Hi, you have all been so helpful in the past. I am in the midst of switching turntables from my old tech 1200's to a real listening machine. I have decided on the pro-ject 9.1 (a decent $2000 belt drive), with a Sumiko blue point special evo III (MC). This has caused a dilemma as the phone preamp in my Arcam a70 is for a MM. I assume I will need to buy a MC/MM preamp to add some more gain stages to the sumiko cart.. I really like the way this cartridge sounds so going back to MM, I think, is out of the question.

This is prompted in part by the near-war going on in another forum about the Furutech demag.

Audio writers, especially those of the objective data type, talk about 20hz-20khz being the limits of human hearing, excepting the occasional young person (when I was 16, I could clearly hear out to 22khz without more than about a 3db drop).

I have always listened to music from loudspeakers.
Having to go on a around the world flight I deceided to purchase a pair of Shure earphones. Pretty different sound compared to room loudspeakers. Seemed like the sound location was no longer in front of me, but more located right in the center of my head. Kind of neat but also kind of strange.
But what got me thinking, was the often used term here, fast. To me the term fast is meaningless. If a speaker can reproduce the full audio spectrum then it is capabile of going as fast as it needs to be.

This is certainly a weird and wonderful hobby. As I began to plan for retirement a few years ago I decided I needed a retirement audio system, i.e.; a system that would keep me happy for a very long time on a fixed and limited income. So, when we moved to a tax friendly state and settled in 18 months ago, I began to replace my decade old system with newer stuff, PrimaLuna amp, decent cables, and finally, a replacement for my 8 year old Adcom GF750 CD player, a machine that really still sounds better than any DVD based gear I have heard.

i have noticed very recently a number of new posters with under say 20 posts coming on board and immediately or nearly so looking to open old arguments, pitch flack and pick fights with personal insults instead of reasoned commentary (this is my own observation and opinion). i have some questions if anyone is game.

I am looking at some used B&W CDM9 nt floor speakers. I have a Harman Kardon Award Series A500 Tube Amp that is rated 25 watts but probably puts out closer to 35 watts. The B&Ws are rated at 50-200w with 90db sensitivity. I am still unclear about comparing valve watts with solid state, so would my amp have a problem driving these? I am not looking to throw club parties or turn the bass way up. I just hope get some decent sound with my current setup and then upgrade my amp at a later date.