garys

Responses from garys

stereo amp vs monoblocks, any advantages?
Whenever I lift my 75 lb stereo amp, seems like monoblocks would be pretty nice. They'd probably even sound better to me. 
Vandersteen woofer replacements
To remove the socks on my 2C, I first removed the bottom plate--take out the screws, then gently pull the plates off. Then work the sock fabric off by removing the tacks and pulling the fabric away from the adhesive. Next, remove that screws that ... 
Michael McDonald-Motown high rez-DVD-A or SACD?
I did have the SACD, and I played only the SACD layer. Sound quality-wise, it was nothin' special (IMHO). 
Useful tweaks for Oppo 980/DTC 9.8 for MC-SACD
I've had two modded Oppo players, a 970 and a 981. The simplest area to do mods on those is on the power supply board, since the power supply board could be easily removed and the components are fairly easy to access. And, no surface mount technol... 
I just heard an SACD for the first time - damn
Tinear1, I know what you've mean about the SACD sound. Sure got my attention the first time I heard it. I've owned a few SACD/CD players, and in every case the sound was better from SACD, even if the redbook CDs I played were of very high quality.... 
How Long Did it Take to Burn In a new piece?
I had a Sony SCD333ES SACD player... took a couple hundred hours to break in. After about 100 hours, the sound quality took a nosedive, then it improved better than ever. In true audiophile spirit, though, I couldn't leave the thing alone. I had i... 
Best redbook CD playback system for $30k
If you consider acoustical treatments for the room as part of the system, that could be the place to start and could take up a considerable portion of your budget. That's a big space you have there. 
Stealth cables
I can echo Cjr's sentiment about the PGS. I like 'em a lot, and to my ears there's certainly nothing offensive about them. I never broke-in a pair, since I bought mine used. 
Help Needed Power Amp lacks punch
I've found that the power cord can make quite a difference on big, mid-fi and above amplifiers. No experience with an Adcom specifically, though. 
SOL if captive power cord?
I've hardwired power cords and have installed IEC connectors, and in both cases installation is kinda messy. I prefer the hardwiring because of the sonic degradation involved with using an IEC connector. (I've never come across a high quality one,... 
Chesky Audio C-1 - Who has heard them?
Heard 'em at the big show (Home Entertainment Expo?) in New York, 2001 I think. As I recall, they'd just been released into the market, so the latest may be improvements on the original. To my ears, they were most impressive--very musical and non-... 
Tuck and Patti "chocolate moment"
A few year ago I bought "Reckless Precision" which is a CD of Tuck's warm, dazzling solo guitar. It's still one of the best sounding CDs in my collection... is on the Private Music label. I guess Tuck and Patti have changed labels, but recording q... 
Female Vocalist like Diana Krall, Jacintha.
Stacey Kent. You can listen to some MP3 clips of her songs on amazon.com to get a sense of her sound. 
exchanging hard-wired power cords?
In my experience, replacing a hard-wired power cord isn't difficult as much as it is messy. If the replacement cord is thicker than the stock cord, you might have to drill a bigger hole into the chassis and then get a larger grommet. Another optio... 
Brickwall surge protector with amp
I find mine to be nice for line-level components, but power amp performance suffers with it.