My Adventures in Stereo

    Minidsp SHD;   I was researching the KEF R3, on ASR & was advised to pick up a minidsp SHD instead ,as a logical upgrade to my current stereo system The device offered a unique set of features - including balanced (XLR ) & unbalanced ( RCA) Input & output  - along with Analog to digital converter, thus allowing me to incorporate my LP player & SACD player This would replace a Parasound P6 Preamp, which offers a multitude of connectivity options & bass management.which in its time, offered one of the few options to run a 2.2 system with bass management. Through using a minidsp 2x4 HD in my home theatre for sub management, I was already aware of the superiority of the bass management offered by going the minidsp route.With the added advantage of Dirac Live to calibrate the whole system, I quickly decided to adopt the minidsp SHD.   I was aware, that I would face a learning curve, in setting this up well. Warily I accepted the challenge &

  Adventures in Purifi : Audiofonics MPA 400 ET Monobloc Vs NAD C298 Power Amplifiers  (with a primer on the Nu Prime ST 10) Why class D?  After using a variety of class AB amps  Yamaha AS 2000 Parasound A23 From the Yamaha AS 801, Yamaha AS 2000, The Parasound Halo A 23 & Roksan Kandy K A 1 I felt the need for a change and not wanting to get in to the dependability issues of tube amps and the heat and power consumption of class A Class D came to the fore The idea of a light weight, compact, cool running package, was attractive to me.  I happened to come across a article, on 6 moons.com, on the Nu Prime ST 10, which got my attention and I promptly picked one up.   It delivered on all the parameters, was powerful, musical and non fatiguing I was smitten by class D,.Wanted the added headroom, of monoblocs Finding the Nu Prime ST 10-M, monoblocs, difficult to source I searched the net and came across  purifi Monoblocs from audiofonics, mentioned in ASR, which fit the bill nicely  Havi

                                                    " ”When you want more bass, you miss it; when you have it, it disturbs you.“  Franco Serblin, Founder Sonus Faber                                                                 SVS PB 2000 Pro   I was a pure stereo guy, no subs needed, was my thought process I have used Towers with 5.5 & 6" ( Yamaha, Q acoustics, B&W). 8" ( Klipsch RP 8000), 10" ( JBL E100) I remember listening to antique  towers with their 15" woofers and being impressed with their bass Was happy enough with them before I got exposed to subs A grand piano, would not sound grand enough,Drums would not have that weighty kick etc A dedicated amplifier for the power hungry bass frequencies, makes sense The bottom octave is important & getting the subs right was important to me     Having too many components, does not sit well with me So I started of with a single sub, Yamaha 10" ( SW 700),  it was a ported down firing sub Stuc

 An Intro My parents loved music & I was exposed to music from a very young age  The love affair started then & never really went away My extended family were also music lovers & I was fortunate to hear music from a variety of sources One of my uncles was a audiophile & had very nice systems, a sony tape deck, in beautiful chrome finish with VU Meters and standalone 2 way speakers He also had a HMV vinyl system with Philips speakers I also liked the sound of the radio & my father loved old Hindi music & passed it on to me My mother loved Abba, Boney M & jim Reeves, this was a constant background, at our house I appreciated the qualities of each & they left lasting memories for me LP's I loved the sound but the reliability, issues kept me away, for nearly 40 years I went the digital route after college, gave up my cassette & CD collection On my return from college, I befriended a sound engineer T J Gopinath of GR Acoustics, Kochi Kerala He designs