I don't know if this topic has been discussed, but being a sucker for cheap tweaks, I installed terminator caps on the unused BNC and XLR digital outputs of my CD player. I would characterize the improvement as sounding sharper and more defined.I confirmed this in blind tests with several young listeners still having good hearing.Very pleased with the results for about $20.
I can hear DUP panting like a junkyard dog and Ethan telling me that it's an illusion.

My little brother just got a new flat in town, and I figured id hook him up with some gear. Ive got an old nad 533(same as rega p2 I believe, rebadged) and an aranov integrated. only thing I dont have is the belt to play 45s on the NAD. any idea where to get one? I am also curious as to what phono stage can be had for great bang to buck ratio(and cartridge..it has a Grado Black MM currently). The table was given to me when I had a fleeting interest in Vinyl(I have none now), and I never touched it.

Just my 2 cents here... the Ayre's design seems truly innovative and idiosyncratic to basically mandate WP's quoting from the manufacturer to some degree. My quibble is that the manufacturer's explanation, quoted verbatim, ran on for pages on end. Was this really necessary? I wish WP could have paraphrased the key elements of the design in his own words, instead of lending so much of the valuable review space to capturing Hansen, word by word.

Too much to see to just post a pic. Here's a link.

Someone posted this room at another site, and I stole the link.

Stephen, you are lucky, I hear that this guy started out with those Toshiba speakers you tried last year.

This is interesting. Listen to the sine-wave speech first, then the clear speech, then the sine-wave speech again.

http://www.boingboing.net/2008/11/04/fun-with-sinewave-sp.html

Now ponder the implications for our hobby!

The Four Truths of Digital:

Truth One: DSD is a 4-8 bit recording system, not 1. This means it gets decimated and oversampled - two things the scheme was trying to avoid in the first place.

Truth Two: 16-bit "audiophile" CDs contain 20-bit level resolution and have since 1993.

Truth Three: The limit of human hearing is 20-bit level resolution.

Truth Four: Digital is hundreds of times lower in distortion vs. analog...but its distortions are spread out spectrally and are hard to pin down. They are removing these, at last, in the latest playback gear.

JPH

For a mere $25 I just picked up off EBay a Sony PS-LX5 direct drive TT with a Ortofon LM20 cart all in great condition. I am listening to it as I type.

I picked it up in Atlanta not really trusting UPS to get it here in one piece. It is at least an 8/10 in terms of the original condition, not in relationship to a Rega P3-24. I will admit the table is quiet and certainly not bright sounding as many DDs can be. The table itself is quite heavy and not like the new lightweight Stanton T60 or T50 I was pondering out of curiosity.