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I only use my Denon 4800 A/V receiver for movies and my Luxman preamp and a Cayin tube amp for 2 channel music. For SACD or DVD audio I have the left and right channels going through my Luxman with the center and rears going through my Denon. The Luxman does not have a digital input only analog. I fell the NAD sounds good enough for what I want so don't see any reason to buy a DAC. I've compared my NAD to a stock Jolida cd player and the Jolida was a little better in bass and mids but it was too laid back on the highs. So I did not buy the Jolida since I would have to sell my NAD and end up paying over $400 more for a player that did not sound that much better. With better tubes in the Jolida it would have brought up the highs but I still would not buy it cause TO ME the Jolida player did not sound like it was worth $400 more. Again this is how it sounded to me on my system with my cds. If I took my NAD with me to someone else's system the Jolida might sound much better. My DVD player is based on technology from 3 years ago so to me my CD player does a better job of playing cds. If you buy a DVD player today the technology has made it very difficult if at all to hear better quality sound from a CD player. If anyone feels their DVD player does not play cds very good then they should look into a better DVD player or a CD player. Does a CD player sound better than a DVD player for CD playback? That is something that only you can answer. Yes my CD player sounds better than my DVD player with CDS in my system. I may change my mind when I replace my DVD player in a year or two. Xman

Remember everyone hears the way music is reproduced differently. To me the Denon 2900 DVD player is a very good player for cds but it has small differences that I can hear and prefer the overall sound of the NAD. When I compare good SACDs on the Denon to a good CD on the NAD the Denono has a better overall sound. It's a personal choice or maybe I should say it's a persons ears choice. Soon you will not be able to hear any difference between the two players and only CD players worth very high dollars will be around. Xman

I was planning on trying what Klipsch RF7 does using a tube preamp with my SM 70 pros and compare the 70s to my tube amp and see which sound I like better. But Fedex decided to deliver the Ground Grid tube preamp damaged so now I have to go through the claim dept and try and get the whole mess cleared up. It's hard to tell if the package got bounced around so much it loosened over half of all the screws or someone was trying to steal the circuit boards and had to through it back together quickly so they would not get caught. It looks like it needs a simple soldering job for a loose wire but until I find out what Fedex wants to do with the claim I have to leave it alone. Klipsch RF7 what tube amp or amps did you try? I would like to try your Monarchy amps also. Xman

Where do you live? Xman

I have a Denon 2900 DVD player and a NAD C542 CD player and for 2 channel music I prefer the NAD C542. The C542 sounds more detailed, and just overall sounds better. The 2900 does a good job on CDs but it sounds too laid back for my taste. The 2900 sounds better than the C542 when I play a very good SACD disc or DVD audio disc. Also depends on how much money you have to spend, does it have to be used or new? I highly recommend a NAD C542 but it does not have many features but sounds great! The Jolida has a excellent player that I compared to my NAD C52. If I did not already own the C542 I might have bought the Jolida player. However it is $400 more and I would have had to spend more money to get some better tubes. So I think the C542 for someone who has $400-550 depending on where you get is a excellent value. IF you can spend $1000 or more then get the Jolida with better tubes. There is also another cd player that many people on the forum have something like the Ahtjoeb but not sure about the spelling. I think it is around the same price as the C542 but you can also get a upgraded version for more. Find dealers that carry whatever cd players you want to demo and arrage for you to take home and listen to it in your system. I did this with both the C540 and the Jolida cd players. You leave a deposit and pick it up just before they close say on Sat and then bring it back in a day or two. If they are not willing to do this then tell them you will take your business elsewhere. If they want to make the sell they will do it. Denon has the 2910, 3910, 5910 out now and I would love to try it but putting my money into other areas of the system. Good luck with it!! Xman

Just got a Transcendent Sound Ground Grid tube preamp out of the box. I'm going to try it with my 2 SM 70 pros and see how they sound. Right now I have 3 amps to choose from: 2 Monarachy Audio SM 70 pros monoblocks, a Cayin TA 30 tube int amp, and a Luxman L505f int amp. This is the first tube preamp I've had and it will be interesting how they all sound. If anyone is intersted in my 2 SM 70 pros just send me a email. Xman

I have a Luxman system selector but not for speakers. I run my left and right channels from my Luxman preamp and my Denon A/V reciever into the selector and then run the out to my Cayin tube amp. I can hook up four preamps to it. It does have a ground connector on the back should I run a wire from it and where would be the best place to run the wire to? Craig I'm going to send a email about the caps. Xman

Thebes if you like excellent recording of music from around the world go to www.putumayo.com Find these albums and listen to my suggestion samples. 1.A Mediterranean Odyssey-track 1-Desesperao 2.Putumayo World Music 2004 Summer Sampler track 5-Le Tshephile Mang-which is of Women of Africa also 3.Putumayo Groove Sampler-track 9- Astahel 4.Women of Latin America-TRacks 1-4,6,7,11 These songs and the cds sound fantatstic on my system!! The cds I get from Putumayo are the best sounding cds I own. Barnes and noble bookstore's music section usually carries a large selection of Putumayo cds and you can listen to sample from every cd they sell. If you told me three years ago that in the future 1/3 of the all the cds I would listen to I could not understand the words I would tell you you're crazy. But as I'm typing this I'm listening to "Women of Latin AMerica and cannot understand a word and it sounds great! Try it Thebes you'll like it! Xman

"PWK preferred it a center between Khorns." or maybe he prefered the La Scalas but had to put the Belle there after naming it after the wife! Plus the Belle is a gorgeous speaker and matches the KHorn better in apperance. I've never heard them so cannot compare to the La Scalas. I have a pair of 2004 La Scalas and love them! But my small living room makes it hard to get the best sound out of them so KHorns would be even harder. When I made 6 1/2 inch riser it raised the bass bin up so it was level with my chest and horns at ear level. This helped the bass blend better with the horns and the bass bin was firing at my chest instead of my legs. It did not give me bass down to 32hz but I don't listen to anyting with bass going that low. I have a RSW 12 sub and don't like it with my La Scalas. It does not blend with the music just sounds boomy even if I put it between 60-80hz but for movies sounds great. KHorns, La Scalas, Belles, Cornwall, Fortes, Heresies, Reference, KLF 30,20,10s, and all the other speakers and subs that KLipsch has made or is making gives us a wide variety of horn loaded speakers to choose from and find the ones that match us the best. A Forum member sold their KHorns for 4 RF-7s, some prefer the Cornwalls, etc. I went to a forum members house and listened to his KHorns and they sounded great!! They just filled up the room with the sound. Came home listened to my La Scalas and the sound filled the room but not to the extent of the KHorns but my La Scalas did not sound overly bright or harsh. In fact my LS sounded more detailed than the KHorns to me but to other people they would sound bright or harsh everyones different. If everyone had all the money,perfect room, equipment, etc then KHorns would make up very big percentage of Klipsch speakers sold. So Read all the posts, go hear whatever speaker you are interested in, buy them, don't like them sell and try again. That is half the fun and half the insanity!! I also think anyone expressing their opinions in a way that is insulting, degrading, and not respecting other peoples opinions would please stop. If you do not like equipment someone is using, music, speakers or opinions of someone else then simply state why you do not like it or disagree with them and stop there. I was not PO about any statements but I was slightly anoiyed by some. Xman

Robster it is very nice of you offer this deal to forum members!! I would go ahead and post on the Klipsch forum that the Scott will be put on Audiogon on a certain date. If no one on the forum right now has the money then Audiogon will have a much larger audience than the Klipsch forum does. Good luck with the sale. Xman

Thanks for the laugh! Xman

I built risers for mine that raised them another 6 1/h inches and realy improved the sound. Used two by fours and plywood. Xman

you'll love em I own a pair of 2004 La Scalas! I don't think most people who own or have heard La Scalas or Khorns or Belles realize just how much clean, clear, musical sound they can put out!! My best friend use to dj at parties with a pair of La Scalas with a Luxman preamp and a 100 watt Hafler amp and turntables that sounded freaking incredible!! One party was in a big high school gym and I climbed to the top of the bleachers across from the speakers and I could not talk to the person next to me. La Scalas speakers outside sound OUTstanding!! I'm sure other forum members have had similar experences like mine. If you ever want to rock a party take your La Scalas with you but the party better not be near any neighbors cause they will call the cops about the noise or come and join the party. Xman

I also finaly figured out how to use Nero for making a exact copy of a origanal cd and how to save a cd to the harddrive and then reburn it on a disc. So I also did 2 test using Nero. 1. Using a Philips CD-R 700mb 16x and recording at 8x I made a exact copy of the songs I used for my cassette test. I then would put in the copy and listen and then put in the original cd. I wish I had two of my cd players so I could put the copy in one player and the origanal in the other palyer and start them both at the same time and switch back and for to listen for any quality diffrences. But if there were any sound diferences then they were very small. I cannot say if I would be able to pick the original if I did not know which disc was playing. 2. I also saved the songs to my hard drive using Nero. I then recorded the Nero file to a cd. In this case I could hear a very small difference but without a second player I could not compare it to the orginal to be certain. I already knew before I started this test that a good quality burnt CD using the right software would sound better than a CD recorded onto a very good quality Nakamichi cassette deck. I was not trying to prove that cassette was better. THAT WAS NOT THE REASON I DID THIS TEST. I wanted to find out mainly how to make better burnt cds and with everyones help I know how to do that now. Thanks for all the help I appreciate it!! For everyone who says CDs sound quality is a huge improvement over the cassettes from a music store I agree totaly!! Now for everyone who says that a original cd sounds better than when it is recorded onto tape you are correct. But with my Nakamichi cassette deck THE DIFFERENCE IS NOT THAT HUGE. If I had some really good cassettes and had to record all my CDs onto cassette tapes I could live with the sound quality they would produce using my Nakamichi. REMEMBER THIS IS WHAT I HEARD ON MY STEREO WITH MY MUSIC. One thing I think that cassette tapes could help a bad recorded cd is with the Dolby noise reduction. Any cd that is bright,harsh, etc could benifit from the Dolby noise reduction on the cassette deck. Xman

Okay finally did the test! Got my Nakamichi cassette deck cleaned up and set up and did some recording from my NAD C542 cd player straight to the Nakamichi. I recorded some songs in two different ways on the Nakamichi using TDK superior high bias 110min tapes. First the music I used was from my best sounding cds. Of all my cds I have bought the BEST sounding ones are from a recording studio called Putumayo which records musicians from around the world. The quality of these recordings is outstanding!! Anyone who enjoys music from around the world who is into the quality of the recording try them: www.putumayo.com. Anyone interested in trying some send me a email and I will recomend some cds but remember most of the vocals are not in English. 1. I did not use any Dolby noise reduction and made a recording. There were good and bad things about the recording. First people who say that tape cannot sound as dynamic as a cd never had a Nakamichi because when I compared the cd to the tape the tape was damn close to the cd. The tape was the cds equal in every aspect except one important aspect too much HISS. Again I did not use any Dolby noise reduction so the hiss at loud levels was very noticable. But in every other musical aspect that everyone says CDs are better than tape I do not agree. For ease of use the CD big winner over tape. 2. I then did the same recording with Dolby C noise reduction and the hiss was gone but compared to the recording without any noise reduction it sounded more laidback and did not sound as good as a original cd at low to moderate sound levels but still sounded good. It sounded very good at higher volume levels but not as good as a original CD. The tape compared to cds recorded on my computer using Window media was much better. continued below. Xman

Has anyone heard recordings from BB King and the other great Blues artist when they were very young and how young were they? Xman

I think I can handle that! Thanks I'll send a email once the operation is done and the patient is singing. Xman

Just did the 2 rugs behind my couch and it did help. Have to go to work but when I get back I'll post a pic. Xman

JPM find the SACD 'In Sessions' w/ Albert King and SRV' and look on the back to see if it will play in a regular cd player. Some SACDs will play in a regular player so maybe this one will. Xman

I've really enjoyed my La SCalas and you have some great gear to go with them, enjoy!! Xman

Okay next question is how are the caps attached in the Cayin and how do I take out the old ones? Xman

Dang VRDs and now a Blueberry you are moving up in the world!! Enjoy all your toys when you get it all together, the usual pics and posts. Xman

Robster thanks again for mailing me the caps!!! Hey which Blueberry did you get? With or without cream. The $795 is a great deall!! I don't think I will have too much trouble with the caps. I'm going to buy the soldering kit tomorrow and get some practice in this weekend and put em in next week. Then get some KT 88 or KT 90s and do some more rolling. Thanks for any tube suggestions and after I get the caps in and let burn in a couple of weeks I'll let you know which tubes I like best in my system. Craig and Robster if your ever in Austin and need a place to stay or just want to come by and play with my stereo system just let me know.!! Xman

Have a DEll 20 inch and love it!! If I had the money I would get the 24 inch. Xman

Saw some caps at Radio Shack. Tiny little suckers can not believe they can change the sound but if you say they will help I will give em a try. Xman