pickindoug
Responses from pickindoug
| AI saids Vinyls needs to be stored 90 degrees. I had mine at about 70 degrees. Thoughts? Isn't referring to LP records as vinyls like calling the tires on your car rubbers or an acoustic guitar a wood? | |
| $2000 Dac I just bought a Holo Cyan 2 used from a friend and am quite impressed with it. My prior reference was a SMSL SU-9n chip dac, so that was a 4-5x step up in terms of original price. Whenever they appear for sale on USAM, TMR, etc, they go fast. T... | |
| Your oldest gear? If we only list that which is currently connected to one of two systems, the Garrard 301 is the senior player. However, the tonearm is much newer, probably 70s or 80s Fidelity Research. Another system sports an ARC SP3a1 and a variety of amps th... | |
| WiiM into Outboard DAC I've had an Ultra for about a year now. It replaced my JRiver/NUC system with FLAC files on a NAS. The Ultra was out of the box, so much easier to use, no Win10 updates to foul things up, no fiddlyness from JRiver, which is a decent program but ... | |
| The Worst Measuring Best Sounding DAC Although at the cheap end of the spectrum normally discussed on this group, I'll share a quick anecdote from a few years back. My first DAC was a Schitt Modi Multibit. I was delighted with the new audio toy, as it enabled me to rip CDs to FLAC, ... | |
| How long should components last? I can't say my gear has original parts, but virtually all maintenance I've done is preventive. I have tube amps ranging from 60- 70 years old, a tube preamp (SP3a1) that is 50 years old, and also have CD players that I bought in the 80s that are ... | |
| What's in your CDP tonight? the minority report When I saw this pop up in the last week's threads, I figured I'd missed the party. Then I saw it began in 2012 and was still going. My trusty Rotel RCD-1072 was offline for a while as I was ripping every new CD to FLAC and running off of a drive... | |
| The death of ultra hiend audio Regardless of my financial capability, I will always be the frugal audiophile. Same holds true for my other passion, guitar/bass playing. I generally buy high quality used gear in both categories. I am smack in the middle of boomer land. I wor... | |
| What decibel level do you listen at? What is ideal? Mid 70s C weighted average, peaks low to mid 80s depending upon music. One of my systems runs Altec 604-8G. At those levels my homebrew SE45 amp is using less than a tenth of its 1.6 wpc. The first watt really does matter. | |
| glowing red output tube, but don't think it's red-plating 40 ma of idle current should be fine for any KT77, EL34, etc. Dynaco biased the Stereo 70 pair at 50 ma. Sometimes a red plated tube survives if the duration is short, but it's usually done. Look closely at the plate for signs of shading or dis... | |
| Have you reached your end point with this addictive hobby? Depends upon what your goal was at the beginning. For me, it's a journey to better musical enjoyment, and the spirit of continuous improvement on the gear side has collaterally opened my ears to music I'd never heard before. The classic rock I g... | |
| Do vacuum tube test values reflect sound quality? Most tube testers don't test tubes at normal in-use voltages, and that's especially the case with output tubes. Other than noise associated with short circuits or excessive gas, how a tube tests won't really indicate sonic characteristics. That ... | |
| a rant I have definitely entered the phase where I'm enjoying the music, and specifically new music and genres, more than ever before. I rarely listen to the music of my youth, but still enjoy it when I hear it. Short story...my high efficiency system... | |
| How long should high quality speakers last? I have a single Stephens P-52 woofer with a P-15 horn driver in a late 1940s Stephens cabinet. Still works well, and is still seeking a companion to make stereo. Otherwise, in no particular order and still working.....I have JBL C37 (D130 + 075 ... | |
| How long should high quality speakers last? I have a single Stephens P-52 woofer with a P-15 horn driver in a late 1940s Stephens cabinet. Still works well, and is still seeking a companion to make stereo. Otherwise, in no particular order and still working.....I have JBL C37 (D130 + 075 ... |