agaffer

Responses from agaffer

Granite Audio Model 657 Tube CD Player
I am another happy Granite Audio 657 user. After the first year of use I switched to RAM super low noise tubes and that really made it a giant killer. 
Why so many Gallo 3 or 3.1 for sale on A'goN?
For any component for sale on Audiogon, the number of used items for sale is usually directly proportional the number sold by the company. This may be the case with this speaker. 
Room Acoustics
If you go to the audioperfectionist.com website and download the free journals, there is a very good describtion of how the author treated his living room. I have been to his house and you can't see the treatments. Looks like any living room. It a... 
Vandersteen 3a sigs/ 2wq vs. 5a or 5
I would say that a more accurate description, when comparing the Vandy lines would be:The 2 series is 90% of the performance level of the 3A series.The 3A series with two 2wq subs is maybe 80% of the 5s, and not very close to the 5As.The 5s are ab... 
Conrad Johnson ACT2 against Audio Research Ref 3
I haven't found that there is a "significant" difference in the Ref 3 in balanced v.s. single ended mode. What Guidocorona said was that he had the wrong setting for the type of I.C. that he was using. You don't set it for S.E. and then use balanc... 
Conrad Johnson ACT2 against Audio Research Ref 3
I might be able to answer Guidocorona's question. I had a CJ Premier 17LS and explored the Act 2 as a upgrade. I liked the Act 2 and it was certainly a upgrade from the Premier. I felt it increased the detail heard in my system and there was a inc... 
Undiscovered blues gems.....
While your at the store, pick up any of Doug MacLeod's albums. Incredible acoustic guitar player. I'm assuming from your post that you already have all the usual suspects, Hopkins, Waters, Sonny Terry, etc., and are looking for more recent artists... 
ARC Preamps: Factory or Other Tubes?
http://www.tubeaudiostore.com/powertubes.htmlhttp://www.upscaleaudio.com/You might want to stop leaving your pre amp on for weeks at a time. That is fine for a SS unit but, tubes don't have the lifespan of SS circuits. 
Walker Audio Extreme SST
I didn't clean the contacts first. What did you use to clean them with? When I have time I will repeat the process, after cleaning first.It may well be because my system isn't very revealing. I chose ARC gear and Vandersteen 5A speakers because I ... 
Walker Audio Extreme SST
I sent away for ESST when I bought my system and applied it when the system was about a month old. Can't say it did anything. Maybe that was because everything, including the ICs were new and what it really does is revive the connections in system... 
Diff in recording/reproduction in Analog/CD/SACD
I guess if we are going to use "Why else has digital become the standard for recording and playback?" as the standard for what sounds best, then the new best must be i-pods and Sirrus radio.Digital music has many pluses over analog. Especially in ... 
Vandersteen 2Ce Signature vs 3A
"I measured. The room is 12'X 17'. Is this big enough to accomodate the 3A sigs on the long wall"I didn't use Vandersteen's method of speaker placement for your room. But, simply using the "rule of thirds", which is good for quick calulations, wou... 
Vandersteen 2Ce Signature vs 3A
I owned 3A sigs for quite awhile. When I first received them I was working on a project in Dallas and set them up in the little condo the company rented for me. There was only enough room to set them about 2 foot from the front wall and the couch ... 
Vandersteen 5A's in Home Theater
They sound great, as do the VSM-Sig. for surrounds and the VCC-5 for a center channel. You still want a sub though, for the .1 channel. 
Audiocubes2.com
The Titan was less than 6 mos. old. I see that I said that Musical Surroundings was the U. S. distributer that I contacted, I had forgotten that it was Immedia.Audiocubes, rightly so, said they were only the seller and that warranty issues are the...