[OldRoadToad]

I tend to think that if you listen for differences you will "hear" them. This is especially so when there are none except some thing we added. And quite often, some thing added takes away from the enjoyment. It is called OCD. No thanks. I prefer to admit that any change I may make is primarily driven by the looks of a piece of equipment. My 50th Anniversary Sgt. Pepper's Pro-Ject turntable does not "sound" any better than my fully automatic Denon 'table but it looks cooler. I alternate between the two. The Pro-Ject for its looks and the Denon because it is a fully automatic player and much more convenient for me. Looks or convenience. Not "sound". We had a nice High End dealer in town that had a slab thingy weighing several hundred pounds that they had in a listening room and used it to "improve" the sound of their turntables. Ridiculous. On top of that it was ugly. And I know ugly from the mirror.

I all so have a little portable Crosley and it sounds as good as any 'table I own (I have several older bitchin' looking ones!) but only if I play it through the home stereo as I do the other players. If played through the built in speakers it sounds fun, but not as good. But fun is good, so there!

ORT

 

[Rowethren]

By pure fortune, I do have a "private" main to my house. I am the only customer on the secondary of a 25 KVA pad mounted transformer, the primary being 14.4 KV fed to it by a 1500 ft underground cable from the street radial. So, any noise I find has to be mostly from my equipment.

Colour me jealous! My power line is shared by about 100 houses lol...

 

[artur9]

A question for Jason, you guys ever thought of partnering with some company to offer in house financing?

I think a layaway or Christmas program would be better. No costs to them aside from insurance for non-consummation and no costs to the customer.

But I remember when Woolworth's was a thing.

 

[artur9]

About coffee...

Am I the only one that thinks Starbucks tastes like burnt ashes?

 

[rlow]

Financing, layaways, etc etc, just serve to complicate operations and finances massively.

Jason has described recently that they've just spent a bunch of time trying to improve their operations and customer service to deal with the demand that is already making it challenging to keep stock, keep customers informed of their orders, and to fulfill orders quickly. Personally I think it would make more sense to concentrate on those things and keep their prices as low as possible, than adding more complexity and headache around financing etc. I can't afford Yggy right now even though I'd love one, because I decided to spend my hard-saved money on upgrading my speakers instead (which will honestly have more impact on the sound than a DAC).

For Schiit, they need to keep things as simple as possible. For others, IMO buy it when you have the money. Credit has its place for certain things, but not with this. Get a low interest credit card or line of credit if you insist on spreading out your payments - Schiit doesn't need to get into this.

 

[anson67]

About coffee...

Am I the only one that thinks Starbucks tastes like burnt ashes?

Probably not but I find Pete's house coffee tastes more like burnt ashes than Starbucks.

Obligatory Schiit topic:

I'll email Schiit if this particular problem persists, but has anyone had issues with the headphone jack on Lyr 2 (or possibly other hp amps with preamp capability) where taking out the headphone plug does not fully switch to line out? Unless I plug the headphones back in and unplug them again I get sound only from the left channel. At first I thought this was a tube problem so I reseated them and tried other tubes but I've narrowed it down to interactions with the headphone jack. A toggle to switch between line out and headphones could come in handy so one doesn't have to unplug the headphones, reducing wear on the jack...

 

[Ableza]

There are all manner of tweaks available for audio and video systems, from power line "upgrades" to boxes of fairy dust and unicorn tears that will remove all the veils from personal aural nirvana. Use them if they float your boat. Don't if they don't. It doesn't matter, ultimately, to what the gear is going to do, although it might matter to *you.*

 

[Ableza]

About coffee...

Am I the only one that thinks Starbucks tastes like burnt ashes?

No, you would be correct in that assessment.

 

[MWSVette]

About coffee...

Am I the only one that thinks Starbucks tastes like burnt ashes?

$4.00+ a cup Schiit, in my personal opinion...

 

[Rensek]

Thanks to all for the insight.

In regards to the power discussion, I paid to get my power line replaced and buried (150 ft) in Sept 2016, I and a neighbor added load, which caused the power Co. To add a larger transformer. 6 houses are fed off it. Would this work have any effect on power quality?

I'm going to be gutting and remodeling my basement starting winter of 18/19, and I would like to take audio quality into account. Would one of them outlets in conjunction with a fancy power strip be worthwhile?

I think Starbucks coffee tastes too acidic if bought brewed from one of their shops. I think their water is too hot. I like it at home, where the Bunn doesn't burn the coffee.

I agree that it's best to try and save for things and pay cash. In the past three years I have spent close to 10 grand on home repairs/remodeling, all cash, mostly DIY. The problem with that is most of my expendable income is going to that area. My ranch style home was built in 1973 and has had very little work done since the early 90's. Im putting up a fence and hoping to re-landscape my front yard this summer to take care of some drainage problems. As such the money i set aside for me is limited, and I refuse to pay interest on my regular credit cards. Payment plans on some good Schiit would be nice (but not necessary).

 

[bmanone]

By pure fortune, I do have a "private" main to my house. I am the only customer on the secondary of a 25 KVA pad mounted transformer, the primary being 14.4 KV fed to it by a 1500 ft underground cable from the street radial. So, any noise I find has to be mostly from my equipment.

I'm not sure the KVA of my transformer (in my yard less than 100 feet from the house), but my house is the only one on it. I don't have any power quality related issues.

 

[Ableza]

re: remodeling the basement for audio. IMO make sure you've got a couple of separate, dedicated circuits available and clearly mark which outlets are on which circuits. This can help you in the future in case you have ground-noise issues. But other than that, for power, just make sure you have enough outlets in the correct locations. I'd worry more about making sure you have no moisture issues and adding enough sound damping to the walls, ceiling and floor.

 

[Rensek]

re: remodeling the basement for audio. IMO make sure you've got a couple of separate, dedicated circuits available and clearly mark which outlets are on which circuits. This can help you in the future in case you have ground-noise issues. But other than that, for power, just make sure you have enough outlets in the correct locations. I'd worry more about making sure you have no moisture issues and adding enough sound damping to the walls, ceiling and floor.

Thanks for the tip, when i buried my cables I had an offpeak box added in, that freed up 2 slots on my regular box. I will be sure to get my audio gear on it's own circuit. Going to build some custom shelves just to hold the 2 channel/home theater setup.

Noob question. When you talk sound dampening are you referring to in wall and ceiling products to reduce sound bleeding through to other areas of the house? Or are you talking about treatments in the room to improve acoustics? Or are they one and the same?

 

[Pietro Cozzi Tinin]

No, you would be correct in that assessment.

There's a good reason Starbucks doesn't work in Italy.
They have one (Milano) and clients are tourists only.
Strictly no Italians.

 

[Ableza]

Noob question. When you talk sound dampening are you referring to in wall and ceiling products to reduce sound bleeding through to other areas of the house? Or are you talking about treatments in the room to improve acoustics? Or are they one and the same?

Good question. You are describing two separate issues. I was talking about the first, making sure the walls and ceilings are sound dampened so they do not transmit noise into adjacent areas and so the room iteslf does not become large resonant space due to vibrating surfaces. This is done many ways, the most common being to isolate the dry wall from the studs, using multiple layers of dry wall and mass loading the walls, and also using proper sound deadening insulation in the walls and ceiling. There are many resources on line describing the various techniques. Floors can be treated the same ways, although using the proper underlayment and carpet is the easiest and cheapest. These are the considerations when building a new dedicated space. Sound dampening using treatments is something to do after the room is built and after the gear and furniture is all installed, and is for in-room acoustics.