doctorcilantro

That's three Dean : ) Does anyone happen to live near Dean? I'd be happy to ship mine off for a looksee but I couldn't do that until mayebe June, definitely August. The only issues are taking off the front faceplate to get at the xovers (not too complicated) and the cost isn't known yet because he doesn't know exactly what amount of parts will go into them. JC

Wow, can I say it again. Congrats to you...ENJOY! I'll have to post the url for some of my ghetto linear tracker, so we can compare notes!!!!!LOL: www.catuccio.net/web/index The pics are spread out. I should make an analog pic gallery. MAX, hats off...that is just sick. All linears will fight until you work out the kinks (granted I have only had one, but it seems to valid generalization from what I have read) Jon

Prett much what I have gathered as well. I am considering the Neuros II but the Karma or the iaudio M3L are it for a simple player that fits in your pocket. Better sound & just as durable. DC

edited

I didn't reply to the post as I realized it WAS me. My wife said "It's on, it always sounded like that". You don't notice the hum unless your up close to the unit. Should it be totally silent? I didn't get any comments or direction on this when I posted originally, but I guess more poeple read it than I thought. DC

I put this on Audiogon if anyone's interested; selling the integrated and an extra 5 RCA 12AX7's. First 375 takes it, shipped. DC

I am picking up a pair of Quicksilver mini-mites and would like to get a new matched quad eventually. Can anyone give a rundown on the tubes I can use or reccomend one over another? It takes: EL34, KT90, KT88, KT77, KT66, 6550, or 6L6 JC

It's 400$. Make me an offer if it doesn't sell. JC

Still trying to raise cash for a new preamp, so I am selling a few things including a Grado PH1 phono stage and some Zaolla solid silver digital interconnects. http://search.ebay.com/_W0QQfgtpZ1QQfrppZ25QQsassZnommo3 thanks, DC

Dean, have you gotten any better idea on the internals of the RF-35 from Trey so we can get a fixed price for the RF-35 Xover upgrade. It would help me plan when it's going to happen if I can know the exact costs involved. thanks, DC

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=5750029163&ssPageName=STRK:MESE:IT You may recall the infamous S-5000 rescued by NOSvalves??? Jontahnan

I have a Grado PH1 that I purchased from Todd The Vinyl Junkie, an authorized Grado dealer. The unit is like new and I have the original box. I am trying to upgrade right now to a better pre; only reason for sale. I have positive feedback on Audiogon & Ebay. 450$ shipped in US thanks Jonathan

Have you considered trying Dean's upgrade for now? I am thinkng about just as soon as I get a new preamp. Any word on the RF-35 upgrade Dean? DC

good movies aside...anyone had any experience with a NAD C162 Specifications: Phono Inputs Input impedance (R and C) MM F500k ohms + 320pF MC 100 ohm + 1nF Input sensitivity MM 2.10mV MC MC 115microV Input overload at 20Hz/1kHz/20kHz MM 20mV / 230mV / 2V MC 1.3mV, 12mV, 110mV Signal/Noise ratio MM 80dB ref. 5mV (A weighted w/cartridge) MC 81dB ref. 0.5mV (5V rms at Tape out) MM/MC <0.03% RIAA response accuracy MM, MC ±0.4dB Line Level Inputs (CD, Video, Tuner, Tape1, Tape2, Aux) Input impedance (R and C) 500k ohms, 320pF Input sensitivity ref.0.5V 150mV Signal/Noise ratio, A weighted ref. 0.5V >100dB ref. 0.5V Frequency response, (-3dB 3Hz - 70kHz) ±0.2dB Voltage gain (Max Volume) 10.5dB THD . <0.01% Maximum i/p level 17V Line Level Outputs Output impedance Pre Out 75 ohms Tape Source Z + 1k ohms Headphones 100 ohms Maximum output level Pre Out 15V (IHF Load) Tape 15V (IHF Load) HeadPhones 190mV into 8 ohms Controls (Volume Setting @ 12:00 position) Treble ±5dB@ 10kHz Bass ±5dB@ 50Hz Physical Specifications Dimensions (WxHxD) 17 1/8 x 3 1/8 x 11 1/4 435 x 80 x 285mm Net Weight 10.6lbs 4.8kg Shipping Weight 13.2lbs 6.0kg

Active, passive, tube, or solid state. Are there any preamps, 1,000$ tops, that have these qualities. Essential: (4) line inputs & (1) MM phono stage (1) pair balanced ouputs (2) pairs of unbalanced outputs tubed So far I am looking at Sunfire Classic Preamps. thanks guys, Dr. C

bump ....

Well, I meant that the amp itself seems like it is buzzing. Transformers humming away a little louder than before, but maybe it's just me. JC

Hey folks, Considering a future upgrade from a Sherwood S-5000 integrated. Any recommendations on tube power amps that have XLR inputs. Price range is under 1,000$ but I'd like to stay under 750$ if possible. A min. of 40 watts should suffice for me. thanks, JC

The S-5000 is starting buzz/hum...from the unit itself. Transformers? I'd like to get a new amp at some point, maybe a modded St-70. happy holidays DC

When using the ADC of my pre-amp I am hearing RF static when my cd player is in stop mode. The cd player is a pretty nice Denon dual cd player. I only get this static from the right tray using the digital out into the pre-amp's digital in, which I understand as using the pre-amp's ADC. The left tray and right tray pop upon pushing Play, before the music. Both players have digital noise (a light popping) when paused during playback. I have tried different cables and both an analog & digital output to the amp. If I connect this cd player directly to the amp with the digital connection, I get no problems whatsoever. Ican crank the amp and hear no noise on pause, no static on stop, no clicks, nothing. The amp Iused was a new sony SS amp; STRK502. What's strange is how the right tray of the cd player has that static on every digital input of the pre-amp but not an the amp; the right tray is a cd recorder/player. The cd recorder won't "see" any brand of audio cdr I try, which besides frustrating, led me to believe all the problems were in the cd player. Now that I have tested on this other amp, I think I should send the pre-amp back first; it's also the item under warranty. thoughts..? DC

Max, I meant to say more on the idea that there is maybe some similarity to listening to mono and mp3. Not literally but the idea of something missing may sound like something better, more refined, or focused. It is very interesting though, your report, since MP3 converts the data into a lossless audio codec whereas the lossless codecs are compressed copies of the original audio. I have quite a few cd's that aren't produced so well, nor mastered very efficiently, that I have ripped to my PC to my archive. If you were to apply noise reduction you would hear a major major difference; everything becomes quieter, refined, and more focused, and you wouldn't neccessarily complain about it. But when switiching between having the reduction on/off, it just feels like something is missing, like the ambience has been sucked out of the recording; although I truly doubt someone hearing the remaster would say "There's no ambience". It's there, just not as much as the original. It's a fine line between preservation and optimization when archiving these old LP's. LP's seem to be easier, get rid of the massive clicks and have a little crackle if it's there. Tapes that have some hiss and hum seem to respond well to noise reduction, maybe your getting a blacker background with the MP3. I don't understand what actually gets taken out, but I thought it was what the algorithm deems unimportant so maybe what's getting removed is causing that "refining & focusing" effect. DC

Yes, thanks for asking, I sent it to a good kink ironing specialist in Michigan! It's hooked up to the PC and sounding nice. I have been eyeing tube power amps lately, and eventually will sell it with a matching tuner. Some pics http://www.catuccio.net/web/audiogear.html Florida bound nest week with a truck full of stereo eqp. I couldn't bear to ship it with the movers....better drive careful. DC

When I put on my tube tuner I am always amazed at how warm and clear the sound is....it's also a mono signal going to the amp. I'd ascribe your experience to that idea mentioned, that your simply enjoying the sound of the mp3's. Sometimes when I apply noise reduction to a wav file on the computer, all the hiss and analog tape hum disappears and the music still sounds fine, in fact it sounds really great. But when I mute the noise reduction I notice, along with the artifacts, the top end sparkle and nuance returns. With headphones sometimes that analog chatter is really apparent whereas on the loudspeakers it just seems to blend in a kind of soncially healthy way. Once I get to my new apt. I'll have to try some testing with various formats. Right now I am using FLAC and MAC (.ape). PS Max you must type fast, I wouldn't have the patience to type these massive posts; it's impressive. DC

http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=23355 This site is a great source for audio codec information. I found someone on th eweb discussing the Pro Mp3 codec in Windows Media Player and a tool to let any encoder use that codec, but this is from the link above, "Last: still no hardware device for WMApro (though its not a reason to exclude an audio format from a test including MPC, its a disappointing situation". The drive you use to rip your audio can affect the process; some won't use anything less than a Plextor etc. so programs like EAC incorporate analysing tools and settings that help ensure the most Secure rip as possible for whatever drive you may use. So the software, drive, and codec are all involved in the process. You can rip with all kinds of tools, WMP, Feurio! EAC, Nero, Sonic, CDex, J. River MC, etc. but the codec you decide upon is up to you and some programs don't neccesarily support every codec that's been developed. I'm sure your rips are okay, but when you embark on archiving up to 250gb's of music whether or not it is going to be in a lossy conversion scheme like mp3/ogg or a lossless compression scheme like FLAC/MAC you want that stability. So, you could look around and decide on the best format and maybe do a little better, but I'd say finding a stable and secure ripper is even more important. I think the Ipod supports FLAC & Ogg Vorbis schemes now, not sure. Or maybe that's the Nomad player. Again, I can't speak highly enough about J. River Media Center. I used to be a Winamp guy big time, the surreal functionality of MC is really great; if your archiving or storing a large amount of audio, it's a godsend. It's so tweakable you can get lost trying to find the perfect setup; my only complaint but more of a catch-22 actually. enjoy the music JC ps MAc's rock (wish I could afford one right now)

Good call on the 2496..those are great cards, and you get midi I/O. You'll run into a few problems eventually with CDDB, as with FreeDB, and the new YADB; people using lowercase, small errors, or reversed naming schemes, but it sure beats typing everything in. EAC, is commonly know as the best ripper and has been for years. I have read of CDex tests that didn't result so well (I don't even think it has secure mode rips). same goes for WMA. WMA is not a secure ripper IIRC; chances are that's whay your ripping so fast. Once you rip that disc with a couple errors, scratches, or just have some excess jitter your going to have problems with your data. EAC and J. River Media Center (among others) rip in Secure mode which usually tops out around 10x, depending on your drive though, YMMV. Honestly, if you like WMP you will absolutely love Media Center. It supports more codecs and does a better job, and has more settings. I should take some screenshots and post them with comments, that's how happy I am with this software. It also correctly supports .ape files (MAC lossless compression scheme), you can burn DSP effects to disk (fades,etc.), stores album covers, plays movies, etc. etc. Another good player that is light on resources is Foobar2000. Glad to see you so excited about this, I backup my cd's and archive LP's & 45's of on genre and it's a lot of fun, and a lot of work. I don't share it on the web so I feel purdy legal. my .02 DC