Quote: It's not a personal attack. He gave those measurements as part of his argument. They are not applicable to his argument, yet comprise a large proportion of his post and are referred to as a real world example. They are far too limited both in scope and accuracy to even come close...

Controversial is one way of putting it. I would advise a cheap SS amplifier and an equaliser in the face of strident highs: a lot less hassle IMHO. Tube amps are pretty though.

Crossover distortion can be minimised in a decent class AB design: even cheap opamps that are suited to audio applications have negligable crossover distortion. When you talk about simplicity of signal path are you talking about single-ended amplifiers?

Move had already happened by then, unfortunately. I think that people are reading too much into opamp rolling. Opamp rolling works on two principles:   1) That you know better than the designer/designer cut corners of some sort. 2) That audible differences will result even when neither...

There are engineers that believe lots of things. None of these things have ever been produced under controlled conditions. I wonder why.   Also, how did this end up in Sound Science? Kinda ironic, surely, moving a thread that is turning to the subject of opamp rolling into Sound Science...

What's actually wrong with the current cases? The photos of the JDS Labs amps in particular I've seen look very nice. Nobody is about to wax lyrical for a paragraph about their beauty, but they certainly don't embarrass themselves. I don't think it's fair to paint something like the JDS Labs...

Yup, all you need is a RCA to 3.5mm cable, which will probably put you back about $5. Alternatively, you can DIY the O2 and simply wire in RCA plugs (what I did). 

I suppose it's a personal question. I treat my gear carefully (this is not meant as an insult, I'm not trying to imply that anyone else doesn't) and am not that bothered about aesthetics. My O2 cost £60, including postage, even though I went for the larger case and added Neutrik RCA and...

A thread called "Testing Audiophile Claims and Myths" or something of that sort opens with a compilation of blind tests.   EDIT: It's on this forum page.

The difference is either: 1) Night and day. 2) Nonexistent. 3) "Just the last little bit of extra X in favour of amp Y."   Think that's covered all the bases

Firstly, your link to do with video playback has sod all to do with anything.   Secondly, we can now add "hearing sound-stage differences in cable length" to the thousands of things you easily hear (we're all deaf) because you have magical, bias immune ears which makes what you hear from...

How much power your speakers need is dependent on their sensitivity, which you haven't given.

I don't think thinking of FLAC as reducing sound quality, which is then un-reduced upon playback, makes any sense. It just stores the same data in a more efficient way.   Anyone who claims differences between FLAC and WAV files on playback is wrong. I will bet my entire life savings and my...

  Quote: The O2 reproduces the input signal, but louder, with no perceivable colouration. It is your headphones which will decide the appropriateness of your setup for different genres.

Most will be quite happy with it: if you're worried about them getting too hot then turn them off when you're not using them.

There is a guide on EQ-ing headphones on this forum which is quite good and can be found with a search.

120 ohms is only the "industry standard" according to some ancient document that most manufacturers of both headphones and amps completely ignore. If you want a high output impedance, use an impedance adaptor.

Have a look at cablemountain.com I have bought from there personally and their stuff is of decent quality (properly shielded cables ect).

It appears that this thread has broken the "Eventually descends into cable discussion" rule by turning into an argument about the nature of music. How novel

You don't have issues with clipping unless you are using a high-voltage source with a high gain setting. There isn't a great deal that can be done about that: the O2 can only swing so much voltage. It's not as if the O2 clips due to some design flaw or is unable to drive hard-to-drive headphones.

Vinyl, as Uncle Erik will no doubt tell you, is good for very cheap music and music that is not available on digital formats. As for the sound...it is an inherently inferior format to even the humble CD. Some find that inferiority pleasant to listen to, which would be OK were it not for the...

Declaring that the difference in time delay would be audible is absolutely insane. 

297. If it measures well but sounds off under controlled conditions, you are measuring the wrong thing. 

It's not even listed at Cambridge Audio's official UK reseller (Richer Sounds): with Cambridge Audio being British it probably isn't going to appear in the US for a while.

  Quote: 16VAC is plenty enough to ensure the power rails never drop out of regulation. As long as the input stage isn't overloaded, your amp should be working fine. It shouldn't overload even on high gain with the Fuze (pretty sure the Fuze doesn't pump out over 1.1V RMS) although it...