Tardcore Posted February 11, 2015 Share Posted February 11, 2015 man, does anyone ever buy anything from best buy? the price differences are huge... people buy exclusive steelbook blurays from them. ahem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slinch Posted February 11, 2015 Author Share Posted February 11, 2015 people buy exclusive steelbook blurays from them. ahem. which I absolutely hate. Not that people buy them, but that best buy gets so many exclusive releases. While amazon ships worldwide for super cheap, best buy doesn't ship outside US. I still need to pick up their Drive steel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigbruise Posted February 12, 2015 Share Posted February 12, 2015 It's store credit from trying to cash in on my protection plan from some bose earphones. They no longer make that model so thats what i'm stuck with. For the last 4 years or so I've used the protection plan to get a new pair and just reupped the protection plan. I don't know if i could use it to buy amazon cards that would be nice though. I'm currently watching reviews on the ones suggested, they are the ones i was already looking at. The momentums seem to be for mobile use which I'm not interested in. I'll just use some shitty skull candy for that until I care enough to upgrade. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xxsilence Posted February 13, 2015 Share Posted February 13, 2015 that brings us full circle to my original take..Best Buy has crappy selection and pricing. Maybe he can use the store credit to buy amazon gift cards? is the store credit in Best Buy gift card form? It's store credit from trying to cash in on my protection plan from some bose earphones. They no longer make that model so thats what i'm stuck with. For the last 4 years or so I've used the protection plan to get a new pair and just reupped the protection plan. I don't know if i could use it to buy amazon cards that would be nice though. I'm currently watching reviews on the ones suggested, they are the ones i was already looking at. The momentums seem to be for mobile use which I'm not interested in. I'll just use some shitty skull candy for that until I care enough to upgrade. Either way, just use store credit or best buy gift card to buy visa gift cards. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigbruise Posted February 17, 2015 Share Posted February 17, 2015 So I stuck with earphones. Bought the westone um pro10's. They're pretty much shit. The cable feels cheap as hell and it sounds like I'm listening to music in tin cans. No matter how I equalized them I was just incredibly underwhelmed. I'm going to return them today, see if I can maybe get a refund to original form of payment instead of store credit, or buy Amazon gift cards as suggested. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tardcore Posted February 17, 2015 Share Posted February 17, 2015 if you have a nearby Best Buy with a Magnolia on site, they might have some better options not listed online. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigbruise Posted February 17, 2015 Share Posted February 17, 2015 Yeah i saw that on the site, didn't really pay attention to it to figure out what it was. Either way, the selection is pure shit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xxsilence Posted March 2, 2015 Share Posted March 2, 2015 Hey guys, was wondering if you could provide some feedback on buying a freshly serviced Pioneer SG9500 and SA9500, $200 for the EQ and $500 for the amp. Amp is recapped with no hours on it. Or can you suggest some other models to look at for around the $500 amp range? He has quite a few of them on hand I just only know the details of the Pioneer 9500 set. Thanks! Edit to add I'll be running a rega planar 3, cambridge 651p preamp and B&W 685 S2's. I assume the cambridge pre will be better than most of the integrated on these vintage, am I wrong? Obviously I'll try both and decide which pre sounds better, but it would help budget if the integrated will win out and can sell the pre. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ajxd Posted March 2, 2015 Share Posted March 2, 2015 Don't get the EQ. It's pointless. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ajxd Posted March 2, 2015 Share Posted March 2, 2015 Also $500 for a vintage unit?! Even if they "re-capped" everything (which do you know how to spot new caps vs old?), its still a gamble. And insane one. Don't buy either. You have a nice table, get something nice for it. Not vintage stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crabwalker Posted March 2, 2015 Share Posted March 2, 2015 you don't need the EQ. I don't know a lot about that particular amp and cannot seem to find any reviews for it. from a quick search it looks like that amp sells for around $300 online so if he wants $500 he is probably high even if it was recapped. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xxsilence Posted March 3, 2015 Share Posted March 3, 2015 Kind of what I figured. I was expecting the $300 mark for a serviced unit. I'll just keep on saving. Ok so if I'm going to just keep saving then I have to ask the question - what's the dream amp for this setup? Or I guess, a few amps with tiered budges from the "it does your table justice" to "dream" with tiered budgets. Thanks again! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crabwalker Posted March 3, 2015 Share Posted March 3, 2015 IMO, you're in an interesting place. You have decent gear, so it really depends on what you are going for. If you are interested in staying in the midfi tier then $500 in plenty to get an amp that will do your gear justice. On the flip side, if you're interested in upgrading your gear, then getting an amp above the current tier of gear would be a good idea and start you on the upgrade path. A few suggestions: Crown XLS 2000 - $450 new but can find them for like $300 on ebay. It's a class D amp, but runs very quiet. Lot's of power for the buck. It's a fun little amp. I have 2 of them that I run. It's finally starting to get some buzz and there are a few threads on audiophile websites right now. There are also some reviews online from a few hifi websites. It would do a fine job in your set up and leave some room to grow. Wyred SX Series - $900 new but can find them for around $750 used. These are little monsters. This would be a big upgrade to your system. The Wyred is like the Crown but even more refined. I don't think you will find a bad review on these things and in fact have won several awards from the absolute sound. I've considered upgrading to these amps myself, but I think I'm going to jump to a more "forever" amp on my next upgrade. That said, this amp would do great for years to come & let you focus on upgrading other components. Those would be my two big suggestions. I'm sure others will chime in on the Parasound amps or the Emotiva amps, but I'm not a huge fan of either unless you go way up the line with the Parasounds. Even then I think there are better amps for the money. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ajxd Posted March 3, 2015 Share Posted March 3, 2015 If Parsound is good enough for George Lucas and Kanye West, it's good enough for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crabwalker Posted March 3, 2015 Share Posted March 3, 2015 So I take it you love Star Wars 1, 2, and 3? Those were good enough for George Lucas too Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ajxd Posted March 3, 2015 Share Posted March 3, 2015 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
circuit bored records Posted March 3, 2015 Share Posted March 3, 2015 Kanye West might have killed the argument though. Is he supposed to be an authority on superior hifi? I thought he was just an authority on shitty music. Eliminator Jr. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tardcore Posted March 3, 2015 Share Posted March 3, 2015 Kanye West might have killed the argument though. Is he supposed to be an authority on superior hifi? I thought he was just an authority on shitty music. You have to respect the artistry. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eliminator Jr. Posted March 3, 2015 Share Posted March 3, 2015 Kanye West might have killed the argument though. Is he supposed to be an authority on superior hifi? I thought he was just an authority on shitty music. You should have given that upvote to Beyonce and you know that! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
allenh Posted March 3, 2015 Share Posted March 3, 2015 You have to respect the artistry. I thought it was you have to respect the comedy In the paper this morning there was a story about Kanye doing a talk at the Cambridge University Union the other day and most of the students said something along the lines of "I didn't know what he was talking about, something about his daughter and wolf toys, but funny and glad I went" So a career in stand up beckons I feel Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
allenh Posted March 3, 2015 Share Posted March 3, 2015 Hey guys, was wondering if you could provide some feedback on buying a freshly serviced Pioneer SG9500 and SA9500, $200 for the EQ and $500 for the amp. Amp is recapped with no hours on it. Or can you suggest some other models to look at for around the $500 amp range? He has quite a few of them on hand I just only know the details of the Pioneer 9500 set. Thanks! Edit to add I'll be running a rega planar 3, cambridge 651p preamp and B&W 685 S2's. I assume the cambridge pre will be better than most of the integrated on these vintage, am I wrong? Obviously I'll try both and decide which pre sounds better, but it would help budget if the integrated will win out and can sell the pre. My first question would be why vintage? If you like the sound great and there is a lot to be said for a lot of vintage gear but if it's not for that reason or cost then there are some good choices around new for that sort of money, I myself am a fan of decent engineering no matter how old but it can be a risk and yes $500 is fookin extortionate. Also the rest of your kit is very European so Japanese amplification be it old or new might not be the way to go. I would look at Musical Fidelity, Rega, Onix, Audiolab, Arcam, Micromega or Cambridge Audio. You could also go 2 box with a separate pre and power and if you go that way a valve (tube) pre and a solid state power would be a very musical way to go. I have heard good reports of people using cheap Chinese valve pre amp with the Crown power amps suggested by Crabwalker but I haven't heard them myself. Your Cambridge 651P is a pretty good phono stage but I wouldn't presume it to be better than the phono stages in all vintage integrated amps, some had some very good ones in. e.g if you look at the 80's and 90's Musical Fidelity products they effectively have the XLP phono stage in which is still a superb phono stage to date. xxsilence 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xxsilence Posted March 3, 2015 Share Posted March 3, 2015 Thanks, Allen. I was looking vintage just for appearance and something to "hold me over", but in retrospect it's silly. I should just save for something worthwhile. Based on your suggestions, something like a Rega Brio-R or Mira 3? (how do those compare by the way?). Or a Cambridge 651w? Am I at least in the right tier for matching it with my equipment? And I didn't notice creek in there, but how would you compare the Evolution 50a to the others? I haven't heard much on Onix, Arcam or Micromega but I'll have to check them out; see if I can't find a local dealer with some demo units. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
allenh Posted March 3, 2015 Share Posted March 3, 2015 Yes I forgot Creek and yes that would be another good suggestion and it would put the brand on similar branding to Rega. You need to listen to as much as possible to form your own opinion and ideally through B&W speakers. Given the choice though from what you've said so far I would choose Rega over Cambridge purely because Cambridge although designed in the UK and built in China like many others are they are built down to a price more so than other brands. That said Cambridge kit on the whole is good value and makes a nice noise for the money. Onix is a small UK Brand which I'm not sure is still going but worth a look if they are, Arcam is a very no nonsense UK brand a bit like a modern day Quad, Micromega is a French brand that makes some very simple but nice sounding kit, Audiolab is quite a legendary brand that was bought by and became Tag McLaren making some very high end kit and then once Tag McLaren got out became Audiolab again. Another one I forgot was Cyrus which would definitely be worth a look but if it were my money I think Musical Fidelity would be the one I would look at first as a benchmark. xxsilence 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xxsilence Posted March 3, 2015 Share Posted March 3, 2015 All very great information, thank you Allen! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sidney Crosley Posted March 5, 2015 Share Posted March 5, 2015 Quick question for those who have a digital scale/stylus force gauge or whatever they're called: the $20 scale on Amazon is $30+ on the Canadian site, so I've looked around a bit for something a bit cheaper. This one is available on eBay: http://www.ebay.ca/itm/NEW-Vesion-Professional-LP-Digital-Turntable-Stylus-Force-Scale-Gauge-MC-MM-dzr-/351077969757?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item51bde0af5d ($11.50 US/ $15 CAD) Anyone have this particular one, or would anyone see a reason why this one would be noticeably inferior to any others? I'm guessing a scale is a scale to most extents (unless your system starts to cost more than my house...) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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