Home Source Components

So I'm tinkering with the notion of dumping the 999es in favor of a player which also handles DVD-A and HDCD. HDCD capability is important since all of the new Grateful Dead Rhino releases are HDCD encoded, and I love the Grateful Dead. The most immediately obvious choice is a modded Denon 3910, since it is widely positively reviewed, and modded models can be had cheap on the gon. As we speak there is an sacdmods for 1300 and a modwright for 2300. I tend toward the Modwright since I'm already a fan of the Modwright house sound, and since it has that big ass overbuilt power supply (which, if I bought used, I would send in to get the tube rectification upgrade). I'm look…

Well it happened, our old Philips DVP642 finally gave up the ghost last night and it couldn't come at a more inopportune time with Christmas just around the corner. I had figured my next DVD player would be one of the Oppo's but given the time of year and the fact I can't get one here and it would probably cost over $200 to get one online and have it shipped here I'm not sure if I can sell the wife on it or not. The DVD player will be used mostly for Divx capabilities so maximum Xvid and Divx compatibility is a must. It will also be used with a Mission Cyrus 1 and Paradigm Atoms for music, mostly background, but we still like it to sound decent. There's also the possib…

Per the review, it is quite good: http://www.6moons.com/audioreviews/shanling5/3000.html In the $2k range with basic mods, more for better mods http://cls.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls.pl?dgtlplay&1200364575, and another $400 to 'modify' the balanced outs. I'm thinking of taking a shot on the stock (or mini-mods pkg) and roll some tubes. Thoughts / experiences?

Is there any way to keep artist title info of the tracks as I rip them to my computer? Everytime I rip a CD I just get, Track 01, Track 02, etc. I want to condense my CD's onto my computer, but this is tedious as hell to have to do each time, especially if using iTunes to organise my music, I have to do it AGAIN when I import the files to assign the meta tags. Otherwise, it just arranges it by the name of the file as "Oasis - Wonderwall", not sortable by artist, or album, etc. Suck ass. Even on the CD's that display text in your car CD player(most all of them), still don't rip with artist and title, just as tracks. Is it the program(s) I'm using? I'm using iTunes,…

Worth a listen? I have the chance to get one of these for fairly cheap at $279. http://www.consumer.philips.com/consumer/en/us/consumer/cc/_productid_MCD908_37_US_CONSUMER/DVD-Micro-Theater+MCD908-37 Reads that it has "Hi-Fi tubes". Although it doesn't say which ones, you think it roll-able? Also, it has HDMI slots, and a 720p and 1080i output abilities. Doesn't sound like a bad deal for $279... Even at the $459 street price, it doesn't sound like it'd be a bad deal. Anybody hear one of these?

Hi! I've had my Juli@ for about a year now, and I'd like to give it some new OP amps and some OS CONs. I only want to modify the output channels (both RCA and TRS sides) as i hardly ever use the input. AFAIK there are 10 JRC 4580 opamps in total on the card; does anyone happen to know how many (and which) of these are used for the output? I will probably change all the capacitors but I'd like to limit the opamps as National only gives you 3 LM4562 samples at a time.. thanks!

Because I am the way I am, I'm considering upgrading my source, but am not sure. Right now, I'm using an Exemplar modded Denon 2900 as my main source, which I like as much as any I've heard for redbook in a price range that's feasible ($3000-5000). Both the Esoteric DV50 and SA10 beat it out for SACDs imo, but I don't have too many, and probably won't get too many more. I could go the route of the Transporter and the like, but so far, I've only heard the Transporter, which I thought was good, but not good enough to spend my money on. So here's the question: Since I think my redbook player is damn good, would it be worth upgrading now, and if so, what direction to explore?…

Looking to add in the Ack Dack 1.2e using my EMU0404 as transport..with my n_maher M^3 w/steps amplifying my W5000's or K340's. Any idea how it will do in my system? I haven't heard one, but I've read good things. Any opinions are appreciated.

I know that Audio Aero Prima SE and Opus 21 have it, but are there any others? Few others I've seen has been well over my budget. I can spend up to $3000, though less is always preferred.

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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.

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 .

Today, my friend & I went to a top secret test location to take part in a top of the line digital showdown. We had a Simaudio Eclipse & Andromeda, Wadia 861, and the Mk1 Audio Aero Capitole. Amps were Wavelength Cardinals with the Coincident Total Victory II speakers and a S&B TX102 TVC preamp. Music was mostly classical and not entirely to my taste, but not surprising as me & my friend were the only ones under 45. I found this rather depressing since I had to act mature and refrain from ejaculating 4-letter words. I was also saddened that I couldn't play Slayer. On the bright side, no one played Norah Jones nor Diana Krall, and there was no "Hotel Cali…

I thought about putting this in the DIY forum but mostly it's about a modded new source, so here it is. Full credit goes to Brain Donegan (of Twisted Pear Audio) who showed me one of these when I was at his house picking up some other parts. He also pointed me to the thread at DIY Audio where some guys had figured out a nifty little mod for the units, more on that in a minute. In stock form this is essentially a poor man's Squeezebox. It's setup to work with a MusicMatch library file and allows you to stream mp3's from your PC wirelessly and connect it to your amplification device of choice via the unit's analog outputs. Not all that special until you factor in three …

Anyone looking for an SB3 should jump on this fast, assuming of course that it's the wireless version.

Northstar M192 DAC (thanks Reks) Neat optical illusion. the faceplate is not wavy aluminum like it looks from the front. Back: Certainly a dynamite looking product. just some chicken scratch (upsampling turned on at all times, will mess around with it later), all testing was done switching back and forth. Started off with some John Zorn's Electric Masada and then some early King Crimson and Tool. I think the Lavry is still a very dynamic DAC, but the Northstar takes it to a whole different level. Loud sounds are huge, dynamic shifts (both macro and micro) sound incredibly lifelike. Dire Strait's Brothers In Arms/Communique (both WG Target discs) …

Thinking of going with a new dac, as an upgrade from my apogee minidac. I've been using USB and have primarily flac files (ape, ogg as well). Mainly i'm debating going with a benchmark dac1/is2(usb conversion) , or maybe a transporter to avoid USB all together. It seems the onbard usb options on most dacs are considered inferior transports to an alternative like this. No complaints with my mindac, but I know I can do a bit better with these fancier transport options available. I don't have any oversampling either and I know that i'm not utilizing the full potential of this DAC. Anyway i've read a bit about the empiricle audio is2 dac1 mods, and also been trying …

I'm not too good at home theater stuff, so I need some help. I need some suggestions on the absolute cheapest way to get 5.1 surround sound out of my tv, using it's optical out, and then going to Logitech Z-5300e speakers. The connectors for the speakers are 1/8's, so obviously this poses a slight challenge. I'm stressing cheapest, cause medical school is killing my wallet. Thanks, Dave

http://picasaweb.google.com/asebastian2/DoubleCrown/photo#5107114672554852322 So pretty! These are the ultra rare and highly acclaimed double crown version of the 20 year old R2R non-OS Phillips TDA1541A chip. Haven't been tested by my DAC builder to see if they are legit ;p But hopefully they are! They use this chip (only 1 or 2 though) in the highest end Zanden dac and various old school players like the Marantz CD-7. Apparently crazies in Japan build dacs with 32-64 of these chips per channel. Very pricey at $100-$150 if you can find them ;p Asebastian sourced them for me and is planning on sticking them in a modified version of this dac: http://www.ecdesi…

Smoking deal http://cls.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls.pl?homevdeo&1192926190

For sale on Head-foo. Probably a very decent source. http://www.head-fi.org/forums/showpost.php?p=3213733&postcount=1

Been browsing the Digital Asylum aimlessly and have found people talking about this Altmann Attraction DAC. What the hell is this? Why haven't you all told me about it? Anybody heard one? At least I know they didn't spend most of their budget on the case. http://www.mother-of-tone.com/attraction.htm

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!!

If anyone's interested, there's an Audio Aero Capitole on sale on HF. I don't know if it's a good deal or not, though. http://www.head-fi.org/forums/showthread.php?t=256498

So yesterday I get home from a long day at work. I eat my dinner then I go upstairs, and turn on my amp to warm up. I boot my tower (transport), and after a little bit I cue up an album, put on my w100 and ... nothing. I play with some settings on my computer... nothing. I try my 701...nothing I tunr off my amp, reseat the tube.. nothing I plug my CD player into my DAC, put in a disc...nothing I try my reciever...nothing I plug my amp directly into my DVD player's analog out... SOUND As I'm moving gear around, I realize there is water on everything, and it was jsut POURING rain about an hour ago. Pissed, I go downstairs: "mom did you have my window open"…