tantra

Responses from tantra

Benchmark DAC 1 - first thoughts
I am also using a DAC1 with KT88's, mine in C-J Premier 12's. I agree with Martykl, the DAC1 is neutral, detailed, and provides excellent soundstaging without grain or glare. The clean sound of the DAC1 matches well with the liquidity and bit of w... 
REL Subwoofer Cable Upgrade?
The REL presents a very high impedance load on the driving amp. Basically, it uses the amp as voltage souce, with the cable carrying virtually no current. Also, you won't be hearing anything in the signal above about 80Hz. Ordinary telephone wire ... 
Gallo Reference 3.1 questions...
I have Gallo Ref3 speakers driven by C-J Premier 12 amps. These amps provide WAY more power than I need, and I like music loud. 100W should be plenty for a small room. The Ref3's are actually much easier to drive than you would think based on thei... 
Top ten tube preamps
Modwright 9.0SE definitely belongs on the list. 
Conrad Johnson amps: premier 12, premier 8,LP275M
I am using CJ Premier 12's with a Modwright 9.0SE preamp and Gallo Ref3 speakers. I was also looking for a bit more low-end power. What is working for me really well now is to add a REL Storm subwoofer driven by the speaker-level outputs of the CJ... 
Your Favorate JBL's from the 70's
I grew up in the 1970's listening to rock on JBL Century 100's driven by a Dynaco amp/preamp. We had them up against a big stone wall. Incredible bass! I didn't think anything could ever sound better than that. We still have those L100's in the sa... 
Conrad Johnson Premier 12, how powerful?
I am driving Gallo Ref3 speakers (88dB sensitivity) with a pair of C-J Premier 12 monoblocks. They provide PLENTY of power, even for loud rock music. I am not familiar with the Opera Callas monitors. But there is more to efficiency than the sensit... 
USB output from Foobar with Windows XP?
Scrith:Does DirectSound bypass Kmixer? My system works with the DS/SPDIF. 
DAC and CD Transport Question
I recently acquired a Benchmark DAC1, which has a circuit that makes it immune to jitter. Even so, I can hear a small difference when I use my Alesis Masterlink versus Sony 999ES as a transport. Although the Masterlink uses a cheap computer-type C... 
Best nearfield monitor?
Try a pair of Sennheiser 650's 
Gallo Reference 3.1 with/without the subwoofer amp
If you are using a high-current amp you can get away without one. But the SA works so well with the Ref 3.1's that I would strongly recommend it. Allows you to use a sweet little tube amp and still get solid, well-integrated bass. 
Help My wife bought me a sub
Another idea is to buy a Gallo Subamp. This is a very flexible amplifier for driving a passive subwoofer. What ever amp you use to drive the sub, I would recommend using the speaker-level outputs of your main amp as input(s) to the subamp. This gi... 
SACD and an audiophile question
If you listen to a good acoustic recording with no over-dubbing, the difference between SACD and RB-CD is dramatic. The soundstage is way more three-dimensional on a good SACD recording. If you like jazz, listen to the SACD and CD layers of "Way O... 
KT88 recom. for quicksilver mini mono's
I second Upscale's recommendation for the EH-KT88's. I am using them in my C-J Premier 12's They have a more "modern" sound; less colored, better high-end extension, and tighter bass. 
Gallo REfF3's-All their cracked up to be?
Rustler, the fact that the speakers can handle 350 wpc doesn't mean you need that much to drive them. The Ref3's are actually fairly easy to drive. The Stingray in UL mode should have plenty of power. Maybe even in triode mode. But I would strongl...