pdspiegel

Responses from pdspiegel

The best opening act you've ever seen & heard?
Dwight Yoakam and band opening for Nick Lowe at the Palace in Hollywood c. 1983.  
Tubes and Subwoofers
I also use a REL sub (T/7x) to supplement stand mount speakers driven by a tube amp.  Sub speaker level inputs are high impedance and won’t load a tube amp output.  
Does anyone listen to the radio anymore?
I love radio, although I often listen while doing something else like driving, working on a project in my shop, or other chores.  We have many good options here in  SoCal with two classical stations, one jazz, NPR, and Pacifica on standard FM.   I... 
Power supply for ethernet switch?
@kingbr, I also have an inexpensive TP Link switch in my network attached to my network player/dac.  Interested by testimonies of better audio performance from improved network components, I made a couple of relatively inexpensive changes as a tes... 
Preamp issue
2Tuby, you did the test right.  There is no DC offset voltage on the Denafrips outputs so that is NOT the source of the problem.  At least that is ruled out.  
Preamp issue
If you have a voltmeter here’s a test you can do: Check the Denafrips for DC on the output.  If you are using the single ended RCA then measure the voltage from the center to the outer shell.  For balanced XLR measure pin 2 to 1 and 3 to 1.  Chec... 
Seeking speakers under $3K for 10x12 ft room and driven by 20wpc tube amp
I enjoy my pair of Oriaco G6 stand mount two-ways from Tonian Labs.  Lively and natural sounding to my ears.  I’ve used with both a 20W hybrid and a 10W tube amp with good results.  Work great in near field.  In your price range too. Owner/Builde... 
Rel T/7x sub sound improvement but…
I too have a single REL T/7x that I am using with a pair of stand mounted Tonian Oriaco speakers.  I found that corner placement worked the best just as REL suggests.  The sub is to the left of my left-most speaker.   If you have a sub adjusted p... 
The Allure of Vintage Audio Gear
Tastes change and I think that some older gear have qualities that can be appreciated today.  Think of the popularity of single ended directly heated triode amps, horn speakers, and idler drive turntables.   Some older units sound remarkably good ... 
Speaker wire impedance? Speaker impedance?
I'll try to be that "guy in the corner nobody talks to" and shed a little light on the topics raised by the OP. Impedance is somewhat like resistance conceptually, but for AC (as in Alternating Current like the power delivered to our homes or a m... 
What are the different Levels of quality in Power supplies Transformers and Chokes
The power supply is a critical portion of any audio component and the transformers, chokes (if any), capacitors, and regulator (if any) are the critical parts in a power supply.  There are many types of power transformers (PTs) commonly used in a... 
Rel sub
Yes, I use a single Rel T/7x with mono blocks. My hybrid mono blocks are balanced (+/- referenced to each other and not to ground), so I connect as shown for “Differential (i.e. Fully Balanced)” in the accompanying Rel booklet: Yellow connects to ... 
4th of July Music
Charles Ives - A Symphony: New England Holidays X - 4th of July Any Louis Armstrong Hot Five or Hot Seven (Satchmo liked to say he was born on the 4th of July) Hope everyone enjoyed their Independence Day!  
Meter for measuring cable capacitance
I use an Excelvan M6013 for measuring capacitance of both guitar and audio cables.  It is inexpensive and available from Amazon. The meter is a useful tool.  I’ve found guitar cable capacitance to noticeable affect the sound, especially direct in... 
Differences in YouTube, Spotify, etc.
Amazon HD. I access via HEOS and stream to a wired Marantz network audio player when I want to listen on my main audio system.  Decent-rez service with a good selection at a low price because we are already Amazon Prime subscribers. I use mostly ...