postjack

Good Morning Team! So I've decided 2009 is the year of new speaker amplification. I have no intentions of upgrading my vinyl rig until the distant future, and I'm done with digital sources indefinitely. My speakers are Quad 22Ls, and my current amp is the Cambridge Audio 840A integrated. When I was posting of my out of control bass woes over at Audio Asylum, at least one guy who I've exchanged emails with before said the 840A might be the problem, and that I should look to other amps. Well I don't have bass problems anymore since I moved the speakers into a new room, but I certainly could appreciate some greater control and heft in the bottom end. My issue here is that I have no experience with anything amplifying my speakers other then the 840A, and I want to hear about your experiences with different speaker amplification with your speakers. In other words, the classic "how much of a difference does it make" question. Now when it comes to headphones, I have been through quite a number of headphone amps, and found them to make a good bit of difference, mainly with the HD650, and mainly in the bass region. But what should I expect from changing amps with speakers? Then there is the question of what amp, and basically I have two current options: the Quad 909/99 Pre combo, or the D-Sonic Stereo power and some undetermined inexpensive pre (maybe the 99). The attraction of the 909/99 is that I would have a complete Quad system, which would be neat as hell, and I like that the 99 has an MM/MC phono and interesting tone controls. Really going "all Quad" is something I've always wanted to do, so I'm strongly drawn towards this option. The downside is that the power is only about 20 more watts then I'm currently getting with the 840A, but it is a different design and I understand watts aren't everything. Having said that, the D-Sonics put out a shit ton of power, 500 watts into 8ohms, and this is their attraction. Basically, they are upgrade proof, and I have yet to hear a truly negative thing about them from reviewers, while sometimes the 909 gets panned for doing the midrange very well while neglecting the frequency extremes. Price wise, the 99/909 is a very good deal, with prices ranging from $1300-1600. Underwood Hi-Fi can even do them brand new for just under $2000. The D-Sonics are also an amazing value at $1575 new with a three year warranty, but then I'd have to snag a pre on top of that, so it would come out a bit more expensive. I'm not planning on making a purchase soon, just sometime in 2009. Looking for any opinions or feelings about the above amps and speaker amplification in general.

yeah you can totally put your weed in there.

Susan Tedeschi - Just Won't Burn

The GS1000 had additive synergy with open mic, AUD type live concert recordings, due to such recordings naturally being rolled off up top and bass heavy down on the bottom. The drums really sounded like live drums. That and well-mastered electronic music with a lot of low end heft. But it was so good with these types of music that I kept mine for some time. Actually it was also good for some low volume jazz and classical.

personally, I love a fancy box with my phones.

but AJFA rocks so hard!

really? i quite liked Load. i mean Load and Black Album are crushing disappointments compared to AJFA, but still I liked them. To me DM is the natural sequel to AJFA.

my man. need to throw some Death Magnetic in there as well. Just listen at low volumes. Derek Trucks Band - Soul Serenade

the stock cable looks pretty nice though. oxygen free copper, tickles my audiophile bone.

Jay, I'm loving your vinyl rig. I bet it sounds marvelous.

More commonly known as just "a level". its the little plastic bar with the little plastic tube in it with the bubble in the little plastic tube. You set it on a surface and if the bubble lines up inbetween the lines in the tube, the surface is level. It is very important that a turntable is level. Any polylined record sleeve is fine. Straight paper record sleeves have the potential to scuff up a record. Oftentimes more audiophile type releases come with polylined record sleeves, these I don't replace. For a long time now I've been cleaning brand spanking new records before I play them, something about manufacturing oil getting on the cartridge. But the other night I was like fuck it, I am tired of cleaning new records. But a cleaning machine does make a big difference on dirty records. I saved a bunch of classical LPs from Goodwill this past weekend for $1.19 each. They were dusty as hell, but after a dry brush and a good scrubbing and deep clean, they are VG+.

they sound great.

trust me he loved saw III. In his exact words, he thought Saw I was awesome, Saw II was kind of like they didn't know what they were doing with a big budget, and the guy who played the lead cop (a wahlberg I think? say hey to your mother for me) was really bad, but by the time Saw III came around they knew what they were doing, and it was the bomb movie.

dan dan dan!

reks reks reks!

interesting, thanks.

Quad Hifi - Home

plane tickets: flying into newport news, va on March 6th, flying to atlanta, ga on march 7th.

i have found this to be true as well.

Derek Trucks Band tickets, house of blues new orleans, feb. 22nd.

nate nate nate!

Not sure on the release date for the Bill Evans box, but I'm pretty sure its a done deal. The DM Box pretty much sounds like shit, but I think they did a nice job with Hetfield's vocals. I just bought it because I really really like the album, and wanted to own the set since I own all the other Metallica original studio releases on vinyl, except St. Anger, which I pretend didn't happen.

gorgonzola and portabella hamburgers mushrooms red onion romaine fresh market mineral water all for a delicious dinner last night. we did pretty good for a Fresh Market trip.

it made it a little easier. box has been ordered. don't know if you are aware but they are doing a Bill Evans one as well. I'm definitely getting that one too. In other purchases, I just got in the Death Magnetic 5x45RPM vinyl box.