larryi
Responses from larryi
| the table or the arm first? Assuming the HW19-IV is in good working order, it is a perfectly fine table and would justify using a really good arm. I would opt for a very good arm. If the belt on the table is old, a replacement belt would also be a good investment. | |
| high-efficiency loudspeakers While not quite "high" efficiency, I like the Audio Note line for their sound quality, adaptability to a wide assortment of rooms, and wide range of price options. They can be made to sound pretty good in almost any system, but will still reward ... | |
| No preamp 'Balance' control? Unless there is a gross imbalance, it is hard to know what one is missing without such a control until one gets to experiment with such controls. The best way to hear what happens when you change balance is with remote-controlled balance adjustme... | |
| Horn based loudspeakers why the controversy? johnk,Thank you for the very good list of current horn speaker/driver manufacturers. I recently got to hear a system built with new G.I.P Laboratories drivers and they should be on your list. The system I heard had an 18" field coil woofer in an... | |
| 9", 10" or 12" tonearm? Another advantage of the 12" arm that has not yet been mentioned is that VTA changes less with different record thicknesses. Also, because the offset angle is lower on a 12" arm, skating forces should be reduced. As others have mentioned, the tr... | |
| Cartridges: Complete Scam? I agree that the mint is a great option, provided you have a very precise measure of the pivot to spindle distance of your given setup. It is NOT a universal protractor, which means it may not be the ideal tool for a shop. That is a reason why s... | |
| Best cartridge for SME 309 Heidrun,A friend of mine has the 309 tonearm with upgraded bearings. This is a very nice tonearm. I have heard it with a Lyra Titan i, Transfiguration Orpheus L and Dynavector XX-2 cartridge. I cannot say how it compares with other arms playing... | |
| Cartridges: Complete Scam? madavid0,I can answer your question about the $500 SmarTractor. You, or anyone else certainly do not NEED this item. One can do a a reasonably good job correctly aligning a cartridge using one of the many available tools for the job. It is a to... | |
| Cartridges: Complete Scam? Wow, there are so many issues alive in this thread. At the heart of the matter, the OP is looking for rational explanation for what makes one thing better than another; absent said explanation, the product, or class of product is a "scam" if it c... | |
| Viva Solistino Amp I have heard, and liked, the Viva amp running 845 output tubes. I have also heard their headphone amp. I own a Viva fono phono-stage. The Fono has been completely reliable over the eight years (I am guessing here) that I've owned it. I don't k... | |
| The Best & Rarest of all Stereo Gear I recently heard a custom system built with three new G.I.P. field coil drivers: an 18" woofer in an open baffle; a clone of the Western Electric 555 compression driver feeding a clone of a large Yoshimura Laboratories horn; and a clone of the Wes... | |
| More effecient speakers? It is interesting that you own, and like, Triangle speakers. I like them a lot too. They pull off the very difficult task of being lively sounding and sort of on the brighter side, without that brightness translating to being shrill or sibilance. | |
| More effecient speakers? Mapman,Most of the high efficiency speakers I really like tend to NOT have as their forte the ability to play really loud. Rather, they tend to sound great when playing at lower volume. This includes some truly gigantic systems.While not the sam... | |
| More effecient speakers? To me, one of the big reasons to explore high efficiency speakers is to be able to use low-powered amps; most of the best sounding amps are low powered (under 20 watts of power). I don't think one gains anything by getting high efficiency speaker... | |
| More effecient speakers? With 150 watts on tap, you have enough power for virtually any speaker. If you are looking for a different/improved sound, you might find it with more efficient speakers or less efficient speakers, it would not matter because you have more than e... |