Recent content by JemHayward

I went down this route some time ago, and I am content with the final solution. I was a very late adopter of the CD and refused to buy a CD or CD player until an album I wanted wasn't available on LP. I immediately jumped to a Meridian CD mech and an Arcam DAC. I replaced the DAC with an...

To go back to the original question: I was very wary of digitising my phono input, to feed it to my DAC/Pre but when I tried it, it worked fine and gave me the best sound I'd ever heard from my turntable. Very many well respected hifi companies do this now, and though I have a lot of sympathy...

At one time I used a Fuji X100 then I bought a pair of X-E1s, one for me, and one for my wife, and a clutch of lenses. My wife takes great photos, but even a zoom ring is too much fuss, and she commented that the X100 did everything she needed. It's unlikely that I will do any more...

I have a chair and two sofas. The sofas are ok, but the chair is in a different league and the different models are different too. They are not cheap, but looked at a hifi upgrade, really good value.

1. Stressless recliner with footstool 2. Ikea Poang Caveat: I use electrostatic speakers and so vertical positioning is critical. Few 'lounge' chairs have height adjustment, so you need to use tiltable stands, or legs to get the setup tuned in properly.

I once saw the cost breakdown for a moderately high end hand assembled amplifier of high repute (I won't say what as I wasn't supposed to see it...). The cost of the case (and very nice it was too), was well over 50% of the cost when it arrived in your lounge. Dealer margins quite eye watering...

I'll be listing my Audio Alchemy headphone amp in the classifieds when I get out of hospital. It has a mix button that does a really nice job.

Yes, and changing the speakers to anything else - no. Lyngdorf is quite an expensive option, and may stretch your budget. Dirac, DSpeaker and miniDSP and so on are viable alternatives. I started with a Behringer DEQ2496 and a calibrated Mic some years ago, cost me about £200 and it...

But, I think, the drivers are unavailable if anything goes wrong, but I agree, mighty fine speakers, and amazing for their size and price. However, if we are going that far leftfield, we should include Meridian M2 actives, and of course Linn Isobariks are technically stand mount speakers and...

My argument (I was on the 'it can't make a difference' side) was that there will be as many junctions that are resistance+ as resistance- so the effect would cancel out or at least be reduced to minimal raised to the power of minimal. Our late night discussions on resistor warming and dynamic...

Home demo: I've only heard the Motive at shows etc, but for their size, I'd not describe them as 'thin', so it could be your room. The Quad S2 are good speakers, but not as 'full' a sound as your Neats. Buying blind/used based on opinion from members here with different rooms is a sure fire...

Amp - something old but not classic off eBay is appealing, but a £80 single input chip amp from Amazon will be fine, if inputs grow get a switch box. I generally point people towards Q-Acoustics for cheapo speakers, but I'm sure there are others. An afternoon at your local Richer sounds would...

Although I worked in the electronics assembly industry 40 yrs ago when I was a student my knowledge of electronics itself is sparse and at the 'little knowledge is a dangerous thing' level. When I was going through my divorce, I moved in with a mate from the pub who designed and built bespoke...

If it was me... I'd get a power amp that makes a good job of driving the Cremonas - I recall some SF speakers had challenging impedance curves, so this is possibly a whole research project on its own. Then you are free to hunt down a DAC with a USB input, and a volume control, so you don't...

I think I could make that work, though I've also found one designed for the job, but with a plastic toggle, which isn't very 1959 - not quite sure how to proceed now. I've diverted my energy (not much ATM as recovering from major surgery and even more major complications) into getting my fuel...