Home Source Components

Folks, been out frm this stuff for more than 1 year UNTIL Justin reminded me to pay up the balance for the BHSE. TBH, been considering for a refund since already quite content with what I have now and moving onto other hobby. But as soon as Justin posted the finished amp as per my order @the other site, my heart melted. Got drawn again into this mess. Currently I'm running KGSS+007mk2 with Stello DA100 on USB and been a happy camper for the last 2 years. With the arrival of BHSE (and the departure of KGSS), you guys think I have a reasonably good source? For the past 1 year the improvement of DAC seems very tremendous to me, theres W4S, NADM51, Eximus, Audio God Ref 1 …

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.

Associated Equipment: Sources: SOTA Star Sapphire Seris III table Fidelity Research FR64fx arm (Effective mass 20-22 grams) Benz Micro Glider L2 cartridge (Low output MC, 0.3mV, medium compliance) Merrill Heiloom table Eminent Technology ET2 arm Ortofon MC20 cart (Info on this is lacking, but IIRC I've seen an ad for this same cart in a magazine from the 1970's. What I read is very LOW output, very LOW compliance. I would guess an output less than or equal to 0.15mV, based on comparison to my Glider) Phono Stages: Benz Lukaschek PP-1 (pre-dates T9 version) Rogue Stealth (version 2.0 circuit board, has a pair of AD 797 opamps) Preamps/Headphone Amps: Eddi…

If you had only 1 good, well made power cable (Better then the stock ones) would you use it on a DAC or Amp? Im thinking DAC, as my Amp (HR millett) is using the Astrodyne PS, which prob will not benefit from the cable. I dunno, im new to the whole AC power cable, so i bought a starter (Virtual Dynamic basic) for one of my devices, just dont know which.

This is pretty much the first time I've had a chance to spend any quality time with the Pico DAC prototype that Justin was kind enough to send me since I've been out of town all weekend. My system in transition at the moment so I only have the Duet as my headphone amp and won't have me monoblock back for my speaker rig until Wednesday. At the moment I'm using the mini out of the Pico for my 650's with the Pico connected usb to my Mac Mini. I'm using the volume control of itunes to control the Pico. I realize this isn't the optimum set up but it's the best I can do until later in the week when my speaker rig is back in action. I have to say that Pico sounds great. …

Inquiring minds want to know!

I went to my local audio shop and had an audition of the dCS Paganini player (transport, DAC, and clock), which is about $50,000. It was hooked up to Audio Research HD220 amps and Sonus faber Elipsa speakers. I had a nice, extended listening session by myself in a properly set up room in a comfy chair. It was a beautiful, natural sound. I really thought this combo broke through the technological limits of previous disc players. The $50,000 question is: can this be done in a less expensive way in a single box? I played the following pieces on it: Anna Netrebko - Sempre Libera, SACD layer Verdi - La Traviata (E strano! E Strano! - Sempre libera), I haven't ever …

Why has Zhaolu become synonomous with DAC these days? Why do people spill blood and sacrifice their first born child in defending this DAC? Ok, I understand it's probably a good DAC, and the price is certainly affordable for the large majority of Head-Fier's, but does it really deserve all the attention it's getting? I don't think I have ever read one negative comment about the Zhaolu, which is quite odd. Either it really is that damn good, or it's owners just happen to be sheep. So what's the deal, am I just a hatin' mawfucka or is this thing overhyped?

Just wanted to start a thread about this dock. Not sure how many have use for a product like this, but I did, and someone else may too. I'm very impressed with build quality. The remote is simple and it works well (unlike the Wadia dock). As for the sound...well it's as good as what you put onto your iPod or iPad. I've been very happy, and the unit works better than I had hoped for. To say that I haven't reached for a CD since the dock arrived pretty well sums up my feelings. The one quirk I have noticed is that the dock needs about 2-3 minutes from the initial docking of the iPod/iPad to play well. Before that interim it will have dropouts every few seconds. If you…

Apropos of nothing in particular, I was looking at speaker cables on Blue Jeans Cables. They have a four-conductor cable that's more or less a big-ass star quad mic cable. People apparently use it for bi-wiring in a single cable. It's so cheap they practically pay you to take it away. I need a short run of cable to go from the speaker outputs of a little tube amp to a powered subwoofer in my den. It's one of those deals where there's a speaker-level input and a crossover so you can high-pass the output of your amp to the main speakers if you want. I don't have speakers connected there. I just use it to drive the sub. I don't know the z-in, so I don't know how much cur…

Lately been drifting a bit towards convenience over ultimate fidelity. Would love a single box for the speaker rig and in the most recent Audio Advisor the new Parasound Halo Integrated [pdf] was featured. Checks off a lot needs in a digital & analog rig, but anyone see an obvious weak spot? Need to hear obviously, but hopeful.

And I'm thinking about making an impulse purchase. I've been wanting to bring my computer/foobar/flac back into the audio family for a while now, and reading iron dreamer's and others' comments makes me think the signature of the aqvox might be too my liking (overall laid back, emphasis on the midrange, decent enough soundstage). Plus it has lots of options to tweak, which is fun, what with the oversampling, filters, and what have you. And I figure I could offload it without losing my shirt if I didn't like it. So should I do it? Is this a decent price? http://cls.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls.pl?dgtlconv&1189793122

From every possible review or posts I could find, regarding these two, I think more getting Prima CDP. Seems that M192 having a bit to smooth/laid back kind of sound, which isn't that ideal for music like TRANCE&ROCK, while Prima, even with smooth touch, keeps the dynamics&energy very well. The most 3 genres I listen to it are: JAZZ, ROCK & TRANCE/CLUB, sometimes AMBIENT/LOUNGE About the rest, sonically I mean, they seems to be very close to each other, but once again, from info I could find. About the costs, M192 cost more than Prima, but that's understandable. THX

For all you guys who are banned: Granodemostasa, another fellow Berkeley Head-Case'r, has graciously dropped off his Lavry DA10 for me to compare against my newly acquired Stello DP200. I think this will be a good comparison because both units are DAC/headamp combos, both can act as a pre-amp. That's where the similarities end. The Lavry is a non-upsampling DAC employing op-amps in Class-A mode in its analog output stage, while the Stello is a upsampling DAC (up to 192, with an option to bypass upsampling altogether) using fully-discrete, Class-A, balanced output stage. The Stello has a remote-control while the Lavry does not. Some pictures will better illustrate th…

Just got this in yesterday and cold right out of the box, put a big smile on my face. This thing has gobs of PRAT and I now have BASS like I never had before. BIG SOUND out of this black box. Hate to use this cliche but I am hearing things (minute details) that I never heard before. Could be a keeper.

Well my Northstar M192 MKII arrived today, took a little while to start using it though as I was having problems with my Squeezebox. So for now I'm using it with the EMU 0404 USB via foobar and ASIO output. I'm using the rca outputs till my new balanced cables from Nate arrive . I'll post pics later but here's some early impressions: detail retrival is good resolution and extension are very good tonality seems pretty accurate soundstage (especially depth) are excellent That's about it for now I'll add more as time goes on. Hi-rez pics here 1280x1024 pics are attached below

anyone tried one of these? http://tech.uk.msn.com/audio/articles.aspx?cp-documentid=158211805

Hi, I'm thinking of getting a Lavry DA10 but from the pictures I see, it only has XLR outputs. Can I connect it to my single-ended amp using XLR to RCA cables? Will there be any problems in doing so? Also, I don't need the headphone out on the DAC. Is there any DAC with equivalent quality but doesn't have a headphone out (and cheaper)? Thanks!

"Luxman has released the DA-200 USB DAC by combining the P-1u headphone amp and the D-05". link

b-DAC Features & specs • USB, SPDIF and optical inputs, low jitter SPDIF output • Balanced and single ended outputs, including volume control, drive your power amp directly • Low jitter Tentlabs clock (<1ps rms jitter) feeding the sample rate converter and dedicated reclocking stages • 12 independent supply regulators • SRC4382 upsampler, selectable sample rate • 24 bits 192kHz PCM1792 DAC, all inputs reclocked • -117dB distortion at 0dBfs (thd 0,0006%) • Selectable filters and phase • All functions remote controlled • Striking design, includes milled aluminium front panel and stainless steel cabinet Updates • Expected delivery: next batch mid Janu…

Has anyone heard one in it's final form? I'm looking to get a phono preamp instead of using the Metric Halo ADC. I liked the early ss prototype and have always liked Craig's gear. Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Having a handfull of Squeezeboxes in the house I was hoping to try my hand at DRC for my speaker setup. After working throurgh to creation of a filter with DRC and Inguz, it would seem Inguz doesn't work with the latest version of LMC. I could always try and run an earlier version, but I figures I would see what others have had sucess with? BruteFIR seems like another option but I am LINUX retarded and it looks to be a bit configuration intensive.

and my mini-dac is for sale. anyone?

https://www.massdrop.com/buy/massdrop-x-airist-audio-r-2r-dac/talk/2101227?utm_source=linkshare&amp;referer=TYMJB2 On the left, sosolar's design since 2015, on the right "Massdrop Made" by Airist audio. That's a new low for Massdrop.

DAC1 PRE - Benchmark Media Systems, Inc. I have never heard a DAC1, and I get the impression that they are generally frowned upon here at Head-Case, while the rest of the audio world seems to be impressed. The review of the new Benchmark DAC1 PRE in the most recent Hi-Fi news was nothing short of glowing. Ken Kessler couldn't seem to find enough good things to say about this unit, including that it made one recording "...sound as lush and room-filling as a mint original vinyl pressing." So anyone heard one of these? Its level of functionality truly is enticing at its price tag of $1575.