Thanks Folks - lot of good information here.    I have a WA2 with the stock tubes. I first want to listen to the tubes I have for a while. Then, planning to first get the RCA 6AS7Gs and then after I give them a good listen and if I want more, I might go for the TS 5998. But, to appreciate the...

Folks - Where can I find an excellent pair of matched RCA 6AS7G? Also, what do the numbers "X/Y, minimum A/B" mean? Should I be looking for matched tubes with these readings same or similar for both tubes?   As an example, here's a listing from eBay: Tube 1 Gm: 57 / 58 Tube 2 Gm: 57/ 59...

Picture of my rig:   

Quote: This has nothing to do with the question asked. The question was that of bit perfect output onto the coax cable. If the interface is subject to jitter, it will affect any application equally (the application has no control over interface/DAC jitter).

Hi Folks,    As an audiophile, I love to listen to music the way that it was recorded. At the same time, I know that this can be done without spending ridiculous amounts of money (and the accompanying placebo effect - "it sounds airy", "more full bodied").   Now, coming to the point, I...

So - folks,   ERC-2s are apparently still available in factory certified condition from Emotiva (got an email from one of their sales reps). I just ordered one for $400 ($50 off the MSRP). The ERC2 has been discontinued and they are coming out with the next version, although the sales rep...

I sent Emotiva Sales an email to see what's up with the ERC-2.

This sucks. I was about to buy it. It is also not available on amazon.com. Any ideas where they might have it in stock?

Hi Folks,    I have a Meier Audio Concerto hooked up to a Meier StageDAC. The DAC receives its input from a COAX coming from my Macbook Pro (through M2Tech HiFace). I usually play lossless FLACs and AIFFs on my computer.   I am planning to get a CD transport/player, just for convenience...

Quote: Thanks. Your explanation does at least permit the possibility of a non bit-perfect stream being extracted out of a CD (Redbook CDDA) due to various (electro)mechanical reasons. As to whether those inaccuracies are audible or not, is, I guess a completely different question. I would...

First of all, by "transport" I mean a unit that just spins the discs and outputs a DIGITAL signal to an external DAC/AMP combination. The question I am wondering about is whether a $20,000 transport is even *in principle* (forget reality) better than the CD player on my IBM Thinkpad when it...

I have no performance/SQ/buzzing issues whatsoever.   After a few months of use, I would ding points for the T1 only on the comfort factor. SQ is exceptional. With the Meier stack, sound is extremely neutral.

Nice April fool's joke.

I think the last sentence should be modified a little bit ...   "But then, I suppose that would keep people from thinking that they are experiencing absolute true definitive clarity and the most pristine angelic frequency presence that ever licked your eardrums."     Quote:

Water Lily is an awesome label. I am blown away by their recordings with crossfeed turned on. I have "Saltanah" and "Lily of the Nile" both of which feature the Oud. I have a lot of their other albums as well.   Quote:

Great to hear. I love strings generally, but the Oud stands apart (for me) as the string instrument with the most full bodied and melodious sound.   Quote:

Wow. There are great recommendations on this thread. Thank you so very much! "Astrakan Cafe" sounds beautiful. Probably my next purchase :-)

Congratulations to all the purchasers of this great setup. I am enjoying it very much every day.   As far as jitter is concerned, as I mentioned before, the jitter of the source is almost irrelevant. If you are running this from a computer + M2Tech HiFace, then the signal is independently...

@FalconP: Thank you very much. I am a big Oud fan, and I will certainly check these out.   Quote:

X4

No, I have not looked at DVD-A. I wonder how many labels produce DVD-A recordings. Although if it does allow digital out, I would check it out for sure.   Quote:

I have to disagree on the point made about the external DAC. I love the crossfeed and the custom oversampling on my DAC. I can't live without the xfeed on my StageDAC. That precludes me from using an SACD player. So, although DAC is a solved problem, features differ.   The other reason is...

Well, SACD is not only expensive, but also a dead-on-arrival format, since it does not let you use an external DAC.

Thank you very much, Henry! That is exactly the type of music I was looking for. I hope it is recorded well.   As to your question about quality of music: I mean both good performances and good recordings (as in the work done by the recording engineer). Of course, CD always wins over MP3...

I would be very grateful if anyone can point me to classical music with a dominant Oud component. There are multiple CDs (please see link) available on Amazon, but I am not sure what the quality of the recording is.  ...