hudsonhawk

Responses from hudsonhawk

Just getting into mid-fi need advice
I think for integrated amps under $1000 you can't beat Jolida. I won't necessarily comment on the tubes vs. solid state thing - but if you're afraid to commit to tubes, check out their hybrids; input tubes don't need to be changed nearly as often.... 
Small form factor, budget DACs?
Brooks, A good point and well made. I'm definitely not afraid to buy / sell / start over until I find what I'm looking for. That said, I really value the input and experience of the community and plan to use that as a starting point. That's why I'... 
Small form factor, budget DACs?
Gmood, The non-filtering, non-oversampling DACs are definitely something I've been keeping a close eye on, and reading as much as I can about them. I hadn't heard of the Audio Sector or Audio Note units before - they are both very sharp-looking un... 
Small form factor, budget DACs?
Out of curiosity, what are your thoughts on the old Channel Island DAC? It seems to sell for under $300 these days, which is pretty hard to argue with. How did it compare to the other DACs on your list? 
Small form factor, budget DACs?
Thanks for the great response, I'll add the Bel Canto to my "watch" list. It seems to be just a little bit more that I was looking to spendAgreed on the X-ACT - that's exactly why I want to upgrade. I find myself listening to CD the least, even th... 
S/PDIF Input Software to trap WAV files
Well, the problem is that those CDs you listed are protected with Sony's XCP - a really really nasty bit of spyware that opens you machine up to security risks.Here is some background into the copy protection, and why it's particularly nasty. And ... 
Affordable anti-jitter device
OK, thank you all so much for your wealth of insight. I'm starting to agree with those of you who said that I may be trying to fix something that's not worth fixing.If I were to take this money and instead use it to uprgrade my DAC, what DACs in t... 
Best DVD Player for Under $200
You can get the Denon 1920 refurbished for just a little bit over your budget ($239 on eCost and eBay). It's a great little player - Burr-brown DACs, Faroudja deinterlacing, etc. As a nice bonus, it's also a universal player (which I guess may or ... 
Small-ish speakers for a very large room?
Thanks to everyone for their help. It gave me a lot of different options to think about.Last night I picked up a sub - which did solve the problem but only for home theater. It turns out (and I should've known this going into it) that my B&K R... 
Small-ish speakers for a very large room?
Those are points well taken, Tobias, in fact they illustrate my main concern - that I won't be able to fill up the room with sound on my budget without taking a step back in terms of musicality. PSB is a brand I plan on looking at; they have a dea... 
Small-ish speakers for a very large room?
No - those Energy's appear to be a good suggestion. I agree with you that I'm probably not going to get by with anything much smaller than that. I'll try and find an Energy dealer around here; I've actually never heard Energy's at all, so I'm curi... 
Anyone know of a speaker mod or upgrade service?
Thanks for the tip Btheaudiophile - unfortunately the ones in the ad you linked to are an even later version of the one I have.After Linaeum went bankrupt, Radio Shack started making speakers with the Linaeum tweeter under the RCA brand. They even... 
An unusual problem that merits an unusual solution
Just for reference to anyone else who has this problem in the future, I was able to get -6dB attenuators from Parts Express that did the trick nicely. The "pop" is still there - but it's so much quieter you can barely hear it anymore.Oddly enough,... 
An unusual problem that merits an unusual solution
Interesting, makes me wonder if it's something with that (now seemingly ancient) Yamaha AC-3 decoder chip in the AV-550's. Mine may be popping in the LFE channel as well - but I have no sub to hear it with.Looks like I may have found a solution th... 
An unusual problem that merits an unusual solution
I was poking around online and found this:http://www.smarthomeusa.com/ShopByManufacturer/Channel-Vision/Item/3107/I really don't understand electricity, so I was wondering - is this an appropriate solution? How much volume difference will 15k ohms...