Revelation

I received my King Cobra RCA cables today. I did not know if I was going to notice any difference. I carefully opened the box in case I was going to return them. Upon the first 5 seconds I noticed a clearer more open sound by about 7%. I'm glad I purchase them and they are staying.

I never heard of Blue Jeans. I will check them out. 🙂

I think replacing cables every 25 years or so is not a not a bad idea. Depending on the atmospheric conditions they have been in, they maybe just fine or the ability to transmit signal could be diminished by 5 to 50%. I am sort of answering my own question. At this point I think I will purchase Kimber or Audioquest cables. If I do, it should be the last time I need to do so.

どうもありがとうございます

I have good rca cables that are over 25 years old. Since they have a red conduit I do not know if they have any green oxidation in the cables. Is is a safe choice to replace them with brand new Audioquest or Kimber Kables or if they look good and sound fine, just keep them?

I found the Zen Iso board does reduce vibrations with my turntable. This in turn allows the needle to stay more locked in the groove which results in a more solid sound. Granted if your stand sways at all, the iso table won't help with that....but hopefully most of is don't have that issue unless you have kids running in the room.

As an update, I replaced my 8 year old Mogami cables with new Audioquest Columbia XLR cables. After playing music through the calbes from preamp to the amp for 48 hours that I found about a 6% percent difference with the Audioquest cables. There is a slightly more open clear sound. It also improved the sound stage a little and got the MC152 to sound closer to the soundstage of the M312 that I heard at the store. :🙂 Every time I play music through my system, it has been a constant source of enjoyment.

I had 6 year old Mogami XLR cables I connected from my amp to my preamp. I just purchased AudioQuest Columbia cables and noticed improved clarity and openness by about 8 percent. I don't know all the details on why it sounds this way, but I definitely like the sound better and to me, its an improved sound. One would think once you get to a certain level of less resistance, the really high end cables would make less of a difference. With that being said, I am very happy with these cables and they are staying on my McIntosh amp and NAD preamp

We all want to reduce vibration in our stereo equipment. The engineering behind the Iso Acoustic pucks are impressive, but I'm wondering how much better are they compared to just getting some foam or other material to reduce vibrations. All reviews seem to be pretty positive, so I am assuming they perform well. With that being said, I just ordered their Zen 2 turntable reduction piece which has 4 of the pucks on the bottom of a piece of wood. $200 for that seems a lot, when I could just go to the hardware store and get some wood and perhaps some acoustic foam or other pucks and make it myself. But I do believe some engineering and tests were done to see what would be the most effective.

Have you actually heard this receiver in a proper setting?

I went to World Wide Stereo today and heard the Technics SU-R1000 for the first time. First off, the build quality is excellent, and I like the meters which are very responsive and are not sluggish. The bass was very good; however, I have heard a little more punch on other amps. I wonder if higher watt amps (over the 150 on this amp) is the reason why some amps may have more weight in the bass. The mids are very clear, and details sound very good. Very open and detailed sound. The DSP for the turntable with the test record and the internal calibration made a notable improvement. The speaker correction also helps provide a more spatial sound with a touch of more treble in a very positive way. When you turn it off the effect, the sound stage is tighter. The Technics is a little lean, not colored and thankfully does not have the sterile Class D sound either. This is a great receiver and one you should consider if this is in your price range......especially if you use a turntable. No amp or receiver is perfect, and there are always some pros and cons which every system. But this one is really wonderful and it sounds and looks excellent. I would like two changes with it however. The first is more wattage...at least 200 watts. Second is having a lower costs. The 700 Technics receiver is thousands less at $3,000. Based on the info, the design inside is the same with the Jeno engine. But I think a lot of the higher cost has to do with the amazing phono capability it has. However the SU-R1000 is not a streaming DAC, it has no ethernet or Wifi. For a receiver at this price, it should

I received the McIntosh MC152 today and thanks to a McIntosh Unboxing Video online, it helped me get this heavy amp out of the box safely by myself. The unit looks really nice, and I am one that loves the blue meters. I let the amp warm up for an hour before I used it with my NAD 658 preamp and Focal Aria 926 speakers. The first thing I will say is the amp is not dark, warm, or dull. It has a very big bass representation, smooth mids, and pleasant top end. Compared to my original Adcom 555 amp, the sound is a little larger, details on instruments are pulled more a little forward and heard better. The sound is refined, it has this elegant sound that is really nice. I know there are times people try to justify things they buy, but if this amp did not make a very good impression, I would have sent it back and purchased a Parasound JC5 amp. Alot of our purchases are emotional ones and I think that is overlooked too much. I think part of the emotional appeal to McIntosh is that the product is made in America where they provide enough wages for people to live in the area of Binghamton New York. Yes, audio gear made in America cost more than someplace in China. Those overseas facilities, you don’t know anything about the work environment, quality control, and how many audio companies are using the same parts. You can tour the McIntosh facility and there are online videos that shows the gear being made. I'm proud that McIntosh makes equipment at their facility and have no issues paying a little more for gear which supports workers who live in New York State. I know some class D amps are clean and have great base depth. However, when comparing it to class AB amps, the Class D can have less meat on the bone. Some may prefer that more neutral sound and many will be drawn to an amp that has a little more umph to it. The MC152 does not ooze a heavy character. It has a gentle smooth sound while still being clean and detailed. I read where some don’t want some Class D amps because the small modules inside are not worth more than a couple hundred dollar that is put in a metal box that charge thousands of dollars for. Others say you’re paying for the R&D of these amps and don’t have an issue with them. I like the gentle character of this amp. It does not affect the clean detailed top end that the amp provides. I don’t need to put the volume past 50% on my NAD as its pretty loud. It seems to have a good amount of headroom. I highly recommend this amp and though it was a costly price, it was worth it for me.

I love this Focal line. I have the 926's and the 948s go even deeper. Great high's details, mids, and lows. They look great, and the tweeter is not harsh but smoother than B&W. Oh yeah, take off the covers when you play music as the black mesh affects the sound a little. I also have mine on carpet, I use the screws on the base and lifted them off the carpet a little and the sound opened up even more.

I was able to take advantage of the current pricing on the Mac amps. I just ordered the MC152. 30 day trial period is always helpful to be able to hear the gear in your own room. If it does not fit my needs (which I doubt), I can go to the A21+

I decided against PS Audio as though it might sound good, they are clearly overcharging for the two modules inside their box.