Home Source Components

A pre with a MM/MC stage, a 24/192 DAC and a sub-1K price. Could solve a few problems, no? Parasound Halo P 5 Stereo Preamplifier Preview http://www.audioholics.com/av-preamp-processor-reviews/parasound-halo-p-5-stereo-preamplifier http://www.electronichouse.com/article/parasound_halo_p_5_delivers_2-channel_audio_goods/C37

http://www.referenceaudiomods.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=Oppo_Units&Category_Code=MODS&Product_Count=37 Anyone heard one of these? Any thoughts? The price of the mods is crazy high for such an inexpensive player. I own a stock Oppo 970HD which I use as an upsampling DVD player. I am very pleased with it. Deadwood looks fantastic! I've used it to play music, but only through my HT setup, which isn't as resolving as my headphone rig, so I can't really judge its sound quality. Anywho, I've been considering hooking up my Oppo to my headphone rig just to do a shootout between it, the Modwright, and the Aqvox. Maybe I'll do it this we…

Ok - its time for me to spend a little $'s on my hobby. I'm trying to decide what I want next. I bought the Sony c555es with the intention to have it modded - but it hasn't happened yet. Instead I ended up with a squeezebox & a DA100 DAC. Now I'm wondering if the modded 555es will best the DA100. I don't have lots of experience with sources so hopefully someone will have some good suggestions for me. My amp is a SP PPX3 slam & my cans are RS1, Darth Beyer V3 & AT 900 ltd.

I have a handful of redbook CD digital transports. For the purpose of this post, I'm going to concentrate on three: the Sonic Frontiers SFT-1, Micromega Drive 3, and Parasound C/BD-2000. It's interesting to note that both the SFT-1 and Drive 3 use the same Philips CDM 12.4 drive mechanism, while the Parasound of course is a belt-driven CEC jobbie. I have always felt they all had their own sound, however I was extremely happy with the Micromega Drive 3. Either way, I bought a Genesis Digital Lens for yuks to see if it would make them all sound the same, because I really like using the Parasound thanks to its unique user experience of sliding open the door and pla…

Just some pics of the nude stylus I thought were cool. You can see the dust on it, I need to get a record cleaning machine.

i like new toys

Just wondering if anyone's had a chance to listen to Opus DAC? It looks really interesting and makes me wish I had DIY skills.

Might be useful to a few folks if the price is not too outrageous.

Has anyone heard their CD77 player?

Anyone ever heard of it? 1990/91, build quality seems insane. There is a local hifi that had it used for sale but it quickly went. Sony CDP-X777ES on TVK, detailed inside views AudiogoN ForSale: Sony CDP-X777es

I've owned the VDA2+VAC1 for about a year now, and there are two criticisms from The Great DAC Search thread that I agree with: that the rendering of more complex passages can be somewhat "messy", and a little 'raw' sounding from my perspective; and that there is a bit of "shrillness" audible in the top end at times. It doesn't help that my speakers are not very forgiving either. I know the VDA2 is a good DAC--it wiped the floor with the OMZ DAC I owned--and I may be nit-picking a bit--but I was wondering if there is anything else at this price point (used or otherwise) that would be a better selection for my system. Admittedly I haven't compared the VDA2 to much else.…

So I've been researching a problem I've had for a while now. Mostly since I switched to the Denon DL-110 cartridge I've been encountering groove echo. It hits between tracks, or during quiet parts, and I'll hear a faint echo just before the sound hits (one revolution before, to be exact). It also tends to be a faint echo on the right side, even if the actual music is shifted more to the left. I have never heard a post-echo but can assume that they are present but being masked by the music. My copy of Keith Jarrett's Koln Concert is especially annoying, since there are so many pauses followed by a quick stab of piano. I've also heard it strongly before The Rolling Ston…

In all honesty, I had all but decided to snag an Apogee Mini-Dac for the office setup but was having little luck finding one at a price I could live with. Not sure why, but I began thinking about a piece of gear that had really excited me when it first came out. Just had other things more pressing so I didn't pull the trigger then. This time I just couldn't resist it. Didn't really need it, but darned if I'm not tickled that I have it. Best purchase I've made in quite some time. I'll get around to listening to my FLAC files sooner or later, but right now, I'm just loving the Internet Radio! What a big ol' world we live in!!

Got some pics of my black D02 which is on it's way to me, hopefully it will arrive in time for our Maritime Provinces meet.

Linked from here Excerpt:

Yet Another Thread To Talk About Digital Cables. discuss.

I finally spent some time critically listening to my recently-modded (by a Head-Caser, who shall remain anonymous) CA Azur 640C V2 after putting it off for far too long. Mods to the CDP included: - caps on main power, secondary, filter input, filter output, and de-coupling rolled to Rubycon Black Gates (not sure what was in place before) - 5 filter op-amps socketed and rolled to National LME49720 (from stock TI NE5532) - WIMA 0.1uF C0G cap inserted across the rails Before: (click for larger) After: (click for larger) And How Does It Sound? I tried to replicate my original 2006/07 setup as best as I could. The original setup back then was:…

My son is getting into vinyl and I'm not much into it myself so I don't know what a good entry turntable is. Any good suggestions?

So I have weed to enhance my listening experience, Grado RS-2s, and a Millet Minimax I'm almost done making. I just need a dac with optical input for my only listening source - a laptop with optical output. What would you recommend to a lazy stoner with $400 who wants to buy something through a link?

Bitstream: CEDIA: McIntosh's SACD/CD Player Not cheap, obviously, but considering all that it does and such, this might fill a void for some folks around here, especially if you kill a bunch of birds with one stone like what this thing does.

...to either replace or chain off of my 0404 usb. Music: Rock and Electronic, not much jazz or folk or acoustic, the occasional classical listen. Amps: aside from the 0404 are a Rockhopper M^3, a Gilmore Lite Headphones are: HD650, K601, DT250, K271. Long, wordy version: I'd need it to either have toslink or coax inputs, or if usb only be able to fully replace the I/O functionality of an 0404 usb - I make use of the analog in and occasionally the second digitial input (it will mix the usb and spdif inputs). This unfortunately rules out the duet, as it won't play nice with everything else. Keeping the 0404 is fine by me, though. I had an eye on the amp-le…

I'm a newb when it comes to CD players and I was wondering what is the differences between the 2? I was going to use it connected to my DAC1 to play CDs instead of playing my CDs from my laptop. Right now my laptop with HD-DVD player is okay, but I'm worried about how much jitter it may be producing. I was hoping to get a decent CD player to play regular CDs. I was thinking about sticking with my DAC1 and just using my laptop CD player since the DAC1 should help cutdown on the jitter, but I'm not sure. Thanks in advance .

I did promise some internal pics a long time ago but here they finally are. I did manage to fuck up the shots of the other side of the board so only the top part shown. The SR-X Mk3 Pro used to show just how tiny this DAC is. Not that many parts used but the quality is very high indeed.

The Emotiva Lounge - DAC Poll Price

I've often commented on how undervalued the Squeezebox 3/Classic is as a DAC. I've really thought, and still do, that it performs quite nicely for its price even if you forget it's streaming capabilities. Part of that conclusion though was based on DAC comparisons when fed through the SB3. In fact I sold my Lavry DA10, when after a comparison, I could no longer justify its cost. Before boxing for shipment though I decided to give it one last go fed optically from a MacBook, recreating what I lived with for a year - a DAC/amp single-box combo with balanced HD580s out the back. It sounded wonderful, but so many variables I didn't even think about the Squeezebox (after all b…