Audio Accessories

My STAX Sigma headphones have gone bad. Sound comes only in one ear. Is there anywhere I can send them for repairs?

So, hopefully I'm not making a complete fool of myself for asking but... If you had to chose, would you rather have a longer USB cable or RCA cable from computer -> DAC -> amp? Would having a longer USB be better because of they way it transmits data? Does it apply to optical and coax too? I remember reading (don't remember where) that if you had to chose a longer speaker cable or a longer IC from source -> amp, you should run longer IC and keep the speaker cable shorter... not sure if that's related though...

Does Deoxit work? I'm having a slight problem with one pair of my SRM-1/MK2's RCA jacks and was wondering if they need to be cleaned or, y'know, something. Does Deoxit do anything or does it spray snake oil?

Any recommendations for cheap HDMI to optical converters? Something like this is what I'm looking for, but less than $170 http://www.octavainc.com/HDMI%201x1%20Audio%20Converter.html Basically looking to convert all my single layer SACDs to 24/88 PCM and this box aids in that with the appropriate Oppo player.

Quad Hifi - Home

Can someone provide a comparison between the Grado Flats vs. the Sennheiser HD-414 flats in terms of sound? Thanks in advance.

I have always been curious by what appears to be a wide variety and diversity in the various permutations of the above rectifier tube. They seem to come in all forms of mullards and rebranded mullards as well as philips, with fancy bases and logos and others that are more basic pedestrian looking, all seeming to garner outrageous prices and others being more modest. I have never even bothered to roll or even think about the concept of the rectifier having an impact on the sound signature, probably due to spite. Feel free to share your thoughts and experiences.

Well not yet officially, but Alex can do headbands now. I sent in an SR-X MKIII that looked like this: (click for larger) And this is the new headband: Alex actually held my SR-X MKIII hostage for about 3 months (!) so I wound up getting the new headband for free, thanks Alex! He also informed me that sometime next year he'll have a person on staff who will do headbands exclusively, but you didn't read that here.

GFs friend want to sell his Salamander Synergy S40 Six Shelf rack. Have read the reviews, but curious if anyone here has had any positive/negative experiences? Haven't seen it yet myself.

Hi all. I suffer from acute audio placebo. I have broken the 10 percent rule with cables. My interconnects now cost 120 perc of system and have experimented with power cables - now at 100 perc of system. My cables have costed me more than my system. I now run a pure sine wave inverter with two car batteries powering my system. I hallucinate a better soundstage and superior sound with these devices. I have been banned by Head - Fi for calling a member a "fag" for pointing out the errors of my way. I seek refuge here and hope for some rehabilitation. These headphones drove me insane and I hope to share my experiences. My name is Spanimal and I have a problem…

So I just bought a headphiled SR225 and the dumb bum who had it done had it terminated to 1/8, so now I need an adapter. I know Grado makes a 1/4 to 1/8 adapter cable, but who makes the reverse? And does it really matter about what company I buy from? Thanks in advance!

So I'm considering running two amps off a single source, and was wondering if anyone had any experience with and could comment on signal degradation with Ys/2-for-1 adapters such as ... ? Was avoiding a switch box if possible.

Is there any four core headphone type wire at partexpress you guys would recommend? I'm putting an order in soon and I want to get all my crap in one order if possible. If not, any other stuff/place you've tried. Not looking for expensive stuff, just plain old copper, shielded or not. Whatever is decent quality.

Hey guys - we're going on a lengthy road trip early next month [2,500 mi] and are considering not taking a rental. Our prehistoric (2006) Chevy Malibu does not have any sort of connection for an iPhone, and I sure as shit need to be able to use Spotify/iTunes for this trip if I plan on keeping my sanity. There's no aux, USB, etc. Anyone have suggestions? I'm not handy with cars and do not want to try taking apart the dashboard to access our CD changer or anything like that. Seems that something like this might be my only option with the limited amount of time and effort I'm willing to put in. Will it actually sound close to cd-quality? Thanks for the help.

Hi All, I'm thinking about tweaking my setup but I'm not sure which option will make the biggest difference in increasing sound quality. I'm a newb so I'd appreciate any advice or comments from knowledgeable people that have made any of these changes. My current setup is MacBook Pro-> Pure Music->Optical-> DacMagic->Luminous Monarch II RCA->Schiit Lyr-> LCD2 I've heard a lot of people say that a good coaxial cable beats an optical cable in terms of SQ, which is why I'm considering the HiFace. However, I've also heard that the optical and coaxial inputs on the DacMagic sound pretty much the same. So, my question is whether or not it wou…

I'm in need of a new tone arm cable. I am presently using the stock Van den hul cable on my SME V arm. It's copper but is not as resolving nor as rich as I would prefer. I was thining Cardas Golden Reference or Cross, but they are pretty pricey, as is the more revealing but more linear Hovland and Graham 2.2. Any suggestions?

JBL MS-2 pocket digital processor Any thoughts? Would this thing have any practical use in a headphone rig? Oh, and how awful is this promotional video?

Is there anywhere in the US or close by that sells the HI-Fi 2000 cases, specifically the black 2U Pesante Dissipante 300mm or something similar. Decent quality, not like the crappy Par Metals case I have now. Preferably priced in $US and not cost an arm and leg to ship like it would from Italy, or is there no way around this pickle?

http://www.schiit.com/products/loki I don't think im insane for entertaining the idea of owning what appears to be a discrete, quality EQ device. Thoughts?

I bought mogami gold RCAs a long time ago, and use them. I will need longer cables soon for new mono amps, and they need to be XLR. I found a 2 foot 'patch cable' from Mogami that I will use from source to preamp, but long runs are identified as 'microphone cable'. I want to be sure I'm not unwittingly running some crazy out-of-spec cords from my pinnacle to future power amps with microphone cable, as identified by Mogami. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0002E1P30/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001LNN2EQ/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 this is the same shit, right?

I finally unpacked the old Lafayette tuner that I bought from Miguel Arroyo many months ago. Besides needing a switch box, I need an indoor FM antenna. Can anybody recommend one? I'd like to spend no more than $50. Thanks in advance for your recommendations.

I have been using an optical cable to feed a DAC that is about 18 feet from an iMac. The optical cable has bit the dust and rather than getting the same I am thinking of streaming the music wirelessly from the apple extreme base station by the iMac. Specifically I am thinking of the AirPort Express Base Station which in turn would feed the DAC via the optical out. Any other suggestions? Thanks.

ok so i got a pair of xhadow female xlr plugs in the house and man they do sound better than the furutech rhodiums for half the price. anyone fancy a pair of used furutechs for like 25 bucks? anyway, xhadow cardas vs zu mobius should be interesting.

Anything besides Blue Jeans LC-1 ICs I should consider for $50 or under a pair?

I need to find some footers for my speaker stands so that the spikes won't damage a tile floor. I've used quarters in the past but they have problems. Does anybody have a favorite footer that they would like to recommend? If not, I probably will go with the Head Case approved "Hockey Puck footer". Thanks in advance.