philnyc

Responses from philnyc

New Jersey North
There's a group of us on Audiocircle in the NY metro area that gets together about every month. Meetings have been in NJ, NYC, upstate, and Long Island...http://www.audiocircle.com/circles/viewforum.php?f=62 
Synergy - Mix and Match - Solid State of Mind
Cagliostro,It's not so much a dislike, but as you might be able to tell from my preferences for the GamuT and BAT, as well as my own gear (I own/sell Blue Circle gear), I do tend to like a warmer sound over analytical, and from my limited experien... 
Synergy - Mix and Match - Solid State of Mind
With regards to the Focus Audio speakers, both the FS688 and FS788 do like to work with a lot of power, so I wouldn't match them with the Clayton. Of those you've listed, I like the GamuT and BAT as good matches to Focus, and also think you could ... 
Wilson Benesch ARC vs. other Scanspeak revelators
Linaeum,As a Focus Audio dealer, I can tell you that the WB ARC and the SF Cremona Auditor are the two most common speakers that people are considering when they come to get a Focus FS688 demonstration. Anecdotally, I successfully sell the FS688 a... 
Balanced preamp recommendations
Rushton...yep, I have heard of inconsistencies in balanced interfaces as well. Something almost to the effect that European brands and North American brands reverse the positive and negative pins, so that in many cases mixing balanced gear from Eu... 
Balanced preamp recommendations
Rushton,Although I'm not an engineer that has technically examined this, I've anecdotally found a system whose components are ALL balanced to show slight but significantly higher performance than a system that uses a mix of balanced and single-end... 
Best Floorstander Under 10K?
Dodgealum...so it turns out that Focus *can* make the FS-888 (or any other Signature Series speaker) in a satin wood finish (instead of the gloss). It does take a longer lead-time (2-3 months), but it does not cost any extra. Note that the gloss f... 
Best Floorstander Under 10K?
Dodgealum...I agree with you regarding the need for a distinctive finish, and yes, that's what the folks at Focus were going for with the gloss. :-D Anyways...yes, I am in the NYC area, in NJ about 10 minutes north of the GWB (I'm a home-based dea... 
Best Floorstander Under 10K?
Dodgealum...I'll see what I can do. The Focus Classic Series has that kind of finish, and they did want the Signature Series to have a markedly different look. If you (or anyone else) have particular wood tones that you think would be of particula... 
Best Floorstander Under 10K?
Dodgealum...I agree with you that the high gloss burr wood finish on the Focus 888 can be a bit loud for some folks. It does come in a piano black finish, too, which is much more understated. Anyways, glad you were able to stop by our room at the ... 
'great' bookshelf speakers for under 500?
It's been a while since I've heard them, but many years ago I owned a pair of Phase Tech PC-80's that were excellent. Since then, the PC-80 has been replaced by the PC1.1 and PC3.1. I believe the PC1.1 is around $500... 
Best Floorstander Under 10K?
Since some folks are promoting their own wares, I'll throw in my favorite...the Focus Audio FS-888. My disclaimer is that I'm a Focus Audio dealer, but I only sell gear that I own for myself, and this is my favorite speaker under $10K. They do lik... 
Audio Aero Prima vs. Resolution Audio Opus 21
Swamp...take my comments knowing that I am an RA dealer and have an obvious bias. But I'm with Fatcataudio...I strongly prefer the Opus 21 to the EMC-1UP. To my ears, the Opus 21 has a much more natural and balanced sound, whereas the EMC-1UP has ... 
Audio Aero Prima vs. Resolution Audio Opus 21
FWIW, I know two Opus 21 owners who prefer using the RCA output over the DIN output. 
Is 24/192 all hype?
Lneilb,Digital coax/SPDIF is spec'd to be 75ohms between the transport and DAC. So you need to make sure that your digital coax cable is truly 75ohms....