i am thinking to go with the Onkyo A-9555 integrated amplifier. i am leaning toward this because it has the Direct Audio feature, it has no digital screen, therefore less interference with sound quality, and it has sufficient power for my room size 85 watts x 2. i am looking for a 2 channel stereo amplifier. which will be used for audio only. is there anything that comes close to this Onkyo amplifier in the price range of $600.

i am looking into the Onkyo A-9555 integrated amplifier. i wanted to know what are the best speakers in the $500-600 USD range i can use on this system.

Hi,

A pair of Altec Lansing "Voice of the Theater" speakers was put for sale on my local Craigslist for $500. These are the Heathkit version. Are they worth it at this price? My room isn't huge so I'm not sure it would make sense to buy them. I've heard good things about these speakers, and they seem to have quite a following on the Internet, but I worry that my money might be better spent on a smaller pair that's better suited to my room.

The Craigslist listing is here.

While ripping CD's with Exact Audio Copy to transfer to my music server I discovered something interesting. My copy of Patricia Barber's "Cafe Blue" ( Blue Note Records - non HDCD version) would not rip. EAC would try and try, slow down to 0.1x speed and would finally give up trying to fix all the errors.

Hello Everyone,
Nice place you have here, this is my first post. I started reading Stereophile when Stereo Review changed to Sound and Vision.

I have around 500 LPs but never play them.
Whenever I play my turntable even at low levels the drivers on my floorstanding Proac speakers move in and out violently.
This can't be good for them. This does not happen at all with the cd player even at loud levels.

Hi,

I've been wondering ... for the "best" audio, is it better to go with coaxial cable or optical cable?

Thanks!