Ohm Walsh Micro Talls: who's actually heard 'em?

Yeah, welcome aboard Phaelon. Addictive is the word I most often use for my Ohms. And they keep getting better every time I upgrade things upstream.

"And they keep getting better every time I upgrade things upstream."

Yes, me too, though I am mostly done now.

After some detours trying out other lines out over the years, it still then took me several years of rededicated focus to get to where I wanted to be. I'm glad I got back on the OHM bandwagon and persisted.

I had an Adcom 545II in place for a couple weeks with the preamp section of my NAD 3155 integrated amp. It's hard to sort out which new item has the most impact but I think the slightly warmer characteristic of the Citation 22 amp (along with 2x the power of the Adcom) has helped a lot but I think the huge improvement in the sound of CDs is mostly due to the Conrad Johnson PV2 tubed preamp. It's the first time since I bought my first CD player 20 years ago that I've actually been able to sit down and listen directly to CDs at a decent volume level for a few hours. I have a line on a pretty decent NAD C541i CD player and think that will also make a difference. All in all... I'm thrilled.

Yes, I've found a tube pre-amp can be a very good ingredient to mix in with digital. I would expect a significant difference with the CJ pre-amp. I use an ARC sp16 in my main rig and currently a 25 year old NAD 7020 receiver pinch hitting temporarily off the bench in my second 2 channel a/v rig. Its quite listenable in taht particular smaller rig.

I have an update on my system. As you know I said that my vinyl was a bit "bright", actually more of a bit lacking on the low end. So I took out the fine high output MC Bluepoint #2 that came with the Pro-Ject and installed an AudioTechnica AT-33EV that was on sale at JR's. I hooked it into my NAD PP3 phono amp, but didn't notice that much difference in sound until the next day when I hooked the phono into my new step up transformer first, then into the MM input of the NAD. The step up transformer is a Raphaelite PM 1.1, sourced again through Pacific Valve (thanks Joe!). The result was game changing! So many more low notes that I never heard before, clean, and not dominating. I can hear the low notes on a piano or guitar in all their glory. Last night I listened to the half speed master edition of "Stradust" by Willie Nelson, ca 1980- it never sounded this good before. So the lesson is that sometimes (as you all know) it's not the speaker that's lacking- this I knew from listening to SACD recordings- but one arm of the system. Unfortunately, PV&Co may discontinue stocking the Raphaelite (they might reconsider if they get a lot of inquiries and NO I have no financial interest in the company), as it didn't sell well, but as far as I'm concerned this one little addition just transformed my entire LP collection into something very magical! Can't wait until I get my boxed set of Dick Dale albums (Sundazed records) in the mail.