socrates

Responses from socrates

Should I go for sub-woofer or new speakers?
Where it my system, I would just buy better mains, too. When you factor in ALL of the cost associated with adding a sub, which is much more then just buying a big black box, you could pick up a really nice set of main speakers that will likely ecl... 
Which would you rather have?
Look in the the classifieds here, there are 2 sets of 1.8s up for sale, under $2k. 
Von Schweikert VR-1 monitor info.....
VSA makes, IMNSHO, some of the best speakers on the planet, at any price. Pitty that there is a B&W, Martin Logan and Definitive Tech dealer at every street corner in every city, whereas VSA dealers are scattered about the country and few get ... 
Which would you rather have?
Between the two, I also like the Veritas much, much better. Energy makes a pretty good speaker, I've never heard the Veritas sound "like crap" in a proper setup, far from it, but for $4K there are a whole lot of options to look at as well, especia... 
Jumper Cables.
Where they my speakers and I didn't want to bi-wire, I would unscrew the binding post plate and with a soldering iron convert the speakers to run off of only one pair of binding posts. I seriously doubt any overpriced jumper will surpass that aran... 
Musical Fidelity amp for Paradigm Studio 100
I found the A3cr to be slightly warm in the midrange, but could have been my associated gear seeing through as well. Anyway, the A3cr is very revealing and extended up top, and though smooth I suspect that it could expose the Paradigms brightness ... 
Jethro Tull recent Remasters vs Mobile Fidelity?
Blasphemy! Ian Anderson is an absolute Musical Genius! Right up there with the likes of a Beethoven, Dylan or Billy Corgan. I actually think he is one of the best acoustic guitar players ever, but few give him the recognition he deserves. Was anyo... 
Recom. for a new CD/DVD?
Daniel, thank you for posting your thoughts on the Philips player. Does the player have PCM coax output for use with an external dac? The philips website isn't clear on this. Thanks. 
Odyssey amp,excessive hiss with balanced outputs?
Asdf, I was highly skeptical as well reading all of the reviews, most of which where poorly written or vague, not offering much for reference beyond cheap receivers and other crummy gear. However, in spite of doubtful appearances, the glowing revi... 
Best Amp for Energy Veritas ? Help please
A Parasound 2205 5ch amp would be very, very hard to beat at its price....and you'll likely be able to sell off your Halo as well with the 2205 in the mix, as having heard such a setup, I think the 2205 will sound better with your Energy's then th... 
Odyssey amp,excessive hiss with balanced outputs?
The Stratos is NOT balanced. Yes, you can use XLR connections, however, it's just the connection, not the topology of the circuitry, so, in essence, nothing has changed but the cable, you're still running unbalanced. Perhaps the interconnects are ... 
Cheap Bryston active or Creek OBH12 passive?
The Creek sounds awful relative to good actives that you can buy for under a grand used, it's flat, lifeless, constrained, grainy, boring. Sure, for $200 you can't be it, but truth be told it deserves its Stereopile class C rating....well, maybe a... 
Upgrade amp power cable or not?
Don't hook your amp to any conditioner, plug it right into the wall. You can buy used cables here or at www.usedcables.com, if it works for you, great, keep it, if not you can resell it for what you paid and be better off for the experience. Also,... 
Easy to discriminate between DAC ??
Differences are there but are usually small. It's really one of those things where you miss what it did for you only after it is gone. Even via remote control with quick a-b versus a good internal dac may just yield small changes, but in time the ... 
Help picking first amp....
Unless you have a very, very good CD player with an analog volume pot you're likely going to be buying a preamp very shortly as well. Might want to take that into account and save up for a good preamp as well, especially if your CDP volume is digi...