Having inherited a free Allied 395 that I upgraded the power supply and speaker coupling caps. I was shocked how good this amp sounded after the speaker Silmic II coupling caps rivaled my upgraded tube amp. Original speaker coupling caps had a tiny soundstage- go figure. Never heard SS sound like this. Anyways, now replacing all small caps and using audio grade in the coupling capacitor positions that will make the Allied 395 worthy. If the original 2SC458 transistors become noisy, I will replace with 2SC2240 per recommendation on the internet. Stating that, I just bought Ascend CMB-170 speakers. This is a secondary system and my 'outdoor party amp' as the 50 watts is enough to fill the backyard vs my 12 watts from my tube amp.
I have to start over. After years of upgrading and getting a bunch of nice gear set up we are planning to move overseas to a 230 volt area. While it is possible to use step down converters I don't really like the idea. Just more boxes. Could they could introduce corruption? Also there is the chance that someone plugs something in directly and fries it. I always expected to keep my Soneteer Orton amp forever but that would be a bunch of separate boxes. Step down power converter, amp, headphone amp, DAC and cdt. I love it but...Buying a new one in 230 would be tempting, but then that is a big bunch of pieces. Because the new house is so much smaller than my old house here I am shopping for systems that have amp/dac, headphone amp in one unit. I have never owned that, so it is a lot of research. Looking at many possibilities but she short list is: ****t Ragnorak fully loaded, Hegel, maybe H95 to H120. Auralic Polaris integrated amp/dac/streamer in one. I don't say "all in one" because I will use a separate cdt. No headphone out on the Polaris amp so probably a Schitt headphone along with it. I want an amp with a remote and a built in headphone amp. For the little bedroom set I may go for a PS Audio Sprout 100. The longer list of possibilities has many obvious amp/dac contenders, Bel Canto, Cyrus, Rotel, Quad, Audiolab, Wired for Sound, etc... Hopefully the shipping cost is not prohibitive to send my Rogers LS3/5a and my beloved PenAudio Cenya. I am not really shopping speakers.
Not replacing the Croft. Just for fun. I’ll probably sell it eventually. The Croft continues to amaze!
I’m waiting for the new Schiit transport to come out so I can spin cds again. That and I’m waiting for the release of a new affordable dac for my headphone system. I’m not mentioning the brand because it will probably be hard to get at first and I don’t want you gear addicts to muck up the queue.
Surely you'd prefer the CD player in a new Chevy Silverado or Blazer Mahk? The Chevy car company has won JD Power Dependability Awards for cars, trucks & SUVs, but I expect you know that.
J.D. Power is meaningless and can be bought. A 2002 or before Silverado is a good truck and reliable. If it is V8 and rear wheel drive, Chevy makes good ones. If optioned right. MallBlazers and many of the cars are nowhere near as good. You can't generalize. I'd rather drive a 2002 Saturn L series (with a 2.2 Ecotec) than any Chevy Sedan from the same era (unless it has a 3800 Series II engine in it and proper automatic transmission), but I prefer a LeSabre or Bonneville to the Impala. No new Chevy offerings which appeal to me, save for a City Express. I'd much rather own a nice used Sienna. And yes, I do need the van.
I just purchased a BlueNode 2i. I moved into a new home shortly before the pandemic really kicked off. The new home has a pool in the backyard. Last summer I used a simple bluetooth speaker in the back for music. Decided I wanted to finally get something better. So I purchased some dedicated outdoor speakers and ran them to the my main stereo. In my old house, I rigged up a digital set up for steaming with an old apple tv. I never reconnected that when I moved into the new home so I didn't really have a way to stream digital music. Playing records while in the pool doesn't seem like the most efficient use of time lol. So I got the BlueNode as a cheaper/easy way to stream. I have a Chord Mojo so I'm going to try the BlueNode internal DAC and then try it with the Mojo to see how that sounds. I may look to upgrade to a Chord Qutest at some point though. I'm also contemplating an upgrade to my Preamp or possibly purchasing a separate phono pre. Current set up - Salk HT3s / Rogue Perseus Magnum / AVA 600r / VPI Prime w/ Ortofon Black. If anyone has any suggestions for upgrades to the Pre/Phono I'd be open to suggestions.
I WAS going to get a pair of Class D mono's, KJF Audio, Nord or PS M700... But had to get a new sub, a Rel S/812, which should be here this week
I just received the news that tomorrow I should be receiving a tracking number for the Bob Carver mono blocks I ordered back in early March. They have been getting final testing over the last several days and are about to ship. I'm looking forward to hearing what a pair of tube-based amps can bring to my system. This will be a first. I've owned hybrid tube/transistor equipment before--a Musical Fidelity Tri-Vista integrated and Tri-Vista SACD player. But a full-on tube component has never crossed my threshold. Needless to say my audiophile self is getting exciting.
Having said a couple of weeks back that I would be getting either some JBL L82s or Spendor 3/1s I've actually just paid up for a pair of the KLH Model 5's. Should arrive in June...
Serious Racks rimu equipment stand finally custom made and delivered. Hard to capture the beauty of rimu wood but I guess it's like a very nice cherry. Bonded and tension bolted, top and bottom, for long-term rigidity and performance. Might invest in some non-destructive footers.
been pondering a CD player upgrade or DAC and use current player as transport as the final piece of my system. leaning to a japan model used luxman cd player after considering the options. supposedly sound excellent and rock solid transports for possible DAC in the future if needed....
And aside from these, which have high WAF at our place and which we hope to have soon, I'm all hot and bothered for a Marantz SA-10 (left below) to accompany our PM-10.
Great thread. If I'd seen this when it began (December 2020) I wouldn't have known whether to laugh or cry and would have likely ignored it since, given the way things had panned out for me (and many others), life was mostly about keeping my head above water and new gear/ changes to the HiFi system would have seemed like a long way off. Luckily, things have taken a turn for the better over the past couple of months and I've actually been back in the game. A month ago I bought an iFi NEO iDSD for a bedroom rig. Unfortunately, as nice as it was as a piece of kit, it had a few usability issues that were something of a show-stopper so it went back after a week or so. I did consider opting for a Matrix Audio Mini-i Pro 3 but subsequently have decided to hold off, in large part because I'm now swapping out my integrated amplifier for a Pre/Power. I'm not sure how this has happened (!) but given I've only ever owned integrated amps, it's something I'm looking forward to! I still want a little DAC/Headphone amp to use with my Squeezebox Touch in the bedroom but in view of the outlay for the above, I think I'll go for something more modest than the aforementioned units and go for a Loxjie D30. If they are ever available to buy again...
I honestly thought I was done, but I want to get a new sub - specifically, one that accepts speaker-level inputs. I have one like that, and I found I liked the sound better than when it was fed line-level from the preamp. I’d like to have that set up on my secondary system, too.
Everything. Been without a rig for two years now due to various reasons (mainly Covid), but no more. Starting from scratch and will have the best system (if not a near end-game one) that I've ever had by Autumn. It's been too long.
Ordered the Esoteric Grandioso K1x last week expected in 3 months and later on I will order the external power supply.
Originally had fitted ortofon mc25e so it's a fairly big jump. Seller said it was retipped 200hrs ago by len Gregory cartridge man a few years ago. When inspecting it , it looks very new. Cantilever etc are immaculate. Haven't had a chance to listen to it too much but first impressions are no harshness, a lot more detail and overall a lovely listening experience. And hardly any clicks and pops
