jky999

Here are my impressions: Got mine the other day. Currently using it to feed my Ultra-Rendu in my desktop rig. The chain is the following SonicTransporter I5 (powered by JS2) via Ghent Audio ethernet to UltraRendu fed by LPS 1.2. Using a Hugo2 (Stefan Art Audio copper ribbon ic's), Kaiser Encores, Feniks Essence with Rel Sub. The difference over the LPS 1 is immediately apparent. Better bass, better resolution and everything is so much more cohesive. It's an A/B that takes moments to hear. Depending upon where you're at in the journey, this one is a no-brainer. I'd clearly do this before cable changes or source changes. The change is very meaningful and not so subtle.

On another message board someone had mentioned migrating from FMC to a passive approach and mentioned Emo Systems. He had been using their EN-70D. I initially bought that and it was very good, but the bummer is that I needed another ethernet cable between it and any device. I mentioned to Emo that it would be great if they had a solution which took the virtues of the EN-70D but was pigtailed so you didn't need another cable. Emo pointed me to their EN-60KDS. I installed it and it has been a significant improvement. By significant, I mean you need a 10 second listen to hear the difference. Everything is way more cohesive and resolved. Strangely, the integration between my sub and speakers is now absolutely seamless with the bass being fuller. That was probably the biggest improvement. Before things were a bit disjointed. The cost was $200. I've got it between my router and my SonicTransporter I5 which is being fed by an Uptone Audio JS-2 which is then feeding an Ultra Rendu/LPS-1 combo. The usual disclaimer applies here. No affiliation with the company. Just a very happy camper and wanted to alert others to the virtue of this relatively cheap tweak. It's more expensive than the FMC approach, but then some are using upgrading psu's for their FMCs. In that context, it's an absolute bargain which also simplifies things greatly.

I just got a Vega. It is scary good, if you like an immediate, dynamic sound. No digital shrillness though. You can scale up the volume without things breaking apart. What I don't think is loud is numbingly loud, the same as my old horn/SET rig. Also, completely non-fatiguing. I work from home and listen to music at least 8 hours per day. I'm going direct which, in the past, has always sucked. I normally like a tubed pre in front of things, but with the Vega balanced out and no pre I don't feel like I'm missing anything. If you like its sonic signature, the Vega is a screaming deal. I'm going balanced out of the Vega to a First Watt J2 to Gallo Strada 2s with Rel 218 sub in a quasi near-field set-up. The speakers are abt 6' away from me. The DSD tracks I've listened to are great, an unambiguous leap forward. I'm about to embark upon digitizing my vinyl via DSD with a Tascam. Digital is progressing at light speed these days.

Good Turntable plus Tascam DA-3000 DSD recorder equals unlimited inventory. Listening to my Auralic Vega and I'm quite grateful that this level of sound reproduction is available in my home. And yes, I've also got a PS3 that I'm using to rip SACDs for my own personal use. I would unambiguously buy the same titles over again if they were available via DSD from the master tapes.

I recently auditioned their balanced preamp and found it to be numbingly good. I'm abt to embark on the same path as you. Thanks for your feedback on their DAC.

I know the dealer in question. He has always allowed me to demo cutting edge gear without any pressure (Berkeley Alpha dac, Crystal Cables, Magico, etc). There should and is great value associated with this. I agree that he got a bit emotional in responding to the offer and don't justify his response; however, I also understand the response as someone who routinely sells stuff on Audiogon. It's very annoying to get completely low-ball offers. 60% of retail is the standard starting point for used gear. He also has his

I guess I'm always hoping a direct link to my amp will be the answer. That has never been the case, except with my old Audio Aero Capitole MKII SE tubed cdp which was awesome and I miss it. In every other instance, a good tubed preamp has added dynamics and life to the music. I've tried the passive autoformer thing and, while quite clean, it is so sterile that it doesn't get me going.

Just curious if anyone has compared any of the top tubed buffers (Purity Audio comes to mind) to a good tubed preamp. I think I'm in the minority but I greatly prefer my LIO-8 going into my Eddie Current Balancing Act vs direct into my amps. I'm running everything balanced. Direct is slightly more resolving but flattens out the soundstage and sucks the life out of the music. I was thinking abt the LIO-8 in the following possible configuration. Use it as a dac, preamp and cross-over. Send everything above 70Hz to my First Watt J2/Gallo Stradas via a tubed buffer and then send everything below 70 Hz direct to a subwoofer. Bypass the Eddie Current Balancing Act as a preamp and use the LIO-8 for volume control. I'm hoping this configuration would provide me with ss bass control and all the good that tubes can add.

No sooner did I post the question than I figured out the Airfoil setting which allowed me to select my dac as an output.

I use Airfoil/Pulsar to stream SiriusXM to various Airport Express's in our house which are connected to speakers. Is there a way to simultaneously stream SiriusXM to the various AEs and my DAC? It seems like it should be trivial but I can't get this to work. Sorry if this is a really basic question, but I can't figure it out (and yes, I've tried various google searches).

I guess the value to everyone will reflect how they use the site. Without factoring into account any of the other goodies, if you can create a viable buy/sell section that actually generates sales, this is a very reasonable amount to pay compared to Audiogon. Head-fi has free buy/sell ads, but it's a much different experience than Audiogon. Audio Asylum also has free buy/sell ads and, like Head-Fi, it just isn't the place to be if you want to sell anything expensive. When Audiogon introduced a beta product in a production environment, it was a disaster. If I could sell a multi-thousand dollar item on this site, I'd readily subscribe.

AudioEngine for total budget speakers Gallo Strada's with W4S ST250 (my current office combo) ATC SCM16A's (actives which I used to have in the office). The Stradas are pretty amazing for small speakers. You can get them used for abt $1,200. I've also heard good things abt the Genelecs and Adam actives.

Item Audio: I sent you a pm and an e-mail via your website. I want to go down the passive cooling path. When I run Audirvana, the temp jumps way up and the fan runs at abt 4500rpm. It's very noisey and I'm disappointed with this aspect of the Mini Server's performance. I'm stuck on the Mac path because I've got a LIO-8 which I also use as a phonostage and x-over.

Nick, Thanks. I've got the 2011 Mini Server with two ssd's but I'm getting some fan noise. I was just hoping to eliminate this noise. My mini is only abt 3 feet from me. It's in my office set-up and that's the only place I can put it.

I think some are using their LIO-8s with some of the new generation networked music servers. OK, if you go down this path, I'm a bit confused. Doesn't the LIO8 still need to be connected to a Mac to use other functions such as cross-over and RIAA equalization? My understanding is if you use a networked server without having the LIO8 connected to a Mac you would lose all functionality except for the dac, right??? I use my LIO8 as a dac, crossover and phonostage. Thanks for any help. Joe