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austinstereo

Responses from austinstereo

Sony's strange speaker cord
What model are the speakers?   
The Wand turntable
@lewm It's understandable that folks often think that you must have a very high end cartridge to justify a high end arm.  When I first heard a Basik cartridge on a Linn, I was blown away.  Much more so when I discovered  the cartridge was essentia... 
Are Preamplifier’s Relevant Today or just a Hinderance with Digital Playback ?
There are some very high quality integrated amplifiers, both old and new, and most would be quite happy with the results.  Often outclassing some separates.  However, the best performing systems still use a separate preamp and power amplifier.   
If your were to assemble a vintage system ?
@mesch For trying to stick in the mid 60's I'd say a Fisher X10 or maybe a Scott 299A.  The little ST 70 is a solid little power amp.  Dyna's PAS preamps were great for the money, but the Scott and Fisher units are superior by a good margin.   
If your were to assemble a vintage system ?
@filipedine You're right, extensive service is needed before equipment of this age will perform as intended.  But not quite this extensive. Certainly all electrolytic capacitors in the amp and power supply stages.  Some small signal transistors su... 
If your were to assemble a vintage system ?
@artemus_5 You're right, the HK 730 is an excellent unit.  If you already own one, these are well worth having redone, or buying one.  If you don't, just as with an old car, a buyer would be better off getting one that has already been restored.  ... 
If your were to assemble a vintage system ?
This is right in the wheelhouse of our little shop here in Austin. We restore pre 1980 amps, receivers, and turntables for clients. And in our mind, "vintage" ends around 1980.  A few suggestions. First, any vintage amplifier or receiver should... 
Vinyl headache from hell!!!
If the sound is as it should be in the middle of the record, it's not likely a VTA issue.  It's likely either anti skate, and/or incorrect overhang setup.  I wonder if by "noise" you mean distortion.  I'm guessing the latter, but if you are hearin... 
My really dumb tube mistake(s)
Not only should power tubes be replaced for reasons of performance, letting them go too long will cause damage to many amplifiers.  Typically amps with a manual bias.  We output tubes can go into a runaway state where they draw ever more plate cur... 
Where are the cheap home streamers?
We just received the  Arylic Up2Stream S10 yesterday, and spent some time with it.  So far, we've just been playing tracks from Tidal.  While it most likely falls short of the Bluesound (we've not had one of these in the shop yet), it's pretty im... 
Where are the cheap home streamers?
@danvignau More and more recordings are available in high resolution, and that is a whole other can of worms. And yes, I would agree that some recordings benefit more than others from hi-res 24 bit.  I was mainly referring to "lossless" audio.  By... 
Where are the cheap home streamers?
The Yamaha looks like another good candidate.  It doesn't seem to be sold in the US unfortunately.  They do have a couple of units north of $300 USD.  Prefer to keep at or below $200 if possible.  For those willing to spend a bit more, the Denon H... 
Where are the cheap home streamers?
@danvignau Yes, no argument that lossy audio is no comparison to a CD. We can only complete with CD fidelity if we we are streaming lossless audio that is bitwise the same. And locally streamed rather than Bluetooth.  As long as there is no data l... 
Where are the cheap home streamers?
@musicsearch I may have missed something, but the Zen Blue appears to be just a Bluetooth adapter.  Sounds like a very good one though, with BT 5 and Aptx.  We are specifically for devices that can stream natively.  A phone or tablet is used to co... 
Where are the cheap home streamers?
@reubent Seems like the Nord is UK only?  It does sound like a good candidate.  The app looks nice as well.  A key factor too.  The app Arylic uses has some mixed reviews.  I guess we are going to find out, as we've just ordered one.