aball

Responses from aball

Music with good gospel choir
Try the Fairfield Four (also from AL I think). There are actually 5 of them. Really cool sounding and allows an excellent assessment of soundstage quality. Best choral music I own. Arthur 
compare new McIntosh universal player with DV-50
Dokter Doug - How long have you had the Linn? Maybe it hasn't had time to break down yet. ;) Glad to hear it has already charmed you though. 
Biwire Speaker cable 4 JMLab 926 - Bryston 3BSST
I use MIT T2 biwire cables on my Electra 926 and just love them. I have tried many different types before choosing MIT. You can find these cables used for around $150 which makes them a killer deal. Great choice of speaker BTW! Arthur 
Sweet not so sweet
I would check out JM Lab Electra speakers. I have the 926 and Sam Tellig thought they were as fast and dynamic as his electrostatics (I think they are Quad 988). I have listened to electrostats often and agree. The electra's dispersion is not huge... 
the 4 ohm rating
I feel the same way you do. I spend my time avoiding inefficiency - especially for speakers. I feel that inefficient speakers cannot reproduce all nuances of music. This has been my experience anyway. 
high ac voltage destrucive or not?
In circuit design, a 50% voltage rating increase is typical so there is no problem with 128V. If your components get damaged by it, you know never to buy from those companies again.Also, upper-level Fluke meters ARE true RMS (beyond model number 7... 
2nd system dedicated cdp: $500 Build quality a +
Audio Refinement is actually YBA's "budget" line although Classe has some really nicely built CD players in their line up too. The CDP-1 is like a tank. 
best cdp for playing cdr's
My Jolida JD100 plays everything - even the really scratched ones. My Sony C333ES lags way behind it in CD-R reading capability. Arthur 
Using 5751's in place of 12AX7's in a Luxman LX-33
From what I understand, the only difference is that the gain is lower for the 5751. However, I didn't notice this when I replaced my 12ax7s with 5751s in my Jolida CD player. Arthur 
Only three manufacturers?
JM Lab Electra and Utopia lines can be added to the list as well. 
Do Kimber KCAG's sound bright????
KCAG + Bryston + Adcom will equal bright sound. I tried a few silver Kimbers and never cared for them in my system either. I have loved my MIT T2 cables most. 
Speakers for low power amps?
I second the Omega loudspeakers. I had a pair of TS1s and they were really really cool. Super efficient and sound excellent but do realize they have bass limitations. 
CD players in $2K range with balanced output
I agree with the McIntosh but if you want new only, they will be out of your price range. See if you can find a Classe CDp-10 - there should still be some new ones around although I think it is officially discontinued. Good luck! 
Players made in U.S.A.?
I compared the Granite 650 and the Jolida JD100 back to back and bought the Jolida. They were rather similar but the Jolida had a more open and detailed sound which I thought gave a nicer presentation. I didn't get to hear the 657.However, the Jol... 
What about a product can irritate you?
My biggest are too-coarse or too-fine volume controls and tempermental remotes. The sticker on the CD edges also get to me so I echo Edesilva on that one.