HiWire

Need for Speed: Underground – Various Artists

Thanks for the impressions, Larry. What we all need to know is: how does the M100 sound with the VAMP? It is completely logical that someone will run out and buy an iPhone 4S to complete the look.

I just started reading Modding the Music Hall CD25.2 CD Player from AudioXPress... sounds like a fun project.

Hilarious. And congrats on the new CD player, Steve. Do you intend to modify it further? I run a stock Arcam FMJ CD36 and I'm leery of the hyperbolic claims modders make.

Review from Sound + Vision Magazine: http://www.soundandvisionmag.com/article/review-v-moda-crossfade-m-100-headphone

My brother really liked the B&W P5 when he tried them – he's not an audiophile at all. He liked the sound, the style, and the comfort. The only thing that kept him from buying the P5 was Tyll's review on Inner Fidelity and the lack of isolation – he's mostly listening to them on the subway and at his desk at work. The Sennheiser Amperior didn't sound like his cup of tea. I heard the Shures briefly and I also found them lacking.

It looks like Engadget has the scoop (Head-Fi hype aside) on these cans: http://www.engadget.com/2012/10/11/v-moda-m-100-audiophile-headphones-hands-on-interview-val-kolton/ I wonder how they'll compare to my brother's new Beyerdynamic DT 1350's.

There's a sale on Pinnacle S-FIT MON 450 bookshelf speakers at Dell.ca today: http://accessories.d...s1&sku=A4335773 At $150, they are $200 off list price. They are passive, so you'll need amplification and speaker cables. I can't find any published reviews of these specific speakers, but the Dell reviews are positive.

Thanks – I'll give it a try as soon as I get longer cables. Also, Looser101 and I discovered that the power amps pick up a hum from the AC jack due to the unshielded 47 Labs wire. The hum seems to disappear when the preamp is turned on, though. We'll experiment in the future with a longer run of 47 Labs cable (routing it away from the other components and power cables) and also with properly shielded interconnects. I'm going to get some wood blocks to get those power amps off the carpet, as well. They never seemed to get warm with the loads we were running through them. We listened to a variety of music: Alison Krauss & Union Station: Live Massive Attack: Mezzanine Alice in Chains: Dirt Jane Monheit: Taking a Chance on Love Dire Straits: Brothers in Arms Santana: Abraxas Roxy Music: Avalon Eagles: Hotel California Rebecca Pidgeon: The Raven Imelda May: Love Tattoo Chromeo: Fancy Footwork The New York Voices: Sing Sing Sing

Looser101 came over today to help me set up my speaker system. It's a random bunch of silver boxes strung together by copper wire and hooked up to budget speakers (translation: Arcam CD36 -> Arcam C31 -> Arcam P1 x 2 -> Acoustic Energy Aegis Two; interconnects: 47 Labs Stratos, speaker cable: Kimber Cable 4TC, power conditioning: PS Audio Duet): It sounds really good. Also, it turns out I'm going to need some longer cables. And a nice rack.

http://www.theabsolutesound.com/articles/oppo-announces-two-new-blu-ray-player-models/ (The Absolute Sound — they'll probably ask you to register on their new site)

Now I want a DSHA-1... at least to review. I'd also like to compare it to the Apex Hi-Fi Arête.

Still, I hope it sounds better than the 95, too. Not that I have anything against the 95's sound quality.

Thunderbolt?

I hope they're keeping HDCD playback.

I ended up getting 47 Labs Stratos wire and Eichmann Copper Bullet Plugs for single-ended interconnects. For speaker wire, I got short lengths of Kimber Kable 4TC.

I miss the Eggos (Sony MDR-D777SL Altus HD).

Reviews have to come from a reputable source to be taken seriously. The Best Book Reviews Money Can Buy: http://www.nytimes.c...l?smid=pl-share

Thanks, acid. I'll probably start with the cassette adapter – it seems to be the simplest and cheapest option, at $14.99.

I've never had a good feeling about the radio transmitter method. My dad got one and it was a pain in the ass. It feels pretty ridiculous to be looking for cassette head cleaner in the 21 century.

Thanks, guys. I'll check out Crutchfield. So far, it looks like a showdown between Alpine and Kenwood receivers. In the meantime, I've got a Sony cassette adapter in my Amazon shopping cart.

My "new" old car has a cassette player/AM/FM radio and I have no cassette recorder. Does anybody have recommendations for in-car CD players? A multi-CD unit is probably unnecessary for my needs, and the same with video. I don't think I'll need a new amplifier or speakers, but I'm also completely new to car audio in an audiophile sense. I've always stuck with the stock car setup to save money for my home listening. Should I just get a cassette adapter to connect my iPod shuffle/PCDP instead?

Thanks, Todd – I really missed this place!

Yup

I confused the + and - loudspeaker wires with the interconnect count. This is what happens when I Head-Case while I'm supposed to be working.