Search results

  1. D

    Confessions of an Audiophile Junky-I Got Center Stage With Pitch Perfect Sound

    It’s been about 3 days since i installed the footers under the phono stage and preamp and two days under the power amp. Maybe I’m lucky since I didn’t seem to have suffered the trials and tribulations of the break in period of these devices. To summarize, there are days when our systems...
  2. D

    Confessions of an Audiophile Junky-I Got Center Stage With Pitch Perfect Sound

    It’s been about 3 days since i installed the footers under the phono stage and preamp and two days under the power amp. Maybe I’m lucky since I didn’t seem to have suffered the trials and tribulations of the break in period of these devices. To summarize, there are days when our systems can’t...
  3. D

    Low-cost streamer compares to Aurender

    I got a bluesound node 2 and and connected its digital out to my dcs Puccini digital input. Music is streamed via Tidal. With this combo, streamed music via Tidal falls way short of cd's. Will upgrading to a much more expensive streamer such as the dcs bridge, ps audio, naim, etc result in a...
  4. D

    Bluesound Node 2

    But do you feel it can compare to a cd transport connected to your tri vista dac? I was really hoping that streamed music via Tidal would match the quality of the same music played via cd thru the Puccini.
  5. D

    Bluesound Node 2

    Finally made my foray to streamed music courtesy of Tidal run through a very modest Bluesound Node 2 streamer/dac. I'm running its digital output to my Dcs Puccini digital input. Yes, great for sampling music on the fly but clearly no contest to my Puccini playing redbook cd. Question is, if I...
  6. D

    Ikeda KAI or My sonic labs platinum sig.

    Vice Versa.
  7. D

    Ikeda KAI or My sonic labs platinum sig.

    Vice Versa.
  8. D

    Ikeda KAI or My sonic labs platinum sig.

    I have an Ikeda Kai, recently purchased the gold signature, NO CONTEST, out of the box.
  9. D

    Von Schweikert Audio/VAC/MasterBuilt -- Los Angeles Audio Show 2017 -- Best of Show

    Maybe the only thing that may top the soon to be heard vr 11 ultra experience is your cooking, Jack!
  10. D

    New Album & The Beginning of Basketball Season

    With all due respect to Harden, he deserves every word and in fact owned up to the loss. Here in Manila if a superstar played that way in such a crucial game the common assumption would be that he sold out...
  11. D

    My Magico M3s have just arrived

    Same here! Fire em up in the main listening room! Congratulations.
  12. D

    MBL or TIDAL? SPEAKERS, ELECTRONICS...

    What model are you considering? I've heard the Tidal Agoria and the Sunray with and without the T1 sub, the Agoria is quite good but from what I've heard you can't go wrong with the Sunray specially if you go all the way and get the matching T1 subs. Haven't heard their latest models that have...
  13. D

    REF750SE vs VTL Siegfried Mk2

    Well the system is located over 60 miles south of Manila, and while by no means a great distance, you experienced first hand the paralyzing travel time it took to cover the less than 4 miles between Jacks place and mine.
  14. D

    REF750SE vs VTL Siegfried Mk2

    Prepare to gain 5 pounds when you visit Sonny and his gracious wife, pre merienda lunch, lunch, merienda, Pabaon pa ng merienda, try listening seriously as your digestive system saps all energy...but kidding aside, the best grande utopia EM I've heard by a huge margin, and that's before the...
  15. D

    Master Built-What are Owners Hearing That They Didn't Hear With Other Cables

    Precisely Jack, these past weeks with the masterbuilt cables in place what really surprised me is how satisfying it was to play at low levels with all the life in the music intact, without any urge to jack up the volume. Of course, if you wanna push the pedal to the metal, the system maintains...
  16. D

    REF750SE vs VTL Siegfried Mk2

    What qualities gave the nod to the ARC?
  17. D

    Master Built-What are Owners Hearing That They Didn't Hear With Other Cables

    I'm currently using a bi wired reference speaker cable to my Aida and signature power cords to my amp and pre. This isn't an improvement, this is is a transformation. I never thought that my system was capable of this kind of performance. Enough said, I'm speechless.
  18. D

    One Amigo Visits South East Asia and Hears Some Amazing Systems

    My last time at Sam's place it was the density of images that stunned me. This time, I could almost swear Sam had added a hidden supertweeter/ambiance driver to complement what I had previously heard. Amazing...
  19. D

    audio research Ref 6

    Unsolder and remove the gold coupling capacitors of a brand new, beautifully built great sounding preamp?? Unless your goal is to void the warranty.
  20. D

    audio research Ref 6

    I've been using ARC reference preamps for years and unless the source has balanced outputs, there's no sonic advantage to converting a single ended output to balanced. Using a transformer to convert a single ended signal to balanced just adds another component to the signal path and technically...
  21. D

    Magico on the cover of Stereophile

    Glad to read that you omitted the green vomit spewing from the head rotation!
  22. D

    One Amigo Visits South East Asia and Hears Some Amazing Systems

    Mmm, Jack, any extra masterbuilt speaker cables just lying around that I can audition? Sam has a pending order for masterbuilt cables to link the stacked metaphors, so it seems we haven't heard it's full potential yet.
  23. D

    One Amigo Visits South East Asia and Hears Some Amazing Systems

    Just to add to my impressions, I did a google search of the metaphor 2. Well executed design, completely isolated crossover in its own chamber, drivers operating in their own isolated chambers, heavy bracing and for the big surprise, it uses a titanium coated inverted dome tweeter. Sounds like...
  24. D

    One Amigo Visits South East Asia and Hears Some Amazing Systems

    I together with two other audio buddies were hosted by Sam yesterday afternoon. The first thing that strikes you is how close the listening position as Jack D had earlier reported. Source was an ARC cd 6 player, into the FM Acoustics preamp and to the circa 1980's Stax 80w mono bloc amps...
  25. D

    FM review

    I was hosted by Sam two primarily to listen to his stacked quad 57. To say the least, ive finally realised and experienced what a properly set up quad 57 sounds like. If midrange purity, clarity and naturalness is your cup of tea, these are hard to beat. It left me asking what all these new...
  26. D

    One Amigo Visits South East Asia and Hears Some Amazing Systems

    Just kidding. I really had to leave cuz my son was scheduled to leave the next day. Actually it's philip's fault for not whispering to me "don't leave yet I've requested the Brothers Four!" For that he should sell me his "own" promo copy!
  27. D

    One Amigo Visits South East Asia and Hears Some Amazing Systems

    Jack when I requested Jim to play the old warhorse "Cantate Domino" you should have had my heart rate monitored in anticipation, specially as Jim uttered, as he was removing the lp from the sleeve, as this being "the BOMB." After the tough "oh holy night cut" where I've heard many super...
  28. D

    Palawan, El Nido With Jack And Margie Duavit-The Rest Of The Story

    I guess this thread is the best testament that "it's more fun in the Philippines"! Thanks Steve for the great pictures and we're really glad that you had a wonderful experience in our country. Hope to be able to visit you in Southern California soon and listen to your likewise mind blowing...
  29. D

    One Amigo Visits South East Asia and Hears Some Amazing Systems

    Thanks Steve for the great pictures, not just of my system but all the local systems you had a chance to listen to. Just to clarify, both speakers aren't really brand new, the d3 close to two years but because of it's biting tweeter, I grabbed a good deal on the Aida and ended up with both which...
  30. D

    Sonus Faber Aida and Raidho C4.1

    Too bright. Painfully so with bright recordings. But I did some minor surgery and placed a 3.9ohm resistor in series with the tweeter. Problem cured, at least for my taste. With the tweeter attenuated, it's a truly great tweeter that makes the raidho' one of the best sound staging box speaker...

About us

  • What’s Best Forum is THE forum for high end audio, product reviews, advice and sharing experiences on the best of everything else. This is THE place where audiophiles and audio companies discuss vintage, contemporary and new audio products, music servers, music streamers, computer audio, digital-to-analog converters, turntables, phono stages, cartridges, reel-to-reel tape machines, speakers, headphones and tube and solid-state amplification. Founded in 2010 What’s Best Forum invites intelligent and courteous people of all interests and backgrounds to describe and discuss the best of everything. From beginners to life-long hobbyists to industry professionals, we enjoy learning about new things and meeting new people, and participating in spirited debates.

Quick Navigation

User Menu

Steve Williams
Site Founder | Site Owner | Administrator
Ron Resnick
Site Co-Owner | Administrator
Julian (The Fixer)
Website Build | Marketing Managersing