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stanwal

Responses from stanwal

WBT binding post for Krell KAV300il upgrade?
If they are too big you might consider the Mitchell posts, which I had factory mounted on a Krell 50 many moons ago. 
Does good DAC improve sonics of low end transport
Everyone is right, it will sound much better. The Musical Fidelity upsampling DAC is showing up for about $750. See discussion in Jan. Sterophile and previous test. When I had a cheaper transport I used to use a weighted disc which improved the so... 
preamp or no? if so, which one?
I switch between passive control box( Audio Synthesis) and active Preamps ( Magic, Pure Magic , Ben Duncan) and they both have their virtues. The best inner detail can be heard on passive. The active seems to add extra dynamics but to lose a littl... 
B&W 801 2or 3
I was a B&W dealer (hobby type) for several years and found the MK 1s and 2s easy to drive and that they sounded good with about everything. That said, I would think a high current amp of considerable size would work well. Some of the older Kr... 
Active vs. Passive ?
In theory the active should win hands down. The amp can be tailored to exactly compliment the speaker, with both a increase in performance and a very considerable savings, as it is no longer necessary to make the amp capable of driving a wide vari... 
Tube or SS preamp use with SS amp???
I can't imagine that there would be anything wrong with using either preamp from the same company. Krell use to recommend against using tubes with their amps, but they didn't make tube preamps. Why not contact Mac and get their opinion directly? I... 
SoundAnchor stands or Black Racing cones???
I would look at the Mapleshade stands. I have recently replaced the stands for my Spendor S 100s made by Sound Anchor with their Quadrapier stands. The improvement was considerable. They also have some stands which lift the speakers only slightly ... 
DIY speakers, Power handling.
The first thing to remember is that it is too little power that blows up speakers, not too much. A speaker rated at 50 watts is in more danger from a 25 watt amp than a 200 watt one. Why? Most speakers are destroyed by amps that go into clipping u... 
Whats wrong with short cables?
The consensus among the experts such as Martin Colloms or the designers at Audio Synthesis is that the speaker wires are the weaker link. I have found this to be true in my experience. Pierre Sprey at Mapleshade has the opposite opinion. I know Pi... 
Good match for Quad 405
I was a Quad dealer in the days when it was current and found that it worked well with most of the classic British monitors, Spendor, Rogers, etc. An ideal speaker should be the Castle Conway, which the Audio Advisor has on special for 50% off. If... 
Best speakers for Pioneer SX-1250 receiver
I had more than one of these more years ago than I want to think about. All the speakers I used then are hard to find now. In my memory they had a lot of power but could sound hard. I would stay away from any speaker that might be a little bright ... 
Will my QUADs drive Spendor S100s?
I currently use the S100's and formerly used the Quad's but not together. So long as you do not have a very large room or try to play very loud levels I see no reason why they would not work. Most of the time you are only using a few watts and the... 
Best amp for Spendor BC-1?
I had the first BC-1's in the country and used them for years, currently using SP-1's and S-100's. Used them with many good transistor amps, did not find them at all fussy. However, they are very revealing so I would suggest that you audition at h...