mike_in_nc
Responses from mike_in_nc
| High quality CDs Many (but not all) BIS CDs are well recorded and mixed. They are not minimalist recordings but are clean. If you get them as downloads from eClassical.com, you can get a refund if you don’t like a particular release. Oddly enough, given their ori... | |
| Connecting Amp to speakers I had my monblocks fitted with SpeakONs (as mentioned by Erik) and love them. Benchmark Systems says they provide the lowest measurable distortion of connectors they tried; they are easy to connect and disconnect; they are impossible to short out;... | |
| Connecting monoblock tube amps to single subwoofer. Please let us know what you think after you've tried it. Though REL has pushed hard on the idea of speaker-level connections, I am doubtful that it provides any demonstrable benefits. | |
| Neutral, transparent, warm To me, "neutral" means flat in FR and with very low distortion. A component with nonflat frequency response I'd call "colored." "Transparent" implies low noise and distortion. A transparent component is not necessarily neutral. "Warm" implies a ... | |
| Is mixing RCA and XLR cables bad? @testpilot : Exactly, why not just connect the unit via XLR cable??? I agree. Balanced cables made with Mogami W2549 and Neutrik gold XLRs will give very good performance indeed. In my comparisons, they were less colored than an "audiophile" cabl... | |
| Is mixing RCA and XLR cables bad? By lifting pin 3, you are using only half the signal the Lyngdorf is putting out. That will lower the S/N ratio, which may or may not be audible. Using a transformer like the Jensen will better preserve the S/N ratio in the conversion. I have had... | |
| Good cost effective USB cables for digital audio please I am not sure that this will give any better sound than the Belkin, but it has some audiophile cred. I've used it for years, happily. Neo by Oyaide Elec D + USB Class A Rev2 1.0 m USB Cable by Kagayaki Online Shop(DHL / Fedex) Learn more: https:/... | |
| Do larger planar speakers produce more accurate sound? I've owned two pair of planar speakers, Apogee Caliper Signatures back in the 1990s, and Janszen Valentina P8 now. The latter are hybrids. The Apogees were more impressive in the sense of a larger than life image. The Janszens are more flat (ver... | |
| Anthem: Latest bugs, er, Genesis It's beta software, Erik, with all that brings with it. If you use it, you're a beta tester. I've been one many times, and I don't do it any more. Too aggravating. The distance/phase feature should work better than a measuring tape, because it me... | |
| Speakers for string Quartets Couple of things: If you're interested in British BBC-heritage monitors, do read Robert E Greene's reviews at TAS online. He is a violinist and has reviewed many of those speakers. That could help you choose among them. I don't disagree with @mah... | |
| DAC Merry Go 'Round- why I stopped at Weiss Weiss is a fantastic company, as their use in mastering rooms (by those who can afford them) will attest. The best equalizer I’ve ever heard was the Weiss EQ1 Mk 2, and the earlier Weiss DAC I heard for an hour was really lovely. Nothing out of pl... | |
| Speakers for string Quartets I’d suggest British BBC-heritage speakers such as Harbeth, Spendor, Stirling, and Graham. These often are reviewed by Robert E Greene (a violinist) in TAS. Another choice would be electrostatics. The low distortion is, I believe, good for string ... | |
| Why is most everything remastered? Remastering is done for three reasons. The first is to boost the highs to make them irritating. The second is to compress out all the dynamics to get a modern sound. The third is to sell more CDs. NEW! IMPROVED! BUY NOW! | |
| Tweaks, money pit or real value? @stuartk : What I've experienced experimenting with footers is that they typically make the system sound different but not better. Bingo! And not just footers. Cables is another area I've see that happen. | |
| Audio Fuse Metal fatigue Lather, rinse, repeat. . . . |