Home Source Components

My brother asked me what I thought about using a Mac Mini as a htpc. Since I've never done this, I thought I would ask here. I know some of you use these as music servers. Any tips, recommendations, etc.? Thanks in advance

Anyone know where I could buy just the transport/laser replacement for the SA-11S1? My Marantz SA-11s1 is out of warranty and now it stops playing many CD's and SACD's. The problem is intermittent and if I go through some voodoo magic spell I (turn off, turn on, open the tray, close the tray) can eventually get it to play the CD. Apparently there is something wrong with the transport/pick-up. Could be as simple as an allignment? but it looks like I can't open the unit up. Anyone have any experience troubleshooting this unit? Sound is fantastic when it works - but lately I feel like throwing it out the window.

I'm looking a few different options. I'm looking for a [redacted] that let's the [redacted] do the heavy lifting and retain its signature sound. So I guess the [redacted] has to be clean and [redacted]. I'm looking at the [redacted], [redacted], [redacted] and also the [redacted]. What are your thoughts on my selection?

Per 6Moons news snippet: I've liked their products I've had or heard, this sounds pretty nice. Sounds far enough off, we'll see if it comes in with that estimated price intact....

Silly name, but it certainly looks the part and the price is nice. Who's first? Press fluff follows.

I could probably find this by searching the site, but I'm lazy and stupid when it comes to using a PC as a source. I ordered the Ayre QB 9 last week, and intend on trying to use my computer as a source in an attempt to downsize my CD collection on the boat. I want to use lossless format and get the best sound I can. I have just a regular Toshiba laptop and a generic terabyte drive. Can anyone advise me as to whether I should get a better computer (such as Mac laptop dedicated for music only), any specific hard drive, which program to use, and if there are any high end USB cables for sale? I have some pretty good source equipment, and I am very picky about the playback qua…

Hello every one Like you know I was asking alternatives for the rs1,silly me... but now I completely threw that out of the window(yeah mexican you were right), they are definitely a keeper and I can relate to those of you who have been offended by comparing the rs1 with a ms1:palm:. Some already may know from the chat but I will give the details for those who don't. So a "random" stranger borrowed me an DacMagic and right from the beginning of the first music I was totally blown away by the quality of the sound, uh the details ..the details.. I was speechless .. warm sound ..everything sounded so right, the soundstage before didn't exist exist with the rs1 and now…

http://www.stereophile.com/cdplayers/193/# Interesting read of Stereophile's first review of the new technology called 'Compact Disc'. Esp interesting to read about the incredible potential which was not quite fulfilled, but will be, the costs involved, and Doug Sax's and The Absolute Sound's concerns for poor sound quality. And of course, RIP, JGH ...

5.1 Headphone experience *Foobar configuration for all stereo music files* - Head-Fi: Covering Headphones, Earphones and Portable Audio Sorry if the H-Scroll is a little off here. I hope this isn't bad form for me to post in regards to a thread at Head Fi like this and someone else's work but I certainly give Graphicism at Head-Fi full credit for this and if he posts here under a different screen name than kudos. I wanted to post this here just to match notes with the regulars around here and see if anyone else has tried this and what they think of it up or down. I went into it skeptical just because I tend to be pretty leery about post processing an…

Hello The player turns it off itself during playing ..after10 minutes or a few hours. The green light on left turns to red. Goes back to green by pressing on load, play or forward. Sometimes it is able to load the cd and play music. Many times, it's locked in. No control with remote. Impossible to reach Alex who did mods on it.

I know I talked to someone about these guys at CanJam and said I'd post a link. Think it was Jim, but after a couple of over-refreshed memory slips already I ain't going out on a limb. They're flogging a (very expensive) modular DAC/SACD player with full digital inputs and claiming total jitter immunity. Easily dismissed as the usual hi-fi hyperbole except that the tech guy behind it is Andreas Koch, who I believe has long been one of the heaviest hitters in the SACD/DSD world. Anyway, here it is Jim (or whoever). Playback Designs

Got the Audio Advisor catalog in the mail today and the big push is on the recently-released $1,995 Bryston BDA-1 DAC, which looks quite interesting on paper. Any thoughts from the resident DAC gurus on the basic design? The manual is here.

Slot-loading compact disc drive Asynch USB up to 96 kHz / 24-bit Ethernet link for iTunes and UPnP libraries S/PDIF inputs (AES/EBU, RCA, Toslink) iPhone/iPod Touch remote control XLR and RCA outputs, fixed or variable. Drool. Sounds like it's going to be expensive though. $6K or so.

I sold a Valab NOS DAC I had in preparation for the $320 Chameleon NOS DAC group buy. I loved the Valab, and it delivered on what I wanted it to (musicality and vocals), and I assumed the Chameleon would only better that. However, I read through the NOS DAC bashing thread with Dan Lavry, and now I'm wondering if my love for the Valab is only because I haven't heard any other half decent DACs. What's yall's opinions on NOS DACs as a whole? Would you advise getting the Chameleon, ever? The only other DAC I've read of that has the traits I desire (warmth, musicality, etc; basically analog sound) is the DAC19MKIII, which is unavailable until later this month and costs…

Hi, I hope this isn't a stupid question, but anyway: How is a $2000 CD transport better than a $200 one? As far as transports go the output is entirely digital, there are no analog stages that can be affected by inteference/component quality/etc. So what's the difference? Digging through doesn't seem to yield any definitive answer. I wish I could A/B them, but unfortunately its hard to come by in my area. Thanks!

Got one of these USB->SPDIF converters in this past week. In short, quite a big improvement over my old Trends UD10.1; everything sounds like a layer of fuzz was removed from the signal, resulting in a more relaxed and focused sound. $150 for an asynch USB converter that does 192KHz? I'm sold. Good job Italians. I was actually considering the Wavelink, but not anymore. Also, any lust for the QB-9 has faded dramatically I recommend this highly to anyone who has a PC as their primary source.

It may possibly come to pass that I could soon be the owner of an EA Denon 9200. It will come with one EL34 tube, so I'll need to get a matched pair of tubes and fit them before I will hear it. A matched pair of Electro Harmonix EL34 will set me back

The Emotiva Lounge - DAC Poll Price

Stereophile: Wadia Need Next? DAC only $999 DAC w/ HP amp $1499 No, I don't need a new DAC, my DacMagic is very good

Hey guys, i have done extensive reading both here and on "that other site" and i more or less decided on buying a Pico because i read some glowing reviews from experienced and well respected members,but then i read some not so glowing reviews ,not a suprise since this happens with just about anything in audio. plus it is really hard to keep up with all the new DAC's,so i was wondering if you could tell me that the Pico is still the best at it's price range or would you recommend i'll go for something else,all i care about is SQ and not features and connectivity etc. thanks!

Hagerman Bugle + DL-103 Associated Equipment: Technics SL1200MK2 Sumiko Headshell Cambridge Audio 840A Quad 22L Introduction I remember when I first got into vinyl blah blah roy gandy is a swell guy. The Story While the DL-103 > Cinemag SUT > Bottlehead Seduction sounds great with rock recordings, I've been experiencing some brightness when listening to certain jazz records which I know aren't mastered bright (Hoffman 45s). After trying to do everything I could with my speakers (move to and fro front and side walls, toe-in), and confident that my cartridge is setup perfectly, I remembered something I read about cartridge brightness usually ha…

Using a Headroom Desktop amp with Max module and Home DAC powered by DPS. Sounds great with the HD650. I recall reading somewhere that the HD600/650 was used to voice the Headroom amps and their CS4398-based DACs, thus providing good synergy when used all together. I'm curious what the cheapest CD/DVD players or standalone DACs would be that could be considered upgrades to the Home DAC. I'm not interested in the Max DAC (Home DAC w/ AD1896 upsampler). Other than the UDAC, would the frequently mentioned PS Audio DLIII, Apogee Mini-DAC, or even Pico DAC be considered upgrades? Can't put exactly into words what I'm looking for, but something along the lines of "more…

Folks, I now have 2 rigs (amp+usb dac) and I have been trying connecting these 2 rigs into my netbook as transport. My problem is that the netbook only recognize 1 usb port so I can't play the songs to two different rigs by hooking it to 2 different usb port. Can someone enlighten me on how to make both of the rigs playable from one netbook ? Thanks in advance.......

If I were to but the new Ayre DAC (with Wavelength tech.), what advatage does playing from my Apple hard drive (Apple Lossless) vs. a red book CD in a Marantz SA11S2 modified?

Just coming back to being interested in quality musical reproduction after 10 years away (kids etc forced a rethink of priorities), so please bear with me as things seemed an awful lot less complicated in the mid 90's! Just fyi i had an Arcam Alpha 5 (upgraded) with some Arcam Pre/power amps and some speakers which i cant quite remember if im honest, so i would like to think that whilst im no high roller i have a little more of an idea than your typical Ipod wearing youth.... Ive just purchased the following:- Beresford Caiman Dac Graham Slee Novo + PSU1 Headphone Amp HD650 Phones (on their way, currently using SR80i's) My main question evolves around sourc…