I have auditioned two Verity Audio speakers - the Finn and the Parsifal Ovation. The Parsifal blew me away - it is a wonderful speaker!

At half of the price of the Parsifal, the Rienzi is closer to my budget, but I cannot audition it. Has anyone directly compared the Rienzi to the Parsifal? How much of the Parsifal magic does it capture?

Regards,

Mark

Imagine my surprise when I opened the latest AARP magazine to find an article on the virtues of vinyl playback. It included several references to "vinyl guru Michael Fremer" and quotes from him. Whether you're into vinyl or not, ya gotta give Mikey props for passing his passion for vinyl playback on to as many people as he can. I thought it was a pretty well written article, really highlighting all of the positive aspects of the medium. One part cracked me up though.

Hi All,

I have a pair of Gallo's ref. III and was wondering if anyone has any suggestions on a suitable matching pre-power amp to go with them. Unfortunately I found out that my old B&K is not powerful enough and have damaged the speakers.. not wanting to take any chances I seek for advise from those of you who have some to offer.

Behold the Magico COQ

http://www.magicoq.net/

I must agree.

"Good news is that I truly out did myself this year with my Christmas decorations. The bad news is that I had to take him down after 2 days. I had more people come screaming up to my house than ever.Great stories. But two things made me take it down.

First, the cops advised me that it would cause traffic accidents as they almost wrecked when they drove by.

You guys are going to freak out, but there's a second revival happening alongside the Vinyl Revival: The Cassette Tape Revival.

I know, I know. It's crazy. Cassettes aren't convenient and they don't sound very good. Yet, for about a year now, they've been popping up everywhere I look and their presence is increasing. At shows, online, in stores: Cassettes. Bands are releasing cassettes as follow-ups to vinyl LPs and 7-inches. Take, for instance, this release from Oneida on Scotch Tapes, "the world's worst hi-tech music label ever":

http://myparentswereawesome.tumblr.com

I love this.

I'm having good results with tube gear. I'm wanting to try a tubed amp and have Maggie speakers.

One suggested option is the Zero-Autoformers, which claim to multiply the impedance of a speaker, thus making them easier to drive. Anyone have experience with these?

http://www.audioasylum.com/cgi/t.mpl?f=general&m=555716

if you own one, congratulations on having taste in audio gear at least as good as mine.

My question regards the optional onboard phono stage. Basically, how good is it? How does it stack up to the external "budget" PhonoBox from Pro-ject? And would it be a worthwhile upgrade to the Arcam internal from the Pro-ject?

Thanks.