polizzio

TIDAL is majority owned by Jay-Z. TIDAL is offering a 30 day trial for anyone interested in giving it a test drive. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tidal_(service) https://tidal.com/

You just did.

Got it, you have been there and done that. So your quest now is for the 2 channel holy grail. I'm learning from this discussion too, taking it all in.

Well i don't know about that, as an absolute statement. Wire may have been better in 1978, solid copper. With today's copper prices, I'm sure some of the low cost wire options may be an inferior product. Lower actual copper content or mixtures of other chemical elements. Lots of guys post "it has to be oxygen free wire", but i posted approx 4 or 6 months ago a paper by a guy who manufactures and sells wire to aviation/aerospace contractors and he stated true oxygen free wire in unnecessary for audiophiles or audio applications. One thing about speaker wire discussions here is many diverse opinions. Some very passionate too. In the end, it is a personal decision as to what is necessary for our specific needs.

It was a bit of sarcasm, sorry. One of the tube amp guys here strongly advocated 8 AWG speaker cable. I have ordered twice from these guys in Nevada via ebay. Largest diameter I ordered is 12 AWG for an overall 8 foot run. Quality cable at a good price. I make up my own speaker cables with banana plugs. 12 AWG is more than adequate for my needs. here is their 8 AWG wire: https://www.ebay.com/itm/10-ft-TRUE-8-Gauge-AWG-BL-BK-Sky-High-Car-Audio-Speaker-Wire-Car-Home-Audio/283339185179?hash=item41f854dc1b:g:qDYAAOSwirZTsfWn I ordered these banana plugs last time and really like them. Two pinch screws per connector or plug, holds very well. i had soldered some others previously but think these secure better, better contact area to wire and connector (reasonable price too): https://www.ebay.com/itm/Silverback-Banana-Plugs-24k-Gold-Dual-Screw-Lock-Speaker-Connector/133074128182?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&var=432378242237&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649 Edit: just noticed they are sold out of the 12 piece box. What i had ordered.

@dtel Excellent ↑ Is that a red rosebush or camellia? Got to watch those geese, they are really aggressive. I've had em chase me and snap at me if I got too close taking photos.

I ran across this couple days ago while researching Stereophile Products of the Year. Who actually purchases this sort of stuff? https://www.hideflifestyle.com/products/audioquest-nrg-dragon-high-current-15-amp-ac-power-cable-3-meters?gclid=Cj0KCQiA0ZHwBRCRARIsAK0Tr-rJzdzcBjEqdnN26rNsUKniD3HlBQyIAX7V2IuHfRge18FD7r60iO4aAtjjEALw_wcB

Tony, some members here will just never buy into that. Anything less than 8 AWG, totally oxygen free, polished strands and cryogenic treated is substandard. Never mind the run length.....

Elden, let me tell you a couple days when we were walking from Holy Cross to St Claude ave to catch the bus, a couple older neighborhood black guys jacked up any of the smaller or younger students. This would have been 1972 or 1973, seen it with my own eyes. If they could push you around and take ur change or watch or whatever of value, they would. I'd just tell em "phuck off"! I was bigger for my age too, so that helped. But on the bus when ur outnumbered, one had to be smart/quiet. Or get ur azz rolled around maybe. I don't hunt anything any more, not for 25 year. Rather take a picture, enjoy just observing the critters and birds now. Age has a way of seasoning your priorities/perception in life. And faith too.

I'm right there with you. For me its aging (i'm 61) plus years of self abuse via loud music/concerts, hobby drag cars/open headers, shooting, and my job for 30 years. I take care of my hearing like its supremely precious for the last 10-15 years. I wear earplugs or earmuffs 100% to mow the lawn, use a skil saw, blower, go to the drags, or recreational shooting. I was young and dumb, especially around ages 16 to 21. Tinnitus...sometimes bothered by light ringing in the ears when its quiet room, like right now. Low level ringing.

Not much imo. I use two Cowen music players, one of which is a high res (plays flac, wav, alac, wma file types) via the 3.5 mm headphone jack to my two receivers. I have listened to HQ mp3 and wav files back to back, they both sound good. The lossless seems to have better high frequency playback to me but its like splitting hairs. I listen to a lot of mp3 files @ best quality (320 kb/s). Using a portable high res music player via your 3.5mm input, or split to rca inputs offers a lot of quality and options. A lot depends on the AVR or receiver clearly. My little Plenue is 32 gb mem but also takes a micro sd card up to 128 gb. So you can load a LOT of lossless files if you want to. I'm all about wired input/transmission versus bluetooth. Earphones too, have a pair of Sonnheiser wired. That small thin wire doesn't bother me. Bluetooth no doubt would be great for working out at the gym, or being active like jogging or something.

I have not tried Tidal. Can you hear an audible difference between Tidal and Spotify premium? I mainly use Spotify @ my desktop pc, listen to music while browsing the net or playing cards. And my desktop sounds pretty good, Elac 6.2 bookshelf speakers and a small chinese (Fosi with tone controls) chip amp pushing 30-40 wpc. The speakers are 2-3 feet from my head. Occasionally I do Spotify to my LR AVR/corns. My hearing is damaged above 5khz so that is a factor for sure.

I'm sure they (Spotify) will offer lossless streaming when market demand warrants such. Heck, many of the younger folks are content with low quality mp3 and bluetooth....lol. Music via smartphone.

I'm using Spotify premium too. Very pleased with it, never a hiccup for me. Now amazon and youtube are getting in the streaming music business too. Amazon is currently offering free 30 or 45 day trial of their services. None of these options I mentioned are lossless to my knowledge.

You are quite welcome, sir. Let me throw another option out there for you, just because. Purchase a top of the line Yamaha AVR such as RX-A-3070 going in to use it only for 2 channel. What you get from this is 150 wpc driving 2 channels @ .06% THD, a usb port that will play digital files from a usb flash drive including mp3, wav, flac, alac music file types. And you can command the file selection using the AVR remote via the receiver display. I have a rx-v-685 and play digital files from either a 32 or 64 gb flash drive. It cost me $450 new and pushes my cornwall 3 pair very well. 90 wpc full range @ .06% thd. If you ever decide to do home theater, you have a receiver which will accommodate hdmi switching/input and dolby digital/multi channel operation. Build your digital music files/playlists to the usb drive on your desktop computer. Or if you have a high res music player such as a small Cowen Plenue D, you can plug it right into the AUX terminal and play its digital files thru the AVR. Ditto from an mp3 player too. And the Yamaha AVRs have wifi, can access a network music server, Spotify, ect. Way more clean power that you will ever need with your wonderful Fortes. So many options.

Same here, 73F right now in Hammond LA. Cloudy tho, pretty foggy this morning.

Yes, you and I discussed this before. I attended Holy Cross for 3 years. Two of those years I rode NOPSI buses from Carrollton and Claiborne Ave (uptown) and back every day. The St Claude bus used to get pretty interesting some days on the way home, especially with riders getting on around Franklin Ave. So I need to move to MS? I used to hunt deer in Dolorosa MS, loved it (18 miles north of Woodville, we leased 1800 acres). Lots of wild game. And travel to MS for dirt car races. Boiled peanuts and dirt races on a Saturday night. Met some characters in MS...always had a good time there. Jackson MS is like NO these days I hear, gangsta.

Snow about as rare as it is in New Orleans. Snows there about every 25 years. I grew up in N.O. Yeah the younger folks have no idea about many things, like winding a watch. Or rotary corded phones. Or phone booths or reading an actual bound book. Or milk delivery, or 45 cent gasoline and cigarettes. Nor paper grocery bags, or getting a part time job when you are 13-16 years old. I had my first part time job @ 12. I got one two houses down from me, younger single male, purchased the house and moved in approx 8 months ago. His father comes over to cut the yard every time so far. And put out his trash for him. I hate to say it but many of these younger adults are freakin crippled, if ya know what I mean. He does appear to have a full time job tho. Drives a black late model caddy coupe. Across the street, was here when I moved in 4 years ago, former college student, graduated one year ago from SLU, degree in poly science. Still doesn't have a full time job, parents paying for the house, vehicle/maintenance, car insurance, food, maybe his weed too. His parents are affluent. Doesn't clean the house or wash dishes, nor put out the trash. GF does that for him. Never cuts the yard, mommy pays someone to do it regularly. Freakin cripples. I'm a rambling here.

@tardisiv You should message @avguytx He has a pair of belle clones he built and very recently posted was thinking about selling his. Beautiful veneer. Or perhaps you already saw his thread. His thread:

4x in how many years? 100, 200?

Vivek, McIntosh website shows dealers in India and Europe. Here is the link to their page: https://www.mcintoshlabs.com/Dealers/Find-Local-Dealer copy and pasted: DECIBEL (SOUTH REGION) CHENNAI, TAMIL NADU INDIA ADDRESS 21 Chittaranjan Rd Sri Ram Nagar, Teynampet Chennai, Tamil Nadu 600018 P: +91 44 2431 2834

Good plan. GL and enjoy Somebody in Europe has to sell/import McIntosh, just has to. Now whether it will be less costly than Lux I don't know.

Never heard of ANY audio peep ever complain his amp is too powerful. Too much power, too much headroom. But I have heard peeps complaining of underpowered amps or receivers. When I was 19, I had Peavey SP-1s (horn loaded bass cabs, 15 or 18" transducer, Black Widow HF compression driver) with a Peavey CS-800 commercial amp (75 lbs) in my LR, with clipping indicators. We sometimes saw those indicators "dancing" to Led Zepplin and Pink Floyd. 400 watts per channel. I am much smarter now, believe me.

100 watts with Fortes will literally blow you out the room, unless you have a really large room. But too much clean power is always a good thing, ie amp headroom and damping. Class A generates a lot of heat, quite power inefficient. You mentioned no AC. I'd go with ample clean AB myself. There is a reason why modern amps have shifted from class A amplification, modern technology, much greater power generation.

To add, the Luxman 509X is class AB amp. Now here is the real eye candy, Mac 7200. And price much < the Lux, least here in the states.