You know what? I reckon, "Don't change a thing for a while" might be good advice for 99% of us audiophiles.

Mani.

Ordered! Thanks for the recommendation.

But as usual, there seem to be a number of CD releases of this 1977 recording. It seems the first was in 1996. The CD I've just ordered from Amazon is a 2000 release - couldn't find the 1996 release. There are a few on eBay though... Which version is yours?

Mani.

For those without an existing TT, I would strongly recommend picking up a Technics SP10MKII from eBay. Without a plinth, they seem to go for around €500. A decent plinth, arm and cartridge would add another €500-€1000 or so. If you mount the turntable/plinth on a properly designed turntable wall bracket, I reckon you'll have something that works really well for digitizing vinyl - the fact that the turntable doesn't have any suspension shouldn't matter if you're monitoring via headphones or via speakers at a really low volume.

Of course, this is exactly what I've done

Mani.

Hey Nick, good idea. I've heard the Trios over at GT's place, but never the Duos.

Where abouts in the UK are you? Do you have a dedicated parking space for my car... haha?

Mani.

Yes, this appears to be the case with me also - only 4x 176.4 is a problem here.

BUT... when playing an HRx 24/176.4 file natively through the NOS1, it sounds pretty good... but taking it to 24/705.6 with QAP makes it sound stunning! But only for a minute or so before all hell breaks loose.

Mani.

Yesterday, I had the pleasure of visiting Paul (Scroobius) and listening to his system. I'd like to thank him for his hospitality - a real gentleman. He's a great conversationalist and has some very interesting ideas on how to improve sound quality with very little financial outlay. A lot of these ideas are mentioned on this forum in various places, but Paul's actually gone ahead and implemented them... and boy, with what results!

I LOVED the sound of his system. Very, very dynamic - I mean, a very credible attempt at reproducing the dynamics of live music... from a pair of 2-way speakers! And incredibly detailed too. I was thinking as I listened to his system that I really could live with this sound forever, it was that good.

But nothing's perfect. My feeling was that there was a bit of edginess and a bit of boxiness. My strong advice to Paul was to keep things exactly as they are (not touching a thing) for a few months at least, to let the new mid/bass drivers settle in. This might well improve the edginess that I heard. My only concern is that the edginess may well be an intrinsic property of the crossovers used in his speakers. (Having spent an inordinate amount of time with my Pass XVR1 crossovers, I've learned how various crossover settings fundamentally change the sound.) And there might well be a reason why his speaker manufacturer offers some seriously expensive crossover options for his model...

All in all a great visit. Next on the list, PeterSt!

Mani.

Russ, that is quite some car. Absolutely beautiful. I think the 246 is one of the best looking cars ever made...

When I was looking around for a 'weekend' car, I wanted a classic car but, not being a spanner-head, needed something that would be easy to maintain. Now it could be argued that a 7-year old NSX is not a true classic, but I believe it will be in time. And of course, it's built like a tank and should really never go wrong, provided it's well maintained. That's the theory anyway.

If I had £150K spare, I'd buy the 246 you posted (on sale in the UK now).

Mani.

They don't make cars like they used to... thankfully.

Mani.

Hey Gerard, nice to hear. However, if your experience is anything like mine your ecstacy might be short-lived. I'm now discovering shortcomings in the rest of my setup. For example, I've started experimenting with the placement of my speakers for the first time since I've had them. In the past, they've sounded too aggressive with too much toe-in. But now they sound just great with '60 degree' toe-in, and the amount of detail is staggering, with no 'aggression' whatsoever.

Mani.

A short while ago, I wrote:


I was kind of surprised at the lack of response to this. I guess it was because not many people had actually heard DOAP. But I guess a few more have now. If so, I'd be interested in your thoughts.

Truth be told, I'm still waiting for the real holy grail - Arc Prediction with zero anomalies out of the audio band. But for now, DOAP seems pretty close.

Mani.

I've just changed my signature, and thought I'd bring this thread to close also.

I'VE SOLD THE PACIFIC MICROSONICS MODEL TWO!!!

There were two reasons why I sold it:

1) It has probably the best ADC section ever created. But alas, I have nothing really worth recording with it!
2) It's DAC section is very, very good. But I'm afraid it just can't compete with the NOS1!

For the last 6 months or so, the Model Two has remained pretty much switched off. So it's gone. I just hope the new owner (who shall remain anonymous of course) is impressed with its ADC section, because for the same sort of money you can get pretty much whatever 2-channel ADC you want... brand new! Ah, but you won't get true multi-bit ADC chips (unless its a Lavry Gold), which as any NOS1 owner knows, is probably one of the key ingredients to great digital sound.

Mani.

Hi Esau. I don't have much to add other than all you need is a PC with a USB port! I prefer the sound of the NOS1 connected to the SOtM card - especially with the power switch of the SOtM card in the 'off' position (the NOS1 is still recognized at boot-up). But this is very much 'personal taste territory'.

Mani.

Hi Paul. Well I've just got to come down and take a listen now, don't I? PM sent with possible dates...

Mani.

It's really interesting. The more 'balanced' my system sounds, the more time my wife and 2-year-old kid tend to spend listening to music with me.

This is especially the case when the system sounds to me a bit 'dull', as opposed to 'ultra-detailed'/'resolving'. I wonder if they pick up HF anomalies a lot better than me...

Whatever... I tend to focus most of my resources on getting the 100-300Hz region right nowadays - I really think this is where so much of the 'emotion' in music sits. And why I just can't listen to ported speakers/subs anymore.

Mani.

Nice work Juan. Interesting reading.

It's always puzzled me why people 'couple' their speakers to the foor/room with spikes. I myself use Townshend pneumatic speaker platforms (and actually his hifi stands as well). Max Townshend is utterly mad. When everyone else on the planet was promoting metal spikes for speakers, he went totally against the trend and went for pneumatic platforms with low resonant frequencies - so what if the speakers are not kept totally rigid and are actually allowed to move... as long as it's ~2Hz, who cares?

Crazy guy (whom I've met in person). Kind of reminds me of at least one other person on this forum...

Mani.