Class H amp??????

VR3

I think the worst sounding amp I've heard was the Soundcraftman my Dad had...

Thing was pure power, Class H ---

Sounding like someone was talking through a quilt... no detail, just raw, blah sound...

Definitely wasnt the speakers since the almighty 1.2TL was on the forefronts

But very unimpressive

Yashu

Red Wine audio... I have been thinking about them lately... I have this high quality extremely well regulated 12v DC PSU, and I thought his 12v DC gear would be cool to mess around with. I don't think I could use battery power, the charging, the hazardous waste, but I don't know of many other "audiophile" components that accept 12v DC. If they have a tripath amp, I need to check that out.

EDIT: $1500 bucks is a little much. Haha, maybe the Trends would be a more sensibly priced playtoy.

mulveling

Just a personal preference...but regarding RedWine audio - I find it hard to take seriously a company that offers a $250 ipod mod that *requires* a special cable (with a capacitor) to not cause damage to your equipment. Oh, and they'd love to recommend the special $380 cable or $500 special home dock from the even more hard-to-take-serious company they're partnered with

It'll run you nearly $1000 for an ipod plus their imod plus their best imod home dock package. $600 Jolida JD100 on agon, anyone (used Sony scd-777es, Meridian 507, the list goes on...)? Not saying anything about their amps, but I'd exercise caution by the association... I know the good audio toys usually ain't cheap, but throwing that kinda money at an ipod??

BTW, the current PS Audio Icepower amps sound really good - I've briefly heard the 250. There are occasionally good deals for them on agon that pop up (saw a $1100 for the 100 not too long ago), and in those cases they're a good buy. However, I'd have a hard time playing the dealer premium to a company that really spouts the marketing/electronics voodoo BS like that.

Basically, there are a lot of audio companies out there that thrive/depend on consumer ignorance. Polk Audio, by providing the forum and website they have here, has risen well above all that BS. Hooray for Polk Don't know why I felt like ranting about this all of a sudden...

mhardy6647

Just a personal preference...but regarding RedWine audio - I find it hard to take seriously a company that offers a $250 ipod mod that *requires* a special cable (with a capacitor) to not cause damage to your equipment. Oh, and they'd love to recommend the special $380 cable or $500 special home dock from the even more hard-to-take-serious company they're partnered with...

Basically, there are a lot of audio companies out there that thrive/depend on consumer ignorance...

People spend more than that kind of money to buy wires to hook hifi components together :-P

mulveling

mhardy6647 wrote: »

People spend more than that kind of money to buy wires to hook hifi components together :-P

It's one thing to drop $$$s on cords to connect an excellent source to a great preamp or integrated...it's another thing entirely to drop $$$ on cords for a system with an ipod source.

Currently I have a paltry 0.5% - 1% of my system invested in the cables...though eventually I would like to upgrade to something along the lines of Audioquest Panther/Jaguar/Columbia. It's not too odd on head-fi to see people have disproportional investments on cables with an ipod source - that's just wrong IMO.

mhardy6647

I really fail to see the difference -- the über-tweak mentality is what it is.

Enough of the digression... cheers!

Yashu

I think he is saying that the performance of an ipod would make high end cabling a moot point (would you want to add resolution to distortion?). However, I don't know... I don't know how good an ipod is since I don't have one. I have messed with one... but I found out that you need iTunes just to copy music to the thing... Apple has become the new Sony. Luckily it was a gift for someone else so they had to deal that junk software not me I thought it would be a simple matter to fill it with some music before I gave it to him (my father... he likes to take walks), but you actually have to do it through iTunes for some reason, and once they (I made some high bitrate mp3s of his favorite albums) were on there, half of them would not play after the first 10 seconds.

Anyway, that is not really the point... I am sure there are plenty of happy ipod users... and so it makes sense to try and bring these people into the world of audiophilia.

Gaara

I recall the same being said about the Squeezebox when some members were asking about it, it was described as just a toy and something that wouldn't last. Now I know many members use them as their main sources paired with a good DAC, I know I do.

It seems that many newer products are not embraced by the members of Club Polk. In the recent Icepower thread Russ was talking about newer technologies stating that none of them are hifi. When I asked about Icepower a few months ago I got very little in the way of response, now there is more input but still very little.

As for the RWA units I have a lot of respect for Vinnie, I would love to experience one of his amps but it would be incompatible in my system. The I-Mod is a very interesting idea and like Zero I don't understand why people put them down. Part of my goal in my system is to get the shortest signal paths, I want the purest sound possible. The I-mod seems like a logical choice for a high quality source as you don't have to worry about power supply issues, the signal path is extremely short, and there are less issues with jitter and optic problems. I first was skeptical about using a SB3 and once I started I couldn't believe I took so long to do so, I haven't touched a CD in weeks.

Many other forums rant and rave about PCs as being the ultimate sources, and the few times it comes up on Club Polk it seems to be gawked at. This is just another example of a new fad in 2ch listening that is popular in other forums but hasn't seemed to take hold here. I find it sad that things are changing in many ways but to be able to discuss these innovations I have to venture outside of club polk.

I-SIG

I've read thru this thread to make sure I did miss anything.....

Anyway, those that are shunning the use of an iPod or other similar device as a source either haven't tried one or didn't rip your music into a lossless format.

From what I've been able to experience one needs those 6moons "golden ears" to tell a difference between losslees and a quality CDP, especially at the level of equipment most of us are using.

Wes

RuSsMaN

They aren't, yet. If you would take time to think that all posts responding to you, aren't necessarily ABOUT you, you might be able to see the real intent.

The Squeezebox is on my short list, after my 2ch vinyl situation is squared away. There is a Jazz/ Blues station in Paris that's worth it alone!

Tech takes a while to come around. You think the first transistor output devices sounded great? It took a good twenty years before solid state 'came around', and now it's great. The chip / digital stuff will get better - it probably won't take a couple decades, but it will take some time to refine.

Cheers,
Russ

engtaz

How did a Class H ????????????? turn into a Ipod / Squeezebox thread? LOL

disneyjoe7

engtaz wrote: »

How did a Class H ????????????? turn into a Ipod / Squeezebox thread? LOL

I don't know.



But I do agree with IPOD Apple lossless that format is hard to tell which is playing Redbook CD or IPOD.

Gaara

engtaz wrote: »

How did a Class H ????????????? turn into a Ipod / Squeezebox thread? LOL

My fault, sorry guys. We went from H -> D -> T -> RWA amps -> Imods -> SB3. I shouldn't have gone off on my technology tangent.

engtaz

No problem, I posted for a laugh.

cfrizz

Well I have been listening to an Ipod & my mp3 player since Friday night. Playing through a Denon receiver outputted through LSI 7 speakers.

And as shocked as I was, it really doesn't sound bad!:eek: :eek: :eek: Nor does it sound bad to my musician brother! So after all this audiophile talk & posturing, it leaves me to wonder what the reality actually is?:)

Yashu

I bashed the ipod due to bad UI, proprietary software, and the utter stupidity of not being able to simply mount it as a HD and copy your music there to play... hehe... I cannot comment on the sound quality since I have never hooked one up to my stereo. It plays lossless files so it shouldn't sound too bad.

/OT contribution.

engtaz

Yashu wrote: »

I bashed the ipod due to bad UI, proprietary software, and the utter stupidity of not being able to simply mount it as a HD and copy your music there to play... /OT contribution.

I agree.

mulveling

I have in fact compared a 4G ipod directly to a Meridian G08 in my home system, and it really was that bad. I had a friend over at the time, a DJ - not an audiophile, and we were both shocked at the difference. Beforehand, I'd actually predicted to him that it wouldn't sound that bad - it did. A Zu pivot IC was used to connect the ipod to a Melos SHA-Gold Reference preamp; yes it was docked.

I don't think the difference between a good mp3 encoding and lossless is that great; in fact I doubt I could hear the difference. The problem's in the ipod power supply, digital section, analog output section...there's only so much you can do in a small space.

The G08 wasn't that much better than more modestly priced decent home decks I'd compared it to (Jolida, Bel Canto DAC2, Sony scd-777es, Denon 2910, Denon 3910, Sony scd-777es, some Modwright'd tube players)...and the G08 can't hold a candle to good vinyl.

That's my opinion and I'm sticking to it (for the foreseeable future, at least)

Also, I never said msrp'd PS Audio gear offers a good value - in fact I said the opposite. Their marketing BS makes their products sound far more advanced & expensive to build than they actually are. Their stuff happens to sound good, so it's a good deal at a huge audiogon discount. They do seem to rank pretty low on the parts cost to retail price ratio, I definitely agree there.

Yashu

On a lark I bought a PS Audio Noise Harvester to plug into the estra outlet in my Ultimate Outlet... well... let me tell you the irony of the thing creating more noise in a buzzing sound than it would ever have a chance to harvest from my power, was not lost on me.

I called PS audio and they told me it was normal for it to do that and that I should maybe tape some foam or something around it to quiet the buzzing. PS Audio wants you to buy half a dozen of them and plug them in anywhere you can... pfft... one is loud enough. Right now plugged it into an outlet in another room... I doubt it helps my stereo any, but the light is nice to watch blink when I go to bed.

Anyway, I understand the sentimant towards PS audio...

mulveling

Hah, that is pretty funny about the noise harvester. I guess it both harvests and generates
I love how that's "normal" to them, yet there's no mention of it in the marketing.

Let me clarify - the PS Audio power amps I've heard, sound good. I don't think I'd ever get the urge to try a noise harvester.

Yashu

Yes, my wife rolled her eyes when I told her what it was... I should trust her instincts.