I have this Singlepower SDS "toaster" prototype amp that is some 20 years old. I'm aware of the safety warnings concerning these amps. Around 2009, it had upgrades which included Rubycon Black Gate output caps. There are 4 each of the following coupling caps on output: Blackgate WK POWER TANK...

I've been very happy with my Audiophilleo (AP) for USB to SPDIF conversions. I may not have the most cutting edge DACs in terms of their USB implementations, but I find that using coax inputs via the AP still provides a very significant sound quality boost over direct USB inputs for the...

Got a stash of great headphones to borrow for a night of fun. My reference system here is: Stax DIY T2 (georgep build) Stax SR-009 and SR-009S headphones Schiit Yggdrasil 2, Audiophilleo 2 with PurePower (feeding mostly CD-quality FLAC files) MSI GS75 laptop, jRiver SOTA Nova V turntable...

I probably should have waited to post, until I've logged a lot more hours. But I also find myself a bit too buzzed & excited to hold off! Right out of the box, and even with stock Russian EL34, this thing is bloody a-mazing. I basically knew what to expect, having heard Purk's amazing T2 a...

I have a 500V onboard KGSShv that's really sweet sounding, but has an intermittent distortion & noise problem in 1 channel. I sometimes listen at a healthy volume, and occasionally I'll suddenly notice a distortion in the R channel that sounds like a minor breakup/hashy/harsh sound mixed in the...

By a "small-ish" imbalance, I mean that the left or right channel is stronger by about (say) 0.3 to 1.5 decibels, and that this results in a shift of the sonic image's center. Once the imbalance gets to 2.0 dB or more, it's pretty egregious to the point that most people can't help but notice it...

Looking for your experiences & thoughts on the upper-range Ortofon and Benz lines - specifically interested in experience with the Ortofon Kontrapunkt series, the Wood Body (and up) carts from Benz, thoughts on their new S line, experiences with upgrading in the Benz line, or with moving from...

Associated Equipment: Sources: SOTA Star Sapphire Seris III table Fidelity Research FR64fx arm (Effective mass 20-22 grams) Benz Micro Glider L2 cartridge (Low MC, 0.3mV, medium compliance) Merrill Heiloom table Eminent Technology ET2 arm Ortofon MC20 cart (Info on this is lacking, but...

Edit: Made a mistake, sorry. Crud, how does one delete a post?

As detailed in this thread here, I finally bought a vinyl rig and started collecting records a few weeks ago. The rig is a vintage SOTA Star Sapphire Series III, vintage Fidelity Research FR-64fx arm, new Benz Micro Glider L2 cart, and Dynavector P75 phono stage set to Phono-Enhancer for low...

Yay, my first vinyl rig! The table is vintage late 80's, wood is Koa (which is apparently now an endangered species, lol). The arm is a Fidelity Research FR-64fx. Phonostage (not pictured) is a Dynavector P75. I've got a few various used records on hand. First impressions - it sounds pretty...

So I'd given up on the RS1 I bought new around fall 2005 - there was a harshness/glare in the upper mids/lower treble that rubbed me the wrong way, even after burnin and with any pads. I wasn't terribly impressed by the build either. Enter the champion - a 1997 vintage RS1 I was fortunate...

Actually, they landed a week ago but since neither NSL nor Fedex nor my apartment's management office saw fit to inform me of delivery, they've been sitting in the office until today First impressions - don't trust my first impressions! They need a ton of cooking but they're quite...

In another speaker forum (polkaudio), a member commented that placing slate slabs under each tower speaker vastly improved their sound. That got me to thinking about my own room problems - I'd noticed a dramatic decrease in the sound quality of tower speakers since I moved from a first floor...

Unfortunately I've recently noticed my Qualias may have a channel imbalance on the order of 1.5-2 db towards the left side I called the Qualia number in the manual (1-877-QUALIA3), but there wasn't much help to be had there - the CS rep offered to start up a work order for the headphones to...

Thanks to a very generous ayt999 (Alex), I've been able to compare three new headphones in my system: the Sony R10, Sony Qualia 010, and JVC DX1000, in addition to the L3000, W2002, W11jpn, and HP2 I already owned. Certainly, given a chance to sample all the greatest dynamic headphones, any...

Purk came over this weekend with some 6sn7 -> 5687 tube adaptors. This is the first time I've heard my SDS "SLAM"-ified. With the stock trio 6sn7 configuration, the SDS was easily the best amp I'd heard with the Audio Technica L3000 (my setup of choice), Sennheiser 600/650, and RS1/RS2/HF1...

Well, moving them up to my place last night was hell, but worth it. Big BIG thanks to Tom Hankins and Purk - without their immense help this wouldn't have happened. They're just under a year old, nicely broken in, already know what they sound like from multiple auditions Tom's rig - they're...

With all the recent discussion of the K340, one commonly agreed upon point is that these headphones are very picky about their associated gear. I'm not convinced it's an issue that requires massive investment to solve. Personally I've noticed that sometimes the K340 doesn't sound quite as good...

Anyone ever heard these power amps? I've yet to see any impressions on these, and they look mightly tasty for the price. Good specs, looks like nice build quality & parts, enough power to drive most speakers, and rated to drive 1.5 Ohm loads! Very affordably priced at just over $1K for a pair of...

I've had the Melos for a few days now. Apparently this unit had been updated by MAR (Melos Audio restoration) to the reference level. When I first hooked it up to the RS1's it didn't impress - however that was on 5 minutes of warm up, I was pretty tired (3AM), and the RS1's aren't a reference...

Yes I have renter's insurance, but not looking forward to the claims process, nor the move that I'll probably have to undertake. Came home to find myself locked out (top deadbolt in place) - the only way that's possible is if someone else was in my apartment, and I live alone. Halfway through...

I've had 6 of these EH tubes sitting neglected in my tube pile for several months, since I didn't believe a new production $10 tube could be any good. The last time I tried a new tube I had a Jolida JD100a (around spring 2004). It shipped with NOS Brimar CV4004 tubes that sounded great. Swapping...

My PS Audio HCA-2 stereo amp is blown. Ugh, I feel so stupid. It happened when I tried to use my Singlepower SDS's headphone out as a peramp (via Zu Pivot cable). Powered up the SDS, then turned on the HCA-2...it sits a few seconds in standby (as normal), then a LOUD thump/pop sound. Not loud...

Looking for quality speaker cables. Due to this being for a combo 2ch music & 2ch HT rig, I'll need at least a 12 foot run. Looking at or under $400. Would much prefer to buy used, so I'll need something that's likely to come up on audiogon. Performance and looks are important (no...