Listening #66

Listening #66

The subject comes up every now and then: Audio reviewers don't write nearly enough negative reviews. One old attention-seeker on Audio Asylum went so far as to characterize <I>Stereophile</I> and our would-be competitors as "happy face" magazines&mdash;a joke in which he seemed to take tremendous pride&mdash;simply because we hand out a lot of As and Bs. By that logic, assuming that a certain percentage of underachievers is inevitable in any population, our schools aren't handing out nearly enough Fs. (I have a suggestion for where they can begin.)

Suggestions for budget amp+cd player

Hello,
I had a ~3000$ (CAD) budget for my stereo system.
I spent a good amount of that budget on new speakers. The Paradigm studio 100. Please don't bother telling me that was a wong move, I just fell in love with those speakers!

Thant being said, it leaves me with ~800$ ( lets say i can go a little bit over budget, maybe up to 1000$) for my amp and CD player. Does anyone have a good suggestion?
I was maybe thinking about the cambridge 640 amp +cd combo...

Thanks for all your help!

Nakamichi SoundSpace 21

Hi, I'm new to stereophile so if I'm posting in the wrong forum, I apologize. Currently my friend is selling off a Nakamichi Soundspace 21 and I was considering on making the purchase. Does neone know how much the going rate is for the used system? ( the system is in mint condition ) Is it even worth purchasing this set? I couldn't find any reviews anywhere on this home system. It'd be of great help if anyone can provide me with some advice. Thanks in advance!

So how do hi res digital files work?

I was reading in the new mag about playing hi res digital files via a PC running XP and an outboard DAC.

How does this work? Are there SACD drives for PCs? (Mine won't read SACD...) iTunes won't rip/playback anything higher res than redbook. So what player does one use?

I have a m-audio firewire 410 interface, which has digital outs. Supposedly it will do 24b 192k output. I have a PS Audio DL3 (with cullen mods). It sounds very nice with 16b 44.1k ripped to apple lossless.

Sony cd Players

Iv been reading about some Sony cd players like Sony Scd1,XA7ES,SCD77ES,XA777ES and people seem to rave about them. My brother In law was telling me that you can't go wrong, they sound great. But Im reading about many of them having repair problems. Like the laser assembly and one other common one that Isnt coming to mind right now. My Question Is, Is there any Sony players out there that don't have these common issue's. And what does someone do when Sony stops supporting these models, IE making parts to fix broken models.

How come mics are not talked about, since they add their sound to teh original recordings, that now

Or wires can change, StereoPhile should do articles on mics, and leave out the playstation reviews, and bout's on $3,000 table radios...mics, it's where it begins.... What mic was used on the recording that you think sounds so goood? http://www.telefunkenusa.com/products/show_product.php?item=1&cat=mics

Purchasing vinyl

I have had mixed luck at used LP stores and EBAY - I guess that's part of the fun. I got a good copy of Dark Side of the Moon for $1.

But I have also tried "SoundStageDirect" and "AcousticSounds" - also with mixed luck. What I don't like about these it that many LP's are remixed from digital sources - what's the point?

So - any other recommendations for buying vinyl where I can be sure (or, more sure) of the quality?

Vinyl questions

I have noticed a huge difference in the quality of my vinyl LP's and have some questions. Some LP's sound outstanding and some are not worth listening to.

First, what I have: Cayin A-50T (also the Cayin CD player), MMF 2.1 with Grado Black, Dali Icon 6 speakers, Cambridge Audio azur 540P-B MM Phono Pre Amp.

Questions:
1. Does an automatic LP vacuum cleaner really make a big enough difference to spend $500 on? For a turntable that costs $250?

2. Would I be better off selling the MMF and spending about $1,000 on a better turntable?

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