jfuquay
Responses from jfuquay
| What are/were the best sounding cheap components you have ever had? Yes, I liked my AR-Xa turntable in 975 for $95, but that’s nearly $700 today for an all manual TT. Same math with large Advents, where $250 a pair is about $1,800. So for modern gear, I think my $299 Musical Fidelity V-90 DAC was great. After audi... | |
| Basic question about power/watts I own Maggie .7s and drive them with a Rogue Sphinx (100w@8 ohms and 200w@4 ohms). I bet you could get a used one for $1,000 or less. You could always get something with more wattage, but I will guarantee you it is a good combo enjoyed by many oth... | |
| Class D Amplification Announcement It’s technology. It will change. I personally think we don’t much understand how our brain interprets reproduced sound, leading to a whole host of different personal preferences. I like Magnepan speakers. I can’t drive them with flea-watt amps. I ... | |
| What is your take on high efficient speakers vs. low efficient speakers? Interesting question because it puts two legitimate concepts in opposition. One is the view that the less you mess with the signal, the better the sound. Therefore, simple, well-designed amps are “best.” And those are going to tend to be low power... | |
| When a budget speaker is preferred to a high end one... I think that when it comes to speakers, the smallest choices in design can make big differences. Mark Twain said the difference between the right word and almost the right word is the difference between lightening and a lightening bug. Some design... | |
| MM, MC, or MI cartridge I’ll just say I think Grado and Soundsmith have something good going with MI. But yes, implementation is everything. | |
| Top 10 vintage cassette decks I remember auditioning cassette decks in the 70s. My goal was a deck that was indistinguishable from the LP. I settled on an Aiwa, way too long ago to recall the number but cost about $350 I think. Nakamichi was considered the tops. Anyway, the fi... | |
| Do you consider cables to be a "component" of your system? I acknowledge that different cables sound different. And that there are better cable designs for different jobs, like turntable interconnects. But I don’t sweat them like I do my speakers, first and foremost, or my other components. So yes, they a... | |
| Energy speakers No idea, too long ago. But generally speaking, a speaker company voices all its models similarly. | |
| Energy speakers I recall hearing Energy speakers at a Best Buy years ago. I had just heard a Klipsch model that literally hurt my ears. I love the idea of efficient speakers but just can’t seem to tolerate horns. Anyway, the Energy was very nicely behaved and a r... | |
| Is a separate phono pre really necessary? I’m going to say that the designer of a built-in phono stage has the goal of producing an input that the broadest range of customers will find “pleasant.” The phono stage in my Rogue Sphinx is very pleasant. When I started looking for a separate, ... | |
| Do larger planar speakers produce more accurate sound? My first Magnepan experience was with the MMGW, the small wall-mounted speaker that’s maybe 38”x10”. A friend had them driven by a triode tube amp of maybe 40-50 watts. No bass to speak of, I think about 100hz is it. But the sound! It just came ou... | |
| Class A or Class D solid-state amplifiers (modern designs) I can’t do better than Atmasphere’s response. But I will add my 2 cents. I have built several Nelson Pass diy designs, both power amps and preamps, all Class A of course, and I use them in two different systems in my home. I will say there is a sw... | |
| Let me end the Premp/Amplifier sound debate ... Here’s how I think of it. In a lab, sound waves hit a microphone, are converted to electrical signals, travel to a preamp/amp, where they are amplified, and measured. In human experience, sound waves hit an ear drum, continue to the inner ear, whe... | |
| Power regeneration - good idea? PS audio? I have the entry-level PS Audio P3 feeding my Class-D Rogue amp and my sources. I think it lowers noise floor and improves articulation. I listen to mostly acoustic and classical, so I find it worthwhile. Maybe not the most “bang for the buck” $15... |