Well, I don't have tips for checking out the amps per se, just that they are very accomodating and courteous. They took great pains to prepare my package for shipping and I was impressed by their honesty. I wanted to buy a set of KT88 tubes from them, and all they had in stock were the...

There is the Opera Consonance Cyber 20 and Cyber 20B to consider. I was at their factory in the Chaoyang district a few days back and they do sales there. They were very friendly and accomodating. Definately worth checking out.

Just returned from my trip down to Opera Consonance. They were very accomodating and I heard a range of their gear, even stuff that I wasn't all that interested in. I heard an LP for the first time, and I must admit, it is a unique experience. Their equipment really is first class, and the sales...

Hi all, I am currently holidaying in Beijing and would like to know whether there's an area of Beijing that's dedicated to the Hi Fi crowd. I know of the Opera Consonance offices which aren't too far from where I am at. But apart from that, is there any Hi Fi stuff in Beijing? Thanks in...

The Marantz CD-7 isn't strictly a DAC, but it can operate as one. Its got the Philips Double Crown TDA 1541A S1, which comes with 2 digital inputs, with a choice of Toslink or SPDIF for either. My friend hooked his up to a PS2, and the results were reportedly spectacular when he used that...

I would put in a vote for the 47Labs Shigaraki system. Ceramic cubes and a simple silver box kind of do it for me. The pic of the CD transport is attached. The DAC is just a small ceramic cube.

Quote: The budget can't be too bad if you have a CD-7 The budget wasn't too bad, but after the CD-7 and the amp, it was gone. Hence the lack of furniture and fancy CD Racks. But at least it sounds good.

Here's my little setup. The source is a Marantz CD-7, the little red tin is a cheap headphone amp, Dr. Head, I think it is called. The headphones are obviously HD 600s, and the amp is a Burmester Rondo 991, linked to a set of Totem Rainmakers. Not the best matching of components...

Hi all, I've just received my Burmester 991 Rondo Integrated amp a few days ago. It sounds great, except for the fact that the headphone output is suffering from a low level line noise. Strangely the speaker output is fine. I've tried all the inputs, and the noise still persists. The...

Great news! The guy on audiogon with the Burmester has given me a small discount. It is finally within my budget. If all goes well, I'll see that amp within the next week or so. I'm looking forward to hearing how it sounds. Does anybody here have an idea of the "Burmester house sound"?

Hi Aman, I'm have also been looking at a set of speakers for myself. Thus far, I have heard a small collection of brands which I can heavily recommend. I heard the rather affordable and musical Triangle Bookshelves at a dealer in San Francisco. They sounded pretty decent for classical...

Quote: Actually, the image of the remote control for the onix shown at the av123 site is definitely Shanling (or derivitive or bought from the same place)...in fact, it's pretty much the exact same remote that came with my T-100. Haha, it looks like my Marantz remote too. I wonder...

I heard the Rainmakers along side the Arros at a dealer in San Fran. The Rainmakers had more impressive bass and made more of an impact. Overall, I was tempted by the fullness of the sound and dispersion of the entire soundstage which the Arro could not match because of physical limitations...

Hi all, I am interested in looking for an amp which has balanced XLR inputs, runs on 120V and has a headphone amplifier which will not do a disservice to my HD 600s. My current setup is a Marantz CD-7 and a cheap Dr. Head Class D digital headphone amplifier. The budget should range from...