AnalogWave

Odd, my experience has been different. I too like the sound in my pCAT amps, though I'm currently running a quad of Penta KT88s. I'd have to look at a log to see how many hours I have on mine but they were easily installed for a year with no issues. I got two quads years ago from Music123.com on a very good sale, wanna say $170ish per quad. I ordered them "Soft", which I guess matches their distortion characteristics to break up gently as you push them harder. Pretty sure someone told me they last longer too vs, the "Medium" or "Hard" designations.

So looking at the filters in Adblock Plus is mind-numbing to say the least. Turns out in the more recent versions of Adblock Plus it places a little red stop sign icon in the Navigation Toolbar (top-right corner of the tab or page). I've never had to use it before (whitelist a sight), so I forgot the bugger was there. Simply click on it and there is an option to disable all filtering for the site you're currently viewing. Neat.

Here is a relevant thread. There are some important links to other threads near the top of the first page. Typical situation really - all are happy up until there is a failure. Matter of time? Who's to say, as you note there were a number of differences between models over the years and I'm not smart enough to know their flaws if any. But it would seem to me if a cap failed in a non DC coupled amp, no biggie... that's when you box it and lick a bunch of stamps. Certain Adcom amps though would seem to me to benefit from some preventative, qualified maintenance to keep them running happy for the long haul. I personally am the original owner of a 535 I'm quite fond of but it mostly sits. Those times I've used it in recent years I push the power button with just the hint of a wince.

Well that settles that. Thank you sir.

OK... even though I'm currently using a Macintosh, I imagine what I've discovered would apply to any platform as long as Firefox is the browser in use. In the "Help" menu of FF is the option to restart the program in "Safe Mode", which has the effect of disabling all the Add-ons the user has installed. With this done, I was able to see and experience the full functionality of the Stereolist.com site. I sent a list of my installed Add-ons to their Support but I'll eventually get around to figuring out which of them (most likely one of the Ad Blockers) is causing the problem. Badazz little site. Who wants to loan me 10k to further my Audio Education?

I'm no expert but aren't Adcom amps "direct-coupled"? As such, when they fail, it's my understanding they dump DC to the speakers and execute them.

Got an almost immediate reply from Support. The guy is traveling so only had a brief suggestion which didn't resolve my issues but he plans to investigate further once in front of a computer. When I've more time I'll refire the Fox w/o Add-ons to see what that does. Also got a windows box lying around somewhere I can try IE on. Gotta' go play outside now though []

Sent an E-Mail to their Support Squad - I'll report back with deets when I get them.

I hadn't gone looking for alternatives to Audiogon just yet but read of Stereolist.com on this forum, so I created an account (#832) there last night. First, it's important to note that they have a "Feedback Verification Form" which allows you to import your feedback from the following: 1) eBay 2) Audiogon 3) Polk Forum 4) Head Fi. Very cool. It looks like they went live 10/27/2010, so they haven't exactly been growing fast but I'm sure they're getting a nice boost in membership since the Jan 7/8 meltdown at Audiogon. That is likely to continue, especially considering their pricing model: Basic Listings FREE …5-day basic Stereolisting FREE – any legally published recording or Wanted ad $1.00 …31-day basic Stereolisting (bumped to top every 10 days) $+3.00 Featured Stereolisting (shown in Featured Sidebar on Search pages, Category pages (respective), and all individual Stereolisting pages) Premium Listings $10.00 Featured Stereolisting 60-day* (contact us – not yet available in your Dashboard) $30.00 Featured Stereopick 30-day (currently $25)* (contact us – not yet available in your Dashboard) *will bump to top automatically each week and one day before expiration. There are no “final value fees”. Stereolist.com will never demand commissions based on your components’ sale price. The site is easy enough to navigate and is pretty clean in my opinion BUT... I am experiencing difficulty actually seeing ads (!) I thought at first it was because I wasn't a member but even when I'm logged in and go to the home page of listings, all I see is grey boxes with no text (I assume there should be text in them) that I can't click on. There are other photo banner ads I can click on to see items for sale but that's all that works for me. I use Firefox as my primary browser but also tried Safari to same effect. Shut down my software Firewall thinking that may be killing some funtionality but no love. I haven't yet torn in the preferences of either browser but it's strange that whatever my settings are now work with every other site I visit. Ideers anybody?...

I think people's concerns also lie in the distinct possiblity that the site may not survive or degrade to such a level that it would effectively wipe out all their hard earned history as a reputable member. Starting from scratch is a blow to the twig and berries. I've watched eBay worsen over the years but I'm not the type to spend large sums of money on that site, so my exposure as a buyer was always minimal. It bothers me much more to see Craigslist on a gentle spiral downward. Audiogon however... well, it's nothin' for many thousands of dollars to exchange over a single item. You wanna' be damn certain the person you're dealing with is reputable.

So I bought something on Audiogon today from a well regarded seller. During our conversation the "new" Audiogon came up and, for the moment at least, while he's not a fan of the changes, he still feels it's better than eBay when it comes to the ratio of qualified buyers vs. scammers. We talked about eBay buying PayPal and the resultant rogering on both sides of the transaction. Then... in a matter-of-fact voice... he stated how it was unfortunate that Stereophile bought Audiogon and how he hoped the site somehow got back on course. I was too taken aback by the statement to question it, but again, the confidence in his voice was at DEFCON 2. It was my impression that it had been in the works for some time but was not widely known. I've not read about the subject extensively elsewhere - has anybody else heard of this merger?

I’ll preface this by stating if everyone in this country had my attitude toward “Professional” sports, all the athletes would need 9-5 jobs to make ends meet. The Super Bowl is the only football game I’m likely to watch all year. I caught the majority of this one, mostly because someone at work got cocky and threw down a challenge with some serious backstory that the Pats would win. So I took the Midgets. Tuned in for the toss only to watch one player reach across the line to shake an opposing player’s hand and get nothing back in return but a cold stare. Nice. If I was his coach I’d a put him in a pink tutu and busted him to Water Boy. Come half time I couldn’t change the channel fast enough. Never cared for the music or her as a person. The only half time show I can recall (I was captive at the Boss’s house) was put on by Prince, and while I’m a small fan of the little guy I do respect his big talent – and he tore it up. My honest opinion though: can the fluff, cut the ticket prices in half, shut up and play football. Postscript: “Victory was mine!”

Just gonna' put this out there - you may wanna' look into a 12-step program.

To be fair... it LOOKS nice®... but functions like a turd. I read some notes from the proprietors and they are thankfully compiling a list of requests and working on them. Thing that chafes my posterior is that they flipped the switch on a site with LESS functionality than the original (!) That's like Ford bringing back hand-crank windows and drum brakes. Stoopid.

My last order arrived this week and included Phil's "No Jacket Required" on Gold CD and PF's "Wish You Were Here" on SACD. I too prefer the physical media and rip everything but the SACDs to a music server.

Looking back at my post, I did a rather poor job of structuring it, as it was apparent on the first page of the thread (as far as I got) that the suit was unfounded. I am now, however, surprised at all the nasties that inhabit tubes – I’ve never read of this anywhere. Is there a proper way to recycle tubes like there is for car batteries and refrigerant?

Great. Just great. Is there really mercury in some or all tubes?

Update: Windows = 11 Linux = 3 Mac = 4 Xbox = 1 Other = 1

Well, in the words of the famous Mr. Horse... "No sir, I don't like it."

Did A-gon revise the appearance of their site or is my browser playing with my feeble mind?

I love my tube gear but I'd still like to get my hands on a serious solid state amp like a Krell just to compare the control and extension of the bass. The thing about the KSA series is they are pure Class A, so they run hot and expensive.

I've a Benchmark USB DAC as well - what did you have done to yours and was the result subtle or quite noticeable? I really like mine but I must admit I was a bit disappointed to hear from a Benchmark Rep that they don't offer upgrades when I purchased mine. He seemed to suggest (almost two years on now) that there really wasn't much more to achieve sonically and that it would just be the feature set that changed. If I wanted different/new features, sell privately and buy new.

You can heat your entire house with it, too []

Amazing, huh? Wait until you get everything ripped to a drive (BACK THE SUCKER UP - I got mine in a safe deposit box (no kidding)) and you can just sit back and play anything in your library with a few clicks. The filtering, the grouping - anything in any order on a whim. It's not about being lazy, it's about taking away the interruptions and letting the music play. I've fallen asleep numerous times. The ulitimate decompression chamber.

I do have Fusion and Vista on my Mac Pro - I'll research how to wire it all up.