I'm looking for an audiologist in Manhattan to make some ear molds for the JH-13s. Downtown is preferrable, and I don't want to get gouged. Any recs?

Over the holiday I sent my WA6 to Jack for the PDPS upgrade. When I opened the box on Sunday night I heard something rattling around inside, and a nut slipped out of one of the ventilation slots. I also noticed one of the rear corners had been dented, so obviously the amp had been abused in...

Every once in a while I come across a gear combination that simply has great synergy. I spent the day listening to my Headamp Pico with a brand new pair of Grado 325i's, and let me tell you, this is a knockout combo. The detail level is simply insane. I found myself looking around the...

The Pico is an incredible DAC/amp hybrid that meets many of my needs. I had gotten into the habit of carrying around my USB DAC1 in my laptop bag as a portable source, and now the package is much smaller. In my comparisons I've found that the tiny Pico competes with a DAC1 and Lisa XP...

I'm waiting for my Pico to arrive and am confused about what headphones will have the best synergy. Let me preface this by saying that I own e500s and HD650s. My experience is that amping the e500s does *not* result in improvements I can hear. So I sold my Tomahawk and now use the e500s...

Last week I received my Slimdevices Transporter and sold off my Arcam CD33 source. I had previous experiences using Squeezeboxes in secondary systems, so all of my music had been ripped with EAC, properly tagged, and stored as FLAC. On somewhat of a whim I decided to go disk-free in my main...

I'd like to use the last remaining input on my DAC1 to receive a digital signal from my laptop. Since the coax and optical inputs are in use, I'm wondering if there is a relatively small external (USB) soundcard with AES output. Any ideas? All of my music is stored losslessly, but I'd like...

I've had a few headphone systems over the years with real synergy. One was a maxed MPX3 with HD650s/Silver Dragon cable. Another was the Apogee MiniDAC with SR225s. You know the feeling: it doesn't seem possible that the sound can be so good, even magic, considering the strengths and weaknesses...

So I have had nightmares trying to find a single lossless format that I can easily use with my Squeezebox, my PC/DAC via Media Center, and now, my iPod 5G. After starting with APE and moving to FLAC, I finally decided to convert everything to Apple Lossless, which actually works across the...

Just received my e500s today. So far so good, but I'm wondering how critical burn-in is with IEMs. I'm a believer in burn-in for speakers and headphones, but I have no idea about these. Thougths? Experience? I'm using the e500s with XPS M1210 laptop-->FLAC-->Transit USB-->Benchmark...

If so, does it look like the one that comes with HD650s (about 10" long)? I'm getting confused with all of the headphones I've purchased over the years. Thanks.

I finally replaced my RME DigiPAD internal sound card with the Apogee Mini-DAC, connected by USB to my PC. One problem with the RME card was that whenever a windows sound played (for example, an email alert), my music would slow to 50% speed. Starting and stopping the media player would fix...

I just received the Squeezebox2 and am using it to send a digital signal (via coax) to my Benchmark DAC1. Eveything is working well with one exception: I can only get the digital coax output from the SB2 to work properly when analog RCA cables are connected from the SB2 to my head amp. As soon...

I just got my DAC1 and am awaiting the arrival of my music server components (from NewEgg) and the Squeezebox2. In the meantime, I'm putting the DAC1 throught its paces using my CD33 and Dell Inspiron 8600 as transports. The Dell laptop has an adaptor that outputs a S/PDIF signal via coax...

So I just ordered the Benchmark DAC1 to go with my new Quad 12L active monitors. Now I need to get lossless PC audio to the DAC1. I'm considering the following: * M-Audio Transit: USB from my laptop to the Transit then to the DAC. Cheap solution, but is the quality there? The modded...

I just ordered a pair of Quad 12L powered monitors for a second system I'm setting up. My idea is to use XLR output from the DAC1, fed by a PC. Has anybody tried this? Any recommendations of XLR cables? I'm not 100% convinced the synergy will be there, but there's a chance this could be a...

Well, a few months ago I sold off all my head-fi gear (maxed MPX3, NOS tubes, SR-71, HD650s/Silver Dragon, Ety 4Ss). Keeping only my SR225s, I plowed the proceeds into speaker and amp upgrades. I’m very happy with my system now, but I find myself missing the head-fi rig for late-night listening...

I'm going to try out a pair of NOS Sylvania VT-231s tonight, along with a Ken Rad tube in the driver spot. Mikhail recommended this configuration as his favorite, and I can't wait to try it... Should be a nice upgrade from the Electro Harmonix 6sn7s I've been using. Just to confirm: the...

I just decided to have Mikhail add a pre-amp switch to my MPX3. I found myself wanting to listen to both my CD and DVD-A players (separate units), and this requires a fairly awkward swapping of RCA cables in the back of the amp. (All my audio gear is enclosed in a cabinet, so access isn't easy.)...

I received my SR-71 on Monday and have since burned it in for about 100 hours. So tonight I put it head to head against my maxed MPX3 (with EH 6sn7 tubes). I connected both amps to my Arcam CD33 upsampling player, which thankfully has two sets of outputs. The Arcam resolves just about...

I live in Manhattan, where one 9V battery cost $4 or $5 at the deli! So the 100 hour burn-in for my SR-71 has cost me close to $20. So I'm wondering if rechargable batteries will work in the amp. I don't see why not, but perhaps there is a hidden issue. Also, is there a recommended brand of...

I'm looking to upgrade my "mobile" setup and have a question. Right now I'm using an Inspiron 6800 laptop with a regular Indigo sound card. I'm pretty impressed with the results using Media Center with APEs in Asio mode, but I decided to buy the Ray Samuels SR-71 head amp to pair with this. I...

This must be a pretty common problem: every time I move the left channel cuts out on my Grado SR225s. I can see the loose connection through the wire grill. Doesn't look like it would be tough to solder back if I could get the plastic casing open... But I can't. Any suggestion on how to...

I know that there have been many posts on this subject, but I still need some help here. I live in a Manhattan apartment *and* have a two-week-old baby, so I find myself staying up late at night, unable to listen to music on my speakers. Six hundred watts of amplication isn't doing me much good...

I’ve been exploring the high-end music server concept for some time now and finally set up a very revealing test. The test compared my Arcam FMJ CD23T source ($2500 retail) versus a Dell laptop outputting analog sound through the Echo Indigo PCMCIA sound card. The laptop, a new Dell...