pgulrich

Responses from pgulrich

Any McIntosh C48 owners out there?
I picked up a brand new C48 and MC302 ten days ago so maybe not broken in yet but the combo sounds terrific already. The C48 is extremely clean, smooth, quiet with nice sound stage width and depth. I have tons of vinyl and the MC phono stage sound... 
Ayon Spirit II or Luxman SQ-38U?
I own both amps in separate systems and in the case of the Luxman also have the matching CD player (D38U). The Ayon sounds more full and powerful as it is more powerful and may be the better match for lower sensitivity speakers or bigger rooms. I ... 
The Hub: Acoustic Research - third in a series
Thanks for this great historical series. In the early 70's as a college student, I worked part time at a local mom and pop audio store in Austin, TX. We were AR dealers. As an employee, I got products I wanted at cost. While the AR3a always sounde... 
What subwoofers are suited 4 audiophiles
Hard to beat REL in price/quality ratio. 
Has anyone heard the Magico Mini?
I just heard the Magico's at a local dealer driven by Thor monoblocks and was quite underwhelmed considering the price tag. I would not even think of trading up my Guarneri's for Mini's. Also, when you see the Magico in person, it looks "plump" an... 
Bass and Guarneri Homage
The cheapest solution to the bass issue is an REL sub (B3 or higher in the line). Minus a sub, you really need 100 watts per side of tube power to get Guarneris to really sing and dance. I use CJ LP140M's with mine and that works great but I also ... 
The best speaker you ever heard?
JMLab/Focal Utopia with the Be tweeters's (any of them depending on your room size). Most transparent speakers around, high sensitivity yet full range and great with most any high quality amp (particularly tubes in my experience). Several cosmetic... 
Integrated amp for my Sonus Faber Guarneri
I have a pair and they sound best with tubes, power and a sub (REL in particular). Jadis DA-60 and 88S highly recommended as potential integrateds but I would go with separates (CJ or ARC) having 80+ watts per side. 
best sounding small speakers
Hard to beat SF Guarneri Homage for voice and midrange. I use them with an REL Brittania B-1 sub. I sold Watt/Puppy 6's because the SF/REL combo is much more musical and you don't a fork lift to move them around. 50 high quality tube watts per sid... 
Choosing a turntable....
I don't know what ancillary equipment the SME critics out there have but I have had a Graham 2.0, JMW 12.5 and listened to the Wheaton on some really expensive tables. I will happily keep my SME V, thank you. The VPI arms are absolutely primitive ... 
What is your most beautiful component?
Sonus Faber Guarneri Homage. The Italians are to speaker cabinets what the Danes are to drivers. 
Conrad Johnson Lp 140 monoblocs review.
Your review is dead on. I have the LP70S, ACT2 and 90db JMFocal Diva Utopias. The LP70S is already great with the stock tubes but went to another plane of consciousness when I replaced the stock tubes with GE6550's and Siemens Gold Pin 6922's. The... 
Jadis DA-60 owners-HELP Please
I have a DA-60. The three in front are for 12AU7's and the two in back of them are for 12ax7's 
Tube Brands reccomended for Jadis DA-60
Jadis KT-88's which are stock on currently shipped DA-60's (which I happen to own) are JJ(Tesla)brand made in Czech Republic. 
Mark Levinson 432 vs. 336
I recently upgraded from a 334 to a 432 and couldn't be happier. Stunning bass with smoothness elsewhere not usually found at 400W/channel. Quite sensitive to power source, cable and front end. Krell dealers hate 'em.