bomarc

Responses from bomarc

Am I really smart or really stupid?
I vote for enlightened. Designing a phono preamp is not rocket science. I know a high school kid who's done it. 
Naxos, the way to go for classical?
Nobody beats Naxos for value, and it's a great way to hear a lot of music at a reasonable price. Yes, performance and recording quality are all over the map (though the same can be said for all but a handful of lablels). But if you're just getting... 
Why tube amps are rated so low, still don't get it
50W is pretty hefty for a tube amp. Nobody can look at a set of specs and tell you whether a particular amp can drive a particular speaker. (All right, a 200-watter can drive horns.) There are too many variables. The only way to know for sure is t... 
best turntable for 500$ or less
Big Joe: If you really want to stay within the $500 limit, the NAD is a good choice. It really is a P2 knockoff--the biggest difference is a lighter platter. (The arm may also be different; I don't remember.) Comes with a decent-sounding low-end c... 
Suggestions for non-audiophile
Assuming you don't have any 78s in there, the cheap and easy route is a Technics SL-BD22. (I believe KAB modifies this table to handle 78s, if you need that.) The Technics takes a P-mount cartridge. Grado makes them, starting around $40, so the wh... 
Classical fans, I need advice
FYI, Vedric, Ms. Hahn herself has recorded a pretty creditable Beethoven. I can't say it's the "right" one, but then I don't think there's any such thing. And, no offense man, but who in hell has bad experiences with XRCDs??? 
What is the standard for judging a systems sound?
How so? If "it all comes down to what I think is right," to quote your previous post, then my system is the best on earth!But seriously, why do we need an ultimate standard? Why isn't the "ultimate" standard whatever each individual consumer wants... 
What is the standard for judging a systems sound?
So what if there's no ultimate standard for musical playback? 
CD Sound??
That Genesis article is clear proof that a little knowledge is a dangerous thing. I tremble to think about what his first draft said, before people started trying to straighten him out (not that they got very far).The most revealing sentence in th... 
Classical fans, I need advice
I haven't heard Hilary Hahn's new Bach disk yet, but you should also check out her very first recording, of Bach solo works. Another thing I'd look for is Vivaldi's Op. 3, L'estro armonico, a set of 12 concerti for one, two, or four violins. It wa... 
CD Sound??
No, black CDs don't sound better. It's just a coincidence that you happen to like the sound of several that are. 
What is the standard for judging a systems sound?
I wouldn't use the term "subjective accuracy" at all, or, rather, I wouldn't use the word accuracy to describe the subjective sense that reproduced music sounds more or less like "the real thing." Accuracy is a technical term, and it's measurable,... 
What is the standard for judging a systems sound?
"High fidelity" does NOT mean "close to the original event." It means "close to what's on the recording." On a technical level, an audio playback system cannot do better than that.It can do worse than that however, and still sound good. It's even ... 
What is the standard for judging a systems sound?
The standard is, Do I like it? Nuthin' wrong with that. 
Basic question about impedance and watts
First of all, you can't assume that "the amps watts double as the impedance halves." Some do, most don't. Second, there's no standard technical meaning for "recommended power," so every manufacturer probably means somethng different. (If I were a ...