Recent content by The Sandman

I’m not disagreeing with you Mike… I had a smaller Pioneer SX 50 series receiver with Advent speakers back in the day and it was only bested when I upgraded to the Aragon 4004 amp, 24K SP preamp, and B&W Matrix 802 speakers. I did some searching though, and the going price for the SX 1250 in...

The $900 SX 1250 of 1976 would cost over $5100 in today's dollars. That's probably the same ballpark as the current retail cost for a used SX 1250 in good condition plus a complete overhaul.

I can't speak for all expensive high-end racks, but I can say that my Critical Mass Maxxum rack made an immense difference in the sound of my system - probably the single biggest difference among my many upgrades over the years. Buying it was an act of faith - it's not at all like component...

That's without the Sentinel amps required to achieve the full Sentinel effect.

I haven't found it limiting at all. My Aurender W20SE can convert DSD to PCM on the fly, or I can convert the files on my computer using JRiver. And I ripped all of my SACDs to files. That's because they believe having conversion within the unit or separate DAC chips for each to compromises...

Yeah, Tampa is the lightning capital of the World unfortunately. I’ve had my share of strikes, near misses, and surges. I currently have a full lightning rod setup on my roof with 6 or 8 ground rods around the house, a commercial grade surge protector in parallel with my service entrance...

Heavy amps are merely a small inconvenience compared with heavy speakers…

No anger or hatred here… I just don’t think it’s a good idea to use AudioShark to publicize counterfeit gear.

Earlier this month Mike came by the house with a *big* box of goodies for me to try out in the system - his own set of MIT cables, or more properly interfaces. This included the MI-2C3D Level 1 Speaker interfaces, MI-2C3D Level 1 XLR Interconnects, SL Matrix USB, and Oracle MA-X Digital Balanced...

I recently upgraded from the XS 150's to the XS 300's. I wouldn't have thought so, but the XS 300s are significantly better than the XS 150s - the difference is not subtle. This is not meant as a knock to the XS 150s, which sound amazing... right up until you hear the 300s. Harmonically...

The other thing I notice about the M3 is that standard configuration is with the spikes directly under the body of the speaker, like the original S5 for example. When the platform is added, the contact points with the floor are spread significantly further apart, creating what looks like a more...

Here's mine (before swapping the XA160.8s for the XA160.5s).