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Hey Guys, A head-fi'er larryminator is bringing a couple turntables to the Toronto meet that look interesting: http://www.head-fi.org/forums/showthread.php?t=248953 What do you think of these two offerings? I know next to nothing about vinyl, but Thorens seems to have a good name, and the other one looks pretty nice. I've talked to the seller through PM and have been reading his posts in the meet thread and a few Grado threads and he seems to be a good guy. Is the price good? They look to me in nice shape, and it would save me delivery. Since Ray and Peter are coming to the meet, I am sure I will have enough people on hand to make sure it is setup properly. I've ask…

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 ...

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.

Before I start would like to say that this is my first CD player, which I can call HIGH END. Not because of his MSRP price only, but for his futures and quality of sound level of course. Another thing is, I am not an professional reviewer, but somebody who write about things based pure on emotional experience of music listening. As last one to mention, my XLR cables aren't fully burn yet, they need about 100 hours, but I do hear changes already ( +/- 30 hours ), become more fuller and warmer than the first 20 hours, I believe. System: Unison Research Unico CD player uses 2x ECC82=12AU7 NATIONAL 5814A ( re-branded Sylvania 5814A ), Mullard ECC82 CV4003 1960, Tung Sol…

does anyone here has any experience with the "other" lite audio dacs (by that I mean other than the well known around here DA-AH). Man there are quite a few of them. There is quite a bit of into on the DAC-60 at audiocircles. Then there is the DAC-68, 38, 39. So offer balanced outs while others only single ended. Anyone heard any of the ones listed??

I tried one of these on a lark. It looked like it would work on my Regas, with their teenie weenie stubby little spindles. My really old Planar 3's spindle was too short even for this gizmo. But my merely old one accepts the thing just fine. Amazingly, it actually works. It ain't no Sota Reflex Clamp but it does help bass and image focus. It costs $29 and works on spindle-challenged tables, so what's not to love? (If you haven't seen one, it's a little clear plastic saucer that looks like it just escaped from under a cup of cafe Cubano, or maybe from being the lid for a cat food tin. I'm sure most of the 29 bucks goes to paying off the mold. I don't see mu…

This looks interesting: [url=http://www.kj-pub.com/productshopxp.asp?id=647]QA-550 WAV

Anyone heard it or heard anything about it? MUSIC HALL/SHANLING CD-T200A TUBE SACD PLAYER - elusivedisc They run ~$1500 range used on Audiogon. Nice looking unit when it has the silver posts instead of the gold. Two of the tubes power the output, the other two tubes power a headphone amplifier (output on side of unit). It also has preamp functionality (onboard volume). Shanling = Music Hall, which is a good thing I guess. I've never heard Music Hall stuff but I've heard good things.

Anyone have any experience with the Sony XDR-F1HD tuner? Lots of positive reviews: The Audio Critic Sony XDR-F1HD David's DX Website - Sony XDR-F1HD Radio Review ... but wondering if anyone here has one?

Well, I'm looking for a CD transport that has AES digital out, because the coaxial input on my Lavry is already taken up by my computer. My budget is around $500.

I need a standalone usb dac. Anything else I should consider in the same price range?? Some people mentioned that 06 Microdac is too warm, output level is way higher than normal and bad usb implementation. Is the the case with 07 model too??

I'm looking to upgrade my office set up from an aging bithead. I live in a remote location, and my chances of auditioning either the Pico or D10 are nonexistent. In terms of pricing, a D10 is roughly equivalent to the Pico DAC only. The Pico DAC is an option, as I have a mini^3 I could use. On paper, the D10 is the better deal, as it comes with an amp and line out along with optical and coax inputs. It will be a lot less faffing around, and will be more portable with the built in amp stage. I've read one review that gives the edge to the Pico DAC if you are using usb, but rates the D10 as slightly better using an optical input. I will mainly use the usb inp…

I'm running a pair of monsoon mm 1000's off my stock soundcard. I'm thinking of a source upgrade but I'm not sure what my best option is. The speakers are self powered so I'm looking at: -cheap soundcard + external dac -good soundcard -usb dac The combo needs to be able to play music and games. Performance isn't an issue. I'm wondering where I'm going to get the best sound quality and bang for the buck from. Price range is whatever it takes to get something nice. Biggie.

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.

Well I'm not anywhere near the point that I *really* need to be making a decision but I have a source for the stylus and have thought about ordering a few to hold me for quite a while. http://www.lpgear.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=LG&Product_Code=ATSAT0160ML But, I'm still not sure. The cartridge itself is kind of old and the metal around the top is a little corroded. It sounds GREAT though and this is why I haven't wanted to ditch it. Getting a replacement for $80ish is way better than a new cartridge every time. My table is a Denon DP-59L, their top of the line direct drive from 1984. The tonearm isn't super special but I don't have …

I was looking at a USB digital transport so I could bring my Lavry back home for winter break, and this thing caught my eye. I ordered on the 13th, got here to CA on the 15th from Hong Kong, so I'm very impressed with the shipping. I really like this thing, the build quality is solid. It's small but not feather-light. It has all the digital connection I'll ever need. I'm running the AES/EBU directly to my Lavry, out of my Dell laptop using foobar/ASIO. The thing just works as advertised, and the price is pretty decent too. I think I paid $105 including shipping.

The two sources are: An Oppo DV-980H and a PS3. The PS3 has no analog outputs as I'm sure everyone knows. I need a headphone amp or some kind of hybrid setup that can handle both of those sources at the same time. Ideally, the Oppo should be connected via left and right analogs for SACD and DVD-A playback and the PS3 would have to be connected via optical output. This is for my sister who's ready to start getting more serious about headphones now that she is using my AKG 701s while I've moved to the Sennheiser 800s. Ideally, she doesn't want to spend more than about $500 if it can be helped. Ideally, I would steer her towards something like the Gilmore Lite…

DV137

Hey, guess what I just got? Rega Apollo...sounds pretty nice straight out of the box...burn-in to follow... Oh, and: black.

So there have been a few threads that have touched on it, but let me ask directly - for those have compared... A) Which is the better at DAC only duty? Which is better as a DAC/head amp combo for occasional transportable use with low impedance cans and which for high impedance cans? Any words of advice would be appreciated and if you could qualify/quantify the preference it would be doubly so. Obviously, these two units were designed for different uses, but they are priced similarly and often touted. Finally, personally I already have the Pico which I'm currently using as a DAC, so any comments especially from Duet fans if it's worth switching over would be…

Anyone have any impressions of the Silverstone EB01 USB DAC? I've already looked over at Head-Fi, but I'd rather hear a synopsis of all y'alls' opinions.

Someone on the other board mentioned: I've not heard of this. Can anyone shed some light on what this accomplishes and who this RWA is?

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,…

... 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.

What do you guys think the SQ on lower end DAC (ESI Nano/Gamma 1/Ordnance DAC/Go Vibe DAC fed by losless from computer vs a direct play using CD from a standard issue DVD player ($100 or lower price) ? Which is better in your opinion ? My take is on this lower end DAC, DVD player playing CD is better.....