What is your favorite component?! (1 Viewer)

[terence]

Mine would be my flexible STR-DA4ES AVR! I just love this machine!

It was my RPTV, but oh well in this hobby things can change over nite. I keep catching this thing called upgradeidis, makes me buy things.

So what is your flavor?!

 

[Mat_M]

Well, in my crappy little system I've got an Earthquake Cinenova Grande 5 shipping in the mail soon as my first part of the Upgraditis bug. I have a very strong feeling that'll be my favorite part

 

[Brett DiMichele]

My favorite component is my Behringer Tube Ultra-Q.

What is it? It's a 4 Band Parametric Parallel Constant Q
Filter Equalizer with the outerbands having Notching/Shelving
Functions. And it has what Behringer calls the UTC Ultra
Tube Circuit which is a Signal Processor that runs the
signal through a pair of Sovtek 12AX7 Triode Tubes.

I don't use the Equalization function at all (But if I
ever needed it, it's there..) I use it merely for the Tube
Stage to add Tube Harmonics to the signal it's placed
between my Pre/Pro (Onkyo TX-DS787 Receiver) and my Power
Amp (Onkyo M-282 2 Channel).

It's brought me into the world of "Tube Sound" and all I can
say is I WANT MORE. Music has never been so alive. I spent
my last day off listening to music all day long (more than
12 hours straight) and I was so mellow and it was so
pleasing I could not get enough of it..

My next move is a pair of Antique Sound Labs Wave20 20 watt
Monoblock Tube Amps.. And then I will get a dedicated pre
amp for source selecting and gain control and ultimately a
very high end CD Transport and perhaps an external DAC..

What was intitialy a home theater is working it's way slowly
into a glorious 2 channel rig. And I am loving every single
minute of it!

 

[Kevin C Brown]

Brett- I just tried an Ultra-Q. I was kind of disappointed. Like yourself, I tried it as a "cost effective" intro to tubes. But I found that the unit adds noise to my system (wideband hiss). Plus, because the inputs are set up for pro levels, I barely ever got any movement from the meters, even with the inputs max'ed, and the "warm" knobs all the way up. I did fool with the eq a little (with ETF software and my PC's soundcard), but I couldn't really get any benefit from that either. So I don't really feel I got any benefit at all with it. But someday, I will still try a proper tube preamp.


My favorite "component" is/are the power source(s) for my system:

Acurus A200 2 channel power amp (2 channel stereo)
Acurus A200x5 5 channel power amp (to 7.1)
Equitech 2Q balanced power transformer (20A, 2000W capable, 65 lbs.)
Dedicated 20A line to the family room, where my HT is located

 

[Brett DiMichele]

Kevin,

Was you using Ballanced Inputs? That is a major problem with
Pro Sound in the home...

The unit automaticaly cuts the input by -6DB when it senses
a non ballanced input. I am running mine off unballanced
XL-R and I added 5Db of Gain at the input to make up for
the difference. But I, like you got barely any movement out
of the VU Meters and had wondered if it was doing anything.

I then moved the unit directly between the the CD Transport
and the Receiver (which I am using as a volume control only)

The Signal level comming out of the CD Player is high and
moves the needles a ton.. I still run 5Db of gain to correct
for the 6Db Cut (5 is enough gain for me..)

As far as "noise" I get no noise untill about 60 on the
volume scale which is way up in the 100+ Db Range and I
only listen to music at 75-80Db (35-40 on the volume scale).

My cables are anything but good... I am running RadioShack'
Gold Series RCA cables that I lopped the ends off of and
installed Neutrix XL-R's on one end and I also put a good
set of Iron Ferrite Chokes on the cables to reject noise.

It seems to work for me.. There is no doubt the unit alters
the sound I can do A/B Comparo's at the flick of a switch
and I love the sound with it enguaged and i have the warmth
control at the 10 Oclock position..

It's hardly a high end tube pre or power amp.. But to get
into tubes it was affordable and worked for me.. The next
step is to go to a set of amps.. And I think the Antique
Sound Labs Wave 20's will fit the bill.. They will be used
on the D.I.Y Line Array's that I am going to build. But even
before the Line Array's are done, 20 tube watts will drive
my AR9's perfectly (in fact AR recommends 7 watt tube amps).

I would love higher end tube amps, and perhaps later on I
may invest in some more expensive units. But for the time
being a set of ASL's will fit the bill and I can always do
the SoniCap upgrade on them plus swap out the tubes for a
set of ballanced NOS jobs or something else..

 

[Kevin C Brown]

Brett- Cool. Makes sense. I get noise because I am so low in terms of input level. Unbalanced interconnects. I had it after my pre/pro, before my amp. Might have to try it after my DVD player (yes, higher level there; will have to go analog from my player to the 5.1 ins). I have heard about the ASL's too. But I have Vandersteens at 86 dB efficiency, so might not be enough power. Cheers! And now back to your normally scheduled programming.

 

[Chris Tsutsui]

My most valuable components are high end interconnects because I change them depending on the tracks I listen to. (Just kidding) I like amplifiers because they don't get outdated as fast as processors and they also create some heat to keep my room warmer at night.

BTW, Brett, do you run 800x600 resolution because your posts are cropped to the far left.

 

[Brett DiMichele]

Chris,

Nah I just format my paragraphs that way.. I think it's
easier to read when they are formatted evenly and don't
require you to read half way across the page it's just
one of those anal compulsions of mine, I guess!

Kevin,

Give it a try out of the DVD into the Ultra Q and out to
the Pre and then the power amp. that way the Pre will
control the gain and the DVD's output will be signifigantly
higher. Remember you will still need 5Db of Boost on the
Inputs in most cases.

Another thing, test the output from the speakers with the
knobs in the same position (run some sine waves) and I think
you may note that the knobs are not "exact" I have to run
one Input knob slightly higher than the other to get the
same output. Perhaps it could be my cabling or something
else but I doubt it..

Behringer isn't known as the best out there.. But they do
make a whole range of neat items with very decent specs and
this was one I just had to try out and after going through
a hassle with the first unit that didn't work right. I
finally got one that does and it has had a tremendous impact
on the music!

Good luck, and if it don't work even after that, you can
always sell it on Ebay

 

[Jeramy_K]

Mine would be the AVM20. By far the best piece of equipment that I own.

 

[Pete Gia]

My favorite is my Sony CX90ES "megachanger" CD player. I`ve had it about 4 mos. now. Don`t know how I ever lived with a single disc player all these years.

 

[Scott_N]

My favorite would be my Cary 308T tube CDP. It has a very smooth but detailed sound without the digital nasties my Sony SCD-333ES had.

 

[Yogi]

Mine are amps as they never get outdated. Next would be speakers and then processors and then source, cables etc.