Scott Dolan

PSB Speakers Imagine B. http://www.crutchfield.com/S-wAXzQ3A4mAP/p_760IMGNBGB/PSB-Imagine-B-Gloss-Black.html Since I already have a very powerful and outstandingly fast and accurate sub, I've decided not to go with floorstanders this time. I figure if for some reason it doesn't end up working out they can always be moved to the rear for surround speakers should I replace them with something bigger. I just don't foresee that happening. Well, until my sub bites the shitter. But even then I may just replace it with another sub, who knows?

-4 here this morning when I woke up. Already forecasted for -12 this Sunday. In other words, really fucking cold!

Hey Pete, can I ask you a question? Did you have problems with the back cover on yours? Mine came off just a few days after I had purchased it. I always wondered it was a manufacturing flaw, or mine just didn't get enough glue.

Ordering my Emotiva amp and pre-amp tomorrow. Can't wait!

I rip all my discs to my iMac so that I can access them on my main system, via Apple TV, without having to walk to the opposite end of the house to retrieve them. So I never play discs anymore.

I hate when they stack discs. Whoever came up with that concept should be smacked on the back of the head.

Yeah, they were really contemplating some amazing shit during the Impulse! years. If all I could ever listen to was the '65 output, I'd be a very happy man.

Sure, why not? My iMac is just a couple of years old, but that's exactly how I use it. I have an Airport Express, and an Apple TV. So I use the remote app on my iPad to control my iTunes library on the iMac, and play it through my main system in the living room. I have access to every cd I've ripped with a couple of taps on the screen.

Two different digital inputs can indeed be connected, and then some. The XDA-2 can receive 2 TOSlink cables, 2 digital coax, 1USB, and 1 AES/EBU. Yes, you can use a USB cable to connect your Mac to it. Here's an example of what you'd need. A USB A to USB B cable. http://www.americanmusical.com/Item--i-HOS-USB205AB-LIST?src=Y0802G00SRCHCAPN&gclid=CLOe7qmd3rsCFTNp7AodLUsAmA Full disclosure, I run mine via a TOSlink from an Apple TV unit.

I'm more an Impulse! and Atlantic guy, myself. But, I have the original 16 disc Prestige box, and really enjoy it whenever I pull something from it.

Just realized I may have misrread your post and that you've already decided to order a DAC. Either way, I look forward to hearing your thoughts if that is indeed the case.

Yeah, the Micro ran me $350, I assume that's what it still is. They used to have a micro DAC that stacked with it, but they discontinued it years ago for some reason. The Emotiva DAC was on sale when I purchased it, and usually runs $400. Still on sale until this Sunday. Either way, there are both quality DACs and headphone amps out there for less than that. Just gotta do some homework on stuff that's in your price range. Now, I can't speak for DACs since I just started learning about them just a few months ago, but I can tell you that while researching headphone amps I saw many good reviews for those that were even under a hundred bucks. I've never demo'd any FiiO products, but they usually get excellent reviews. And I think their product line starts under fifty bucks. Maybe start there and see where your research takes you. Here, a quick search just turned up a FiiO DAC + headphone amp for less than seventy buck. http://www.amazon.com/FiiO-Portable-Headphone-Amplifier-Black/dp/B003N0XDT4 The reviews are quite positive as well. Might make an excellent place holder while saving up for something a little higher on the food chain later. Or who knows? It may be exactly what you're looking for, and that's that.

Right. I'm certain that ALS on Blu-ray does sound phenomenal. But, how does it stack up against the deluxe CD pressing, in your opinion? Because it sounds pretty damned good on that as well. Do you find the Blu-ray to truly be superior, or like so many re-releases and remasters, just another fine version of something you already had a fine version of?

Ah, I forgot A Love Supreme. Some time back I found it on Amazon, but it was out of stock with no date for further pressings. Does it really hold up as superior fidelity against the deluxe CD pressing? I suppose I'll give it a shot and run digital coax out to my DAC. The one thing I steadfastly refuse to do is spring for an audiophile quality Blu-ray. Now, if Blu-ray audio becomes a standard, then I may kick some tires. But I don't see that ever happening with shitty MP3/AAC currently ruling the day. Although I will humbly give a nod to the current 256kb VBR MP3/AAC. They are leaps and bounds beyond the earlier incarnations. I prefer lossless, but grudgingly admit lossy is far better than it used to be. I still get a kick out of DVD audio. 24/96, but they have to compress it due to space constraints! How's that for some really fucked up math?! Totally unrelated, I do have to admit that the stuff Columbia was releasing in the 50's/60's may be the most open and "air-y" recordings I've ever heard. Been listening to a lot of it since I got my DAC and PSB Speakers headphones. I never realized how outrageously clean and open Monk's Live At The Jazz Workshop really sounded. They were truly using superior equipment back then.

Wow. I now remember you talking about that situation many years ago (I think you were just getting into it at the time, IIRC). I found it as commendable and selfless then as I do now. Good for you, brother. As for what I was referring to with the tuber setup, it was/will be only a two-channel setup. My surround system is in the living room with a 12ft peak ceiling. Understandably enough, it also makes for the best two-channel listening in the house. I thought about a near-field setup in a smaller room, but having done that before I wasn't really wanting to go back down that road. But, I can certainly see why you love the set up you have. If I were dealing with that gear I wouldn't give two shits if it was in my bathroom! Might need some serious room treatment, though. BTW, have you done any Blu-ray audio on your rig? I have the "immersion" set of Pink Floyd's Wish You Were Here, and it's impressive enough. But not really that much better than my 24bit stereo remaster that I've had for nearly two decades. I've thought about picking up Beck's Sea Change just to see if it exceeds the original CD pressing, but wondered if you had any experience with the media.

I suppose. I've just never liked the acoustics of small, 8ft ceiling, rooms. The room I was going to set my tuber rig up in is approximately 12x12, but the more I considered it the more I leaned towards rebuilding the surround system in my living room for the time being. I guess with proper acoustic room treatments it could work just fine. But, once I spring for that kind of rig I really don't want to settle for "just fine".

Yeah, I saw those Mapleshade racks some time back, and they are a work of art. Nothing I could really use in my current homestead, unfortunately. Maybe one of these days if I'm ever able to figure out how to create a dedicated listening room. But, with the shoebox rooms my house is cut into, it's really just not possible.

Jesus, those are absolute beauties. 92.5db @ 1W! Ok, that is fucking impressive. Looks like the way they are designed that they'd have more of a "sourceless" image a la stats or planars. Love the finish, too. I was surprised to see they only weigh 40lbs each. Look like they'd be heavier. Man, Decware makes equipment that is simply nice to sit and look at. Without even playing them they must be very pleasing.

We used the free trial earlier this year, or maybe late last year. The free two day shipping was nice, I guess. We cancelled before we had to pay, though. Just didn't see much bang for the buck with it.

Very nice! I've never heard any PS Audio equipment (not that I recall any way), but I've read many rave reviews about them. I'd love to hear those through your Decware amp. What speakers are you using on that rig? An old friend of mine had a vintage McIntosh tuber with one of the original Martin Logan sets. Monolith, IIRC? With the turntable he had somewhere around $20K wrapped up in the thing. This was back before CDs took full flight, and digital files weren't even a gleam in the eye. Just a warm and beautiful system that just wrapped its arms around you. He'd play mint Beatles LPs on it, and it was quite heavenly.

Yeah, I can see Gruden possibly coaching again, but I honestly believe both Cowher and Dungy are done. Dungy is a lock, but I guess I'd give Cowher a 1% probability. Though after working for the Rooney's all those years, I think he'd be a fool to sign a contract with Snyder. And you're right about reporters. With the 24/7 news cycle, they've got to cook up the most sensational "stories" they can. BTW, did you see that local guy from Detroit tweet earlier today that Matt Millen was the most likely choice to replace Schwartz? It wasn't long after that he had to tweet that it was a joke. First responders across the city must have been stretched too thin...

Are you using a tube DAC? Which one is it?

So after a ton of research this past year in hopes of putting together a small tube amplified two channel listening system, I scrapped it because my budget wasn't big enough for what I truly ended up decided on and I wasn't willing to compromise on cheaper Chinese built amps. With that project on the back burner I turned my attention to rebuilding my main surround system in the living room. I set an initial budget of $4,000 but found after tons of research that I was going to build a supremely ass kicking system for less than $3,000. Well, that is as long as I don't change my mind on the speakers. But that will be another story for another time. Because we had the holidays upon us, I simply decided to start out with two simple (so I thought) pieces. M4U-1 headphones from PSB Speakers, and the Emotiva XDA-1 DAC. I hadn't even been thinking DAC when my research got under way because every component under the sun with a line level out has a DAC built into it. So, it sounded like another candidate for the snake oil barrel. But, the more I learned about them the more they made sense. With that said, I was still quite skeptical as to what improvements, if any, were to be gained. I initially had settled on purchasing the Peachtree Audio decco65 which uses a tube buffer. I figured if I wasn't getting my tube amp, I wanted to try to get as close as I could to the tube sound. And while reviews for both DACs were universally glowing, two in particular stood out. In one, the reviewer remarked that the Emotiva reminded him of listening to his tube amp rig. In the other, while not a head-to-head comparison, the author noted that while the Emotiva was $700 cheaper that he found no appreciable differences between it and the decco65, which he personally owned. Deal sealed. With Emotiva's 30 day return/refund policy in mind, I pulled the trigger. After running my Emotiva RCA cables ($7.99) to my old workhorse Harman Kardon receiver, with skepticism radars on code red alert, I fired up my go to evaluation track. Something, from The Beatles remastered box set. Right away Ringo's toms no longer had that slightly flat and vertical sound that I had heard for years. They actually seemed horizontal and "present". McCartney's bass was tighter, more warm and round than I had heard before. Harrison's vocals were so natural it was almost eerie. It really was like hearing it the way it was meant to be heard. I quickly realized I hadn't taken that proverbial incremental step. No, this was a really, really big step up in quality. I won't bore you with the rest of the tunes I used for evaluation, but suffice it to say the Emotiva breathed all new life into every one of them. Imaging and mid-range has never been a strength for my tired old Polk Audio speakers, so I'm not going to comment on any classical music until I finish my system next month and get the new speakers thrown on. But everything from Rock to Jazz is just astonishing. Now, I will say that this DAC will expose weaker MP3s. I had some older 160kb MP3s on one of my playlists, and as soon as one came on it was readily apparent, and exposed as the fraud it is. It's almost as if the DAC is saying, "are you shitting me?! Well, if you don't care, then fuck it, neither do I". Listening to it through the M4U-1 cans on a direct feed, and through my Headroom Micro headphone amp, the quietness of this component hits you right between the eyes. The music literally sounds like it is taking place in a vacuum. Quiet passages have so much room to breathe it's just absurd. Acoustic bass solos, especially recorded live, sound downright ethereal. The Emotiva is also billed as a headphone amp, but a simple A/B test between its headphone output and my Micro isn't even a fair fight. As quality of a DAC that it is, Emotiva should remove the headphone amp billing from it. It's lightyears better than most headphone outs on your average receiver, but a dedicated headphone amp it is not, IMO. But, that's really the only bad thing I can say about it. This will not be going back in 30 days, or 30 years. I've spent a HELL of a lot more than $250 on individual components (shit, my Micro alone was $350), but I can't recall any other component that paid off as handsomely as this one. Not even close. Less than a week ago I was a skeptic who made sure he removed the DAC from its packaging with greater care than normal since I was 50% sure it would be making a return trip to Franklin, Tennessee. Now I'm willing to say a dedicated DAC should be the first priority for ANY system. Be it $500 or $5,000. Lastly, Emotiva builds the most ridiculous remotes known to man. The remote for this thing is made of brushed aluminum, with polished aluminum buttons. And weighs as much as two iPhones. Easily, maybe a little more. If nothing else, it makes for a great conversation piece. At the end of the day, whether you choose the Emotiva, or go with another brand, I highly encourage you to invest in a dedicated DAC if you listen to ANY digital media.

Actually, it's not an idea on my part. There isn't a PCB on the market, nor has there ever been, that didn't have a noise filter attached. If you own an electronic component, it has removed any and all powerline noise before the signal reaches the output levels. That's not even up for debate. Even folks with the most rudamentary understanding of circuit boards will quickly confirm that for you. It's as common as a ground wire being connected to your car battery. I have a power conditioner, but only because it came attached to a surge protector that was 50% off. As for power cables, you have lines running all through your house. Hundreds of feet of them. They are feeding your component 110 volts. Starts from your breaker box and runs all the way to your stereo. A 4-6 ft cable between those two things does not change that equation. Not even a little. There is no gain, no greater efficiency, no improved sound quality. If it weren't for cable elevators, those two things would be the bottom of the audio mythology barrel. Now, as for the DAC, even my wife who normally rolls her eyes and walks out of the room when I ask her if she can hear improved sound quality when I make changes admitted she was stunned as soon as I started playing the very first tune through my new DAC. That coming from someone who couldn't care less about audio quality.

Will do. I've actually been meaning to post a thread about it.