What New Stuff Have You Bought? If You Care To Share Thead! :)

[3db]

I finally broke down and bought this for my turntable

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I was tired of having to wash my hands and move the belt to the other part of the pully to play 45s. I don't expect to hear a sound improvement from a better speed stability perspective that this box supposedly offers.

I received an email last week stating that they no longer have them in stock nor will they receive any new ones because its been discontinued.

 

[adk highlander]

I received an email last week stating that they no longer have them in stock nor will they receive any new ones because its been discontinued.

That stinks. Going to try eBay?

 

[KenM10759]

Where are you located? My dealer in tax-free New Hampshire might have one, I could check.

 

[3db]

Where are you located? My dealer in tax-free New Hampshire might have one, I could check.

Ontario Canada. If he's willing to ship, Im interested.

 

[3db]

That stinks. Going to try eBay?

Agreed. Im using hifishark.com to scour the internet for sites like ebay

 

[Eppie]

Ontario Canada. If he's willing to ship, Im interested.

Hey, a fellow Canuck. There are quite a few Pro-Ject dealers in Ontario if you want to look locally.
https://www.project-audio.com/en/find-a-dealer/

 

[Kvn_Walker]

PSB Stratus Goldi's!

Got these from the original owner.. had to make a 500+mile round trip. But they are in immaculate condition. I paid a little more than the median going price I've seen, but it was worth it for the like-new condition.

But here's the thing... when I got them home and started listening to them in the living room... they sucked! WTF happened to the sound I heard in the owner's house? I mean if I cranked them really loud it was nice, but my receiver got very hot.

So I recalled that the seller had his fed by a Parasound HCA series amp. I had heard that these need a really robust amplifier, but I guess the proof's in the pudding.

That revelation then led to...

 

[ryanosaur]

PSB Stratus Goldi's!

View attachment 44868

Got these from the original owner.. had to make a 500+mile round trip. But they are in immaculate condition. I paid a little more than the median going price I've seen, but it was worth it for the like-new condition.

But here's the thing... when I got them home and started listening to them in the living room... they sucked! WTF happened to the sound I heard in the owner's house? I mean if I cranked them really loud it was nice, but my receiver got very hot.

So I recalled that the seller had his fed by a Parasound HCA series amp. I had heard that these need a really robust amplifier, but I guess the proof's in the pudding.

That revelation then led to...

Another 500+ mile round trip to buy his used amp?
#synergy!

 

[Kvn_Walker]

led to...

Niles SI-275!

Okay so this has to be the most ridiculously good thing going in hifi right now. For $100 plus shipping on ebay I have a high-current amplifier, stable down to 2.7 ohms, with audio-sensing auto turn on and daisy chain RCA output, and over 100 clean w/p/c at 4 ohms!

And it doesn't look out of place in an AV or hifi system, to boot!

So, unfortunately I found out the hard way that the Denon DRA-800h (yeah I bought a 2-channel AVR; I'm that guy ) doesn't have a true preamp output. Don't even get me started on that "Zone 2" bullsh!t. It is not the same, and you can't make it the same. Ultimately I had to get a 1/4 headphone to stereo RCA cable in order to preamp the Niles.

Bu... oh... damn...

THAT is exactly what the doctor ordered for the Stratus Gold's! Suddenly everything I had read about these speakers came to life. With good amplification behind them they are true beasts.

And even after jamming out to tunes and playing the action scenes from Netflix' "Outside the Wire" at house-shaking levels, the amp wasn't even warm to the touch. Insane.

Probably going to replace the Denon with a Marantz NR1200, which has a true preamp output. That way I get to keep HEOS. I don't like the headphone jack hookup and I wouldn't mind being able to bi-amp the PSB's.

 

[Kvn_Walker]

Today our custom combination dog crate/entertainment center got delivered!

A guy in Yorktown has his barn converted into a woodworking shop and he built us this. It's solid poplar from top to bottom, and the top platform is 6' wide and 2' deep. His workmanship is amazing. If anyone in SE VA area wants his info, by all means let me know by PM.

It wasn't cheap, but it also wasn't Chinese. One of those things you buy once and enjoy forever.

 

[JengaHit]

PSB Stratus Goldi's!

View attachment 44868

Got these from the original owner.. had to make a 500+mile round trip. But they are in immaculate condition. I paid a little more than the median going price I've seen, but it was worth it for the like-new condition.

But here's the thing... when I got them home and started listening to them in the living room... they sucked! WTF happened to the sound I heard in the owner's house? I mean if I cranked them really loud it was nice, but my receiver got very hot.

So I recalled that the seller had his fed by a Parasound HCA series amp. I had heard that these need a really robust amplifier, but I guess the proof's in the pudding.

That revelation then led to...

Nice! My friend had those back in the day (90s). I recall them sounding very dynamic with impressive midrange presence--esp vocals. He was using Sonic Frontiers monoblocks to drive them. You can always get a Monoprice Monolith 2x200 amp ($1099), provided your receiver has pre-amp outs with adequate output voltage.

Edit: Didn't see your post on the Niles. Problem solved.

 

[afterlife2]

Today our custom combination dog crate/entertainment center got delivered!

View attachment 44871
View attachment 44872
View attachment 44873
View attachment 44874

A guy in Yorktown has his barn converted into a woodworking shop and he built us this. It's solid poplar from top to bottom, and the top platform is 6' wide and 2' deep. His workmanship is amazing. If anyone in SE VA area wants his info, by all means let me know by PM.

It wasn't cheap, but it also wasn't Chinese. One of those things you buy once and enjoy forever.

Where the hell are the fans!? I got a fuzzy feeling. Man what a lucky pup.

 

[KenM10759]

Hey, a fellow Canuck. There are quite a few Pro-Ject dealers in Ontario if you want to look locally.
https://www.project-audio.com/en/find-a-dealer/

Sorry, they didn't have one.

If they did, he said he would look into shipping so I asked him to check with the US distributor of Pro-Ject stuff.

 

[Kvn_Walker]

Since I've moved on past the "audiophile speaker feet" mythos, I've been using Penn Elcom 9106 feet on all my speakers. Large, tough, hard rubber. You can get a pack of 8 off ebay for about $25 shipped.

I recommend to use a 1" o.d. washer so the screws don't dig into the rubber itself.

 

[JengaHit]

Since I've moved on past the "audiophile speaker feet" mythos, I've been using Penn Elcom 9106 feet on all my speakers. Large, tough, hard rubber. You can get a pack of 8 off ebay for about $25 shipped.

View attachment 44900
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I recommend to use a 1" o.d. washer so the screws don't dig into the rubber itself.

Von Schweikert VR-33s? How do you like them?

 

[Kvn_Walker]

Von Schweikert VR-33s? How do you like them?

They were great! But it was an impulse buy that shouldn't have happened. I really didn't have anywhere to use them, once I unpacked my main speakers. I sold them recently. I did a comparison with the Allison CD-9's while I owned them both simultaneously but I never got around to editing and posting it. I wish there were more designs made for the front wall.

 

[Eppie]

Today our custom combination dog crate/entertainment center got delivered!

A guy in Yorktown has his barn converted into a woodworking shop and he built us this. It's solid poplar from top to bottom, and the top platform is 6' wide and 2' deep. His workmanship is amazing. If anyone in SE VA area wants his info, by all means let me know by PM.

It wasn't cheap, but it also wasn't Chinese. One of those things you buy once and enjoy forever.

Nice! I'm a fan of natural wood as well. The cabinet in my HT photos is solid maple made by a local Mennonite craftsman. The only downside is that it's a bear to pick up and move away from the wall to access the cables.

 

[Gmoney]

Soon to be added! 2125v,2

 

[Gmoney]

Man I can't stop eating these things!! Not Sorry!

 

[cpp]

Got this for the home, has a decent audio tone, "Loud" requires headphones LOL.