dsavitsk

Have you tried just sticking a 600 Ohm transformer on the output of the metrum?

Seems more or less correct to me. In general less distortion sounds better than more, and low order is less offensive than high. Most people can tolerate a bunch of 2nd harmonic distortion and very little 7th for example. Exactly how much is unclear, and how much 7th you might be willing to tolerate for no 2nd (or vice versa) is also unclear. Some of us are also willing to tolerate slightly more 3rd to eliminate the 2nd (and this seems to be a divider of preferences). What is clear is that the brainstem amplifies dissonant sounds and diminishes concordant ones, and that how much your brain does this is dependent upon a lot of factors, including musical training. Additionally, if you take a distortion free signal and purposely add 2nd harmonics to it, it won't sound like a tube amp. It will just sound worse than it otherwise would have.

None of this is actually true. The problem with tubes in a DAC is that they are high impedance devices with low transconductance. That makes them less effective as buffers, and less effective as low input impedance devices for IV duty. They also tend to be a little noisier. Moreover they are lower distortion devices than transistors. They sound good in spite of any distortion they might add - not because of it. As a cure for digititis, whatever that might be, tubes will do precious little. Arguably they are useful to add some gain (perhaps in a DAC with a simple resistor IV) where they may be superior to transistors.

And for good measure ...

I listened to a lot of speakers in that range a couple of years ago. Almost all of them were not worth having. The only things I found that were were used and said Dynaudio on them.

QED

I'm sure there will be more than a few "used" pairs available in a few months.

Milwaukee is an absolutely fantastic city that is full of weird stuff and largely has not succumbed to the genericization of America. It has the coolest bowling alleys in the world. And a genuinely creepy cocktail lounge. The art museum is fantastic. And you can visit the University of Lawsonomy.

I don't know anything about the Luxman. I own the HD800's and do not own the T1's, which should indicate which I prefer. I am just saying that the T1's can sound OK. Pleasing, even. I didn't hate them. Reks should listen to whatever he likes.

Yes on Grados.

I agree that driven with a non-0 output impedance the T1 is decent. I used them with the L2 with a 600R resistor in parallel for a while and found it to be a good combination.

In general, probably not. The output transformers are pretty big. The possible exception is the DSHA2 - turned sideways the board will physically fit in the case. The trick would be trying to shoehorn a PS in there, too. It might be doable with some creative mounting.

I accidentally hit the wrong button while trying to type and posted some unintended nonsense (as opposed to the usual intended nonsense). Here's the cliff notes version of what is upcoming ... All of these circuits are fully differential. Everything except the DSHA2 is transformer coupled on both the input and the output and happy with balanced or single ended. All of the output transformers are newly custom designed by Lundahl for me. Available with steel core or amorphous cores for an upcharge. DSHA2 is really tiny, direct coupled, transformer gain amplifier for use with balanced headphones.. DSHA3 is kind of the default amp. It uses transformers for gain, and it is very clean, very quiet, and just works well. Gain is low, but it has the power to push pretty much any headphone. DSST1 (which stands for Differential Solid State Triode) was developed with PretentiousFood. It looks the same as the DSHA3 from the outside, and it uses a circuit that emulates triodes with transistors. It has a bit of a bloomier midrange, can have higher gain, and is easier to drive at the cost of a little more background noise. Copenhagen-S also looks the same and has a punchier bouncier happier more midrangey sound. It is the "Solid State Pentode" amp making it kind of a current source/transconductance amp. (Copenhagen-V, the tube version, is on hiatus.) L3 has tubes in it and costs a little more. Pics to come in about 2 weeks. Ravenswood (DSHA4) is basically a DSHA3 with an additional driver stage, microprocessor controlled gain and input, and is big and powerful and over the top.

....

A week ago we sat outside in short sleeves for dinner. It appears that my grand plan for doing something with those piles of bricks this summer is going to wait until next summer.

Indeed. We have several of those, too ... (the second one down is taking his own selfie here.)

Happy Birthday!

Adorable. Everybody knows that tuxedo cats are the cutest.

I don't know that it looks better, but here is one I am working on wiring the computer to the various relays right now ... outside pics in a few days.

Heartbreaking. What's the name of the shelter?

Carpet, or towels, or anything like that will absorb water, remain wet and cold, and mold. Straw is better, and cheaper.

That's fantastic! You might want to add some small stands to get the base off the ground a little, and perhaps add some straw for warmth. But this looks like it will make the cats a lot more comfortable.

The guitar is a rock instrument. Rock music is 100% nostalgia. There are certainly still good bands coming out, but the music they play and the structure of the groups playing it is derivative of what has come before. It would be recognizable as rock to anyone from about 1978 on in a way that Sgt. Pepper, or Never Mind the Bollocks would not have been recognizable as rock in 1958. So aside from the simple aesthetic argument that the lines and balance on a Strat, or a Telecaster, or a Les Paul are beautiful in a way the Fly simply isn't, if one is engaging in a nostalgic enterprise, it makes little sense to do so in a non-nostalgic way. That's why modern looking guitars don't catch on in a broad sense.

Happy Birthday, Dusty!