
Kinda old news but good news just the same. Reminds me of Texan country singer from the 70s -- Kinky Friedman and the Texas Jewboys. Not kidding. .......
54: Digital Drive, RE: Giving up on spinning disks? (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2019-04-18, 17:26:03 (24.145.117.29)
I think your story is all too common. Optical disc players are mechanical devices, and they eventually fail for one reason or another. Unlike turntables, they are not easy to manufacture; and it seems .......
55: Vinyl Asylum, What I called "goofy stereo" was rock, e.g. Beatles (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2019-04-18, 17:13:39 (24.145.117.29)
I completely agree with you that there were some wonderful stereo recordings made in late 50s early to mid 60s -- before the "wonders" of multimicing were discovered. In the non-classical vein, "Belaf .......
56: Speaker Asylum, Boomers for boomers! (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2019-04-18, 17:01:48 (24.145.117.29)
The ARs were pretty inefficient, IIRC. The JBLs much less so. .......
57: Vinyl Asylum, RE: Mono... Ugh, not a fan (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2019-04-17, 13:24:55 (24.145.117.29)
Make that "Mersey." On the topic: given a choice, I'd prefer a good stereo recording over mono. But the early goofy stereo, e.g. Beatles, with all the vocals in one channel and all the instrumentals .......
58: Vinyl Asylum, I'm into my dotage, but I'm not into dotage. (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2019-04-17, 13:12:28 (24.145.117.29)
It's a PITA. .......
59: General Asylum, I agree (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2019-04-10, 20:12:09 (173.73.138.33)
Not encouraging. A DOA unit should never have left the factory. And a replacement new unit should have been shipped out as soon as the DOA unit was received in Boulder. The customer should not have pa .......
60: Digital Drive, RE: Is there more than one type of digital coaxial cable? (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2019-04-09, 09:42:41 (24.145.117.29)
Entirely too cheap. Can't meet audiophile standards! ;-) .......
61: Computer Audio Asylum, this is harder than it looks (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2019-04-08, 12:54:51 (24.145.117.29)
Especially when you're dealing with an old analog master tape that may have an attenuated top end. The PCM version may supply some missing punch that wasn't on the master and, hence "sounds better." T .......
62: Vinyl Asylum, RE: used carts (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2019-04-03, 16:39:01 (173.73.138.33)
I bought one from inmate John Coulson ("John C.--Aussie), and it was fine, at least until my cleaning lady knackered it. I don't think I would buy a used cart from someone I didn't know and trust, how .......
63: Vinyl Asylum, looks like mine (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2019-04-02, 17:56:39 (24.145.117.29)
without the yellow "liner notes." .......
64: Vinyl Asylum, RE: This one? (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2019-03-31, 17:15:04 (24.145.117.29)
Yes, but different recording. .......
65: Vinyl Asylum, Harmonia Mundi records -- and my favorite solo piano recording (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2019-03-31, 12:30:56 (24.145.117.29)
I have no idea how I got it, but I have a record by the French label "Harmonia Mundi" of Ceasar Franck piano pieces played by Austrian pianist Jorg Demus. Harmonia Mundi records featured clear plastic .......
66: Vinyl Asylum, RE: Denon 103 hum (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2019-03-31, 12:15:06 (24.145.117.29)
Check all of your ground connections, including, possibly, the ground connection of your tonearm/turntable if either is metal. Some metal-bodied cartridges connect (either internally or externally) on .......
67: General Asylum, RE: Adcom electronics (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2019-03-31, 10:39:24 (24.145.117.29)
I recall going into what was DC's premier "audio salon" where they were playing B&W Matrix 801's driven by Adcom electronics. The sound was, to put it gently, "uninspired." Fortunately, I had heard th .......
68: Vinyl Asylum, RE: Loudness wars in 1970s? (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2019-03-29, 08:57:40 (24.145.117.29)
The "oil price shock" of 1974 and subsequent years had a substantial effect on vinyl, since it is a petroleum product. All kinds of cost reduction strategies were employed, including using recycled vi .......
69: Critic's Corner, Thanks! (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2019-03-26, 09:46:30 (24.145.117.29)
I'm not going to criticize anyone for style points, especially because (at least in the past) some inmates are not native English speakers. There was a French inmate (sadly, now deceased) named Patric .......
70: Critic's Corner, RE: "Old habits die hard . . ." (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2019-03-26, 09:38:50 (24.145.117.29)
Not to take this thread too far off track, but "legalese" is usually the refuge of bad lawyers who are trying to sound good. Most of the time, you will find excellent writing in Supreme Court opinions .......
71: Critic's Corner, RE: I'm an English major and I kinda liked it, too (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2019-03-25, 12:09:21 (24.145.117.29)
Well, I did get an MA in Writing from Johns Hopkins and I worked for 3 years as a professional journalist for a big daily newspaper. Then I went to law school and worked another 38 years as a litigato .......
72: Critic's Corner, I'm an English major and I kinda liked it, too (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2019-03-24, 17:43:05 (24.145.117.29)
I found it interesting. By contrast, I find some of the S'phile crowd's reviews over-wrought. Not including JA1. Seems like JA2 has an open mind. That's good IMHO. .......
73: General Asylum, Thanks for that! (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2019-03-22, 08:11:05 (24.145.117.29)
Great read! .......
74: Vinyl Asylum, RE: Turn table Rumble (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2019-03-21, 12:31:40 (24.145.117.29)
I think folks are talking about two different kinds of isolation problem. One, which can exist where anyone's turntable is connected (i.e. by a stand or table) to a suspended wood floor (i.e. a typica .......
75: Amp/Preamp Asylum, RE: That's not it... (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2019-03-17, 16:32:19 (173.73.138.33)
Interesting . . . My Vk P5 phonostage and VK-300i integrated amp are cruising along fine on the original tubes, although neither is 20 years old. The volume control failed on the integrated amp some t .......
76: General Asylum, RE: Has anyone installed a whole house surge protector? (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2019-03-17, 15:22:27 (173.73.138.33)
The surge protector will deal with over voltages coming in through the power line, like if the strike hit the aerial power "drop" connecting your house to the power line running down the street. Howev .......
77: General Asylum, AA is 19 years old. (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2019-03-15, 13:44:03 (173.73.138.33)
So, it's inevitable that its going to change. When this got started in 1999, Rod chose the BBS software on the (reasonable) assumption that most inmates were connecting through dial-up, so it's graphi .......
78: Computer Audio Asylum, US Catalog (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2019-03-15, 11:17:52 (173.73.138.33)
All of these services have to buy playback rights, which typically are sold on a geographic (regional) basis. So, it's likely that the Qobuz folks are still working that out for US/North America distr .......
79: Hi-Rez Highway, still no Tidal? (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2019-03-15, 11:05:03 (173.73.138.33)
These things are getting really cheap on Audiogon -- around $1100 asking. .......
80: Inmate Central, You're a gambler! (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2019-03-10, 15:27:23 (24.145.117.29)
Lucky guy! .......
81: Inmate Central, Seriously? (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2019-03-10, 09:20:46 (24.145.117.29)
Cooling systems in early 2000s BMWs had know issues, and owners were advised to replace water pump impeller, expansion tank, radiator, thermostat and all hoses at 60,000 miles to avoid catastrophic fa .......
82: Inmate Central, RE: Daylight Savings Time-might not thrill ya, hope it don't kill ya. (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2019-03-10, 08:44:27 (24.145.117.29)
A bleeping nuisance. Now that I'm retired and don't have a punch a clock, it doesn't matter much to me. But, when it did matter, I usually felt groggy and out of sorts for a week in the spring. And th .......
83: Inmate Central, RE: idle mixture (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2019-03-10, 08:26:57 (24.145.117.29)
obviously, the engine's idle operating parameters are adjusted to minimize fuel consumption while retaining emissions performance. It's interesting that none of these 'variable displacement"/ cylinder .......
84: Speaker Asylum, RE: After 20 years in case of my B&W DM7's (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2019-03-09, 10:53:01 (173.73.138.33)
Oh yeah. I had those, too. Previously, I had an all Dynaco system, with the Stereo 400 amp driving a pair of Magnepan MG-IIs. Moving forced me to downsize. DC's leading audio salon got me into Luxman' .......
85: Inmate Central, RE: For those with 1.5 liter Honda turbo engine cars. (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2019-03-08, 18:38:51 (173.73.138.33)
What's this nonsense about the "efficiency" of the cooling system creating the problem? A properly designed cooling system should be effectively disengaged until the engine reaches operating temperatu .......
86: Inmate Central, RE: This is the stuff about modern cars that I don't get. (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2019-03-08, 18:31:54 (173.73.138.33)
What you don't get is that the small displacement engine will always use less fuel than the larger one during idling and low vehicle speed operation. That directly affects city fuel economy. It's all .......
87: Inmate Central, Not mine (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2019-03-08, 18:16:52 (173.73.138.33)
Back in the day, when you and I were kids, Electrolux were the ne plus ultra of vacuum cleaners-- expensive but they ran forever, My Mom had one, and, as a junior naval officer, my Dad was not well- .......
88: Inmate Central, The ideal coastal California car: Tesla (or any other EV) (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2019-03-08, 18:09:18 (173.73.138.33)
You don't need much heat, you don't need much A/C. In the Topanga neighborhood of LA, real estate agents advertise it as the perfect climate; you don't need heat or A/C. Although in a cool, wet winter .......
89: Inmate Central, RE: USB-C? Yuck! (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2019-03-08, 17:48:28 (173.73.138.33)
Fortunately, my adapter has a little cable attached so I can use it while powering the computer through the other port right next to it. Fancier models give you USB-C ports on both sides of the machin .......
90: Speaker Asylum, When I read Stereophile (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2019-03-08, 17:40:46 (173.73.138.33)
because they said so! [just kidding] For the most part, it was the discovery of what I was missing when I listened to something else. There was one diversion into seriously bad land. In Houston in the .......
91: Inmate Central, RE: Newer laptops don't have ethernet ports either (mt) (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2019-03-07, 14:33:51 (24.145.117.29)
My MacBook Pro from 2017 has 2 USB-C ports, that's it. No spinning hard drive, no optical drive. Expensive little sucker and moderately useless without a cloud storage account. I had to buy a whatsit .......
92: Critic's Corner, No kidding, Sherlock! (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2019-03-07, 14:19:39 (24.145.117.29)
You figured it out. .......
93: Critic's Corner, RE: "Make it "favorite."" (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2019-03-07, 14:18:16 (24.145.117.29)
Not my disfavor at all. Some of my best friends are Canadian/British/Australian/Kiwi whatever! ;-0 Just a style point. When my daughter was in graduate school at the London School of Economics, we agr .......
94: Inmate Central, RE: I haven't run the sprinklers for over 3 months... (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2019-03-06, 14:10:11 (24.145.117.29)
At the rate we're going, I won't be running ouir elaborate sprinkler system for the next 3 years. Everywhere is squishy wet, standing water in many places where it's not supposed to be. Last year, we .......
95: Critic's Corner, that's when you know it's time to quit (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2019-03-06, 08:59:11 (24.145.117.29)
When you look at another gray/white-haired guy, and your inner voice says "kid." ;-0 I knew I had hit "the wall" when I was appearing before a newly-appointed female federal judge a few years ago and .......
96: Vinyl Asylum, not me (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2019-03-06, 08:42:19 (24.145.117.29)
11 vacuum tubes running all the time? No way. My phono stage does use a soft start circuit, so I'm still running the original tubes. It seems to take the equivalent of one side of an LP for the unit t .......
97: Vinyl Asylum, One more thing.. . (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2019-03-06, 08:39:34 (24.145.117.29)
I had a lot of experience with consumer R2R tapes back in the day. I must have owned a total of 4 or 5 machines, beginning in 1968. I sold my last one, a very nice Pioneer unit, prolly 5 or 65 years a .......
98: General Asylum, Good for you! (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2019-03-05, 17:31:56 (24.145.117.29)
We all should be so lucky. Although, I realize that a lot more than luck was involved in your case! .......
99: Critic's Corner, RE: "which started with a diatribe against expensive designer wire" (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2019-03-05, 12:40:35 (24.145.117.29)
i was defining "tweaks" to include exotic wires of all types, as well as the various bricks, stones, elevators and so on that usually are included in that category. .......
100: General Asylum, RE: Retirement? (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2019-03-05, 12:27:37 (24.145.117.29)
Well, assuming that you're not one of the fortunate few -- mostly government workers -- who do have a "defined benefit" pension or you have a really big nest egg, the first impact is financial. Managi .......
101: Inmate Central, Humans, too. (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2019-03-03, 13:42:22 (24.145.117.29)
I stumbled on this story in one of the British newspapers: In 1944, an American B-17, flying on only one engine and losing altitude, dropped through low cloud cover in search of a place to land. The p .......
102: Inmate Central, travel (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2019-03-03, 13:08:59 (24.145.117.29)
Well, the dog in the photo (with the stick in his mouth) is pretty well-travelled. He's been to 46 of the 48 contiguous states, swum in the Atlantic, Pacific, Gulf of Mexico, Lake Tahoe, Lake Mead, La .......
103: Critic's Corner, I was wondering about that myself (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2019-03-03, 06:56:22 (24.145.117.29)
but since i've heard neither DAC, I didn't say anything. However, since the Benchmark guys seem to design strictly for specs, and are proud of the fact that they don't listen, whereas the PS Audio fol .......
104: Inmate Central, If you have to ask . . . (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2019-03-02, 16:25:37 (24.145.117.29)
then you shouldn't have one. f nothing else, dogs are exemplars of what is generally considered an important human virtue: loyalty. Aside from the larger number of working dogs of all types, dogs p .......
105: Critic's Corner, +1 (nt) (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2019-03-02, 15:51:35 (24.145.117.29)
.......
106: Critic's Corner, RE: A new "JA" at the helm of Stereophile (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2019-03-01, 18:17:32 (24.145.117.29)
Good to know . . . and best wishes! .......
107: Critic's Corner, A new "JA" at the helm of Stereophile (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2019-03-01, 11:31:38 (24.145.117.29)
So, Jim Austin is now the E-I-C of Stereophile . John Atkinson is scaling back to being "Technical Editor," doing measurements and reviews only. Not surprising that, given his age, Mr. Atkinson might .......
108: Computer Audio Asylum, isn't the issue with optical (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2019-02-27, 10:06:27 (24.145.117.29)
the quality and noise isolation of the receiving end that converts the light pulses back to electrical impulses? Unless your DAC has an optical input that can accept signal directly from the optical o .......
109: Critic's Corner, OKAY (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2019-02-23, 07:09:06 (24.145.117.29)
So what other software offers the functionality of Roon, does not have to be run on a PC or Mac computer and is hardware-agnostic? I"m not trolling you: it's a serious question. See my post in "comput .......
110: Vinyl Asylum, Yup (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2019-02-23, 07:03:24 (24.145.117.29)
Not that have any re-release to compare it to. But I would never be tempted by a re-release of that record; I'm quite happy with the SQ as it is. Which begs the question: why are the Columbia classica .......
111: Computer Audio Asylum, RE: Orphans (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2019-02-22, 19:42:56 (24.145.117.29)
Both, and I'll pay for Tidal and/or Qobuz. Since the silver discs haven't been ripped, I'll do that in whatever lossless format seems best. Since doing the ripping is a daunting task, I'll keep my XA- .......
112: Computer Audio Asylum, Orphans (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2019-02-22, 16:49:10 (24.145.117.29)
So, as I continue to amuse myself by shopping/looking around to bring my digital into the 21st century, I've been perusing "streamers." There's a dealer on 'gon selling a new discontinued Wadia model, .......
113: Speaker Asylum, Yup (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2019-02-19, 14:24:00 (173.73.138.33)
The AR 2ax was essentially a 2-way with a "supertweeter." i had heard both the AR3 and 3a, which I thought were inferior to my 2ax's. Certainly, the AR3 suffered from using an even larger driver to re .......
114: Amp/Preamp Asylum, RE: DYNACO 120 + PAT4 (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2019-02-19, 14:19:04 (173.73.138.33)
The 120 had a "stiff' power supply and was generally considered sonically inferior to the Stereo 80, which did not have a stiff power supply but was otherwise the same. I had an SCA-80 -- and built se .......
115: Speaker Asylum, RE: Will you buy these speakers... (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2019-02-18, 10:19:07 (24.145.117.29)
Theoretically, the 3a, with better midrange dispersion, should have sounded better. But it didn't. The problem was that the large midrange dome "rocked" from side to side, something that could be seen .......
116: General Asylum, RE: Chasing the audio dragon. What made you stop? (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2019-02-18, 10:13:11 (24.145.117.29)
Appreciating what I have. And understanding how the "slicks" feed the "what am I missing?" syndrome. As in "what am I missing that I could be hearing if only I replaced "X" component with the latest a .......
117: Speaker Asylum, RE: Will you buy these speakers... (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2019-02-17, 13:58:10 (24.145.117.29)
The A25s don't do anything under 50 Hz. I recall the ":great:" JGH exclaiming that the Dynas were "flat to 30 Hz!" In your dreams, Gordon. I've owned them and ran a test record with a frequency respon .......
118: Hi-Rez Highway, RE: Bruce, I've been reading this entire thread ... (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2019-02-16, 10:57:44 (24.145.117.29)
Ha-ha! Well, I have to have a chat with my bride about how much she wants video disc play capability. Actually, I could buy an outboard optical drive for my MacBook and stream from it to the TV, using .......
119: Speaker Asylum, RE: Will you buy these speakers... (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2019-02-16, 10:39:03 (24.145.117.29)
i've not heard the Cizek. The Advent and the KLH will have the best bass. The Dyna will have the most natural midrange but seem deficient in both the bass and treble. The ADS and Celestion will be pre .......
120: Hi-Rez Highway, RE: You're right about the "Time Out" SACD (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2019-02-14, 14:46:05 (24.145.117.29)
Mine made one trip to Laredo, under warranty. What I'm thinking is that I would not invest big bucks in a tricked-out Oppo. I'd rather get a cheaper, "regular" Oppo or other multi-format disc player a .......
121: Vinyl Asylum, RE: Agreed (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2019-02-13, 13:06:51 (24.145.117.29)
Well, I'm "from DC" now, unlike when I became an inmate 20 years ago. Most of my time i'm near St. Michaels, on the Maryland eastern shore. There's a record store in Easton I've been meaning to check .......
122: General Asylum, RE: Loud headphones will absolutely destroy your hearing (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2019-02-13, 08:48:30 (24.145.117.29)
Actually, with most speakers and amps, what is heard as "loud" is usually distortion, either from the amp or the speaker (or both). So, the distortion tells you to back off the volume control. With ca .......
123: Hi-Rez Highway, RE: I wouldn't (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2019-02-12, 14:34:52 (24.145.117.29)
At half the price, there's a Sony "ES" player that does all this, except some of the fancy video stuff i don't care about. Even money says that neither player sounds better than my current XA-777ES, b .......
124: Hi-Rez Highway, RE: full disclosure... (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2019-02-12, 14:26:11 (24.145.117.29)
i think I have exactly one HDCD recording -- a Keith Johnson mastered Reference Recording, "Big Band Basie." It sound pretty good on my previous HDCD player, but I can't remember thinking that it soun .......
125: Hi-Rez Highway, RE: Bruce, we had the same stereo !! ... (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2019-02-12, 10:57:33 (24.145.117.29)
AR turntable and Stanton 500E cartridge. The consensus view at the time was tbat the fairly crude AR arm was a poor match for the Shure V15 super track. I didn't buy everything all at once (the speake .......
126: Computer Audio Asylum, RE: excuses (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2019-02-12, 07:52:14 (24.145.117.29)
They tried once and it wasn't fixed. I think they only succeeded in moving the little bit around, so at least the key works when pressed off-center. I'll try again. I don't think replacing the entire .......
127: Hi-Rez Highway, not a fair fight, Kal! (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2019-02-12, 07:50:09 (24.145.117.29)
The disc team is already losing! Seriously, the division you and others propose seems to have a lot of support. So I might pass the suggestion to our great Web master, Rod M. So, here's a question for .......
128: Hi-Rez Highway, You're right about that (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2019-02-12, 07:34:41 (24.145.117.29)
Especially the "modded" versions of these players. "Modding" seems to consist of replacing a probably sterile-sounding solid state audio output section with a heavy dose of "too be syrup." Naturally, .......
129: Vinyl Asylum, you just made my morning (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2019-02-12, 07:17:17 (24.145.117.29)
They don't make these any more . . . not just 7" mono 45s, but music like this. I would say this is just about perfect: the spare guitar accompaniment, the choral backup and the high tenor who can sli .......
130: Computer Audio Asylum, RE: Whew! (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2019-02-11, 19:34:30 (24.145.117.29)
That's what you get for owning a monster tube power amp -- and your calculus doesn't included the dedicated room air conditioner. ;-0 Seriously, I would look into a dedicated 20 amp circuit (most home .......
131: Computer Audio Asylum, excuses (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2019-02-11, 19:30:04 (24.145.117.29)
I use a 1-year old MacBook Pro, which I truly hate. They keyboard is too small for my big hands and fat fingers. Worse, in the never ending quest for a thinner laptop, the key mechanism is so delicate .......
132: Hi-Rez Highway, Thanks! (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2019-02-11, 19:21:12 (24.145.117.29)
I believe Abe Collins was selling one of these Teacs, but he's found a buyer. .......
133: Computer Audio Asylum, Whew! (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2019-02-11, 09:23:51 (24.145.117.29)
11 amps @120 volts is over 1300 kw. What on earth are you running that sucks that much power long enough for you to measure it? I confess, all of my stuff that is powered by the Equi-tech probably wou .......
134: Hi-Rez Highway, care to throw out some names of inexpensive DSD DACs? (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2019-02-11, 09:17:46 (24.145.117.29)
That you've heard and liked. Based on reviews only, all prices are for used units: NAD M51 (about $900) PS Audio NuWave (about $700) Wyrd 4 Sound DSD (about $700) .......
135: Vinyl Asylum, Agreed (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2019-02-11, 09:07:59 (24.145.117.29)
Most of the classical records I have are vintage -- that I either inherited from my folks, bought myself in then pre-digital era or acquired from friends/neighbors who were out of vinyl and were happy .......
136: Computer Audio Asylum, RE: Power Conditioners squishing dynamics (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2019-02-10, 18:47:00 (24.145.117.29)
Most likely because they limit peak current draw from the power line. I'm not familiar with your Monster unit, but if it's a big balanced power transformer, it probably doesn't limit peak current enou .......
137: Hi-Rez Highway, RE: comments about OPPO BDP 105 please (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2019-02-10, 14:11:20 (24.145.117.29)
Actually, on my player you can say, as a general matter that CDs sound worse than SACDs but it's often close. The best SACDs are "native." However, the other day I was playing a CD of some of American .......
138: Hi-Rez Highway, +1 on that! (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2019-02-10, 14:03:41 (24.145.117.29)
I have bookmarked that page. If I do get the player, I'll download the files and have at it. I'll probably also set up NAS at my home. .......
139: Hi-Rez Highway, RE: I do not agree that.....................................OK (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2019-02-10, 14:01:12 (24.145.117.29)
So where would "file playing" go? If it's a a hi-rez file, then it goes in "hi-rez" and if it's a 16/44 file it goes in "digital"? And what about files on flash drives or SSDs (which is kind of like a .......
140: Hi-Rez Highway, comments about OPPO BDP 105 please (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2019-02-10, 12:14:45 (24.145.117.29)
As some of you know, I've been belly-aching about my Sony XA777ES multichannel SACD/CD player's recalcitrance in playing SACDs. I think I have a possible solution that doesn't involve (a) spending gob .......
141: Inmate Central, RE: They really wanted jets, but... (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2019-02-09, 14:25:42 (24.145.117.29)
Also it beats the crap out of the aircrew operating it for long missions. While it's always tempting to denigrate considerations of crew comfort as the concern of "nancy-boys," lots of studies show th .......
142: General Asylum, RE: long and good NYT article on the "loudness wars" (compression) (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2019-02-09, 09:51:39 (24.145.117.29)
Surprising to see such a technical analysis in a general interest publication. Thanks for the link! Given that freeware, like Audacity, has built in compression/expansion tools which are simple to imp .......
143: General Asylum, RE: Audiophiles have been complaining about this for 40 years. It ruined FM radio and then... (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2019-02-09, 09:38:12 (24.145.117.29)
At least there was a decent excuse for using compression on FM radio: it increased the effective reach of the signal by raising the program out of the noise. .......
144: General Asylum, RE: LP's vs. CD's (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2019-02-07, 14:26:07 (24.145.117.29)
In my system, the best LPs sound better than the best CDs or even SACDs. Coincidentally, I have a few LP recordings duplicated on CD, dating from the "dark time" when I abandoned LP playback. it's alw .......
145: Inmate Central, RE: My old Geo Metro got 46 in the city, 55 on the highway. (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2019-01-28, 18:42:11 (24.145.117.29)
I think I would stop laughing with the Geo Metro hit something solid and burst into 1000 pieces of tin foil and some scattered nuts and bolts. A motorcycle gets good gas mileage, too and is more fun. .......
146: Inmate Central, Yup (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2019-01-28, 18:38:16 (24.145.117.29)
Once for medical reasons and once for grins "23 and me." From what I know of my ancestry, 23andMe was accurate in pinpointing my ethnic origins (British Isles). Its interesting and fun. And just for s .......
147: Inmate Central, refund is an illusion (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2019-01-27, 12:22:00 (24.145.117.29)
It has nothing to do with how much taxes you owe on your income; rather it simply reflects that you over-withheld or paid too much estimated tax. I haven't done my 2018 taxes and none of my kids are m .......
148: Inmate Central, nice metaphor! (nt) (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2019-01-27, 12:15:15 (24.145.117.29)
.......
149: Speaker Asylum, RE: I need to stand up if I want to hear bass (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2019-01-27, 12:13:46 (24.145.117.29)
I would try moving the right speaker to your left, closer to the door and out of the corner more. Your room generally looks pretty "hard" to me and is not that big. So, I would suggest a lot of soften .......
150: Inmate Central, Question: (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2019-01-27, 10:35:02 (24.145.117.29)
Who do you think is paying your Social Security, Medicare or pension if you have one? Or, if you're living on the proceeds of an investment portfolio: buying the stocks that you own, so they increase .......
151: Inmate Central, the paradox of high-rise urban living (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2019-01-27, 10:29:51 (24.145.117.29)
It's possible to live in that kind of environment without interacting with anyone in any way that's meaningful. Of course, I known next to nothing about Japan. But a problem here -- and perhaps in oth .......
152: Inmate Central, RE: BR Disc Player choice (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2019-01-27, 10:12:37 (24.145.117.29)
Most of these cheap, new universal players don't have a DAC of any kind (including the Sony mentioned by RW). That's why they're cheap. They just output a digital bitstream on HDMI. HDMI is ubiquitous .......
153: Speaker Asylum, RE: I need to stand up if I want to hear bass (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2019-01-27, 08:37:20 (24.145.117.29)
Your head is in a room antinode when you sit (this is not an insult!). Every room has places where the bass frequencies reinforce each other and where they cancel each other out. Putting more bass int .......
154: General Asylum, RE: Getting my breaker panel replaced (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2019-01-27, 08:21:14 (24.145.117.29)
I'm nit entirely sure about this, but think about it: consider "heavying up" your service. if you have 150 amp, go for 200. If you have 200 amp, go for 300. The reason i say this is some fortuitous re .......
155: Inmate Central, Uboats had 2 of them (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2019-01-25, 19:23:13 (24.145.117.29)
American WW2 subs had 4 engines. They, at least, were air conditioned. .......
156: Inmate Central, It's got rimz! (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2019-01-24, 13:59:33 (24.145.117.29)
The paint job sucks -- satin finish in the front and glossy on the sides. The doodads on the grilles don't add anything either. I'm ambivalent about the rimz. .......
157: Inmate Central, RE: Things are closer to the opposte these days (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2019-01-24, 13:52:57 (24.145.117.29)
I would call the Ford 3.5 liter Ecoboost V-6 a modern turbocharged engine. When i drove it, it still had a non-linear throttle response . . . and that was in a 5,000 lb. pickup truck. The issue isn't .......
158: Critic's Corner, Me 3 . (nt) (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2019-01-24, 13:39:34 (24.145.117.29)
.......
159: Critic's Corner, RE: That I agree with him is his MOST IMPORTANT qualification... (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2019-01-24, 13:38:53 (24.145.117.29)
That's actually a serious and accurate comment, IMHO. The whole point of being a reviewer (of anything) is that the reviewer is a stand-in for the person reading the review. So, a congruence of taste .......
160: Critic's Corner, RE: "Mr. Lavorgna feels more at liberty to include his personal views on lots of things other than audio" (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2019-01-24, 13:31:51 (24.145.117.29)
Of course, people have the right to write anything they want. The problem is that other people have an equal right not to read it! ;-) .......
161: Vinyl Asylum, RE: "warm and engaging" (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2019-01-24, 13:29:36 (24.145.117.29)
I will say that some call the XX2 "analytical." However, at the risk of stating the obvious, 'synergy is everything. The tube electronics in my system between the cartridge and the loudspeaker (BAT) a .......
162: Inmate Central, The pleasure of normally aspirated engines (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2019-01-24, 07:39:40 (24.145.117.29)
is their generally more linear power delivery. Sure, with the various forms of VVT, especially Honda's "VTECH" most n/a engines give a nice shove when they "come on the cam." But the "light switch" be .......
163: Critic's Corner, RE: first impression (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2019-01-24, 07:27:35 (24.145.117.29)
I started out my working life as a newspaper -- night police beat and all that. One of the great losses of modern journalism is the role of an editor. A good editor is far more than a proof reader; a .......
164: Vinyl Asylum, RE: Ortofon Cadenza bronze vs Dynavector XX2 MKII (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2019-01-24, 07:11:46 (24.145.117.29)
Wow, Claude, that's a needle in a haystack request! ;-0 That said, I run an XX2 on the VPI Classic's ancestor, an HW-19 Mk4, and I've been very happy with the result. No experience with the Ortofon ho .......
165: Tubes Asylum, it's weird how that works (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2019-01-24, 07:04:32 (24.145.117.29)
See the current review of the low-powered Pass amp by stereophile's Art Dudley, which is available on line at the magazine's web site. The measurements section shows that it develops something like 5 .......
166: Critic's Corner, RE: DARKO is a fantastic review site (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2019-01-23, 14:48:38 (24.145.117.29)
"Audiostream" seems to be rudderless after Lavorgna's forced departure. It is pretty slow to add content and is not limited to things digital and streaming. Darko's site has the most comprehensive rev .......
167: Inmate Central, RE: A matter of calibrating your sights (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2019-01-23, 12:46:52 (24.145.117.29)
Everything is relative. Try driving a pickup truck for a while, even one that hits 60 mph in about 5.5 seconds (assuming you have 4wd engaged to avoid stripping the tread off the rear tires in a smoke .......
168: Amp/Preamp Asylum, RE: Recommend Solid State Stereo Receiver (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2019-01-22, 17:53:28 (24.145.117.29)
I had a Luxman LR-120 receiver from 1978 that I bought new that year. Sold it a few years ago for much less than $300. At one time it sound very good. By the time I sold it, it sounded pretty harsh. I .......
169: Vinyl Asylum, RE: Step up crackling and popping issue (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2019-01-22, 11:21:20 (24.145.117.29)
Ah, so your arm has replaceable headshells? Then the headshell that mounts the Denon and the one that mounts the Eroica might be at fault . . . or the tonearm end. Can you clean the contacts with fine .......
170: Amp/Preamp Asylum, you might post this on the vinyl board (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2019-01-22, 11:16:10 (24.145.117.29)
for a better response. .......
171: Inmate Central, I'm not offended. (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2019-01-21, 16:29:18 (24.145.117.29)
I'm retired! ;-0 .......
172: Vinyl Asylum, RE: Step up crackling and popping issue (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2019-01-21, 16:24:23 (24.145.117.29)
I built one of the first generation k&K step ups. I had a cold solder joint that would produce a slight intermittent hum in one channel. Crackling sound could come from a completely intermittent conne .......
173: Inmate Central, RE: Alzheimer's (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2019-01-20, 07:01:13 (24.145.117.29)
That's tough. my Dad has had it for a couple of years. He'll be 94 this coming July. Otherwise in excellent physical health. So far, it seems to have mostly affected his speaking ability-- can't alway .......
174: Vinyl Asylum, 2 discs of a 7-record set (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2019-01-20, 06:50:59 (24.145.117.29)
from the Smithsonian Classic Jazz collection. Got from my father. Interesting, although these are far from "audiophile" pressings (done by Columbia on fairly lightweight vinyl), the recording of MJQ's .......
175: Inmate Central, where are they now? (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2019-01-19, 11:59:37 (24.145.117.29)
During my extended absence, one of the long-term regulars who appears to have dropped out is John Coulson ("John C.-Aussie'). Recently, in reading a not-too-old article by JA in Stereophile Mr. Atkin .......
176: Inmate Central, Be happy (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2019-01-19, 10:37:31 (24.145.117.29)
It will get you next time. Last October 31, the missus and I (plus our dog, the ubiquitous ClarkKent) started our second cross-country and back trip in our Airstream travel trailer. Purpose was to .......
177: Vinyl Asylum, RE: Been There...Done that (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2019-01-16, 18:01:03 (24.145.117.29)
The new arm's engineering might be superior, but it introduces a new problem (rigidity, multiple bearings very close to the cartridge) to solve another (tracking error). The Rabco linear tracking arms .......
178: Hi-Rez Highway, RE: Bryston BDA-3 (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2019-01-16, 17:49:17 (24.145.117.29)
Right you are. I read Stereophile's review of this DAC, and one of the sources used was the now-discontinued Oppo universal player, through its HDMI output. I assume one of the cheap Sony disc players .......
179: Computer Audio Asylum, RE: Some listening thoughts from vinyl and hirez comparisons (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2019-01-16, 14:51:15 (24.145.117.29)
Interesting but, as others have pointed out, your system is digital with an analog input from the record player. I have a 15-year old SACD player that needs replacing (it usually doesn't read SACDs) a .......
180: Critic's Corner, New and improved!! (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2019-01-13, 22:03:01 (24.145.117.29)
Right/ .......
181: Hi-Rez Highway, RE: new universal player at a fair price (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2019-01-13, 10:54:47 (24.145.117.29)
That would be wonderful if this could play SACDs and output a DSD signal to a 3rd party DAC. There's a long thread on PS Audio's "Community Forum" BBS about the reasons why PS Audio's "DirectStream" s .......
182: General Asylum, RE: Hi Ya All, I'm Back............ (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2019-01-13, 09:06:34 (24.145.117.29)
I forget if remembering is a good or a bad thing. ;-0 .......
183: Inmate Central, RE: If any of y'all are thinking about buying the new Ford Ranger (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2019-01-04, 15:11:52 (24.145.117.29)
The TTAC article, as usual, misses the larger point. For the 90% who pay someone to change their vehicle's oil, this is gonna be a very expensive job on this truck. One of the unremarked downsides of .......
184: Inmate Central, RE: job searching in NY, job advertisements are what get to me (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2019-01-04, 15:07:30 (24.145.117.29)
First off; good luck! I suppose they're looking for someone who can sling and tolerate the bullshit (e.g.: Are you a Super Star? Hell, yeah, baby!) Supposedly, after a decade or more in the toilet, th .......
185: General Asylum, more or less (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2019-01-04, 14:50:20 (24.145.117.29)
unless something breaks. Actually, something is broken: my 15+ year old Sony CD/SACD player, which refuses to play SACDs except when the moon is full, the room is cold and I say nice things. And i hav .......
186: Critic's Corner, RE: What was the purpose in writing about it? (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2019-01-02, 11:05:56 (24.145.117.29)
That is a good question. I would not accuse Art of being a click baiter. He just doesn't seem to be that kind of a guy. Speculating wildly, I think Art recognized a duty to inform his readers of the p .......
187: Inmate Central, RE: The sky is falling!!!!!!! (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2019-01-01, 19:20:57 (24.145.117.29)
A trader's panic, actually. Worried that the Fed won't know when to quit, worried that the trade disputes between China and the US won't get resolved, worried about Trump's erratic style of governing, .......
188: Hi-Rez Highway, RE: just so! (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2019-01-01, 19:01:31 (24.145.117.29)
That's what I would have suspected. The relevance of tbe question to me is that there are some very good DACs that don't do DSD. So, if i migrate away from a disc spinner (as I am inclined to do), it .......
189: Critic's Corner, So, Art Dudley has a review amp go up in flames (literally) (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2019-01-01, 18:54:44 (24.145.117.29)
but won't name names. What say you all about that? Art relates in some detail his and his spouse's considerable efforts to rid their house of the stink of burning plastic, etc. The amp (transistor) fa .......
190: Hi-Rez Highway, just so! (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-12-29, 11:44:33 (24.145.117.29)
With my Sony XA-777ES player, the difference between SACD and RBCD is almost always obvious (that is, when the machine decides to play SACDs, which is infrequently). But the thing is at least 15 years .......
191: General Asylum, even longer than that! (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-12-29, 11:24:34 (24.145.117.29)
because he has to replace the "captive" power cord with a designer audiophile model and he has a hard time finding a schurter socket to install for the "female" end of the cord. .......
192: Inmate Central, RE: What happened in Parkland, FL (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-12-29, 11:17:03 (24.145.117.29)
Truly a cluisterfuck. .......
193: Inmate Central, ugh (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-12-29, 11:06:42 (24.145.117.29)
I guess I knew about LWR; did not know about musicmike. On the bright side, tinear, who seems not to be active here any more, is somewhat active on Facebook. He's "friended" me, but we don't talk abou .......
194: Inmate Central, yes. (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-12-29, 11:03:36 (24.145.117.29)
it was. .......
195: Inmate Central, You bet! (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-12-28, 18:45:19 (24.145.117.29)
And thanks! Here's the whole family, less new son-in-law. .......
196: Inmate Central, RE: Very nice photo! (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-12-28, 18:41:46 (24.145.117.29)
Better than that, a big rainbow from a nearby shower burst out right after the ceremony was over! And non of the attendees got wet. .......
197: Inmate Central, both of these guys are considerably older than I (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-12-28, 18:40:23 (24.145.117.29)
I'm not sure what to make of that. For my money, Cleese is pretty close; Coleman not so much. .......
198: Inmate Central, RE: Happy New Year Bruce (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-12-28, 18:36:02 (24.145.117.29)
There are many new drugs and therapies for prostate cancer that have come available since I was diagnosed in 2007. There also is intensive data mining on patients that has cleared up some of the ambig .......
199: Inmate Central, RE: Patrick Uitz (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-12-28, 18:31:42 (24.145.117.29)
"pardon my Frenchman English"-- remember that? Contradicting the stereotype of Frenchmen as language snobs (at least when it comes to their native language), Patrick suffered my feeble attempts at wri .......
200: Inmate Central, former moderator of 'Outside' comes in from the cold (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-12-28, 14:18:58 (24.145.117.29)
in time to wish all of the Inmates a Happy New Year! Also to pause in remembrance of some who are no longer with us -- Bruce Kendall comes to mind foremost because he was a true gentleman (I met hi .......
201: Critic's Corner, Well, this thread has been up for 2 weeks, but i'll bite just the same (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-12-27, 19:06:26 (24.145.117.29)
First: Thanks, Suekraft, for linking to this piece and raising the bar a bit for this board. Admittedly, amidst the endless gripes about MQA and a double-post whine about getting extra issues (maybe) .......
202: Inmate Central, RE: Dogs and cats are happy to live with us (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-10-27, 09:57:21 (24.145.117.29)
This photo is 37 years old, but still . . . .......
203: Hi-Rez Highway, RE: New Firmware Available For Sony HAPZ1ES (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-10-21, 13:46:17 (24.145.117.29)
I don't know which generation of firmware it was that included it, but now you can plug an outboard CD drive into the USB port and rip the CD directly to the Sony unit's internal hard drive. Originall .......
204: Critic's Corner, RE: Wasn't JA questioning the veracity of the article? (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-10-21, 13:39:28 (24.145.117.29)
I think JA was questioning Carver's claim that the perceived better sound quality of MQA that people said they heard from the initial demo files was due to the injection of a certain amount of out-of- .......
205: Amp/Preamp Asylum, agree (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-10-21, 13:31:20 (24.145.117.29)
I'm running that cartridge with a 20:1 step up into a BAT pre (tubes, but no internal step up). IIRC, the gain of the phono stage is in the 50s (it, too is switch adjustable). The resulting output thr .......
206: Hi-Rez Highway, wow! (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-10-18, 16:16:41 (24.145.117.29)
You mean someone's actually making SACDs? Too bad the players for them are dwindling by the month. .......
207: General Asylum, Well done! (nt) (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-10-11, 19:53:12 (24.145.117.29)
.......
208: Computer Audio Asylum, 3 possibilities (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-10-05, 12:27:35 (24.145.117.29)
1. gray beard 2. gray hair 3. no hair It all adds up the same! ;-0 .......
209: General Asylum, love this! Thanks (nt) (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-10-05, 11:18:21 (24.145.117.29)
.......
210: Computer Audio Asylum, RE: Hope they keep the internet streaming.... (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-09-24, 12:43:42 (24.145.117.29)
My 2015 truck came with Sirius XM capability, and I've had it in my '08 Honda Pilot. I thought it sounded pretty bad in both vehicles and appears to deliver essentially monaural sound. The truck, bein .......
211: Digital Drive, RE: Jitter vs. Wow and Flutter (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-09-24, 12:31:29 (24.145.117.29)
For people who are not engineers, the relevance of these two properties (jitter and flutter&wow) are their aural manifestations. We (or at least those of us with experience using analog playback syste .......
212: General Asylum, RE: question of the day: would you buy an obsolete component or speaker (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-09-24, 10:01:30 (24.145.117.29)
Depends . . . SACD player or other disc spinner? No. Loudspeaker? Yes, assuming it's working correctly and I prefer it over what the same $$ buys new. Electronics? I'm not particularly fond of the "v .......
213: General Asylum, Yep. (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-09-24, 09:53:11 (24.145.117.29)
I own one of those 777ES Sony players. The laser was already fixed once when the unit was under warranty. Now, I get one SACD play when the unit is cold. If the player has been running, forget about S .......
214: Vinyl Asylum, precision? (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-09-19, 13:02:59 (24.145.117.29)
I agree, Ed. Coincidentally, I have the same cartridge as the OP. Fortunately, I have a VPI arm, so adjustments can be made on the fly . . . and by ear, which is the ultimate arbiter. Just a week ago .......
215: Digital Drive, RE: too many digital players? (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-09-17, 13:03:50 (24.145.117.29)
i would sell the Oppo 105 and feed the excellent Simaudio DAC with a streaming service(s)and store your digital music on an NAS. Does your 280 have the MiND module included? If not, I would see if it .......
216: Speaker Asylum, RE: Q for Magnepan owners (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-09-16, 12:58:53 (24.145.117.29)
If you're a bass-head, Magnepans probably won't satisfy. The bass seems somewhat over-damped. Magnepans also are huge power-suckers. If you're looking for a big "jump" factor, you probably will be dis .......
217: Vinyl Asylum, that's why I use distilled water (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-09-16, 07:12:21 (24.145.117.29)
It's also important to clean the "lips" of the sucking tube. .......
218: Vinyl Asylum, I know everything . . . (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-09-16, 07:09:56 (24.145.117.29)
trust me on this! ;-0 Seriously, one issue with "vintage" cartridges of whatever provenance is that the elastomer suspension's modulus of elasticity changes over time (i.e. it gets hard). Needless to .......
219: Vinyl Asylum, No (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-09-14, 17:57:45 (72.66.3.191)
I've used the wash with dish soap (and air dry) method with only partial success. There's no towel or cloth that should be applied to a record. Putting oil on a record is beyond stupid. The oil will a .......
220: Vinyl Asylum, RE: reissues (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-09-14, 17:45:54 (72.66.3.191)
The record I mentioned in my original post is a new recording, not a re-issue (if that wasn't clear). I was burned with one reissue I bought; it was the Georg Solti/Chicago Symphony recording of the B .......
221: Vinyl Asylum, RE: Sweet! 6-eye (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-09-14, 15:38:50 (72.66.3.191)
I have the Columbia 6-eye of Kind of Blue, which i've owned since new. Apart from the speed issues on the A side, this is a very "natural" mix, which, needless to say, I've heard through just about ev .......
222: Vinyl Asylum, Sweet! (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-09-11, 16:56:32 (24.145.117.29)
Nothing satisfies like a new rekkid. On the strength of favorable reviews from John Atkinson and Mike Fremer, and because i'm a fan anyway, I ordered the Van Morrison/Joey DeFrancesco 2-record album .......
223: General Asylum, I got one, too. (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-09-10, 13:56:03 (24.145.117.29)
My very own, out by the driveway. And it didn't cost me a thing. No solar, no nuttin'. This at my new (to me) country house on the Eastern Shore of the Chesapeake Bay. Clean power, baby! Actually, I'v .......
224: General Asylum, RE: B&W DM7 (Mark I) speakers (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-09-07, 20:13:15 (24.145.117.29)
Owned 'em from 1978 to whenever (1995, I think). They just didn't have any "jump' factor. Constrained by space, i bought them to replace a pair of MG-iis plus subwoofer powered by a modified Dynaco St .......
225: Computer Audio Asylum, RE: Bruce, what do you have against Tchaikovsky and Hendrix?? (nt) (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-09-06, 17:14:52 (24.145.117.29)
Nothing. When you're thirsty, you drink water. When you need a lube job, you get some oil. But, you don't mix 'em. .......
226: Vinyl Asylum, there's a used Rega p3.24 with new ortofon 2m blue cart for $795 (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-09-06, 17:12:18 (24.145.117.29)
on audiogon. Apparent dealer. new RB 301 arm I'm a big fan of used TT's. In fact, i own one and have never looked back. .......
227: Computer Audio Asylum, Truly "pathetic" response, TJE! ;-0 (nt) (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-09-06, 12:21:09 (24.145.117.29)
.......
228: Computer Audio Asylum, Thanks for the thoughtful reply (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-09-06, 12:16:01 (24.145.117.29)
I see your point about ceding control of one's "library" to third parties. I would add that, so far, the economics of streaming have not been established. As far as I know, streaming services are not .......
229: Computer Audio Asylum, RE: I'm not trying to be difficult... (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-09-05, 12:51:00 (173.73.142.230)
but the obvious answer is that not everyone's library is as extensive as yours. Moreover, some people may be inclined to let their musical tastes go in a new direction, which their existing library do .......
230: Digital Drive, RE: Thanks to Dave K, I have a Oppo 205 on the way.... (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-09-05, 12:47:23 (173.73.142.230)
Nice to know. If memory serves, I think I got on the list before you . . . but I haven't heard anything since checking a while back. Wait and see, huh . . . .......
231: General Asylum, RE: What Gear Brought the Lowest Return on Investment in your System ? (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-09-05, 12:19:54 (173.73.142.230)
VPI SDS crystal-controlled regenerating power supply for my 'table. While it did produce some improvement, it is pretty damn subtle. Not $1,000 worth for sure. .......
232: Video Asylum, RE: transfer of hi 8 video to digital (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-09-02, 15:47:15 (173.73.142.230)
There are services that will do this, the basic output being made to a flash drive. Video format not specified, but probably MPEG-4. For extra money, you can get DVDs, which I would not recommend beca .......
233: Vinyl Asylum, What abyss did you fall down . . . (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-08-30, 16:13:13 (24.145.117.29)
and should we send help/ . ;-) I would say all-digital unless a lot of music that your son likes is on vinyl. Let's face it, vinyl is kind of "fiddly"; and digital, once you get it set up, is not. In .......
234: General Asylum, RE: No but .. . (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-08-26, 13:58:26 (24.145.117.29)
I miss "Outside," too. "Tinear," who apparently doesn't come here any more, friended me on FB. BfDC, former moderator, Outside. .......
235: General Asylum, RE: Has Audio Asylum Run Its Course? (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-08-26, 12:50:42 (24.145.117.29)
You could say that, Reg and yet . . . There are millennials spinning vinyl, and its not because it's convenient. To be sure, in the 1950s, 60s and maybe even 70s, high-fi was "mainstream." However, be .......
236: Tubes Asylum, RE: filament supply on PAS-3 (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-08-23, 18:50:54 (24.145.117.29)
I built a PAS-3x from a kit in 1968. The filament supply was unrectified AC . Stock, it did not have a hum problem. if memory serves, the B+ rectifier was a pair of selenium diodes. Probably not the b .......
237: Amp/Preamp Asylum, RE: USABLE POWER by Steve Deckert (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-08-23, 18:41:24 (24.145.117.29)
The problem with Steve's argument is that he assumes the power amplifier is the only possible source in the reproduction chain. By his definition, usable power is how loud you can play the system unti .......
238: Vinyl Asylum, RE: R.I.P. Aretha. We will miss you. (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-08-16, 12:25:37 (24.145.117.29)
oh, yeah. Somehow, my recorded music collection is definitely missing a lot of her work. Sad! Another "sad," not mentioned elsewhere is that most, if not all of these African American greats --Aretha, .......
239: Computer Audio Asylum, +2 (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-08-15, 13:08:39 (24.145.117.29)
I use it to edit my wife's auditions .......
240: Amp/Preamp Asylum, RE: BAT 300X-SE (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-08-13, 19:50:57 (24.145.117.29)
Well, there are those who say BAT equipment sounds "dark." Whatever that means. Unfortunately, it does not mean masking the digital nasties that my CD player sometimes emits which became audible when .......
241: General Asylum, RE: What speaker company just sells one speaker? (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-08-13, 19:24:27 (24.145.117.29)
KEF LS-50 is available singly. If I were into multichannel, I'd have 5 of them instead of the 2 I own. .......
242: Amp/Preamp Asylum, RE: amp recommendation -- BAT integrated (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-08-11, 14:52:41 (24.145.117.29)
i think you're price range is a little under what I've seen asked for used VK-300x on Audiogon. Good luck with your search. .......
243: Amp/Preamp Asylum, RE: BAT 300X-SE (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-08-11, 14:43:56 (24.145.117.29)
Still own mine, which was recently checked out by BAT. i have no interest in changing it out for something else. BTW, i'm still on the original 6H30 tubes in the front end. .......
244: Critic's Corner, RE: Twittering Machines (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-07-29, 09:14:46 (24.145.117.29)
Interesting. . . Apparently, the new owners of Stereophile didn't think enough of Mr. Lavorgna to buy a non-compete for a year or two. Or maybe they were just really stupid. .......
245: Vinyl Asylum, RE: attracting dirt (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-07-29, 09:10:17 (24.145.117.29)
Ummm. Got it . . . but I need a Zerostat! .......
246: Vinyl Asylum, RE: WD-40 attracting dirt (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-07-28, 17:31:20 (24.145.117.29)
That would be my concern. The first play might sound great, but the 15th? Considering that lots of folks use anti-static devices on records before playing to avoid attracting dirt, the use of any oil .......
247: Vinyl Asylum, RE: BS&T (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-07-23, 12:43:44 (24.145.117.29)
Listened to this way too many times when it came out. The original disc was very well recorded and a great show-off piece for your system. Musically . . . well I'm not so sure. David Clayton-Thomas, t .......
248: Vinyl Asylum, RE: Rascals (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-07-23, 12:39:22 (24.145.117.29)
"Groovin..." I have the record, which I bought more or less when it came out in 1967/68. Saw these guys live at Rider College (now "The College of New Jersey") fall 1967. Their setting of Gershwin's " .......
249: Digital Drive, I hear you. (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-07-20, 20:45:11 (24.145.117.29)
I don't think I re-purchased anything on SACD that I already had in another format. That strikes me as kind of silly. I did buy a "digitally re-mastered" and Side 1 speed-corrected "Kind of Blue" on C .......
250: Digital Drive, RE: Anyone else waiting for the last production run of the Oppo disc player? (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-07-20, 20:36:52 (24.145.117.29)
Thanks for the info. I wasn't as quick as you were; we'll see what happens. .......
251: Digital Drive, Anyone else waiting for the last production run of the Oppo disc player? (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-07-20, 11:39:03 (24.145.117.29)
When Oppo announced the end of production of their disc players, they solicited e-mail indications of interest in a unit from their final production run. I sent them a message and, later, in response .......
252: Digital Drive, lotsa folks don't (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-07-20, 11:31:05 (24.145.117.29)
if i ever relinquish my shiny discs, I'll have to rip my SACDs to DSD (not all of them are hybrids). Having never compared hi-rez PCM to DSD downloads, I have no idea whether I would want DSD capabili .......
253: Digital Drive, if you have DSD files, only the PS Audio DACs will play them. (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-07-17, 17:38:50 (24.145.117.29)
Schitt doesn't support DSD. .......
254: Critic's Corner, RE: Quite right. Consumers voted with their wallets this time and their nonresponse to MQA can be... (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-07-17, 17:34:08 (24.145.117.29)
Unfortunately, I agree with Mr. Messenger's comments: cheaper systems had so many flaws of their own that they masked the flaws of RBCD. And I can't say that every SACD I have (which is not all that m .......
255: Critic's Corner, RE: Quite right. Consumers voted with their wallets this time and their nonresponse to MQA can be... (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-07-16, 10:45:20 (24.145.117.29)
With all due respect, to my ears, SACD sounds a little-to-a-lot better than RBCD, depending upon the recording. The problem was that not enough of the music-buying public was willing to pay extra for .......
256: Critic's Corner, RE: Me like (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-07-14, 09:58:14 (24.145.117.29)
These days my comments tend to be on the terse side. So, I'm not sure in what way your comment is a sequitur to mine. However, to clarify, I in no way intended to excuse or justify whatshisname's comm .......
257: Vinyl Asylum, RE: AC Plug Orientation -- 2 problems (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-07-11, 10:24:15 (24.145.117.29)
In the U.S. 120 volts A/C is delivered with 2 wires. One is "hot" and the other is "neutral" (tied to the ground at the circuit breaker box). The third wire (if present) is a true ground. So, a polari .......
258: Vinyl Asylum, RE: Anyone use a record weight (clamp)? (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-07-10, 13:48:46 (24.145.117.29)
I've never had the urge to replace my VPI HQ-19 Mk III, which uses a clamp (not a weight). The platter is some sort of composite stuff with no mat, so the record is stuck hard to the platter. ::: TOPI .......
259: Critic's Corner, Me like (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-07-10, 10:36:50 (24.145.117.29)
A very thoughtful post, TJE. At least something valuable from this imbroglio. :-) .......
260: Vinyl Asylum, RE: If you're wondering who wrote "Everybody's Talkin'," it was Fred Neill. (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-07-08, 14:32:20 (24.145.117.29)
Interesting that "I guess the Lord must be in New York City" is not on the soundtrack album. I have the stereo record of "Aerial Ballet," which I bought after seeing "Midnight Cowboy" in 1969. Not sur .......
261: Critic's Corner, Yep (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-07-06, 15:22:41 (24.145.117.29)
There comes a time when a little voice in one's head says, "I don't need this shit." It's unfortunate when that happens here. I would define "contributor" as someone who expresses an opinion, can sup .......
262: Critic's Corner, This reminds me. . . (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-07-02, 09:13:39 (24.145.117.29)
of the early daze of Audio Asylum (1999), when SACD was rolled out by Sony/Phillips. There was much discussion of whether it was an audible improvement over "Red Book," and, of course, the audio mags .......
263: Inmate Central, RE: Happy Canada Day (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-07-02, 08:56:51 (24.145.117.29)
Sure thing! To our frequently more polite neighbours to the North: enjoy your day! .......
264: Computer Audio Asylum, RE: "incident at Neshabur" (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-07-01, 08:48:02 (24.145.117.29)
I like your wife already! Me, I have the lovingly preserved vinyl record I bought when it was released. .......
265: Vinyl Asylum, RE: Exactly right (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-06-27, 16:58:00 (24.145.117.29)
The ones I have are old NBC symphony orchestra recordings, Arturo Toscanini directing. Mono of course. .......
266: General Asylum, RE: Smashing the crap out of it (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-06-27, 16:52:40 (24.145.117.29)
It sucks being an old fart, doesn't it? ;-) .......
267: Vinyl Asylum, Also (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-06-26, 18:41:45 (24.145.117.29)
It means (in the U.S. at least) a copy that was "comped" to a radio station. The purpose of the punched hole was to keep it from being re-sold, since "comped" copies did not pay royalties to the copyr .......
268: Critic's Corner, RE: Bruce, don't be sad, maybe they'll threaten you eventually ... (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-06-22, 07:38:21 (173.73.165.191)
In my time, the Bored never met in physical space. When I had business in LA (or when I was there to see my oldest daughter, who had attended USC), I went to the trouble of actually meeting Rod M, who .......
269: Critic's Corner, Hugh Hefner lives! (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-06-22, 07:32:48 (173.73.165.191)
I don't know if these guys were old enough to have read "Playboy" magazine in its heyday in the 1960s. But Hugh Hefner, the creator, expounded the "Playboy Philosophy" which defined the finer things i .......
270: Vinyl Asylum, Puzzled by this shields business in 2-conductor cables (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-06-22, 07:26:08 (173.73.165.191)
The vast majority of phono connections are 2-conductor, terminated in RCA plugs. The conductors are either parallel wires, twisted wires, or a coaxial configuration where one solid conductor is surrou .......
271: Amp/Preamp Asylum, RE: Recommendations for budget solid state preamp with BIG soundstage (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-06-22, 07:09:13 (173.73.165.191)
Your slam of tube preamps is undeserved. Used as high current devices (i.e. in the output stage of a power amp), tubes don't last forever, and output tubes are expensive. But tubes in voltage applicat .......
272: Critic's Corner, RE: "Why am I getting veiled threats?" (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-06-20, 14:08:06 (24.145.117.29)
A. You're paranoid. B. You have some connection to Donald Trump. Seriously, Rod is the Master of all things AA; but I've been here since 1999 and don't recall that name on the "Bored." Seems like I sh .......
273: Critic's Corner, Yes! (nt) (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-06-20, 14:02:28 (24.145.117.29)
.......
274: Speaker Asylum, RE: Subwoofer Placement Question: answer (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-06-19, 13:06:32 (24.145.117.29)
Yes. Just about every sub I know of includes low pass adjustments (the cutoff frequency at which the sub's output is reduced, usually 12 dB per octave) and a level control. Usually you should set this .......
275: Speaker Asylum, RE: Subwoofer Placement Question (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-06-18, 19:00:49 (24.145.117.29)
Not speaking for Dave, but most subs, including from direct sellers have stereo RCA inputs that will accept a connection to the pre outs of your integrated amp, or the second set of outs from your pre .......
276: General Asylum, RE: Why the hate against this guy? (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-06-18, 18:37:49 (24.145.117.29)
Well, Monster's targets were the equivalent of puppies and small children. .......
277: Critic's Corner, RE: Interesting new response policy at AudioStream (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-06-18, 14:39:16 (24.145.117.29)
Honestly, my first reaction at seeing this review was: why, in a column that is supposed to be/used to be about digital audio and streaming am I reading a review of a $20,000 integrated amplifier from .......
278: Critic's Corner, reincarnation after all -- Julian Hirsch lives (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-06-18, 14:21:24 (24.145.117.29)
If you can't measure it, and you claim to hear it, then it's your imagination you're hearing. .......
279: General Asylum, RE: Ultrasonic Noise In Our Digital World........... (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-06-18, 14:02:45 (24.145.117.29)
Not the OP, but a digital WSJ subscriber. Basically, the article highlights the ubiquity of ultrasonic sensors in our environment. There is speculation that some of the distress experienced by US Emba .......
280: General Asylum, RE: Why the hate against this guy? (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-06-18, 13:55:44 (24.145.117.29)
The AA search engine would probably choke on the number of hits generated if you did a search of "monster." Short answer, from my recollection of 18 years in the Asylum: Lee/Monster were hyper aggres .......
281: Critic's Corner, Congrats! (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-06-14, 13:15:50 (96.68.250.21)
The thing to do is to stop counting. You can plead senility! .......
282: General Asylum, RE: Free Mapleshade Upgrades (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-06-14, 11:27:30 (209.183.240.146)
It's interesting to note that, back in the 1960s it was not uncommon for hi-fi gear from respectable manufacturers to to be enclosed in wood cases, with metal faceplates and backplates. No doubt some .......
283: Speaker Asylum, What he said! (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-06-13, 17:09:56 (173.73.165.191)
The sound you are hearing in the concert is the absence of room resonances, as Duke explains. While Duke's solution no doubt works sonically, from a decorating standpoint, it's a little challenging. : .......
284: General Asylum, RE: Can you afford an Isolation Transformer? (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-06-13, 16:12:37 (173.73.165.191)
For the big bux, an Equi-tech balanced installation would be nice. Outlets would have to be labelled, because you probably wouldn't want 2-wire lighting fixtures connected to balanced power -- there w .......
285: General Asylum, Me, too! (nt) (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-06-13, 16:04:30 (173.73.165.191)
.......
286: General Asylum, RE: Just out of curiosity... (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-06-11, 20:44:59 (24.145.117.29)
I like the idea of a phone call and have used it for some recent sales/purchases on AG, even though AG has pretty good protection. Obviously, the higher the amount of the transaction, the more securit .......
287: Speaker Asylum, RE: Elac B6 2.0s an upgrade from Dynaco A25s? (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-06-10, 17:24:04 (24.145.117.29)
I got a pair of A25s eons ago . . . for my parents. Their strength was their natural sound. They really don't have much bass below 50 Hz, and the original tweeters gave up well before 15 Khz. Imaging? .......
288: Vinyl Asylum, RE: Sad News regarding Wally Malewicz (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-06-07, 18:23:13 (24.145.117.29)
Wally made some great stuff (i have one of his Wallytractors). Some found him a little erratic to deal with, but his stuff was the real thing. Another guy who made the hobby checks out. Sad! ::: TOPIC .......
289: General Asylum, Seriously? (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-06-07, 18:19:38 (24.145.117.29)
I wasn't there, but, jeeze, a rant about pictures?! Spin a few tunes on the tubes and laissez les bonnes temps roulez! .......
290: Vinyl Asylum, RE: Cartridge body/headshell interface (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-06-04, 11:52:50 (24.145.117.29)
The purpose may be electrical isolation to avoid ground loops. I once had a Clearaudio MM cartridge with a metal body. It seems that, internally, one of the signal leads is connected to the body. My .......
291: Critic's Corner, RE: Hopefully, in my listening room (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-06-02, 15:44:48 (24.145.117.29)
I'm on the wait list for a player, too. I assume the MQA facility can be "turned off." Having a pretty good collection of little shiny discs, including SACDs, and being too lazy to rip them all to a h .......
292: Digital Drive, RE: Sony XA-777ES (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-05-26, 13:46:17 (96.234.176.34)
which also plays SACDs (occasionally, when it's in the mood). Thanks to new speakers, the crap CDs really sound like crap, but the better ones sound ok, if a little "icy." SACDs sound pretty good. But .......
293: Critic's Corner, Even worse (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-05-18, 18:48:28 (24.145.117.29)
if they paid someone to write that bilge water! .......
294: Critic's Corner, Rich! (nt) (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-05-18, 18:47:25 (24.145.117.29)
.......
295: Speaker Asylum, the term I would use is "supple" (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-05-18, 18:44:04 (24.145.117.29)
At one point in time, I had a Krell integrated amp. When used with a pair of slightly underdamped "bookshelf" speakers, the resulting sound was o.k., but still seemed a little unnatural. When I replac .......
296: General Asylum, Thanks for the welcome (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-05-18, 18:21:58 (24.145.117.29)
Around '08, I had simultaneous medical and employment issues, which required my full attention. So, I had to trim back on extra-curriculars like involvement in both the virtual audiophile community an .......
297: Critic's Corner, RE: New vision for AudioStream and InnerFidelity - "a broader audience" "through innovative lifestyle features" "the ali (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-05-17, 18:32:13 (24.145.117.29)
Who writes this shit? Do they read it after they've written it? I'd be embarrassed to claim authorship of dreck like that. .......
298: General Asylum, A little history for those who are interested (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-05-17, 18:16:50 (24.145.117.29)
About the time AA got started, both SACD and DVD-A were introduced to the marketplace as high resolution improvements over Redbook CD. As seems inevitable with competing systems (tubes vs. transistors .......
299: General Asylum, RE: A CD Player on the cover of latest Stereophile - gasp !! (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-05-17, 18:11:37 (24.145.117.29)
Speaking only for myself, it's not that I am computer phobic. I bought my first Widows computer (3.1!) in 1992. It's that the idea of ripping all of my physical digital media is daunting. .......
300: Speaker Asylum, RE: Crossover Points and Augmented Wideband Speakers (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-05-06, 13:54:59 (24.145.117.29)
Two problems with this design. First 400 Hz is right in the midrange. 440 Hz is "A" above middle "C" on a piano. The ear is quite sensitive in this range because that's where human speech is. There a .......
301: Critic's Corner, RE: MQA Review - Both Funny and Sad... WOW!!! (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-04-30, 14:04:17 (24.145.117.29)
This piece really needs an editor. Maybe there's something to it, but the endless repetition of the same talking points and the same metaphors ("Goldilocks") wear out even the curious reader. Of cours .......
302: Vinyl Asylum, Yessiree! (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-04-30, 12:46:02 (24.145.117.29)
We like happy endings. As demands of work became increasingly challenging, I took about a 6-year absence from AA. Now retired and starting my 7th decade, I can relax and spin some tunes. Rod M kept my .......
303: Speaker Asylum, RE: Speaker Placement & Recommendation (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-04-30, 12:41:13 (24.145.117.29)
Sacrilege, but I have a pair of KEF LS-50s on a deep bookshelf, with about 10" behind them. The KEFs have a rear port with 2 different foam plugs, expressly designed to alter the low frequency respons .......
304: General Asylum, RE: A Harbeth review (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-04-30, 12:30:12 (24.145.117.29)
Since AA was set up before Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act and the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, we disclaimed any ownership rights in the content of posts (other IP ownership rights .......
305: Shady Lane, RE: Looking for any info on AudioAsylum seller danielharry9@mail.com (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-04-29, 20:09:48 (24.145.117.29)
NEVER, EVER DO 3-PARTY TRANSACTIONS. NEVER, EVER SEND MONEY ORDERS. IF IT COSTS MORE THAN YOU'RE WILLING TO LOSE, THEN USE AN ESCROW SERVICE. .......
306: Critic's Corner, yes (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-04-27, 14:02:22 (24.145.117.29)
The music reviews didn't speak to me either. Not my taste. I see there's a new poston the site, by the other AS reviewer. I think perhaps management needs to decide if AS is to be about music, or abou .......
307: Critic's Corner, RE: Nothing new in two weeks.... (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-04-24, 16:07:06 (173.73.165.191)
Given the apparent rise of streaming, I can't imagine that the substance of the AudioStream site will be abandoned. Perhaps the new owners believe someone else can make it more lively. Perhaps someone .......
308: Critic's Corner, RE: If the Oppo UDP-205 becomes available again (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-04-24, 16:01:19 (173.73.165.191)
I'm on the "waiting list." At least this is better than being on the waiting list fofr a Tesla Model 3. No deposit required and I won't have to wait as long! ;-} .......
309: Vinyl Asylum, RE: More on my battle with the Hum monster attacking my VPI HRX (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-04-22, 19:09:09 (24.145.117.29)
Assuming that nothing in your system has changed, you have a connection that's gone bad. At this point, you have to look at soldered joints, including the receptacles for the cartridge pins that are s .......
310: Critic's Corner, Drool! (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-04-20, 10:04:36 (24.145.117.29)
Although in 2015-2016, my wife and I toured the west extensively in our 28 foot Airstream and camped extensively at National Parks, etc. Among the most spectacular was on California's "Lost Coast," th .......
311: Speaker Asylum, RE: sub connection (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-04-20, 09:54:44 (24.145.117.29)
REL have always made a big to-do about their speaker-level connection. The company's view is that trying to match a sub to speakers by manipulating high pass filter slopes (for the main speakers) and .......
312: Computer Audio Asylum, RE: logitech media server (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-04-19, 13:55:10 (24.145.117.29)
I would like to run this on an NAS, and not get a full-function computer involved. I see on the download page that there are a few versions that are compatible with some now-discontinued Netgear NAS's .......
313: Critic's Corner, RE: Phoenix is not 'dry heat'... (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-04-19, 13:45:42 (24.145.117.29)
For me, at least, once the temperature exceeds 110, the relative humidity is irrelevant. Tucuson's higher elevation does make it a little better than Phoenix. Although I can't prove it empirically, th .......
314: Speaker Asylum, 3 choices (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-04-19, 13:31:55 (24.145.117.29)
1. Leave the rear port wide open. 2. Use the partial port plug (has a hole in the center). 3. Use the full port plug. The plug is made of foam. The manual advises that this choice also is relevant dep .......
315: Critic's Corner, Phoenix, Tucson (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-04-17, 18:27:59 (24.145.117.29)
Having grown up in the semi-swamp of Washington DC without air conditioning and having lived 2 years in Houston -- a true swamp if ever there was one -- I'm pretty familiar with "heat." Having been in .......
316: Speaker Asylum, RE: New bookshelf speakers, recomendations please (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-04-17, 18:01:28 (24.145.117.29)
Well, you've heard the LS50s, so there's no need to describe them. I will note that (1) they are pretty transparent, so faults upstream that you didn't know about may become evident and (2) the 3 choi .......
317: Digital Drive, Depends on the server (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-04-09, 14:59:10 (24.145.117.29)
Based on my research. The Sony HAPZ is unique in having an app that does the importing from any other device networked to it (wireless or ethernet). Sony supplies its own app that runs on a tablet for .......
318: Critic's Corner, RE: To a great extent, Michael Lavorgna (*)(**)(***) _is_ AudioStream (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-04-09, 14:50:25 (24.145.117.29)
Assuming the acquisition of Stereophile was an acquisition of assets, the non-compete with Lavorgna (if it exists) would be one such asset. Non-competes for people like those in Lavorgna's position ar .......
319: General Asylum, RE: Stereo System/Subwoofer Matching/Connection (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-04-09, 14:40:16 (24.145.117.29)
I have had, for many years, an older REL (Q400E). in my experience, using REL's proprietary "speaker level" input (from the output of your amp) integrates best. Currently, I am using the sub with a pa .......
320: Critic's Corner, RE: To a great extent, Michael Lavorgna (*)(**)(***) _is_ AudioStream (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-04-09, 08:35:02 (24.145.117.29)
Maybe. But it won't be "AudioStream," which undoubtedly is a trademark owned by Stereophile's owners. And ,if they were really smart (and willing to spend some $$), they got a non-compete as part of t .......
321: Critic's Corner, Thank you for clearing this up (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-04-09, 08:29:38 (24.145.117.29)
Whatever else it means, this thread means that there are a number of folks -- besides the owners and employees -- who feel a vested interest in the continued success of Stereophile . I, for one, appla .......
322: Vinyl Asylum, RE: xa777es (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-04-09, 08:22:53 (24.145.117.29)
I'm sure you're trying to be helpful, but I have owned this thing for like 13 years and do know how to operate it. The reason for the sonic difference between 2ch and multichannel is that it uses 6 DA .......
323: Vinyl Asylum, RE: Phillips 212 (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-04-08, 18:24:16 (24.145.117.29)
A terrible deck. Based on a favorable review by Julian Hirsch in Stereo Review I sold my lovely AR XA turntable and bought one. Big mistake. A Dual automatic changer sounded better. (Yeah, I owned t .......
324: Vinyl Asylum, RE: Vinyl vs digital shootout. (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-04-08, 18:15:08 (24.145.117.29)
Nothing if not thorough. Thanks! I confess that there are some instances where I don't want to get up and flip a record after 18 minutes or whatever. (I remember why record changers were once popular. .......
325: Critic's Corner, RE: Stereophile - that didn't take long... :( (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-04-07, 20:08:08 (24.145.117.29)
Consolidating "back office" functions seems obvious. On the editorial side, the fundamental question is: are there going to be 2 magazines, or 2 versions of one magazine? That would depend upon the de .......
326: Critic's Corner, RE: Yggy (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-04-07, 07:40:35 (24.145.117.29)
Hey, thanks for shedding some light on that little dark corner. Seems like the Schitt folks would be smart to say on their website that the current production model is different from the one reviewed .......
327: Critic's Corner, Whine seasoned with lots of attitude (nt) (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-04-06, 12:47:43 (24.145.117.29)
.......
328: Critic's Corner, RE:Audiostream editor antics (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-04-06, 12:45:35 (24.145.117.29)
I sort of "discovered" that site on my own, but I'm losing interest. One thing that annoys me is that various pieces of equipment are announced as "in the barn" (i.e. received for evaluation/review et .......
329: General Asylum, RE: Good analog and good digital converge? (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-04-06, 12:31:04 (24.145.117.29)
This doesn't make sense to me. I assume your digital set up was/is a constant. If your initial vinyl setup "often sounded better" than digital, but your "improved" vinyl setup doesn't sound better in .......
330: General Asylum, RE: NO MORE OPPO?? (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-04-05, 12:42:57 (24.145.117.29)
Welcome to the world of digital audio . . . where, like everything else digital, obsolescence is a bug or a feature, depending upon your point of view. No wonder that folks who are into "physical medi .......
331: Speaker Asylum, RE: Fun story about the LS3/5a (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-03-28, 09:48:27 (24.145.117.29)
I first hear the JR149s at a store in Charlottesville in 1976. I was hugely impressed although I was ultimately seduced by a pair of Magnepan MG-IIs, which I bought instead. I should have bought the R .......
332: General Asylum, RE: Not in the mood (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-03-28, 09:34:14 (24.145.117.29)
Sometimes you do need to take a break. In the fall of 2015, my wife and I sold our big house in DC (all 3 kids long gone), sold a bunch of our stuff and packed the rest (including the stereo) in stora .......
333: Computer Audio Asylum, RE: Digital Content vs CDs and Vinyl (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-03-25, 13:33:08 (24.145.117.29)
Sort of an interesting legal question is whether one can re-sell downloads (even assumning one deletes one's own copy after having sold it). The reason is that, under traditional copyright doctrine, t .......
334: Computer Audio Asylum, Thanks! (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-03-23, 13:55:46 (24.145.117.29)
Life in the digital world includes dealing with rapid obsolescence. So, the consensus is that even $475 for what was a pretty decent DAC and streamer is too much? There's another guy selling the ModWr .......
335: General Asylum, RE: CDs and vinyl are outselling digital music downloads (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-03-23, 13:11:59 (24.145.117.29)
I'm still wondering who's making money in this brave new world. I'm not sure how the copyright licensing goes for these streaming services, especially now that they are at least multi-national, if not .......
336: Computer Audio Asylum, So,what about the Squeezebox/Slim Devices/Logictech Sonic Transporter? (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-03-21, 15:36:50 (173.73.165.191)
There's a dealer selling NOS units for $475 on Audiogon. Seems to have a fairly decent DAC and there's a Tidal app (Plus other lower-rez streaming apps). Immediate obvious disadvantages are: inability .......
337: Vinyl Asylum, Let's just say that, in my system (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-03-21, 15:22:48 (173.73.165.191)
Vinyl playback as a general matter is "richer," more 3-dimensional than my digital playback. Specifics: I have a Columbia 6-Eye of "Kind of Blue" that I have owned since new (1969). I have a "remaster .......
338: Vinyl Asylum, RE: Must have used a session bass player as the Rascals had no bass player. (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-03-21, 14:55:40 (173.73.165.191)
Liked the Rascals and even saw them live at Ryder College in New Jersey in the fall of 1967. Did not know until a few days ago that "Good Lovin" was a cover of a song done by "The Olympics," an r&b gr .......
339: Speaker Asylum, RE: replacing 15-year old speakers (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-03-21, 14:07:29 (173.73.165.191)
Why? I don't know that foam surrounds (which did fail) for woofers have been used for decades and the rubber-like surrounds, I believe are fairly durable. Maybe at some point cross-over capacitors fal .......
340: General Asylum, RE: Jack Bruce from Cream (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-03-21, 13:50:08 (173.73.165.191)
Honestly, although Cream was one of the first "Super Groups," I could never get into their music. I appreciated the virtuosity of their playing, as individuals, but for me, the whole was always less t .......
341: Amp/Preamp Asylum, RE: A bit of nostalgia from 1964 . . . (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-03-16, 10:08:12 (24.145.117.29)
The AR 2ax was an older model; the 5 was its successor. The 5 was essentially a 3a with a 10" woofer. I agree with your comparison. The 2ax was a development of the AR 2, a 2-way with a 3" cone tweete .......
342: Vinyl Asylum, RE: Upgrade limits (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-03-14, 15:28:14 (24.145.117.29)
My view, contra Linn, is that a chain is only as strong as its weakest link. So, many times replacing one link in the chain reveals a new "weakest link" that needs replacing. To be sure, there are s .......
343: General Asylum, Long but, I hope, helpful (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-03-14, 14:55:19 (24.145.117.29)
Is this a particular problem for you or just an invitation to a general discussion? Assuming it's the former, it's fair to ask why you bought the speakers in the first place? Did you listen to them ca .......
344: Vinyl Asylum, RE: dark side of the moon (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-03-13, 15:15:07 (24.145.117.29)
I own the original pressing, which I bought in 1973. I think this record's rep. as an audiophile test disc or whatever is because it has very solid low bass. At the time (i.e. in 1973) it was very com .......
345: Critic's Corner, RE: "Recommended Components" (TAS & Stereophile) Your stuff in either list? (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-03-12, 13:32:29 (24.145.117.29)
I don't keep up with TAS's list, but my speakers and CD/SACD player are or were on the Stereophile RC list. I don't think my sub, phonostage, cartridge or integrated amp were ever reviewed by Stereoph .......
346: Critic's Corner, RE: One swallow does not a summer make (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-03-12, 13:14:30 (24.145.117.29)
Not sure why you did it, but thanks for reviving a post from my inactive period at the Asylum. A wonderful Charlie Hansen rant -- a little long, but cogent and well-written. I miss the guy even though .......
347: Amp/Preamp Asylum, RE: A bit of nostalgia from 1964 . . . (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-03-11, 18:23:56 (24.145.117.29)
I remember a friend's parents had a Fisher receiver driving a pair of AR 3as. I doubt that it had the output of the Stereo 70. The gentle clipping aspects of those amplifiers made that possible, with .......
348: Amp/Preamp Asylum, RE: Villchur's Live vs Recorded demos (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-03-11, 18:15:02 (24.145.117.29)
Yeah, except the Stereo 70 only delivered 35 watts at 1Khz. 20-20K was more like 30 watts or less. I know because my first system was a Stereo 70 driving AR 2ax speakers. I replaced the Stereo 70/PAS .......
349: Digital Drive, RE: Does temperature have something to do with "TOC reading error"? (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-03-09, 09:22:03 (24.145.117.29)
My XA-777ES shows the same behavior. I get one SACD play at startup (hybrid or SACD only; it doesn't matter) and then no more: CD only. My guess is that it's a mechanical issue. The remedy is to repla .......
350: Critic's Corner, RE: Enjoyed JA and Paul McG chat (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-03-09, 09:15:29 (24.145.117.29)
I'll take MCGowan's and Atkinson's word that the system sounds fabulous. The ribbon tweeters and mids don't radiate much off axis in the vertical plane, unlike domes and cones. That's one reason why t .......
351: Hi-Rez Highway, RE: Straw Man alert! (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-03-08, 21:08:54 (24.145.117.29)
"Spongey"-- that's a good word. Can I borrow it sometime? ;-) The question in my mind is whether some folks' preference for CDs is because they like the "sharpness" of musical transients that such rep .......
352: Hi-Rez Highway, RE: you misunderstood (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-03-08, 12:40:30 (24.145.117.29)
Tinfoil hat time! If you look at Stereophile's tests of DACs that handle both PCM and DSD you can see, in all cases, that the noise floor of the DAC rises at about 8KHz with DSD, whereas, it's constan .......
353: Critic's Corner, change: why? (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-03-06, 19:29:56 (24.145.117.29)
This primarily is a hobby of men who came of age in the 1960s and 1970s. We're dying out. The hobby shouldn't die with us; it needs recruits! .......
354: Critic's Corner, in fairness to Sam . . . (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-03-06, 19:26:29 (24.145.117.29)
If I recall correctly, his argument against SACD on these boards reflected a kind of pro-consumer perspective -- warning about getting audiophiles to invest in yet another format that might go bust. W .......
355: Vinyl Asylum, RE: CD Has Better Bass Than My T.T. (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-03-06, 19:13:18 (24.145.117.29)
I'm not sure I like "punchy" bass (sounds like the old Krell KAV-300 amplifier I owned in the late 1990s), but there's no inherent reason why CD should be better. That said, the day -- sadly -- appear .......
356: General Asylum, RE: Actually, the Green Door... (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-03-06, 18:58:25 (24.145.117.29)
sounds like the former Outside. and, apparently, has an equally secret URL. BfDC -- founding moderator of Outside .......
357: Hi-Rez Highway, Thanks! (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-03-04, 13:39:48 (24.145.117.29)
I did a search of the site and nothing came up. It's kind of a mess. .......
358: Hi-Rez Highway, What's "MD"? (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-03-04, 08:34:54 (24.145.117.29)
not Music Direct. There's a dumb dealer on Audiogon who's selling a 2-year old unit for $50 MORE than you can get a new unit from Galen Carol. I'm not even sure that guy's worth talking to. Seriously, .......
359: Critic's Corner, RE: It wasn't obvious to me why 4everyoung mentioned a female perspective (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-03-03, 20:34:21 (24.145.117.29)
I think you've defined "hobby" more narrowly than I would. Certainly, the origins of the hobby in the monaural 1950s were with men who built their own speakers and, often, their own electronics. By th .......
360: Hi-Rez Highway, RE: New laser plays SACD's (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-03-03, 15:52:37 (24.145.117.29)
Appreciate your comments. I have a slightly older Sony XA-777ES (multichannel) which, for the second time has failed to read SACDs of any kind. The first time it was repaired under warranty -- probabl .......
361: Digital Drive, yup (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-03-03, 15:38:23 (24.145.117.29)
Even the "official" Apple drive gets lots of bad reviews and, being Apple, it's 2x as expensive. :-( .......
362: Vinyl Asylum, same advice for Vibrapods (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-03-03, 15:35:22 (24.145.117.29)
Have them sit on squares of wax paper and, with speakers, use wax paper top and bottom. .......
363: Digital Drive, RE: optical drives in the computer industry (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-03-03, 07:36:57 (24.145.117.29)
It is also noteworthy that practically no one is including optical drives in laptops, even expensive ones -- not a good sign. This is being typed on a Macbook Pro I bought last year. No optical drive. .......
364: Vinyl Asylum, RE: RadioWorld piece on Dutch broadcaster VRT digitizing their records (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-03-03, 07:31:40 (24.145.117.29)
Reading my comment, when I said "shared" to characterize the expressed opinion about the superiority of CD playback from a player vs. the same file played back from a hard drive, I meant "shared betwe .......
365: Vinyl Asylum, RE: TT vibration control (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-03-03, 07:16:02 (24.145.117.29)
Wow. Usually, turntabld vibration control is about protecting it from vibration transmitted by whatever it's sitting on. Hence all the recommendations for pads, blocks, points and so on below. Here y .......
366: Digital Drive, RE: 10-15 years old top of line cd player vs current modern mid-range players (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-03-02, 19:38:38 (24.145.117.29)
A couple of thoughts (as the owner of a top of the line SACD player --Sony XA-777ES). First, a lot of players that are 10 years old may be near their failure point. Lasers do not last forever. Many of .......
367: Critic's Corner, Watched the whole thing. Enjoyed it immensely! (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-03-02, 18:29:50 (24.145.117.29)
Looking forward to more of the same, although Paul McGowan is a very attractive interview subject; and you and he have an obvious rapport. A high bar the two of you have set. .......
368: Critic's Corner, pretty snarky, there DAP (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-03-02, 18:24:42 (24.145.117.29)
Given that the numbers of our hobby are fading, not growing; and given that most of them are men, it might be worthwhile to recruit a few females to the madness, dontcha think? I, for one, would be cu .......
369: Critic's Corner, Thanks for the reply, Doug (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-03-02, 18:12:31 (24.145.117.29)
"one user's opinion," as they say. Just sayin' the UI needs work. While I'm interested in the latest, sometimes I'm interested in something from the archives. A lot of time, I'm buying used equipment. .......
370: Vinyl Asylum, RE: RadioWorld piece on Dutch broadcaster VRT digitizing their records (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-03-02, 18:08:24 (24.145.117.29)
Some time ago, I digitized some friends' records with a Sony pro cd recorder. (The friends no longer had record playback capability.) The resulting CDs sounded pretty good, admittedly on my 15-year ol .......
371: General Asylum, good for you! (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-03-02, 16:06:39 (24.145.117.29)
This record is to a disco beat, but it's not like any disco I've ever heard. Google the band's name and you'll find an interesting article that goes into the background of the group (they were creole .......
372: Critic's Corner, agreed (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-02-27, 18:24:28 (173.73.165.191)
I've been a Soundstage reader since 1999, but I have to agree that I find the site today confusing and difficult to navigate. To the point that I don't look at it much any more. .......
373: General Asylum, RE: Disco Sucks (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-02-27, 18:16:24 (173.73.165.191)
Exception: Dr. Buzzard's Original Savannah Band. Disco like you never heard before; one of the most original albums of the 70s. Check it out if you can find it. It was re-released on CD. Like a lot o .......
374: Amp/Preamp Asylum, RE: Best New Integrated Amp for Old Klipsch Fortes (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-02-26, 15:15:35 (173.73.165.191)
The gadget you would need to access streaming audio from the Internet (Tidal, Spotify, etc.) is called a "streamer." The Marantz may or may not have such a device built in; you'd have to check the man .......
375: Hi-Rez Highway, RE: Define "deader" (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-02-25, 08:06:22 (24.145.117.29)
IIRC, a few major symphony orchestras (LSO, SFO) self-published SACD recordings of concert performances. They were not bad sonically and relatively inexpensive. I wonder what the musicians' union cont .......
376: Amp/Preamp Asylum, RE: Best New Integrated Amp for Old Klipsch Fortes (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-02-25, 07:57:21 (24.145.117.29)
The traditional CD or DVD player has a DAC, and outputs an analog signal. Many of these players also have digital outputs (a player that doesn't have a built-in DAC is called a "transport.") . The pla .......
377: Vinyl Asylum, RE: Public Broadcaster closing massive music library (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-02-24, 20:38:42 (24.145.117.29)
Not crying too much over the destruction of the digital media. In fairness to the copyright owners, if the digital media are duplicated in mass storage, it should not be permitted to sell or otherwise .......
378: Vinyl Asylum, RE: Kids with turntables - Be afraid (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-02-24, 08:51:07 (24.145.117.29)
Not! Loved this. Thanks for sharing! .......
379: General Asylum, RE: REVIEW: Core Power 1800 Power Conditioner/Surge Protector (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-02-22, 18:13:58 (24.145.117.29)
As a long-time owner of a 20 amp Equi=tech balanced power transformer, I'm familiar with balanced power's benefits. Both of my CD players benefited substantially from balanced power, in the city and o .......
380: Digital Drive, well, yeah (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-02-18, 18:13:46 (24.145.117.29)
But, in fairness, these small volume manufacturers are dependent on big OEM companies like Sony, Teac, Phillips, etc. to supply them with spares. The Ayre website has a very candid discussion of this .......
381: Vinyl Asylum, I made a similar switch (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-02-18, 17:53:40 (24.145.117.29)
from Clearaudio Aurum Beta S, but I did not notice a difference in soundstage width. Other differences to be sure, but not that one. .......
382: Vinyl Asylum, RE: MM to MC.... There is something missing (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-02-18, 17:51:28 (24.145.117.29)
I second PAR's suggestion that you double-check your cartridge wiring to make sure you've wired it correctly. I believe the pin orientation and polarity on cartridge his has been standardized, but may .......
383: Speaker Asylum, RE: Trying out some new speakers and having trouble explaining what i dont like about them... (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-02-18, 17:44:08 (24.145.117.29)
Well, that might not be the speaker's "final" sound if it's not fully broken in. Or it could be that the speaker's designer deliberately choose a "boom-sizzle" response to get attention in the showroo .......
384: Hi-Rez Highway, As always, it was good for only one play (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-02-16, 17:24:47 (24.145.117.29)
Which suggests to me that its a mechanical problem that is related to heat from being run. After my SACD was finished, I immediately opened the drawer and replaced it with another (hybrid) SACD. The p .......
385: Digital Drive, sort of update and kudos to Cary Audio (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-02-16, 10:35:24 (24.145.117.29)
So, I was perusing audiogon and found a couple of ads that illustrate my point precisely. There's a Cary CD-306 CD/SACD player, which was very favorably reviewed in its time, advertised for $2,200 (ne .......
386: Hi-Rez Highway, Oh Happy Day (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-02-16, 10:16:18 (24.145.117.29)
My Sony XA-777ES has decided it will play the SACD layer of some of discs. So much nicer sound, especially on classical music. Listening to Mozart sonatas for piano and violin right now. It often doe .......
387: Vinyl Asylum, RE: Christmas Day (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-02-16, 10:07:34 (24.145.117.29)
We walked several miles that day. Fortunately, it wasn't raining! Daughter lived in commercial student housing near the Tate Modern, got an MS, "with distinction" from LSE in European Studies. She mis .......
388: Vinyl Asylum, Actually . . . (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-02-16, 10:02:32 (24.145.117.29)
The VPI SDS power supply (which is, in effect, a variable frequency power regenerator with a super-accurate and super-fine (to the 100th of a Hz) adjustable frequency -- you can actually compensate fo .......
389: Vinyl Asylum, Divided by a common language (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-02-15, 16:49:41 (24.145.117.29)
So if there are many of them together, you get a "caravan of caravans." Spent a lovely Christmas holiday in the Mother Country in 2016 as my youngest was a grad student at LSE at the time. Christmas D .......
390: Vinyl Asylum, RE: Calling all belt drive TT experts (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-02-14, 16:24:16 (24.145.117.29)
I did connect the TT directly to mains power, which did not affect the problem. So, the SDS is cleared of wrongdoing. A new belt is due next week, so we'll see what that does. My wife and I sold our b .......
391: Vinyl Asylum, RE: First hi-fi system. (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-02-14, 09:11:41 (24.145.117.29)
AR turntable with Stanton 500E cartridge. Dyna PAS3x preamp (built from kit). Dyna Stereo 70 power amp (also built from kit). Utah 12" coaxial speakers in 3/4" "bass reflex" plywood enclosures (follow .......
392: Vinyl Asylum, more (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-02-14, 08:54:54 (24.145.117.29)
I bought my table used. I notice that the belt is a sort of yellowish, translucent plastic, while the replacements (supposedly sourced from VPI) appear to be opaque black. So, I don't know if the belt .......
393: Vinyl Asylum, RE: Calling all belt drive TT experts (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-02-14, 08:48:20 (24.145.117.29)
OK. It's not the SDS. Plugged the table directly into the wall: no difference. Did not realize belts could fail gradually. New belt now on order! (I have the plastic bag with cornstarch already.) Whe .......
394: Digital Drive, RE: update -- nothing new to report (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-02-13, 17:04:50 (24.145.117.29)
Not sure why being in DC is impressive, but I'll take the compliment/1 ;-) I grew up here and, with the exception of a couple of years, spent all my working life here. I'm now retired but have maintai .......
395: Vinyl Asylum, Calling all belt drive TT experts (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-02-13, 16:53:10 (24.145.117.29)
I have a VPI HW-19. It seems to be showing an audible amount of pitch instability, audible especially on sustained piano chords. I run a VPI SDS power supply with adjustable synthesized AC, so I doubt .......
396: General Asylum, RE: Joe Stromick--JS Audio (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-02-13, 16:37:50 (24.145.117.29)
Nice shop. I've been there over the years; bought a REL sub there. Given how much Bethesda has gentrified and, presumably, rents have increased, it's amazing that the store is still there. Every other .......
397: Digital Drive, update -- nothing new to report (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-02-12, 19:42:08 (24.145.117.29)
I'm in paralysis mode. I'm deeply suspicious of Chinese knock-offs of precision parts. Ever buy a cheap Chinese knock off of an Apple car power adapter? Failed in less than 6 months. So, while $60 is .......
398: Vinyl Asylum, RE: Original (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-02-12, 19:23:28 (24.145.117.29)
Hergest Ridge is not a place in Australia, I believe. I think it's Outside. .......
399: Digital Drive, RE: So, let's buy a used disc spinner (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-02-09, 19:23:08 (24.145.117.29)
Well, yes. It's the digital library I have that's holding me back. My personal view is that streaming audio is way underpriced. The companies doing it aren't making money, and I think that the artists .......
400: Hi-Rez Highway, RE: Measuring distortion when playing music (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-02-07, 10:58:18 (173.73.142.42)
Bob Carver did that in response to a Stereophile challenge many years ago. He matched the sound of one of his transistor amps to a classic harman-kardon tube amp (feeding LS-3a speakers) to a, if memo .......
401: Critic's Corner, RE: Do you know who Charles Hansen was? (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-02-07, 10:41:12 (173.73.142.42)
Sure. He was in the business. Those in the business live and die by reviews (or at least think they do). The rest of us don't, which was my point about Salvatore's rant. I owned, for more than 10 yea .......
402: Speaker Asylum, RE: Bass Response (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-02-07, 10:08:27 (173.73.142.42)
I've been running a sub/sat combination since 1996, with different speakers and different subs. There are any number of cheap apps for smartphones that convert your phone into a real-time analyzer. I' .......
403: General Asylum, RE: Best Buy stores to stop selling CD's (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-02-07, 09:21:41 (173.73.142.42)
The problem with selling physical media is that they take up shelf space and tie up capital. Even if you're an Amazon and don't have them in a B&M store, they have to be in a warehouse somewhere. At h .......
404: Digital Drive, RE: Cal Icon MkII for sale here in the Asylum (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-02-05, 13:47:42 (24.145.117.29)
Saw that, but one of my goals is to be able to play my SACDs, not have to rip them to .dsd files. .......
405: Digital Drive, RE: So, let's buy a used disc spinner (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-02-05, 13:46:19 (24.145.117.29)
Doesn't play SACDs. My Sony still plays regular CDs, and it has an S/PDIF digital output should I want to use an outboard DAC. .......
406: Digital Drive, Thanks, I'll check this out. (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-02-05, 13:44:34 (24.145.117.29)
Maybe you've taken away my excuse for buying a new spinner and/or DAc,NAS and all that other stuff. .......
407: Critic's Corner, This guy seriously needs to get a life (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-02-05, 13:42:10 (24.145.117.29)
Step back a second and think about what kind of person would take the time and effort to draft an extended rant like this about a hobby magazine. Sad! .......
408: Digital Drive, So, let's buy a used disc spinner (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-02-03, 08:56:33 (24.145.117.29)
Recently my old Sony XA-777ES multichannel SACD/CD player has gone on strike and refuses to play SACDs. I have had the thing for 10 years, and I've been through this before. It's a known issue with th .......
409: Critic's Corner, I'll support that (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-02-03, 08:20:04 (24.145.117.29)
Sure, I have my issues with some of the reviews (but I have issues with all reviews!), and, having lived through various failed formats, am deeply skeptical of MQA. However, what John Atkinson appears .......
410: Vinyl Asylum, RE: Why do I have too many cartridges? (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-02-03, 08:00:09 (24.145.117.29)
Shelter 501? Admittedly, I heard it in an all-tube Cary SET system, but it was pretty lush. Not "thick," but lush. .......
411: Speaker Asylum, RE: Can't drive my subwoofer (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-02-03, 07:54:22 (24.145.117.29)
If the sub's input impedance is 22K, there should not be a problem. The fact that you only see minor improvement when driving the sub alone, means that there's a problem with the sub. Assuming you bou .......
412: Speaker Asylum, RE: Can't drive my subwoofer (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-02-02, 11:46:38 (24.145.117.29)
What's the input impedance of your sub? Remember, that when you connect two loads in parallel (the power amplifier and the sub), the input impedance seen by the preamplifier is reduced below the input .......
413: Speaker Asylum, RE: Headphones! (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-02-02, 11:35:30 (24.145.117.29)
I have no idea what "neutral" means, except in the most gross ("grossest"?) sense. Back in the day I was a pretty serious headphone guy, my final pair being a set of electrostatics made by Stanton mag .......
414: Speaker Asylum, RE: That's a false dichotomy ;-) (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-01-31, 19:04:14 (173.73.142.42)
I think the "old adage" is wrong. It might have been true 50 years ago, but today the difference between amplifiers is much less than the difference between loudspeakers. The lesson of my experience i .......
415: Amp/Preamp Asylum, RE: RMS vs Watts/Ch (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-01-31, 16:59:39 (173.73.142.42)
I would say, hopefully (in the proper use of the adverb, i.e. "with hope") that the experience was worthwhile. That's what we take with us. I agree, diminished capacity of whatever kind, is a bitch. .......
416: Vinyl Asylum, RE: I still have my Minolta SLR film camera (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-01-29, 20:53:24 (24.145.117.29)
I've been a Nikon guy since 1969. Had an Ftn, an F2 and an F4. One problem with that generation of lenses and the (relatively) modern generation of Nikon film cameras (I have an F4, the last of Nikon' .......
417: Speaker Asylum, which comes first, chicken or egg? (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-01-29, 20:44:37 (24.145.117.29)
Or, in audiophile terms, what should be the first component that you think about -- source or speaker? For my decades of audio phoolishness, I was an agnostic on this question. Recent experience has c .......
418: Amp/Preamp Asylum, RE: RMS vs Watts/Ch (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-01-29, 18:31:20 (24.145.117.29)
Interesting re-cycle of the output transformers. In fairness, some classic tube amps probably can't pass the test either. For example, based on personal experience, I doubt that the classic Dyna Stere .......
419: Amp/Preamp Asylum, RE: RMS vs Watts/Ch (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-01-29, 10:03:42 (24.145.117.29)
Not that it was ever enforced too vigorously, but, in response to truly insane inflated power ratings at the dawn of the stero era, the Federal Trade Commission isued rules regarding advertising of au .......
420: Vinyl Asylum, RE: Average Life, in plays, of an LP (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-01-24, 15:37:03 (24.145.117.29)
Interesting, John, but have no urge to upgrade and am not buying or acquiring as many used records as I did in the past. My cleaning MO is quite laborious: a pre-clean with a Discwasher brush off the .......
421: General Asylum, RE: Julian Hirsch? (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-01-24, 15:23:40 (24.145.117.29)
I owned a Stereo 400 to drive a pair of Magnepans for a few years in the 1970s and rather liked it. Sadly, I had to sell the whole combination when I moved into smaller quarters. I think Mr. Hirsch's .......
422: Vinyl Asylum, RE: Average Life, in plays, of an LP (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-01-22, 15:15:40 (24.145.117.29)
Impossible to say. I have records from my father's collection dating from the mid-1950s. They still play well and quietly, despite having been played on some seriously non-optimal equipment. I'm not s .......
423: Vinyl Asylum, RE: you may need nylon hardware as well (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-01-22, 15:05:03 (24.145.117.29)
glad I was able to help. When I suffered through this problem, I went absolutely nutso for months! .......
424: Vinyl Asylum, you may need nylon hardware as well (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-01-21, 13:16:23 (24.145.117.29)
I had a metal-bodied MM cart (Clearaudio) that connected one of the signal leads to the body. Mounted in a metal arm (VPI), it produced a nasty ground loop. Had to get nylon hardware and a plastic ins .......
425: Speaker Asylum, demonstration time! (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-01-21, 07:42:10 (24.145.117.29)
You should have invited your skeptical guest to have a brief listen. When I do that, the response always is " that's a record?! It helps, in my case, that I happen to own a couple of recordings on bo .......
426: Speaker Asylum, double trouble (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-01-17, 17:10:58 (24.145.117.29)
I bought the Octave RTA for my IPhone, for all of $5.00. (I also have the Rat Shack meter.) I was trying to dial in my system at my new home, using an old Stereo Review/chesky records test CD. Even t .......
427: General Asylum, RE: Flaming out (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-01-17, 16:40:46 (24.145.117.29)
In the old daze, we had Outside for this sort of thing. Then it was banned. Pity, that. ( ;-0) .......
428: Vinyl Asylum, My vote goes to the loose connection in the RCA plug (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-01-13, 19:17:11 (24.145.117.29)
Based on your report of a hum. Lots of accumulated stress over the years. As a general matter, given the poor quality of connectors of that era, a thorough cleaning and contact treatment might yield m .......
429: Inmate Central, RE: marijuana stock disclosure, they have been dumped (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-01-06, 17:07:30 (24.145.117.29)
Eventually this state-federal law conflict is going to need to get resolved. Legally, there's no question: under the Supremacy Clause of the Constitution, federal law prevails. And, inconsistent enfor .......
430: Inmate Central, RE: It's a broader version... (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-01-06, 16:58:45 (24.145.117.29)
Except that there are political rants (ugh!) which we used to have Outside (--smiles--) but not in Central. I'm sucker for the cute dog videos, especially "Ray Charles" the blind Golden Retriever. Pos .......
431: Digital Drive, RE: hmmm (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-01-06, 16:49:48 (24.145.117.29)
Having not heard this, I have no basis to proclaim it a steal for the money, or a rip-off. However, those that have -- like Michael Lavorgna of Audio Stream -- have marked this as one of the 3 best he .......
432: Critic's Corner, We love 'em -- we're all a dying breed! (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-01-06, 16:35:13 (24.145.117.29)
Seriously, I think most people would find reviewing equipment to be very difficult. First, there's the need to make something readable -- and not a "fill in the blanks" or "run down the checklist" wor .......
433: Critic's Corner, Would love to read your reviewer's opinion or the LS-50W (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-01-06, 16:17:16 (24.145.117.29)
Recently bought the LS-50. Was tempted by the LS-50W but couldn't bring myself to sell my beloved BAT VK-300se, and how could I play my SACDs and my vinyl records with only one analog input available? .......
434: Vinyl Asylum, RE: Washing an LP with a rag? Yuck! (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-01-06, 16:13:26 (24.145.117.29)
I don't think the alcohol will damage the record, and the use of tap water (with or without adding detergent) will dry leaving a mineral residue that will make the record sound "crunchy" (literally). .......
435: Vinyl Asylum, RE: So your buddy ask you.."Show me what your system can do" (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-01-06, 16:03:30 (24.145.117.29)
Assuming that my system is not capable of inducing nausea or diarrhea from 120 dB reproduction of 20hz LFE, I will often choose a live recording in whatever genre the person prefers: "How Blue Can You .......
436: General Asylum, RE: "jury took just 20 minutes to make its decision, awarding Beats the total amount of legal fees requested"... (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2018-01-06, 15:35:26 (24.145.117.29)
I seriously doubt that the total amount Monster's attorneys billed their client was only $360K. My guess is that the jury did, too and that probably damaged Monster's credibility. OTOH, even for David .......
437: Amp/Preamp Asylum, RE: using an integrated as a pre amp (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2017-12-29, 11:38:34 (24.145.117.29)
Having owned the BAT VK-300se (with the 6H30 tube front end) for a number of years, I would not describe it as particularly "tubular" in the classic "tube" sense like, say a 12ax7-based tube preamplif .......
438: Amp/Preamp Asylum, Yep (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2017-12-29, 08:28:34 (24.145.117.29)
I have one . . . in the garage in a box. It's a Bheringer "Ultra Curve Pro." It's a digital parametric equalizer/real-time analyzer that includes a calibrated microphone. Using the mic, you can adjus .......
439: Speaker Asylum, RE: Loudspeaker tweaks. What have you tried? Liked? Disliked? (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2017-12-27, 13:43:37 (24.145.117.29)
Stuffed the ports of my Joseph RM-7si signatures with a rolled up piece of insulation in a woman's ankle-high nylon stocking. Smoothed out the bass response as the expense of some extension; also elim .......
440: General Asylum, Great thread! (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2017-12-27, 13:38:35 (24.145.117.29)
Seriously. At first I was put off by the subject, but as I read the responses, I embrace it. In 2015, I retired at my Social Security "full retirement age." My wife and I sold our 3-story +attic & .......
441: General Asylum, really? (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2017-12-26, 10:16:26 (24.145.117.29)
I'm sure that there are disappointing tube amps and preamps. But to say that they're all unreliable or "unstable" is just nonsense. I still have an all-tube phonostage that runs just fine after 10 yea .......
442: Computer Audio Asylum, sure do (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2017-12-23, 20:20:11 (24.145.117.29)
If you want an optical drive, a spinning hard drive holding 1 TB or more of data, or more than a couple of USB-C ports, you're not going to buy a current Macbook of any sort. I know, because I have on .......
443: Critic's Corner, Aww, Rod, you just like monkey coffins ;-) (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2017-12-23, 20:05:27 (24.145.117.29)
It's hard to stomach that color. In black, white or silver, these would be a lot better. .......
444: Speaker Asylum, RE: New Mac Flagship speaker (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2017-12-23, 19:59:01 (24.145.117.29)
I'm sure it will play very loudly without distortion. The problem with using multiple driver spaced more than one wavelength apart (which would include tweeters for sure) to reproduce the same frequen .......
445: Amp/Preamp Asylum, RE: Help ... I'm stumped (subwoofer topic) (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2017-12-23, 19:50:46 (24.145.117.29)
For a long time, I have used integrated amplifiers with preamp outputs to run various subs. This always means that the drive to the main speakers is not rolled off in the bass. The subs I have used ha .......
446: General Asylum, RE: Highly reviewed (regarded) equipments that turned out to be disappointing (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2017-12-23, 19:16:32 (24.145.117.29)
B&W DM-7 -- at least I think it was highly reviewed. I purchased it from DC's leading stereo store in the late 1970s because my new house wouldn't accommodate my Magnepan MG-IIs and my Dynaco stack. .......
447: General Asylum, That's cool, but (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2017-12-14, 16:49:50 (24.145.117.29)
the coolest vanity plate I ever saw, many years ago was "1FUNGRL" on a white Mustang. .......
448: Inmate Central, RE: It's the original router Verizon set up when we moved in. (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2017-12-14, 16:43:42 (24.145.117.29)
The one they gave us in the summer of '16 has dual-band wifi 2.4 and 5 ghz. Fortunately, all of my devices are new enough to have 5 ghz, which is the connection that is fast. Only my wife's old MacBoo .......
449: Speaker Asylum, Bam, Pow! (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2017-12-14, 16:38:16 (24.145.117.29)
I stand corrected for not having read your post more carefully and going off on a tangent regarding the high pass. I'm glad this unit has served you so well for so long. Having bought my first sub 40 .......
450: Critic's Corner, Yeah, Dolby B was a godsend (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2017-12-14, 15:44:47 (24.145.117.29)
I could make my tape go twice as far in copying my college buddies' records. 3 3/4 ips instead of 7 1/2. .......
451: Inmate Central, I hear you (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2017-12-14, 15:41:06 (24.145.117.29)
There's a lot of investment advice out there, but very little of it applies to people who are already retired. What just about everyone wants (unless your investment income is well into the 6 figures) .......
452: Inmate Central, RE: FiOS speed (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2017-12-14, 15:23:27 (24.145.117.29)
Are you using 5 ghz band on the router? That's what gives me the high speeds. .......
453: Inmate Central, RE: You need to be below 120/80. (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2017-12-14, 15:16:02 (24.145.117.29)
Typically, I'm about 120/50. Sometimes lower than that. Just call me Mr. Mellow. .......
454: Critic's Corner, RE: I do think that they have vested interests, but my question was... (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2017-12-14, 15:13:42 (24.145.117.29)
As regmac (I believe), said, the answer is probably going to be unique to each person. There's a great illustration of this I recently stumbled into. Apparently Stereophile is encouraging each of its .......
455: Inmate Central, RE: Yeah....the costs will go up for broadband.... (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2017-12-14, 14:37:30 (24.145.117.29)
Even under the old so-called Net Neutrality rules, ISPs had the ability to charge more for high data users. It never mandated flat rate pricing, no matter what. Once there are great disparities in dat .......
456: Digital Drive, RE: Back in the Day of duilawyer and theresa (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2017-12-14, 13:58:53 (24.145.117.29)
And OUTSIDE! :-0 .......
457: Critic's Corner, Hands Up! So, shoot me (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2017-12-14, 13:52:31 (24.145.117.29)
for not answering the question you posed. But I'm confused. What's the primary benefit of MQA claimed by its proponents? Reduced file size without compromising sound quality? Or better sound, without .......
458: Speaker Asylum, RE: LS50 "wooly bass" (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2017-12-14, 13:04:05 (24.145.117.29)
when i got my LS-50s, i plugged the ports immediately. perhaps if the speaker is more than 3 feet from the wall behind it, this would not be necessary. .......
459: Digital Drive, Thanks for all the comments! (nt) (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2017-12-06, 18:27:30 (173.73.142.42)
.......
460: Critic's Corner, crawling through vomit to reach the stage (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2017-12-06, 18:20:22 (173.73.142.42)
Somehow, this evoked an image of the Met's James Levine, although in my mind's eye, he's not the one on his knees in my mental image. ;-() .......
461: Speaker Asylum, RE: Small, most musical sub ($1K (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2017-12-06, 18:15:32 (173.73.142.42)
I think you've got the control's function wrong. It appears to regulate the low-pass to the sub, not the high-pass to the main speakers. In other words, the "40" setting means that signals below 40Hz .......
462: Speaker Asylum, RE: Cerwin Vega e-310's blown? (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2017-12-06, 18:08:24 (173.73.142.42)
A crude but safe way is to test each driver with a small 1.5 volt battery, like a AA (that won't deliver many amps). (After you disconnect the driver from the cross over, of course). Connecting the ba .......
463: Speaker Asylum, RE: Small, most musical sub ($1K (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2017-12-04, 20:02:17 (24.145.117.29)
There's a used REL Storm on Audiogon, asking $750. That was one of the original REL models which made the company's reputation. It is not a home theatre sub and will not rattle windows or knock the br .......
464: General Asylum, Yes ,(nt) (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2017-12-02, 15:38:21 (24.145.117.29)
.......
465: Digital Drive, RE: Also.................streaming (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2017-12-01, 18:32:18 (24.145.117.29)
That's what people say, but it sounds like even worse news for artists/performers. Think about this: it costs over $100/year to get a license for the Roon software, and just $40/year more to get the 1 .......
466: Critic's Corner, RE: John Atkinson's Tribute to Charles Hansen (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2017-12-01, 17:39:41 (24.145.117.29)
Well done. And I have the feeling that, had the situation been reversed, Mr. Hansen's thoughts and comments about his relationship with you would have been equally gracious. In the heat of passionate .......
467: General Asylum, RE: Oh, goody! (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2017-12-01, 17:30:02 (24.145.117.29)
You discovered my trick! And you changed my definition so that your argument does win. Well done. That said, Einstein refused to accept the implication of quantum mechanics -- that we life in a fundam .......
468: General Asylum, RE: Oh, goody! (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2017-12-01, 07:23:20 (24.145.117.29)
I would definitely say that "you would have to prove they don't work before you dismiss them." Each of these things in your list is based on observation. And the disproof of each relies greatly on the .......
469: General Asylum, RE: Gravity, Newton, and ghosts. Oh my! (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2017-12-01, 07:09:22 (24.145.117.29)
I did read that book, decades ago. But I have no recollection of this particular passage. However, the URL and the "Socratic dialog" style of the text clued me to the source. If memory serves, the aut .......
470: Digital Drive, Advice needed: moving on in the digital world (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2017-11-30, 14:58:55 (24.145.117.29)
I guess I will post this here, but it could belong in hi-rez, or computer audio. Having been present at the creation of this site 17 years ago, I remember the flame wars among of the then available fl .......
471: General Asylum, Oh, goody! (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2017-11-29, 22:31:00 (24.145.117.29)
Let's turn this upside down and see what it looks like. A thought experiment, if you will. Assume an audiophile who was an English major, whose education in mathematics, physics, chemistry and biology .......
472: Critic's Corner, RE: Charles Hansen RIP (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2017-11-29, 21:30:21 (24.145.117.29)
You have to admire anyone who enters the "specialist audio" business and does it successfully for 25 years. Persistence, vision, integrity, guts . . . and the guy even took the time to hang out with t .......
473: General Asylum, no (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2017-11-26, 08:48:19 (24.145.117.29)
I'm not setting myself up to compete with Consumer Reports or Stereophile. Most of my equipment was not purchased new, the exceptions being my two BAT products. Honestly, I seriously question whether .......
474: General Asylum, RE: Food for Thought (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2017-11-26, 08:22:23 (24.145.117.29)
There's no hyperlink associated with your article, so I can't read it. However, at least 20 years ago laser interferometry began to be used to look at the motion of loudspeaker diaphragms, to identify .......
475: General Asylum, RE: Missing the point Abe (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2017-11-26, 08:11:36 (24.145.117.29)
I don't see the equivalence between a synchronous a/c motor and an electronic device. Digital stuff seems especially sensitive to powerline issues in my experience, somI wouldn't be at all surprised t .......
476: Vinyl Asylum, RE: My reaction to a digital de-clicker box is kinda' philosophical (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2017-11-15, 18:20:58 (173.73.142.42)
I was kind of thinking the same thing. When I dove back into vinyl (fortunately after not having given all of my records away), pretty quickly I bought a VPI record cleaning machine. My experience was .......
477: Critic's Corner, RE: greatly improved time domain accuracy and reduced temporal blur (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2017-11-11, 19:59:11 (24.145.117.29)
Meaning what? This was the argument made for loudspeakers featuring first order crossovers and "time aligned" drivers. With Jim Thiel's passing, the last serious manufacturer of such speakers is gone. .......
478: Critic's Corner, RE: Sorry if this was posted earlier (didn't find it) - "Schiitting on MQA". (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2017-11-11, 08:20:20 (24.145.117.29)
MQA seems to be the answer to a question that was asked 18-20 years ago:how can we make red book CD or MP3 sound better? The constraints that might have prompted that question (aside from the sonic li .......
479: Critic's Corner, Consider using the "alert moderator " button? /nt/ (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2017-11-11, 06:48:31 (24.145.117.29)
.......
480: Vinyl Asylum, RE: As a general practice I usually track at the upper limit of the recommended range. (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2017-11-11, 06:45:50 (24.145.117.29)
After more than a year disassembled and in storage, I brought out my VPI table/arm and went through the setup ritual. First, I discovered that I had mounted the cartridge a couple mm too close to the .......
481: Vinyl Asylum, RE: The Carpenters Collected (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2017-11-07, 10:10:16 (24.145.117.29)
Since the recordings preceded the digital era, this is kind of scary. One would think that a decent product would have been taken from the original session tapes and/ or master tapes. So, did they sou .......
482: Speaker Asylum, RE: Aren't there any critics of the Dahlquist DQ10? (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2017-11-07, 09:53:30 (24.145.117.29)
I recall hearing it and thinking it sounded rather dead. Like the pair of B&W DM7s that I owned in the late 70s. "Time coherent," but lifeless. .......
483: Vinyl Asylum, RE: New record cleaning service (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2017-11-05, 16:52:05 (24.145.117.29)
Depending on the amount needed to be invested in equipment, the cost of consumables and how much time is required to clean each disc, this MIGHT make a business. Or not. One thing is for sure, the eff .......
484: Vinyl Asylum, RE: C-J ET3SE Phono - SUT or no? (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2017-11-05, 16:43:16 (24.145.117.29)
If you currently own an MC/SUT combination that works well, why mess with success? I' Had 2 Dynavector dell output MCs that worked quite well with my rather modest SUT and all-tube BAT phonostage. ::: .......
485: Critic's Corner, RE: Keep your hands where I can see them while you take off that tinfoil hat! (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2017-11-03, 07:03:35 (24.145.117.29)
There is, I think, a more benign explanation for all this. And it is based on an idea that, I would imagine, both Mr.Hansen and Stereophile share. That idea is the notion that things in audio land are .......
486: Amp/Preamp Asylum, RE: tubes vs. solid state amps (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2017-10-30, 19:09:06 (24.145.117.29)
A class A triode tube amp delivering 50 WPCH.Wow, I'd like to see that. Getting serious for the moment, there's a BAT integrated for sale on Audiogon. It's the same amp that I have had for something l .......
487: Speaker Asylum, RE: The Passing of the JMR Offrandes (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2017-10-29, 06:27:08 (24.145.117.29)
I've been away from the Aylum for years. It was nice to return and find this interesting, thoughtful post. It succinctly illuminates a fundamental question n home audio. Thanks! .......
488: Vinyl Asylum, RE: Step up - can someone recommend one of these three (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2017-10-25, 18:23:45 (24.145.117.29)
I'm a happy user of the K&K Audio, although I believe Kevin uses different trannies than the ones in my kit. I'm in the step-up as opposed to the pre-pre camp. But results seem to vary. .......
489: Hi-Rez Highway, RE: Lots of transport problems—yes (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2017-10-23, 19:22:23 (24.145.117.29)
My Sony XA-777ES had its SACD laser assembly replaced under warranty 10 years ago. Now it sometimes refuses to read SACDs, or it will read the ToC and will start to play—but there's no sound. I have o .......
490: Hi-Rez Highway, RE: Best SACD of Brubeck's Time Out"? (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2017-10-23, 19:12:09 (24.145.117.29)
I have the COLUMBIA SACD, and the highs are significantly rolled off.you have to listen hard to hear any of what Morello is doing with the cymbals and hi-hat of his drum kit. So, this is a disappointm .......
491: Vinyl Asylum, Happiness is a spinning black disc! (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2017-10-23, 18:14:12 (24.145.117.29)
After having had vinyl rig packed up for 2 years, I've finally set it up in my new digs. Spinning Holly COLE, through my new baby KEFs. Also managed to chase away the hum/buzz demons-dead silence! It .......
492: Speaker Asylum, RE: Retired?... (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2017-10-23, 12:26:01 (24.145.117.29)
Continuing the quotations from "Hell freezes over": we just took a 14-year vacation. .......
493: Speaker Asylum, RE: Have you had your hearing checked lately? (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2017-10-23, 12:24:20 (24.145.117.29)
Don't want to stay off topic too long. But, as the Nike people say, "just do it!" You won't regret it. .......
494: Speaker Asylum, I stand corrected (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2017-10-23, 12:22:07 (24.145.117.29)
But, I did say that, notwithstanding its modest price, the LS50 should not be taken as an opportunity to cheap out on upstream components. AFAIC, a transistor amp that doesn't double its 8 ohm rated p .......
495: Inmate Central, RE "tax receipts" (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2017-10-22, 18:48:49 (24.145.117.29)
Because of the obvious opportunities for scamming Uncle Sam, the IRS now requires a receipt from the recipient charity showing what it sold the car for in an arm's- length transaction. That is the amo .......
496: Tweakers' Asylum, RE: Power Cord Polarity (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2017-10-22, 17:20:40 (24.145.117.29)
Can you open the case and look at where the wires from the cord are connected? If they're both connected to the primary of the power transformer and neither is connected to the metal chassis, then it .......
497: Amp/Preamp Asylum, RE: Thoughts On Room Equalization for Stereo? (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2017-10-22, 17:11:11 (24.145.117.29)
I think it's worth doing in the bass ranges, because all consumer-sized rooms have a resonance mode between 40 and 50 Hz., and I am skeptical of the ability of passive devices to get rid of them. Howe .......
498: Speaker Asylum, RE: REVIEW: KEF LS-50 Speakers (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2017-10-22, 13:49:38 (24.145.117.29)
Hey we're all audiophools here! No insult intended. Right now, I'm stuck typed on an iPad, so weird things can happen.. "DUT" means "device under test. .......
499: Speaker Asylum, RE: And a review of the next generation of these hard-to-drive little beasts... (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2017-10-22, 13:46:24 (24.145.117.29)
I'm aware of these and of the glowing reviews. That said, for a rather modest delta above the passive version, its hard to imagine that one is going to get quality amplifiers and a quality DAC. I don' .......
500: Speaker Asylum, RE: Have you had your hearing checked lately? (0.00)
Posted by Bruce from DC on 2017-10-22, 13:34:46 (24.145.117.29)
It's beyond hope. I miss being Outside, too. But bandwidth and storage cost money. So, there you have it. Retired two years ago. Took the trip of a lifetime— see my website "the goldenyear.com" for so .......
Found total of 500 records, Query: , Author: Bruce from DC in All Forums, Time: 5 sec.