Home Source Components

While my Marantz has been very enjoyable for the short time I've owned it, I cannot help but wonder what I will move to after I am finished with this unit. Really it comes down to sticking with redbooks and simply moving up to a better cdp (Cambridge 840C, Marantz SA8001 are a few possibilities) or keeping the 5001 as a transport and grabbing a dedicated DAC (CIA VDA2 interests me greatly). The flexibility of a standalone DAC would be nice, but is not totally necessary. Budget will probably be under $1,000. The rig as it sits now is CD5001 > SP MPX3 > JVC DX1000/Denon D2000. All suggestions are appreciated, thanks much.

I'm new to head case so take it easy on me folks. I've read a bunch of posts and it seems like a great place to call home! I think I'm going to buy the TTVKJ/Millet 307A tomorrow having never heard it but having done my homework and knowing that I have Todd's permission to take a 30 day trial and his guarantee that there's no chance I'll return it. I'm looking for something full, involving, resolving well so many of the things said already in this thread. I primarily listen to accousitc music emphasizing voice and guitar (Did someone mention Sam Phillips and "Fan Dance?" That's a perfect example!) and jazz, and I want to experience all the life in the music as well …

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?…

Well I am fucking sourceless again . My Exemplar 3910 developed a problem in March. I sent it to the most experienced (at working on modified Denons)repair depot in the country. They took seven weeks . ,$320 including shipping, and it?s got a fucking worse problem than when I sent it to them . Now it?s going to be at least another $100 in shipping and however long it takes them this time. I?m not totally sourceless, but I am lacking a quality source. I?m pissed.

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

So what I'm after isn't truly a squeezebox alternative but that's as close a description as I can find. Probably a better comparison is to the Sony HAP1ZS but that's way out of my league. In essence what I'm looking for is a music player with a HD inside that I can rip or transfer content to, has an intelligent and usable interface that doesn't require an external monitor, does not require a network connection to function, and doesn't cost $2k. Perhaps even better put is what I really want is an iPod that's wall powered, with a larger display and larger HD. A decent internal DAC would be a bonus. I don't want to just use a laptop. I don't want to use an iPad. I…

Well the darn thing won't turn on. Google comes up with a couple of hard resets, both don't work. Don't have another box or power adapter to test that. It was being real funky yesterday and kept on trying to re update when it had been updated already. Yarg!!!

Just received my Squeezebox Duet that I have been waiting two weeks for. It appears the receiver is DOA. The light on the front doesn't light up. It appears everything on the powersupply side works fine. Guess I have to ship it all back and wait a month for a replacement

New Squeezebox Duet.. http://www.slimdevices.com/pi_duet.html The remote does look pretty cool What do you think guys?

I've been thinking about getting a squeezebox or a sound card with bit-perfect output. I'll be feeding the digital out from the squeezebox or sound card to the digital input on the Opus 21 (coax in only). The squeezebox would be the more convenient solution but I really hate the slimserver software. The last time I really used it, was early this year (february or march) and I couldn't stand it. It was slow, and seemed very buggy. Has it improved at all? Now if I go the sound card route, it'd be cheaper as I'd just need something with a good digital out (coax). Plus I'd get the benefit of using foobar which I absolutely love. The downside to the sound card idea is t…

I have all my FLACs across three hard drives, and all my MP3s in the default iTunes directory under My Documents. I have not pointed Slimserver to my iTunes directory, but it won't stop pulling MP3s. The result is I'll be listening to an album, and there are duplicates of every track: first the FLAC, then the MP3. This is annoying. How can I get my Squeezebox to stop pulling from my MP3 directory?

I'm really enjoying the flexibility of this litte source, but it's led me to a decision on my computer setup. Right now, I have all my music on an external HD(2 actually) but it's time to bump up the space available as these are pretty much filled. So, is it better to continue with the external HD connected by USB2/Firewire or should I upgrade the aging HD on my server/desktop? I could bump up the HD on the desktop and keep the external HD's for backups. The desktop HD hasn't given a problem but it is an older drive which for my peace of mind could stand an upgrade. What's the thought? Btw, anyone got tips on a quick and painless way of cloning my existing HD onto the…

Contemplating replacing my SqueezeCenter/Squeezebox 3 x3/sometimes iPeng setup with an Airport Express x3/iTunes/Airfoil/Remote-iPhone app deal. Tired of scanning my library for new music and would be a plus to capture other audio streams (with Airfoil). The Squeezebox internet radio steaming is nice though. And the Remote app is just smoother than using iPeng (at least at this point and likely near future at least with laptops ... hunting for IPs...). On a MacBook and will likely stay on OS X as primary operating system so no problems using iTunes. Anyone else do this "downgrade"? Any comments?

Squeezebox Touch unboxed and in the wild Looks interesting

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…

... I kind of lost the will to live when faced with 'ripping' (i.e. Dig out to Puter) them in real time. Is there seriously not a method or a company who will rip DSD's and I dunno, maybe put them in 24/96 or something. Failing that a regular 16/44.1.

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…

I can find very little about the Stax DAC Talent online. Has anyone here heard it and could give some impressions? I found someone selling it for about $300 U.S. dollars. Is this a reasonable price? After hearing all the great comments about vintage DACs I am interested in getting one. I listen through my Luxman amp to way too many Stax. I'm looking forward to your comments.

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…

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 ...

Anyone check out the measurements from the Zanden review in the November issue of Stereophile? Not that Stereophile or in particular Michael Fremer had any credibility left. But how the hell did he manage to be floored by a combo that had a roughly 4 db channel imbalance and a thd+noise of 25% at 50hz.

Well my black D02 arrived yesterday, I picked it up at the post office on the way home from work. Unfortunately I had to go to my in-laws for supper so I didn't get to listen right away but I did open the box to get a look. Boy, this is one stunning piece of equipment, the case work is just incredible, pictures just don't do it justice. This is the type of case you would find on multi-kilobuck gear not something that sells in the $500 range. Another unfortunate occurence was customs opened the box and it appears they didn't repack it very well so the bottom back corners suffered some damage, nothing too serious just a bit disappointing. When I finally got my new b…

Okay, I'm behind the times, but needs are simple. My analog and limited physical media needs are met and otherwise only stream Tidal/Qobuz. No need for everyones favorite Roon at this point or support for media stored on a HD. Used an Airport Express to get a digital signal to a DAC until Apple retired and it eventually became a little flaky, then Chromecast Audio until Google retired and it eventually became a little flaky. Just looking for a simple way to stream audio over wifi (ideally with Airplay2 support) to a digital out. Know Audioengine has a similar device, though next to no specs. I'm sure there are Raspberry Pi options as when are there not? Anyone have a reco…

Long story short, I'm thinking about completely overhauling my speaker rig. I'm going to do something I haven't really done before: work back from the transducers. I've decided on a pair of Lowther DX4 drivers. More data. Everything else is up for debate. Opinions? Enablers, start enabling!

Anyone know if the TBAAM (Turtle Beach Audio Advantage Micro) optical out is bit perfect on Linux with ALSA? Is ALSA/Linux a bit-perfect system to use? (like Kernel Streaming on Windows) I know the TBAAM optical on Windows is resampled, but what about Linux?