Recent content by BayStBroker

I just heard it through the grapevine that Magico has increased its prices across the board. For instance, the Magico M2 MSRP went up $8k from $68,500 to $76,500 USD. Costs of all sorts are rising, and smaller enterprises cannot afford to lose their profit margins to rising costs. The current...

I just stepped up from the standard Calypso to the Signature version (with different caps and other internal parts). One thing I noticed immediately is that I must set the volume level lower to achieve the same volume I was used to with the standard version. Both standard and Signature are...

Well folks, it is the end of one era and the beginning of another for me. I have some of the first S3 Mk2's to to come into production in 2017. I can't count how many times I've said out loud what great performance I was getting from my system, or how much I love the sound. So much of that...

So I finally got around to swapping out the PS Vane 240b rectifier with a Emission Labs 5U4G on my Atlantic Plus SE. The change in sound is so profound that I half suspect I am imagining it. Anybody who can venture a plausible explanation why my system sounds better with the EML rectifier...

I'm enjoying these newly designed 450 watt beasts, which are proving to be a better match for my speakers than the tube/mosfet PS Audio hybrids I was running for several years. Enhancements to transient speed and imaging are obvious and dramatic. I feel like I have new speakers! It is a great...

So I have an A+ with DSD512, which is cool because it is like having two dacs. With the front buttom depressed I am DSD only from an FPGA convertor. With the front buttom undepressed I am using R-2R conversion. Sound is very different, though both are very compelling. Using Audirvana to...

The last 24 hours since an Audiogon-sourced Calypso arrived have been among a handful of peak experiences I've had that make this hobby so persistent and irresistible for me. I regularly tell my family that I love my stereo and never get bored of listening. But this upgrade is so good, so...

Do you use a premium audiophile ethernet cable to connect your music server? Feel free to indicate why or why not. Presently, I do not use a premium audiophile ethernet cable. I use premium power cables, interconnects, speaker cables and even a premium USB. But my ethernet cable is stock...

On Saturday we moved home after an 18 month renovation that amounted to a demolition/rebuild. My listening area is still in a central area of the home, so I can use the system without isolating myself. There are several rooms that could be dedicated to audio when the children are grown. The...

Some people favor Christmas Carols, eggnog, or mistletoe this time of year. For me the best part of Christmas is that my generous-spirited dealer, Mark Jones, closes for a week or so and his showroom gear gets loaded into the trunks of various clients and prospective clients for at home...

I couldn't resist buying the $88 Lepai/Dayton system that Steve Guttenberg endorses in his Audiophiliac column: https://www.cnet.com/news/this-starter-audiophile-system-sounds-outrageously-good-for-88/. I figured that $88 would be worth taking him up on for the amusement alone. In the end, I...

Lampizator is not only unreviewed by the major audio publications (SR, AS, etc), it goes entirely unmentioned so far as I can tell. Meanwhile, the flagship DAC shows up in the most exclusive rooms at audio show. Either Lukasz really irritated some audio media people or they really do refuse to...

I'm listening to the 24/96 deluxe edition bought from HDTracks. They did such a wonderful job producing this edition of the Bootleg Series. Many versions of favourite songs like "Idiot Wind" offer differing and equally compelling appeal. There is terrific insight in the 87 track collection...

My A+ has the R2R engine and also the separate DSD512 engine. Can someone describe how Lukas' DSD512 engine works? I think I've heard it described as "chipless" and that Lukas devised it himself. Do I have that right? What makes it special? I notice that it does sound different and better...