tigerwoodKhorns

There is a lot of info on teh web about teh Panasonic receivers. Look at the SA XR55K, it is an upgrade over the xr50. They are about $225 at JR music. Give one a try and I doubt that you will be unhappy. Chris

I just want two channel. That card will work. I am wondering if I am gaining anything here by using my laptop. I need a $140 250 gig hd, a $40 2.0 USB adapter and a $100 sound card. I can get a used 933 Mhz PIII for $150 and load it up for not too much more. Chris

Anyone who has microphonic 6DJ8's around, these are not useless. Upscale sells "DAC Grade" tubes that are microphonic for use in DAC's and the AH! Cd player where teh microphonics are not an issue. I would buy a cheap pair of microphonic Pinched Waist tubes for my AH CD player if anyone has a set they want to unload. Chris

I wanted to use my Laptop as a server (600hz PIII). I guess that I can go out and get a tower and control it with the Laptop if it will be close in price and yield similar reults. Do you know of a cheap external soundcard that will work from my USB on my Laptop? Chris

K Horn, Thanks for the advice. That looks like a better card but it will not work for what I am doing. I am using an old Pentium III 600 hz laptop as the server. That card needs 1,000 hz or faster. Because I am using a laptop, I need an external soundcard that can hook up to a USB port. The funny thing is that I do not care about the DAC's in the card at all and wish that I could find a cheaper outboard card with no DAC's (M Audio has one for $80 but it looks so cheap that I think that I will spend teh extra $40 for the Audiophile 2496). I will be feeding the signal from the laptop USB to the external soundcard, then digital out to a Benchmark DAC1. Chris

I don't know which Toshiba DVD player your is, but the Denon, if the same as the 4802 should have some decent Burr Brown DAC's in it. Run the digital out from the Toshiba into the Denon. Your receiver shoudl also have plenty of power (like 150 wpc). If you want to know how not to go about your experience, please read a recent thread entitled "I bought Klipschorns". The moral of the story is to just listen for a while to decide what you like and do not like. If you decide that there is something missing, Dean G, a forum member builds some very nice crossovers for RF7's. That is probably the place to start. Chris EDIT - Keep your subwoofer, you'll use it.

I found a soundcard that should work very well. An M Audio AUdiophile 2496 external USB unit. Sam Ashe has them for $119 and they will work with a Pentium II 266 hz is needed. It is a 24 bit 96 kHz card. I think that for the money, this is the way to go. Even though I don't currently need anything more than 48 khz right now, you never know. The upsampler on my AH! player made a really big difference. If I can find, (or eventually find if not invented yet) upsampling software for my computer, I do not want to be limited by the sound card. Especially as the M Audio is the same price as the HagUSB device. Plus, I may want to convery albumms to digital, I really don't know. Chris

Gary, I'm sorry to hear that yiou are having so much trouble. The thing that really stinks is that teh piched waist is supposed to stop microphonics by clasping the middle of the assembly. The first Pinched waist tube that I bought from a different supplier didn't work and and I had to return it (the gain was all over the place and changed as it heated, then evedntually would just shut off). I really hope that this one does not start ringing, I really love it. The detail is unbelieveable. Chris

Sorry to see that you have to let these go. If they are the ones that I am thinking of, they are absolutely beautiful and a special pair of K Horns. The VRD's are awesome amps too. Good luck to you. Post some pics, they will not last long. Chris

OK, I have most of my ducks in a row. I just made a trip to Fry's and picked some stuff up. I'll be using: My Pentium III 600 hz laptop as a server (194 bits SD Ram, 4 gb HD) A 250 Gig external hard driver (just picked up at Fry's) ran through a 2.0 USB port. I now need to get the diugital signal out of my laptop and into my Benchmark DAC1. The HagUSB (above) as well as an external sound card at Fry's have a maximum output signal sample rate of 48 khz. The Benchmark can accept inputs of up to 96 khz. Now, I realize that Redbook format is only 44.1 and other formats that arre compressed will be lower. So, my question is am I going to be giving anything up by limiting myself to an iput rate of 48 khz? Next question, is the HagUSB any better than a cheapo $40 Fry's external soundcard with digital optical out? Thanks, Chris

Agreed on all counts. Heresy's with a subwoofer if the above are too big. The drivers last and last. The only thing that wears out are very easily replaceable capacitors (Bob Crites can supply replacements for really really cheap). You will not get anywhere near the build quality for the price either. There is a reason that there are so many of us here. Chris

The price is way higher, but Tube Depot is selling NOS pinched waist ampered tubes for $250 each. These things are is such good condition that I thought that they may be fake (they are not fake). I am amazed by this tube and it is worth every penny. I have read that teh CCa's arfe not everything that everyone says (read, not experienced) so getting "less than CCa's" is probably not that big of a deal. Check out Joe's tube lore. good article and lots of info. Chris

I don't know what the sample rate is for internet radio but I have been listening to some MP3 songs ripped at 224 kbs through a Benchmark DAC1 and they actually sound very good. Some recordings are crap, and you can hear it, but others sound just great. Very much like listening to CD's, some sound bad and others sound great. Of course, if there was a way to run all of this through my AH CD player, then everything would sound really good as that unit just makes everything shine (since teh addition of the upsampler). I have a question, the squeezeboz outputs at 48khz sample rate. Do MP3's normally sample higher? In as much as redbook samples at 44.1 khz, I would think that "digital radio" would sample at a lower rate as it is a compressed signal, correct? The reason that I am asking is that I am assembling a computer music server (just got back from FRY's with a bag of goodies) and they had an outboard sound card (I am using a laptop) that sends a digital signal at 48 khz max. My Benchmark can sample at 96 khz and I don't want a bottleneck before it. Am I giving anything up with a soundcard that can only output at 48 khz if my source will be MP3's, Apple lossless and redbook format? Thanks, Chris PS - can anyone reccomend an outboard soundcard that wil output a 96 khz signal?

Good louck you you and your family Craig. Chris

I'm running windows 98 on the laptop. I also have a pentium II 233 that has windows 95. Looks like I will need to get a copy of Windows XP. Will teh Pentium II recognize a large hard drive if hooked up to it? (like a 250 gig unit) How do I know what USB speed I have? How do I tell the difference between 1.0 and 2.0? Thanks, Chris

That's really interesting. I have a Pentium III 600 hz laptop. I could get an external 250 gi9g hd for about $150 and one of these and have a music server if teh laptop is up to it. I will also need to get windows XP. anyone see any problems with this setup? Chris

If I kicked the bucket, my 30 year old widow would gladly sell all of my audio gear for $300 so that she never has to look at it again. She'd probably throw in a few cars and a whoel mess of tools. Now that's pathetic! Chris

I saw that one Dean. I'd rather build one for about $300 to $500. I can't see spending $1400 on an audio component that will be worth $100 next year. Chris

I have tried this several times and the search function on the website really does not work. Please help me build a music server. I have an outboard DAC (Benchmark) and really want to build a server. What do I need? I know that I need a soundcard with a digital coaxial or optical out. What is out there and cheap? Processor - I figure at least a Pentium 4 at 1.5 ghz. Memory - I figure I will need 512 Hard drive - I think that as alonmg as I can add hard drives from Frys when they go on sale I'll be happy. Please help me here. Anyone have experience with this? What do I need? I am not a computer guy but do have a basic knowledge. What do I have to do? Thanks, Chris

Jeff, "Deaf warmed over" is classic. I don't think that the Panasonic is going to push the levels that you want to listen to. I am also not sure which Crown model you have but I think that it is one of their very clean models (clean power) and you compared it to the VRD's and said it was a toss up (if I remember correctly) so I don't think the Panasonic is for you. What the Panasonic does have is a digital amplifier that offers very clean, non-harsh power for horns at a ridiculously low price. The Panasonic SA XR55 is actually an upgrade from the XR70 at a lower price (better binding posts). A digital amp worked differently than a conventional amp. A conventional amp uses a transistor or a tube which are both switching devlces (thats why tubes are called "valves"). Teh amp keeps the "switch" open at teh point just before it closes, generating lots of wasted power (heat). A pure clas A SS or Tube SET amp are both extremely inefficient and create tons of wasted power (heat) but sound so good and clean doing it that many swear by them. A conventional amp, while the "switch" is open, creates a waveform. Now, I may be butchering this, but a digital amp, in creating the same waveform as a conventional amp, opens and closes the "gate" extremely rapidly. The resulting sum of the "spikes" from opening and closing rapidly appear to be about the same as the waveform that a conventional amp creates. (a good example of this is integration in calculus where several small "boxes" are summes to approximate a curve). Because digital amps do not keep a "valve" open for long, not much wasted heat is generated. Thus digital amps are very light (because they do not need huge heatsinks to dissipate wasted energy (heat) and cheap to build. The Panasonic receivers and Teac amps feel like empty boxes. They also are very energy efficient. Not a big deal in a home environment (well, maybe in yours at teh volume that you lsiten to!!) but a huge deal in commercial settings and portable gear. The "problem" with digital amps is that in approximating the curve, they generate a lot of distortion. However, and I do not claim to completely understand this part, or any part of this for that matter, the distortion can be maneuvered high up in the frequency rance and cut off with an appropriate filter network (capacitors). Do a search here (if you can get it to work) on the Teac L700P amp on this forum. Is uses a Tripath chipset that delivers 30 wpc at 6 ohms. These were available recently for $100 new and just delivered unbelieveably clean power. Notice I didn't say "for the price." Several of us here picked them up just to play with. It's just a great little amp. When I bought my Peach the only amp that I had was my Teac so I ran it and was amazed. I then bought a QSC and stored the Teac. I am now tri-amped and use the QSC for my woofer and two Teac's (one for midrange and one for tweeters). It is a great combo. Chris

Dean bought a QSC (class AB) and a Carver (digital) to compare both and reccomended the QSC. With the QSC you may have to change the fan out (a $20 tweak) and the amp can be had for $600 new or less on ebay for new or used. The Crown (have not heard it) does not use a fan - nice. In any event, you may like the amp you have right now. Here is an easy test. My Teac L700's and QSC sound very similar. Clean power, the QSC just has much more dynamic range. Get a loaner Teac or just buy one and compare to your amp. If the sound is cleaner or clearer (at lower volumes, your amp has a lot of power) then get a QSC as it will make a difference. Even if you do change amps, get the peach first and let it break in. I just did a $250 tube roll (single amperex pinch waist PQ) in the Peach and the difference was huge. You can roll other tubes in the Peach for much less. Chris

I don't know how hight up or down teh food chain yoru receivers are but have you considered a $225 Panasonic SA XR55K digital amplification receiver? I am using soem Teac digital amps with great results. Really cheap and clean power. Chris

I'd be very interested in a DIY F2 project if it performs as stated. Now my questions is does this guy just recommend everything he hears? This reminds me of reading Stereo Review in teh 80's and they never had a bad thing to say about anything. Kind of useless. Anyone here interetsed in building these? I'd like to share some notes. Chris

Philips 963SA dvd player used on Audiogon. Install a Blackgate capacitor. Best you will do for close to yoru budget (and you will be doing very well). Chris

Buy a Peach (or a Merlin if you don't need the inputs and LoZ and HT modes) and roll some Amperex tubes into it and let it break in with your current amp. Then decide... Chris