Inoculator

AQ Niagara 3000 and Furman had better blackground and cleaner sound. The difference between AQ 3000 and Furman was smaller than the difference between Furman and AQ 1200. Compared against the Furman the AQ 3000 seemed to have slightly more polished & sparkling treble, while also maintaining better dynamics.

I personally have three Furman AC-210's, they represent really good bang for the buck. Like the name says, AQ 3000 costs north of three grands, way too much for me...

@Collusion funny you mention that...I have a 3000 arriving today. 1200 brought enough improvements that I was curious and I scored a solid used deal. Should be arriving any minutes...now just to wrangle these thick power cables and wrestle the 3000 into my rack.

@Vtory they do seem to be solid, and based on these early findings I will probably have to pull the funds together to keep this. Seems the Niagra 3000 might offer a pretty good jump but price for that and the rest of the line on up is wild. I thought I was fine with just passive power solutions as I added a dedicated circuit awhile back, but still seems to be bringing some improvements.

I bought a 3000 with sales points when I used to work hifi retail. I felt like it blackened the background and made things a little more vibrant. More than worth the $0 I paid! And perhaps a better value than equivalent funds spent on interconnects... Still a rather subtle improvement though.

Ouch, that Audioquest price.. I've been looking for a decent power conditioner and had the Waudio W3900 on my list but that is not available anymore. Might have to dig deeper to find something

*glassy-eyed, lustfully looking*

Nice! I feel like we could open a PNW JAR showroom right now if we combine forces: https://i.imgur.com/4Lcf3YG.jpg

If only Jupiter's salutary prefix was Mason.

Helluva day!

This is the exact secondary setup I want lmao

Using Chromecast audio w/ iFi PowerX, currently putting it up against the Holo May (fed via USB)...and it is closer than you would think. Very obvious the May bring significantly more refinement/accuracy/detail, but it is close enough that I find myself almost losing track which I am listening to.

Bluetooth range is also insane on these (maybe this is standard these days and I am just a dinosaur). Went to change the song, and then realized my phone was not in my pocket, but I had left it downstairs and I was all the way across the house.

I have one of the previous generation. For mobile/wireless cans I rather enjoy them; especially after I EQed some bass out of it. The noise cancelling to me is good, but I always thought of that as secondary.

I didn't even know there was a 4th iteration. I used the 2 for years, still have it, but the battery is weak now. Figured instead of trying to change the battery I'd just get a 3, but it's bigger and less comfortable for me. Oh well, had to justify trying the 4 but we'll see.

Was yours one of the pairs presented in the Texas show? If so, which color?

@Vtory yeah mine is the blue one, 22k serial number range. I had actually never heard a stock HD 800 (only HD 800s) when I got these. Only listened for a few hours when I sent off to Jupiter. Things I liked stock, but the fatigue was real. Jupiter really has smoothed these out and fixed them without sacrificing the overall character of the headphone. More balanced and more natural sounding for sure.

Sounds promising. Looking forward to seeing your more in-depth impressions later!

Using the rear XLR out to drive headphones? I kinda assumed that allowing for headphones from there was one of those gimped, "Well, if you *must*, we'll let you", afterthought features. Actually impressive if it doesn't suck.

@Lunk_Wray yeah while design wise it may seem like an afterthought, sonically it really is quite impressive. I know the dedicated headphone amp version, the Bliss, is rolling out in the next month or so. Will be interesting to hear what people think.

Oh man! Here's the rest of your rabbit hole:
https://grantfidelity.com/new/index.php/2020/06/09/who-is-analog-sound-by-line-magnetic/

https://000080huang.en.alibaba.com/productgrouplist-820212297/Line_Magnetic_Foshan.html

Oh damn, both brothers passed away in 2019?? I didn't know about the two companies. Thank you for these links. Hope things continue and are as good as in the past...

So 3 companies/line-ups: Line Magnetic Zhuhai (modern), Line Magnetic Foshan (WE Replicas), Analog Sound (new most modern version and a sub-spinoff from Line Magnetic Foshan).

Dibs on the Starlett when you’re ready to sell it ;)

@Woland I didn't know the Pi4 could could take USB input. Are there any writeups for setting this up? Also can you comment on sound quality?

@kee7a The input is via the "Raspberry Pi 4 USB Gadget" so you'll find writeups by googling for that. Sound was as good as any other cabled connection and it was an easy way to upsample the regular sources (flac, tidal) with the addition of less friendly sources (spotify, youtube, games..)

By friendly, I mostly mean compatible with DSP on Roon, Audirvana etc.

What does "first" mean? Does it mean spend the most money on it, be the most "stable" on it, or be the least "stable" putting most energy into finding the "one".

@purr1n I suppose I was getting at what overall can have the largest impact on how your chain sounds and its overall character, and in turns what it makes sense to invest in and build around. That being said, obviously synergy of the chain is actually what matters most.

That's both easy and hard to answer, and it depends upon where you are at.

Indeed congrats and best of luck!

Mazel tov!

Congratulations! Have fun with it.

Marv does not think so, and I read most others agreeing on the comparison thread(s).

@crenca Thanks! I need to re-read those threads. Guess Sys it is

@rhythmdevils I will try to check it out. F7 is no tone slouch, and technically very proficient, but with the LS3/5A it just lacks the heft/body of the Sugden.

Ahh, yeah I don't know about that and if it would be better than the F7 but I much preferred the Aleph J to the F7 I heard. Both DIY versions, but still. The Aleph J is maybe the best solid state amp I've ever heard, just gorgeous in every way.

I think the official versions are quite rare, even the DIY versions are hard to come by, but if you can find a good build they're not too expensive.

@Boops Caught the prices in this article, $3950 a pair for the micr/o, ouch: https://www.hifipig.com/devore-fidelity-orangutan-o-baby-and-micr-o/

Wow. I guess I am not buying a pair of these just to try out on a lark. That price puts them in kind of a no-mans-land for what they are and who they are for no?

JBL L19 is a really good sounding cheap smallish bookshelf, but maybe wouldn't fit into a shelf

I did this, costs about $400 and I put a surge protector at my power box so I can go straight into the outlets. Well worth the cash.

@ColdsnapBry good call. I scored and because there is a subpanel right nearby, so dude said no problem, throwing it in for free. Granted, spending quite a bit with him for backyard remodel circuits.

Throw in a big isolation transformer while you are at it.