karls

Responses from karls

Weird ring/thump noise when I hit my speaker cable
Even perfectly normal tubes display some degree of microphony, which varies widely depending on the particular tube design. Tap on the glass envelope of any tube with your equipment powered up and you will hear it. Some hardly at all, some a whole... 
CD player Vs Pre-amp
Wadia 830 run direct, a no-brainer. It's a little above $1500, but will give phenomenal sound without a preamp. You are going to have spend serious money to get a preamp that is good enough to compete with a Wadia run direct. Call Wadia and ask th... 
opinions on modern horn speakers
I listened to the Avantgarde Duos quite carefully in a friend's system with good associated equip including SET tube amps. Very dynamic, as they claim, and a fundamentally "pure" sound, probably due to needing very few watts. But in the end I coul... 
PayPal Surcharge
Geez Dill, I'm impressed. I didn't think anyone actually read that boilerplate. Figures that California would be leading the charge as usual into making one more free market choice bite the dust, thus once again screwing everyone in the name of pr... 
What the heck are "zobel" circuits?
Imagine a capacitor and a resistor connected in series (one form of an "RC" circuit). This is a Zobel network, I assume named after some dude named Zobel. Hey, I'm not an historian. It is placed in parallel with the speaker terminals (from + to -)... 
Wadia 301 or ??????
I used to own a Wadia 850 and regretfully sold it because I got caught up in the Audio Aero hype and just had to buy a Capitole 24/192. Huge disappointment overall, I must say. I know I'm going to get some hackles up, but that's the way it is. It ... 
Quality Redbook CDP - Your Advice Needed Please
Platsolos, I haven't hear the Res Audio. What have you compared the Opus 21 to, and how would you describe it? I've been curious about it but it's so new I can't find much on it. Haven't seen any for sale used either.From the players listed, I per... 
Isobaric configurations
Vance Dickason's Loudspeaker Design Cookbook is a good basic reference for this stuff and will answer most simple questions. Well worth the price if you're going to be getting into building speakers. As Twl stated, they can be mounted back-to-back... 
Tweeter hiss?
All electronics generate some level of "stochastic" noise, due to random electron movement. Some are better than others in this department, but it is not at all uncommon to be able to hear a "hiss" when you put your ears near the speakers. It has ... 
Suggestions for FM Antenna Mounting
Sean,Excellent. I'm going to try this asap (which may be weeks) and put it as high as I can reasonably get it, and I'll give you feedback as soon as I get it running. One other question: Does the presence of trees have any significant influence on... 
Suggestions for FM Antenna Mounting
Sean, thanks for the great info and advice. This is exactly what I needed. You've got me thinking now, but unfortunately I don't have enough knowledge to take the next step. I can certainly install a mast/counterpoise and 90" is not a problem. My ... 
Suggestions for FM Antenna Mounting
The antenna is mounted to the eave right near the peak of the roof, so nearly all of it is above the roof. I was just wondering if anyone had any experience or knowledge of whether I would gain any range by raising it farther above the roof. 
Why MDF so Bad???
Just a comment about MDF in speaker boxes: It's used so much because it's readily available, cheap, easily machined, assembled, and veneered, and has moderately good internal damping. That said, there are VASTLY better materials for cabinet constr... 
$10 / foot speaker wire
I think the DH Labs stuff is a great value, and Q10 is excellent. I haven't tried Mapleshade but it looks intriguing. I also agree with the above that low impedance is critical, another reason I like Q10. Audio Advisor had AQ Granite on sale for l... 
Subs with active crossover
Trying to spend less than a REL costs is going to get you nothing but disappointment, IMHO. Good subwoofers are inherently expensive, and cheap subwoofers are invariably worse than nothing at all. That's just the way it is. And by the time you put...