The problem with heat is it takes time to generate. While this is taking place, you are losing transient energy and decay in your music. These products do well to show you an improvement, but they also come at some serious costs to the energy of the music. Sometimes you don't realize this...
Personally I find the online classifieds to be a business-builder. I take in trades from clients and help them get into products I carry. Then, I sell their products online and local sales have the buyer drop by my demo space and experience what I do. It creates a chain reaction and word of...
Being an Usher dealer, I find the R1.5 to be more neutral with maybe slight warmth to it - not really rich and weighty. It does 'warm up' though after 24-48 hours of continuous power.
I'm not sure if they are available in your area or how close to budget (should be close), but the Dayens Ecstasy III is a fine piece that scales well in higher end systems. They work closely with Trafomatic and use some of their transformers in the Dayens products.
If I am trying to understand a new room, I will make large adjustments (8-12” at a time) until I feel comfortable. Once you have a general area to work with it becomes easier and the movements become smaller and smaller. I also play with on axis and no toe in. These tactics just give you...
This thread brings a smile to my face king. I feel like the higher you climb up the audio ladder the easier it is to get jaded. It’s like we forget to look down to see how far up we have actually come.
I have clients who save for months for a $500 component and I have others who can drop five...
What you seem to be describing is a forward sound. Perhaps try moving your listening position towards the speaker instead of adjusting speaker placement. You may have to slightly reposition the speakers to accommodate your new angle.
I prefer a more forward soundstage and find myself often...
From my experience depth is the second hardest thing to recreate with a system. The most difficult is the ability to throw the sound out towards and even behind the listener when the recording calls for it. When this happens you get an incredible atmosphere that even non enthusiasts can hear...
I’m talking low electrical and mechanical noise, not so much jitter (not to downplay its importance). This is why I like streaming transports as they reduce the amount of electrical devices within the units.
I’m not sure if it’s a unique stance, but I’ve come to really enjoy integrated amps...
I believe a low noise streamer is the way to get this accomplished. I find software to be a limiting factor which might be why cd still sounds better. I can say that the streaming front end I have had converted a handful of analog enthusiasts to digital.
Lumin works well with tidal. I prefer tidal over Qobuz on their units and so do my clients. The U1 Mini is a nice budget friendly streaming transport that has served me very well.
I'll share my thoughts on your situation. For me, I find there is detail, and then there is texture. Detail seems to be fatiguing as it is commonly created by that hi-fi hump in the upper midrange. Texture, on the other hand, is not fatiguing and basically provides clarity at all frequencies...
My point on XLR/RCA is that a designer will choose to prioritize one over the other if both are offered. One will ideally be a better connection depending on how it was designed.
It’s no different than single ended vs xlr in the analog world. The difference in digital is some technologies are limited in what they can transfer.
Much of this, to me, seems to more about what the end user wants and will implement more than what is ideal. I would say find a streamer that...
I’m nowhere near the pro level of our main contributor but I’ve been playing with Macro recently and thought I’d share. These are straight from the camera.
Is it their ability to ‘sell’ a product? Absolute transparency? Technical prowess? Golden ears? Product discovery?
When you read (or watch) a review, what is it about the content that makes you want to come back and take in more of that creator’s work?
The U1 Mini is cheaper and superior in sound to the Aries G1. The Aries only beats the Lumin in weight, multi color screen, and having WiFi. Digital hash is far, far less in the Lumin products.
If you are on a budget try to locate a used Autalic Aries Mini or an original Aries. If you can afford a little more serious streamer the Lumin U1 Mini is great - it’s my best selling Lumin product.
Bluesound makes decent products but they dont scale well with better systems.
I feel like you guys are making this too complex, or maybe my concept is just too simple.
When I think of blackness I think of the system, not the room. There are two types of noises I classify in a component: electrical and mechanical. Electrical is something you don’t necessarily hear, but...
I use tidal and Qobuz mostly as they sound better than my stored files. Lumin has a server, allows usb storage, and can pull from anywhere on your network.
:D
When he was talking about possibly rebranding I told him he should name the company ‘Brass n Mass’.
The spikes on the platforms face upwards and the coupling caps go on top. This allows transfer of energy without damaging gear.
Lumin U1 Mini is what I use and haven’t felt the need to upgrade to the U1 based off its performance. It’s a stellar transport. I find the Lumin app to also sound better than the Roon app and it also doesn’t require a slave computer to operate. I like Roon as an interface - its unequaled - but...
Please elaborate if you don’t mind? Were they older models? I’ve found them to be completely neutral. If you went from wood to his platforms I could see them being strident given the colorations most wood provides.
Have you heard of Star Sound Technologies? His platforms are designed specifically to maximize mechanical grounding and minimize the effects of absorption and isolation.