LHF63

For any interested parties, even though it's on the Orlando CL, according to the ad the amp is actually in Palm Bay (east coast a little south of Melbourne).

Cool. Let us know how it works for you -- sound quality, reception range, etc. It's something I may want to add to a vintage/DIY setup someday.

And if you really want to do it on the cheap, you could try something like this. Lou

Fixed so it's a link. This is better than coming out of the headphone jack at the top of the iPod, but not because it bypasses the internal DAC. Rather, it bypasses the internal volume control, which is the source of considerable sound degradation from an iPod/iPhone. And joshjp is certainly correct about the impact of how the music is stored. If possible, store the music uncompressed. If you can't hold enough that way, go for lossless compression. And if, heaven forbid, you have to use lossy compression, keep the bit rate at 256 kbps or higher if at all possible. MP3s at less than 256 kbps might as well go through the volume control, not worth much other than background music at that point. All IMHBCO (in my humble but correct opinion) of course. [] Lou

I dunno. Sonos for streaming, not obsessive, not an "audiophile". Maybe he doesn't want the inconvenience of tubes? RobRob, you understand that a tube amp takes awhile to warm up after you turn it on before it's ready to play tunes? Just trying to make sure we get the trade-offs out there. Lou

That needs to be my perspective all the time, now that I think about it. Thanks for the lesson/reminder, Dean. When you get better, bring your kids down here to central FL and they can pay the Mouse a visit with my boys, 6 and 12. Lou

This noob is in. Prayers continuing as well, of course. Lou

In Florida the kids learn to swim and snorkel young.

Nice place, Crystal River. We go over and snorkel with the Manatees every year. The kids love it, and SWMBO wants to buy a place over there. The blobs in front of the ropes are me and my younger son. The blobs beyond the ropes are the manatees doing their usual nap thing.

Now his wife needs to fire him and get whatever he had stashed away.

Dodge Chargers and Pocket Protectors. Great stuff in the pics, Rick. [Y] Lou

There are ways other than tube amps to get tube sound into your system. You could try a tube preamp. Or you could try tube buffer stage, like the Decware Zbox or the Decware Zstage. I don't know what power is in Pakistan, but the Decware items both come in 120V and 240V versions. Shipping might be another issue. What is it that you're missing that you think some tubes will give you in your system? Lou

Hi Lou, I'm glad you enjoy reading it as well... Regarding Lynyrd Skynyrd, do you mean because of the plane crash? It didn't happen until October 20th, 1977. Hi Rick. No, I meant I didn't see how anything could happen on Feb 29, 1977, because I don't think that was a leap year. [] Probably 1976, methinks. Thanks again for this thread, Lou

I love this thread, too. Still tryin to figure out how Lynyrd Skynyrd got in a fight on Feb 29, 1977, though (see page 5). [*-)] Lou

+1 Put another way, option 1 probably isn't the cheapest approach. By the time you get through your learning curve (read "mistakes"), you've probably spent more money than you would have on option 2 or even option 3. If getting some soldering skills is worth it to you, then maybe it's worth it. But if you're looking to keep costs down in the short term, take option 2. Lou