audiobrian
Responses from audiobrian
| Looking for the best Preamp with a phono circuit built in Give some thought to a VAC Renaissance mk5 with phono as a final preamplifier purchase. Sounds great and mates very well with solid state or tube amplifiers, for present and future versatility. | |
| Coaxial Ribbon Midrange/tweeter - Can a small midrange ribbon actually do midrange well? Just wanted to give feedback on my audition of Piega 711s. They are remarkably resolving and transparent, possibly the best I’ve heard; wide sweet spot as well, characteristic of coaxial drivers. However, I felt the speakers were a bit “thin soun... | |
| Coaxial Ribbon Midrange/tweeter - Can a small midrange ribbon actually do midrange well? Yes, I watched a factory tour video on YouTube explaining ribbon production and cabinet construction at Piega. The video and emails with Piega indicate the 511/711 coaxial ribbons are actually excellent planar magnetic drivers, aluminum elements ... | |
| Audience SX2/Front Row Cables...has anyone tried or heard much of this new reference line? Great to hear how impressed you are with your FrontRow speaker cables, greginnh! Have you been similarly impressed with FrontRow interconnects? Thank you for your input. | |
| Coaxial Ribbon Midrange/tweeter - Can a small midrange ribbon actually do midrange well? I truly appreciate the responses so far. The Eminent Tech speakers have a much larger/longer midrange ribbon array than the Piega 511 Coax Loudspeakers. This is why I find it hard to believe this Piega coaxial driver can generate the necessary SPL... | |
| Esoteric K-03Xs Player The Esoteric K03xs sounds excellent. I’m using the PCM to DSD selection, with DSD filter ON. Sorry, I have not evaluated other upsampling and filter selections, except on an occasional song....I didn’t feel these improved the sound, but the auditi... | |
| Audience SX2/Front Row Cables...has anyone tried or heard much of this new reference line? Thanks to the respondents. Whenever someone does purchase or has a trial with Audience FrontRow cables, kindly share your thoughts and impressions.Thank you! | |
| best preamps VAC Master, on a more robust budget, and VAC Renaissance 5 on a tighter budget. Both are extremely natural and musical. Mates great with both tube and solid state amps as they are transformer coupled at input and output. Highly recommended! | |
| In search for speakers of "natural" sound Consider KEF Blade II loudspeakers with VAC amplification (at any price level).......remarkably natural sound and soundstage! .....near totally removed from the loudspeakers. Some great suggestions above as well. If you prefer a solid state amplif... | |
| Esoteric K-03Xs Player I have favored EMM and Esoteric players for some time, so I did not look elsewhere. I also prefer integrated players. As Esoteric continues to improve upon their players, they seem, for now, willing to support audiophiles who plan to spin the sil... | |
| Esoteric K-03Xs Player I’ve owned the CDSA (2007) and now an 8 year old XDS1. I decided to go with a new K-03Xs, rather than a $7000 upgrade to the XDS1 V3, the XDS1 now a discontinued model. Anyway, as Esoteric has digital oversampling, DSP, PCM to DSD (as in Meitner ... | |
| too bad Audiogon seems to have morphed to fussy, picky buyers Only local cash and carry sales for me as of 18 months ago! Totally disgusted with PayPal scammers and low ballers wasting our time with offers less than 25% retail, even for current iteration gear. Agree that I’d rather keep or gift my used gear ... | |
| EMM XDS1 upgrade $5K with shipping seems like a large amount for a discontinued product, even a wonderful player like the XDS1 V2. Also must consider that replacement transport mechanism may not be available in the future if needed. Have to think about it. | |
| EMM XDS1 upgrade My dealer said that one cannot order a new XDS1 V3 but one can upgrade an existing V2 to V3. Curious? Maybe EMM is planning to discontinue the player? | |
| Who makes budget speaker cables which are truly “good” or “exceptional” in quality? Take a peek online at Cabledyne. Excellent cables and excellent value. |