Do you know where I can find an AMP like this one?

[lovinthehd]

When you say there require maintenance, do they need to be cleaned? Replaced? Tuned?

Watched for degradation, and yes they need replacement. Altho in a decorative pre-amp maybe not so much, more about the glow in that case.

 

[JCanada]

Watched for degradation, and yes they need replacement. Altho in a decorative pre-amp maybe not so much, more about the glow in that case.

Understood.

 

[JCanada]

Brands like Nordost, MIT, Fraudioquest, Synergistic and many other audiophool brands are to be avoided. Many generic cables are fine. Monoprice has a good selection, or maybe WBC or even BlueJeansCable. Mostly about construction and suitability to purpose than brand. Or just get your own cable stock and make your own....

Indeed. i have a few Blue Jeans speaker cables. I made my own cables as well. Monoprice 10guage wire with Nakamichi banana plugs.

 

[highfigh]

Yes, i admit, I do not read the other forum posts. Guilty as charged.
My $1000.00/$1100.00 budget was devoted for the amp/pre-amp. The budget for my upgrade IN TOTAL is $5K. Yeah, you're right, maybe I should spend more time researching on these forums. Let me know if you want to weigh in on my following question:
I have another question.
An analogue 2 channel tube pre-amp form Schitt, the FREYA +, has 2 sets of RCA outs. Can I use one set of RCA pre outs to my sub, and another set of RCA pre outs to my power amplifier?

Does that unit have the ability to limit the low frequncies going to the main speakers and allow selection of the low ferquencies going to the sub? I don't see that in the manual- that would be ideal, especially if they offer some kind of phase alignment. Some subs have phase alignment (the 0-180 degree control is preferred over the simple switch) but not all.

 

[highfigh]

Audioquest chocolate I think. Or the evergreen ones. I did not even ask the price. They are pricey, I believe. I did like the tube pre-amp he was hocking though. It was the Schitt FREYA +. I think I could use both an external DAC, power amp, and a sub.
I have another question.
The analogue 2 channel tube pre-amp form Schitt, the FREYA +, has 2 sets of RCA outs. Can I use one set of RCA pre outs to my sub, and another set of RCA pre outs to my power amplifier?

Search for DAC comparisons, but make sure the manufacturers aren't sponsors of the magazines.

That brand is often referred to with a disparaging addition to the name- read Gene's test review of AudioQuest cables.

The price is abusive for those cables. The batteries and their wires aren't actually part of the cable's conductors and because they don't form a circuit, it's hard to see how they do what is claimed.

I have a friend who worked for defense contractors, in missile guidance systems and testing. They require nuclear hardening, which is designed-in immunity to the electromagnetic interference from nuclear blasts, which is far stronger than anything we or our cables can survive. I went with him to pick up some musical instrument gear from a friends' house and all of them worked for the same contractor. I asked for their opinion of cables with batteries and they agreed that the voltage could be helpful if it was used to create active shielding, but as soon as I mentioned the batteries, they looked at me like they were dogs watching TV, with their heads tilted. They're all Electrical Engineers.

Search AudioHolics for threads and comments about 'special' cables and read what Gene has to say- he is a Communications Engineer, after all.

I was working for a stereo store when 'special' cabling began- the first speaker wire had thick, clear insulation and all that did was make the conductors appear to be huge. The wire itself was just 12ga or 10ga and the PVC insulation caused the Copper to react and degrade. NExt, came Munster Cables- the son of the founder of that company was asked for his opinion and he said "My father created a solution for a problem that didn't exist".

Save your money- stick with Belden, Canare, etc cable if you want a name brand- you won't be disappointed unless someone preconditions you in a listening test by telling you what you'll hear. That's an old trick, to get people to buy things and it often includes "Oh, you can't hear it? Listen again".

 

[Verdinut]

IMO, Monoprice cables do the job as they conduct electricity as well as more expensive ones. It's only a question of using adequate wire gauge to avoid excessive resistance.

 

[JCanada]

IMO, Monoprice cables do the job as they conduct electricity as well as more expensive ones. It's only a question of using adequate wire gauge.

thanks.

 

[JCanada]

Search for DAC comparisons, but make sure the manufacturers aren't sponsors of the magazines.

That brand is often referred to with a disparaging addition to the name- read Gene's test review of AudioQuest cables.

The price is abusive for those cables. The batteries and their wires aren't actually part of the cable's conductors and because they don't form a circuit, it's hard to see how they do what is claimed.

I have a friend who worked for defense contractors, in missile guidance systems and testing. They require nuclear hardening, which is designed-in immunity to the electromagnetic interference from nuclear blasts, which is far stronger than anything we or our cables can survive. I went with him to pick up some musical instrument gear from a friends' house and all of them worked for the same contractor. I asked for their opinion of cables with batteries and they agreed that the voltage could be helpful if it was used to create active shielding, but as soon as I mentioned the batteries, they looked at me like they were dogs watching TV, with their heads tilted. They're all Electrical Engineers.

Search AudioHolics for threads and comments about 'special' cables and read what Gene has to say- he is a Communications Engineer, after all.

I was working for a stereo store when 'special' cabling began- the first speaker wire had thick, clear insulation and all that did was make the conductors appear to be huge. The wire itself was just 12ga or 10ga and the PVC insulation caused the Copper to react and degrade. NExt, came Munster Cables- the son of the founder of that company was asked for his opinion and he said "My father created a solution for a problem that didn't exist".

Save your money- stick with Belden, Canare, etc cable if you want a name brand- you won't be disappointed unless someone preconditions you in a listening test by telling you what you'll hear. That's an old trick, to get people to buy things and it often includes "Oh, you can't hear it? Listen again".

Appreciated.

 

[JCanada]

Does that unit have the ability to limit the low frequncies going to the main speakers and allow selection of the low ferquencies going to the sub? I don't see that in the manual- that would be ideal, especially if they offer some kind of phase alignment. Some subs have phase alignment (the 0-180 degree control is preferred over the simple switch) but not all.

Another question. An employee at the audio shop is selling me a OREI Matrix HDMI switcher splitter. He said my new DAC has an HDMI input, so I should use that HDMI input instead of the optical input. I should then run the DAC to the analogue pre-amp, then the pre-amp to the power amp. I understood the 2nd and 3rd steps. I don't understand how the HDMI switch/splitter works. I have a Sony TV, with eARC HDMI going to an Onkyo AVR. The employee told me that the Sony's eARC HDMI cable goes out of the TV and into the OREI HDMI switcher eARC input, then, OREI Matrix HDMI switcher will run one HDMI cable out to he AVR, and another HDMI cable out to the brand new DAC.
I ask you this: What do you think of this? Am I getting fleeced? Or is this a good setup/upgrade?

 

[JCanada]

Watched for degradation, and yes they need replacement. Altho in a decorative pre-amp maybe not so much, more about the glow in that case.

Another question. An employee at the audio shop is selling me a OREI Matrix HDMI switcher splitter. He said my new DAC has an HDMI input, so I should use that HDMI input instead of the optical input. I should then run the DAC to the analogue pre-amp, then the pre-amp to the power amp. I understood the 2nd and 3rd steps. I don't understand how the HDMI switch/splitter works. I have a Sony TV, with eARC HDMI going to an Onkyo AVR. The employee told me that the Sony's eARC HDMI cable goes out of the TV and into the OREI HDMI switcher eARC input, then, OREI Matrix HDMI switcher will run one HDMI cable out to he AVR, and another HDMI cable out to the brand new DAC.
I ask you this: What do you think of this? Am I getting fleeced? Or is this a good setup/upgrade?

 

[ski2xblack]

Am I getting fleeced?

Overpriced cabling, preamp that employs tubes (probably overpriced, as well as having dubious merit and lacks features that actually will make a difference, e.g. bass management)...compared to genuine improvements, such as speaker and sub upgrades, the magic wire and limited function tube pre are lateral moves at best, if not a step or three backwards. So, yeah, you're a salesman's dream come true.

Or is this a good setup/upgrade?

Upgrade from what specifically? What do you have now? What are your current rigs limitations or shortcomings? What are you hoping to achieve?

 

[lovinthehd]

Another question. An employee at the audio shop is selling me a OREI Matrix HDMI switcher splitter. He said my new DAC has an HDMI input, so I should use that HDMI input instead of the optical input. I should then run the DAC to the analogue pre-amp, then the pre-amp to the power amp. I understood the 2nd and 3rd steps. I don't understand how the HDMI switch/splitter works. I have a Sony TV, with eARC HDMI going to an Onkyo AVR. The employee told me that the Sony's eARC HDMI cable goes out of the TV and into the OREI HDMI switcher eARC input, then, OREI Matrix HDMI switcher will run one HDMI cable out to he AVR, and another HDMI cable out to the brand new DAC.
I ask you this: What do you think of this? Am I getting fleeced? Or is this a good setup/upgrade?

You said your two ch rig was separate from your avr so why use this switch? All ARC does generally is allows Audio Return Channel in the hdmi cable so that you can use audio originating in the tv. Do you originate audio in your tv? Easier to just run hdmi sources into your avr then out to your tv from avr (and in the case of audio originating in the tv, you can still use the same setup).

 

[highfigh]

I will be honest. The store owner showed me the FREYA. I never seen this pre-amp before he showed it to me.

He was doing what a good owner/salesman should- show potential customers things they aren't familiar with- stores sell different brands and models for a reason- they know that one store's price will be different and it's less cutthroat. Nobody wants to sell against five or more stores that sell the same brands & models because at some point, the price is gonna drop and that's a deep hole to dig out of.

 

[highfigh]

Being honest once again: the GLOWING tubes, and the fact that I can change them.

Tubes can be really good, but the differences between them can be very subtle, if audible, at all. Outut tubes can easily blot out the benefits of preamp tubes and they do vary in sound. One thing to be careful about- when the verbal description of the sound of one amp or another becomes filled with strange adjectives, it's time to run away.

Watch this video- it's about 12AX7 tubes for guitar amps, but he makes some good points about how different they can be, or not.

Then, the point that an amp or preamp has more than one tube in the signal path, so the differences can be clouded by that.

I'm not trying to say that I don't like tubes- I do, for some uses. I have owned several guitar amps with tubes and a couple that are solid state- for that, I only use tubess but the solid state stereo amplifiers I have owned sound better than the tube stereo amplifiers, the sound of which degraded over time as the tubes aged and the current to them affected them differently and that's another point to consider- do you want to be required to have the equipment serviced periodically, or do you want to use it? I worked at a music store more than 50 years ago and started working for a stereo store in Feb, 1978- we had someone who would come into the music store to pick up equipment to be serviced- I Iearned a lot from him and at the other places I worked for all had service departments, some with people who had worked with tube equipment for a long time. I learned from all, but the one thing that overrides my enthusiasm for tube equipment is the knowledge that it will need service sooner than most solid state equipment.

The look, smell and often warm sound from tubes is great, but at this point, finding a good service tech is becoming difficult. In some places, it's incredibly difficult- nobody wants to pay for shipping if something isn't repairable at the store and needs to be sent somewhere else. If it was designed and built outside of your country, it might be a bumpy ride. I have worked continuously in audio and AV/Home Theater for more than 50 years- used to be that we had many repair shops, then they dropped out one by one. Last Fall, the shop that did service work for almost all stereo stores and who was authorized to repairs for most brands in the SE part of Wisconsin closed. Now, everyone is either not taking equipment in for service, scrambling and hoping a new guy can do it or finding out they made a mistake by trusting someone who couldn't deliver on their promises.

Call around to find a good service tech- I don't know where you live, but maybe some stores can recommend someone.

People have aged out of the service end of the business and manay have passed on- those of us who have been in the business for decades are saddened by the fact that this job is no longer a decent path as a career.

 

[highfigh]

Audioquest cables are NOT worth their price tag?

They have/had 6' stereo cables with 48V or 72V power packs, one listed for $4999.95, the other was $6999.95. There's no mistake in the price I posted. I have seen the dealer price list- I won't disclose the cost, but it's a 'get rich quick' scheme for everyone.

A company I worked for switched from Munster Cables to Audioquest and that must have looked really good from a financial standpoint because they sold more $ in Munster Cable than any single store company in the US. They have a display on a wall with various cables, with the price for each- if $1500 for a 6' long HDMI cable seems reasonable, I don't know what to say. AQ claims that the batteries improve the audio quality. In a cable that passes ALL digital signals and a bit of DC, but not from the batteries.

I began work designing and installing a system for a customer in late-2006 and he decided that he wanted a tube amp for the speakers in his living room. OK, I found a way to make that happen, as well as allowing listening to the same music in all rooms. He asked about audio cables and at the time, I hadn't 'listened to' various cables in critical listening tests because A) it takes a good amount ot time, B) I wasn't going to pay for a bunch of expensive cables and they're not returnable and C) it's hard to find a place & system for this. On the recommendation of a sales rep, I ordered a set of Ixos cables with XLR ends, because the preamp and new to him power amp has that kind of jacks. I also have cables with these, but they're much longer- this should make zero difference, based on the design and intent of the circuits and equipment which requires them.

My Audio Technica mic cables don't have a brand name for the actual cable, only showing 'Audio Technica' but the Ixos disgusted me. They came in a very nice box and they had no-name XLR ends, braided rtanslucent Nylon (or whatever) sleeve with one white, one black and one green wire that were braided. No twisted pair at the center, no foil shield, no separate drain wire tht connects to Pin1, which is used for grounding. The AT cables came with the microphones I bought, the Ixos cables were $400. I could have made them for ten bucks and yes, I can braid.

I listened to both, instructing the other person to change them, or not, so I wouldn't know and he couldn't tell me if he changed them- he had worked in audio, so he understood how blind testing needs to work. Same songs, same audio level, no difference that I could discern. I offered to return the cables when the customer asked if they were better, but he just said "At the end of the day, $400 isn't worth worrying about". I read the rep the riot act the first chance I got (not too bad, but he got the point).

IIRC, the movie 'Citizen Kane' has a line- "Making money is easy if all you want to do is make money".

 

[TLS Guy]

Another question. An employee at the audio shop is selling me a OREI Matrix HDMI switcher splitter. He said my new DAC has an HDMI input, so I should use that HDMI input instead of the optical input. I should then run the DAC to the analogue pre-amp, then the pre-amp to the power amp. I understood the 2nd and 3rd steps. I don't understand how the HDMI switch/splitter works. I have a Sony TV, with eARC HDMI going to an Onkyo AVR. The employee told me that the Sony's eARC HDMI cable goes out of the TV and into the OREI HDMI switcher eARC input, then, OREI Matrix HDMI switcher will run one HDMI cable out to he AVR, and another HDMI cable out to the brand new DAC.
I ask you this: What do you think of this? Am I getting fleeced? Or is this a good setup/upgrade?

This thread is a road we have been down before. The problem is many people are misled by the so called high end press and dealers. What we call here audiophoolery.

As Peter Walker of Quad said when all this started, "Wire is Wire.' He was right then and will always be right.

So, rule one, don't waste money on exotic expensive cables. They will only improve sound in your imagination.

Next, it is totally false that tube amps are superior to solid state ones. So don't go wasting money on tube amps, no matter how fancy they look. Their ship sailed a long time ago.

Tube amps have an output transformer and so have a relatively high output impedance, so that makes them inclined to follow the impedance of the speakers. In the heyday of tubes speakers had output impedances of 15 or 16 ohms. This made the high output impedance less of a problem. Now speakers are often four ohms or less. Solid state devices are good at producing large currents and tubes are not. So most speakers today do not suite to tube amps. Tube amps can not deliver the power of solid state amps.

What you need is to choose good reliable gear. There is nothing wrong with a good two channel system and sub. The problem is the industry as 2 channel devices with proper bass management are hard to find, and that needs to change.

You are very unlikely to hear differences between Dacs. so stop worrying about that.

In any system the sound of the speakers is totally dominant. So choose them very carefully.

 

[isolar8001]

You are very unlikely to hear differences between Dacs. so stop worrying about that.

This whole thread looks to be based around DACphoolery, so it's probably too late for that !
Amazing how much trouble 20 bucks worth of DAC chips can cause

 

[JCanada]

This thread is a road we have been down before. The problem is many people are misled by the so called high end press and dealers. What we call here audiophoolery.

As Peter Walker of Quad said when all this started, "Wire is Wire.' He was right then and will always be right.

So, rule one, don't waste money on exotic expensive cables. They will only improve sound in your imagination.

Next, it is totally false that tube amps are superior to solid state ones. So don't go wasting money on tube amps, no matter how fancy they look. Their ship sailed a long time ago.

Tube amps have an output transformer and so have a relatively high output impedance, so that makes them inclined to follow the impedance of the speakers. In the heyday of tubes speakers had output impedances of 15 or 16 ohms. This made the high output impedance less of a problem. Now speakers are often four ohms or less. Solid state devices are good at producing large currents and tubes are not. So most speakers today do not suite to tube amps. Tube amps can not deliver the power of solid state amps.

What you need is to choose good reliable gear. There is nothing wrong with a good two channel system and sub. The problem is the industry as 2 channel devices with proper bass management are hard to find, and that needs to change.

You are very unlikely to hear differences between Dacs. so stop worrying about that.

In any system the sound of the speakers is totally dominant. So choose them very carefully.

Appreciated.

 

[JCanada]

They have/had 6' stereo cables with 48V or 72V power packs, one listed for $4999.95, the other was $6999.95. There's no mistake in the price I posted. I have seen the dealer price list- I won't disclose the cost, but it's a 'get rich quick' scheme for everyone.

A company I worked for switched from Munster Cables to Audioquest and that must have looked really good from a financial standpoint because they sold more $ in Munster Cable than any single store company in the US. They have a display on a wall with various cables, with the price for each- if $1500 for a 6' long HDMI cable seems reasonable, I don't know what to say. AQ claims that the batteries improve the audio quality. In a cable that passes ALL digital signals and a bit of DC, but not from the batteries.

I began work designing and installing a system for a customer in late-2006 and he decided that he wanted a tube amp for the speakers in his living room. OK, I found a way to make that happen, as well as allowing listening to the same music in all rooms. He asked about audio cables and at the time, I hadn't 'listened to' various cables in critical listening tests because A) it takes a good amount ot time, B) I wasn't going to pay for a bunch of expensive cables and they're not returnable and C) it's hard to find a place & system for this. On the recommendation of a sales rep, I ordered a set of Ixos cables with XLR ends, because the preamp and new to him power amp has that kind of jacks. I also have cables with these, but they're much longer- this should make zero difference, based on the design and intent of the circuits and equipment which requires them.

My Audio Technica mic cables don't have a brand name for the actual cable, only showing 'Audio Technica' but the Ixos disgusted me. They came in a very nice box and they had no-name XLR ends, braided rtanslucent Nylon (or whatever) sleeve with one white, one black and one green wire that were braided. No twisted pair at the center, no foil shield, no separate drain wire tht connects to Pin1, which is used for grounding. The AT cables came with the microphones I bought, the Ixos cables were $400. I could have made them for ten bucks and yes, I can braid.

I listened to both, instructing the other person to change them, or not, so I wouldn't know and he couldn't tell me if he changed them- he had worked in audio, so he understood how blind testing needs to work. Same songs, same audio level, no difference that I could discern. I offered to return the cables when the customer asked if they were better, but he just said "At the end of the day, $400 isn't worth worrying about". I read the rep the riot act the first chance I got (not too bad, but he got the point).

IIRC, the movie 'Citizen Kane' has a line- "Making money is easy if all you want to do is make money".

Education. Thanks.

 

[JCanada]

Tubes can be really good, but the differences between them can be very subtle, if audible, at all. Outut tubes can easily blot out the benefits of preamp tubes and they do vary in sound. One thing to be careful about- when the verbal description of the sound of one amp or another becomes filled with strange adjectives, it's time to run away.

Watch this video- it's about 12AX7 tubes for guitar amps, but he makes some good points about how different they can be, or not.

Then, the point that an amp or preamp has more than one tube in the signal path, so the differences can be clouded by that.

I'm not trying to say that I don't like tubes- I do, for some uses. I have owned several guitar amps with tubes and a couple that are solid state- for that, I only use tubess but the solid state stereo amplifiers I have owned sound better than the tube stereo amplifiers, the sound of which degraded over time as the tubes aged and the current to them affected them differently and that's another point to consider- do you want to be required to have the equipment serviced periodically, or do you want to use it? I worked at a music store more than 50 years ago and started working for a stereo store in Feb, 1978- we had someone who would come into the music store to pick up equipment to be serviced- I Iearned a lot from him and at the other places I worked for all had service departments, some with people who had worked with tube equipment for a long time. I learned from all, but the one thing that overrides my enthusiasm for tube equipment is the knowledge that it will need service sooner than most solid state equipment.

The look, smell and often warm sound from tubes is great, but at this point, finding a good service tech is becoming difficult. In some places, it's incredibly difficult- nobody wants to pay for shipping if something isn't repairable at the store and needs to be sent somewhere else. If it was designed and built outside of your country, it might be a bumpy ride. I have worked continuously in audio and AV/Home Theater for more than 50 years- used to be that we had many repair shops, then they dropped out one by one. Last Fall, the shop that did service work for almost all stereo stores and who was authorized to repairs for most brands in the SE part of Wisconsin closed. Now, everyone is either not taking equipment in for service, scrambling and hoping a new guy can do it or finding out they made a mistake by trusting someone who couldn't deliver on their promises.

Call around to find a good service tech- I don't know where you live, but maybe some stores can recommend someone.

People have aged out of the service end of the business and manay have passed on- those of us who have been in the business for decades are saddened by the fact that this job is no longer a decent path as a career.

Thanks again.