cowman

Responses from cowman

Tips on Buying Quiet Quality sounding LP's
Speaking of potential groove wear, this is often a result of how many times the LP was played. Look at the amount of wear and small indentations around the center hole, also sleeve and dust jacket condition. 
Cool-running tube or SS amp for small room
Check out the Edge amps. The one I had, an entry level M4, ran almost imperceptibly warm and sounded great, and I'm basically a tube guy. 
Baby name opinion....
Fidelity......if you must 
Can I improve tonality and keep room the same?
Covering your TV when just listening to music has a big payback. Just about anything, cloth, PU foam, poly batting etc. will be beneficial. You can easily create something easy to remove and tasteful. Beats staring at a black screen imho. 
Time alignment, important? long
Gregm- Certainly. 'Soundfield' might be a better term. 
Time alignment, important? long
Semi,To me the most tangible benefit of sloped baffles is increase of vertical dispersion, so I can still enjoy the music when I'm standing. 
I just puked
Call me "selfish" but I feel like fatparrot. Precious memories are pissed on and I lose desire to listen to my collection of these artists' music. My defense is to watch even less commercial television...a good mental health move. 
Love for music shatter by highend equipment
Right on Sean! But, speaking of discs that sound like crap, does anyone have a system that makes Santana's 'Supernatural' listenable?? When I come home and my sweet wife is cranking this CD on the living room system I shortly start developing a ho... 
best used amp for 300- 400
I would buy the VSP Labs Transmos-150 for sale here on A-gon. I had one in my home a year ago and passed it on to a friend. The description is apt. A superb value! 
Will Microsoft kill DVD-A and SACD?
As to why MS is interested in HDCD. Might it relate to the long rumored potential sales of music by the record companies directly over the internet. These would likely be compressed and perhaps HDCD will make them more palatable. 
What companies have gone above and beyond?
conrad-johnson and Luminous Audio get my vote. 
Is "The Audio Critic" magazine still around?
Is there still "a sucker born every minute"? Mr. Aczel does P.T. Barnum proud. 
LISTENER Magazine...What Do You Think?
Still a fine mag, but definitely not for the obsessive/compulsive crowd. IMHO, their main pluses are being down to earth(usually), some excellent writers, Art Dudley, good music reviews, and, above ALL, evaluating gear from the perspective of the ... 
Help-acquired a Dynavector 10x3 phono cartridge
Found the following in '83 Audio Directory:f/r 20-20, channel sep 20db, output 2.5mv, recommended tracking force 1.8g, stylus 0.3x0.7 mils, compliance (v/l) 24/25, wt. 4.8g, price $150.Have fun! 
Good & Bad quality recordings of SACD's?
I feel that the Sony SACD sampler is wretched. Seems like someone decided to juice-up the sound on many of the cuts to impress the innocent. A brilliant strategy for selling a 3k or 5k player, eh? The few SACDs I've listened to have been pretty go...