Given the faults the ESP950 are known to develop I have stopped thinking about getting a pair. I was going to see what they sounded like on the Blue Hawaii, but not any more.
Maybe more people will experiment with the drivers in better housings now that there is no warranty? It really sucks if a pair develops the squeal though
Koetsu carts are fantastic, my long term analog buddy just keeps climbing the Koetsu chain after hearing many different carts. The Lyra/Koetsu are polarizing in their signatures though.
He announced it would be coming out in 2010 in September 2009, at the 10 year anniversary of the album. I'm predicting a multiple version offering like Ghosts. I will make a thread in the music forum when more is known.
Chris I posted this in the deals thread a while ago- the Esoteric SACDs are cheaper on hmv.co.jp
I believe people were saying closer to $40 each, and HMV Japan's shipping is pretty reasonable.
Anyway being a DA/AD nerd I think it's pretty cool that Esoteric designed (or modified one of their existing DACs) to serve as an ADC
They were always under $10 at amazon. Don't know now that SH made a thread about them...
This guy has a complete list of all 56 discs: Amazon.com: Lists by D. B. Wiseman "23"
I wish I could find the Mercury Living Presence discs for cheap
Oh my how have I not heard of this? And mastered at Bernie's, this is added to the wish list. Sort of strange they'd replace the classic artwork with a picture of a master tape...
Frank Zappa - We're Only In It for the Money mfsl cd
I've been listening to the SL-1200 the last couple of days. Superb performance for how cheap they are. Most obvious improvement over my Music Hall is rock solid speed stability. Bill Evans- Interplay Fantasy 45 rpm vinyl is my torture LP for testing pitch issues and the Technics sails through. A VPI Aries with SDS and my Music Hall can't quite pass this test. Interestingly the other TT that can make this LP sound like heaven is the Garrard I mentioned earlier.
I'm not convinced the SL-1200 is an improvement in all areas over the MMF-5, but I am so used to the MMF-5 sound through years of use that I need to spend some more time with this DD before forming any solid opinions.
Good point. I'd like to think soon, since it is a direct competitor to the 1.6, which will slow 1.6 sales (Steve Guttenberg mentions $2000 msrp, same as the 1.6). Whereas the mini/sub combo is more of a stand alone product in their lineup.