chaskelljr1963

My $2K Reference System.... Headphone System.... . Focal Elear Headphones -- ($500.00 @ Music Direct) -- $1,000.00 . Schiit Audio Jotunheim Balanced Headphone Amplifier/Preamplifier/DAC -- $500.00 . FiiO X5 Digital Audio Player -- $350.00 Total Price: $1,350.00 - $1,850.00 Plus Interconnect Cable(s) Speaker System/Amplifier System.... . ELAC Uni-Fi UB5 Bookshelf Stand Mount 3-Way Speaker System -- $500.00 . Marantz PM6006 Integrated Amplifier/DAC -- $700.00 . Marantz NA6006 Network Audio Player/DAC -- $700.00 Total Price: $2000.00 Plus Cables & Stands https://www.musicdirect.com/speakers/elac-uni-fi-ub5-bookshelf-speakers-pr

MY Reference $2K System.... . Focal Elear Headphones -- $600.00 (on sale @ Music Direct) -- Regular -- $1000.00 . Schiit Audio Jotunheim Balanced Headphone Amplifier/Preamplifier -- $500.00 . FiiO X5 Digital Music Player -- $350.00 Total: $1,450.00 Plus Interconnect Cable(s). --Charles--

Me?? For $130K, I'd get either.... Vandersteen 5A Carbons -- $31,000.00, or Aerial Acoustics 7T -- $10,000.00 Bryston 4B3 Amplifier -- $6,000.00 Bryston 26 Preamplifier (includes DAC, External Power Supply, and Remote Control) -- $5,900.00 Aurender N10 Music Player -- $8,500.00 Seagate BarraCuda 4TB Hard Drives (2) -- $200.00 Sutherland Duo Phono Preamplifier -- $4000.00 VPI Avenger Reference Turntable -- $21,000.00 Audio Technica AT-ART1000 Phono Cartridge -- $5000.00 Audio Desk Record Cleaning Machine -- $4,000.00 System Total: $85,600.00 w/Vandersteen 5A Carbons; or $64,000.00 w/Aeriel Acoustics 7T And with the money left over, I'm getting this sexy looking baby RIGHT HERE... Nissan 370z Sports Coupe (FULLY EQUIPPED) -- $55,000.00 Happy Listening, Happy Motoring, and Happy Living... --Charles--

I stand corrected. I have an additional USB A available on my PC, the "B" end goes into a DAC. --Charles--

Yes, they do. I would use this to plug my PC into an external DAC, or in my hypothetical system listed in my post, a Preamplifier/DAC. Here it is, right here. Enjoy Your Day. --Charles--

Speaker System: Vandersteen 2Ce Signatures — $1,400.00 (Used) Power Amplifier: Schiit Audio Vidar — $700.00 (New) Preamplifier/DAC: Schiit Audio Lyr 3 — $540.00 (New) Interconnects: AudioQuest Black Mamba II — $170.00 (New) Speaker Cables: AudioQuest GBC — $140.00 (New) HDMI To USB Cable: AudioQuest Forest — $40.00 (New) Total Price: $2,990.00 + Existing HP Laptop PC & Western Digital My Passport HD (2 TB) —Charles—

Good Evening Each & All: I am putting together a miniature/portable version of a mobile component system, and I am now at the point in which I am about to select the player. What I have now are: Sennheiser HD-598 Headphones -- $250.00 xDuoo HD-05 Headphone Amplifier/DAC -- $200.00 I am looking for a High Resolution Portable Digital Player, and I want a good one that's going to sound good, allow me to compliment the other two components above, without breaking the bank. I'm looking to spend $250.00 on the player. But I will go up to $600 if I have to. The players that are on my shortlist right now are the Sony Walkman WM-A45; the Cowon Plenue 1; and the Plenue M. Has anyone had any extensive experience with ANY of these players?? Or has anyone has decided to use an Android Smartphone and/or an Apple iPhone, or an earlier Apple iPod (or iPod Touch)?? Does the first three dedicated players clearly deliver better sound than a smartphone?? Or am I just wasting my money and time, and should I just go ahead and get an Apple iPod Touch?? Thanks In Advance For Your Input. Cowon Plenue 1 -- Cowon Plenue M -- Sony Walkman NW-A45 -- Sennheiser HD-598 -- xDuoo XD-05 -- --Charles--

$4K System: Speaker System: Paradigm Monitor 11v7 Floor Standing Speaker System (Comes In Black Ash Or Heritage Cherry Veneer -- Five Drivers/Three Way) -- $1600.00 Integrated Amplifier/DAC: NAD C 388 Integrated Amplifier (150 Watts Per Channel Into 8 Ohms/4 Ohms; Amplifier Capable Of 1,000 Watts Instantaneously; Can Be Modified To Your Needs Thanks To "MDC" Construction; 24-Bit/192 DAC; MM Phono Input) -- $1600.00 PC Laptop Computer: ASUS Or HP (MS Windows 10; Intel Core i5, i7 Or AMD Processor; 1 TB Hard Drive; 16 GB RAM) -- $800.00 (-/+) I'm assuming that you have either Outboard Cloud Service for storage and Internet Radio, or you have a Server at home, or contemplating getting a Server at some point. Nice Affordable Combo. Total Price: $4,000.00 (But You Have To Come Up With More Money For Cables & Other Connections Unless You Have These Already). --Charles--

Speaker Systems For $2,500.00 I have in the past, auditioned Magneplaner, B&W, KEF and Vandersteen. All of these are VERY GOOD Speakers. But as always in the end, it comes down to your likes, dislikes, tastes, biases. And for me, when it comes down to what I like in the end, I tend to steer towards Vandersteen (Coherency, Spaciousness, Sense Of Height, Depth, Excellent Placement Of Instruments & Performers/Singers On Stage, Smooth Top-To-Bottom Frequency Cohesion, Extended Bass Response, Slight Roll Off In Higher Frequencies). In my own music system, right now, I do have KEF's (Reference Series from the late 1980's to mid 1990's). They were my favorite at the time. Were I to get new speakers today, I would definitely be getting Vandersteen 2C's. Either I would be getting a pair of older 2Ci's, 2Ce's or the more current 2Ce Signatures. In a simplified system, I would do a pair of Vandersteen 2Ce Signatures with a Cambridge Audio 851A Azur Integrated Amplifier. Otherwise, if I am more ambitious and want to push the envelope of the Vandies a little further, then I like the Vandies with a Bryston BP-26/Bryston 3B combo (when then, the Vandies will be on the brink of perfection to my ears). --Charles--

Computer Focused Audio System For $10K (Revised)... Speaker System -- Vandersteen 2Ce Signatures (Polished Cherry or Rosewood) -- $2,560.00 Integrated Amplifier/DAC -- Cambridge Audio AZUR 851A (120 Watts Per Channel @ 8 Ohms; 200 Watts Per Channel @ 4 Ohms, Dual-Mono Construction, Dual 24-Bit/384-kHz DACs, 2 Sets Of XLR Balanced Inputs) -- $1,800.00 Digital Audio Network Player -- Cambridge Audio AZUR 851N Network Player (Dual Wolfson 24-Bit/384 DACs, XLR Balanced Outputs) -- $1,800.00 Laptop Computer -- HP or ASUS (Loaded With MS-Windows 10, 1TB Hard Disc, 16GB RAM, CD/DVD-ROM Drive, Lighted Keyboard, Gray/Silver) -- $800.00 NAS Server -- Synology DS416 Play (4 Bay Server With 4 Hard Disks Totaling 16TB Of Storage) -- $1000.00 Tablet -- Apple iPad Pro (9.7 Screen, 256GB Of Storage, Space Gray) -- $900.00 Total -- $8,860.00 Plus Cables --Charles-- P.S.: Sorry For The Revision, But I Needed An Input Device To Upload My Existing CD Music Collection. Future Music Purchases Will Be Streamed Off The Internet.

Actually, that's doable... But I would retain the Vandies, no matter what. I like the Vandersteens THAT MUCH... If I am to do Audio Alchemy, I would do their Preamplifier/DAC, their High-Current External Power Supply and their Stereo Power Amplifier (plenty enough power for the Vandies -- the Mono Blocks would've been too powerful). And still leaves enough left over for an Apple MacBook Pro (and Apple SuperDrive), a Synology NAS Server, and Cables. I probably would've gotten the Apple 9.7" iPad (256GB) with my next paycheck or wait until I got my tax refund. But that's definitely doable. --Charles--

Computer Focused Audio System For $10K... Speaker System -- Vandersteen 2Ce Signatures (Polished Cherry or Rosewood) -- $2,560.00 Integrated Amplifier/DAC -- Cambridge Audio AZUR 851 (120 Watts Per Channel @ 8 Ohms; 200 Watts Per Channel @ 4 Ohms, 24-Bit/384-kHz DAC, 2 Sets Of XLR Balanced Inputs) -- $1,800.00 Laptop Computer -- Apple MacBook Pro (15" Screen, Space Gray) -- $2,400.00 CD-Rom/DVD-Rom -- Apple SuperDrive -- $80.00 NAS Server -- Synology DS416 Play (4 Bay Server With 4 Hard Disks Totaling 16TB Of Storage) -- $1000.00 Tablet -- Apple iPad Pro (9.7 Screen, 256GB Of Storage, Space Gray) -- $900.00 Total -- $8,740.00 Plus Cables --Charles--

To keep it short.... End the Jam Session, and turn off ALL of my equipment (including the Power Conditioner/Surge Protector), then unplug the Power Conditioner/Surge Protector (which is where a majority of my equipment is plugged into) from the AC Outlet, the Preamplifier, and Power Amplifier. Audio Equipment (and especially Mid-Fi and Up Equipment) is TOO expensive to risk an encounter with Mother Nature. And I have a Medium Priced Power Conditioner which protects my gear from over and under power surges from the Utility Company, but I don't think it will hold a candle compared to a "cloud-to-lightning" strike (which has more than enough electricity to destroy my gear if it is still plugged in when the lightning hits the Utility Pole and fries an electrical line which can send huge surges of electricity into the Power Outlet into my wall and will probably destroy the first thing it catches on to). I had to replace a PC a few years back because of a Severe Thunderstorm. Destroyed my PC, a Microwave Oven and a DVD/Blu-Ray Player on top of that. And had to throw out a lot of food as well, my Refrigerator was down for three days (but thank God it still worked when the power was finally restored). --Charles--

Good Morning Everyone: Let's just say that I have a friend who has moved into a shared housing situation, and he wants to have a high quality high-end audio rig, but he's not allowed to have any loudspeakers on the premises. He wants an analog, computer based nas, and dac based headphone rig. He has an overall budget of about $2K to about $4K. What would you suggest?? I suggested the following: Headphones -- Sennheiser HD-650 Preamplifier -- NAD (any model... used.... I suggested a preamplifier because the preamplifier has a headphone amplifier and a phono stage built-in, minimizes space and system footprint requirement) Turntable -- Thorens TD-147, TD-160 or TD-165 (or a late model Dual to save money) Phono Cartridge -- Ortofon 2M Blue (Thorens) or OMS-5E (Dual) PC or Apple Mac Laptop (already provided by friend.... in this case, he has an Apple iMac, but a PC can be used as well) DAC -- Bluesound NODE 2 (DAC, Music Player and Streamer.... works with or without a PC/Mac) Interconnects -- AudioQuest, Cardas, or Nordost Total Cost -- -/+ $2K (give or take) What would be your suggestion instead of what I suggested above?? Dedicated Headphone Amplifiers are fine, as long as the Headphone Amplifier in question has enough inputs to accommodate a DAC and an external Phono Stage. Headphone Amplifiers with built-in DAC's are fine as well, but again, it MUST be able to accommodate an external Phono Stage. Thank You in advance for your suggestions and creations. --Charles--

WITHOUT QUESTION!!!! A pair of Mark Levinson (by Madrigal) No. 20.5 or No. 20.6 Mono Block Power Amplifiers A Mark Levinson (by Madrigal) No. 26 Control Amplifier An Outboard Phono Stage of equal quality A VPI Prime Turntable + Sumiko Blackbird Phono Cartridge My current Speaker System are a pair of KEF Reference 102's with KUBE (1986-91), and the Mark Levinson Preamplifier and Power Amplifiers mentioned are the same vintage as my Speaker System. 100 Watts @ 8 Ohms (and 200 Watts @ 4 Ohms) in Class A?!?! Oh My "FRIGGIN" God!!!! That will be the LAST SYSTEM I'll EVER put together. --Charles--