Recent content by CHenry

Total B.S. on every side since the amp isn't even on the market yet.

Why is class D and tube an "oxymoron?" It isn't. The tube section is limited to the preamp. The amplifier proper is class-D. That combination is not new and neither is the combination of tube preamps and solid-state amps new. I have had a couple of systems using preamps with selectable-tube...

I have always liked the silverface aesthetic of '70s hi-fi gear, Yamaha and Technics (and everyone else then) and as Yamaha now still offers and as Technics has done with its line (now that it is only a super-premium maker.) The symmetry of Yamaha and Technics surpasses in detail and build...

I like "Turkish" coffee, but it is a time commitment if you grind the beans yourself. That flour-like fineness takes some time to produce as do the boils. I would have to source a steel cezve for use with induction now that i no longer have a coil hob. Tasty, though.

Peet's is reliable and generally available, even on the east coast. In the DMV, Mayorga is widely available. Even Costco carries some. Lately, it has been Bulfinch out of Boston for me, and from time to time, Velton's Bonsai. I have been using a new LaMarzocco Linea Micra which has done them all...

The better speaker positioning for the 4349 is not on the lighter JS-120 stands (meant for the L100) but the strut-reinforced JS-150 stands. The cost is slightly higher, but for a speaker of this size and weight, the better choice. It gives the speaker about 8 inches of elevation from the floor...

Meh. Those PVD coatings are not so rare or special, treatments common to tool metals in other industries subject to considerably greater abrasive, heat and impact stresses than coffee grinding would produce. They are common in firearms parts, especially barrels, drill bits and the like.

I have the Pro-Ject Pre Box RS2 Digital preamp. It is really very nice. It has a dual ESS Sabre DAC and a selectable tube stage, a selection of filters and a headphone amp. Nice compact form factor, with a display. I have been using it with a NAD C298 amp and alternately with JBL 4349s (low...

Pretty soon there will be balanced power supplies for your espresso maker and power conditioners, and of course special cabling.

Your choice. I don't mind bad reviews if they are honestly founded and reviews of products good or bad have value only when they test the products as they are designed to be used, and not just any way the reviewer chooses to test them.

Try to find a used PID Rancilio Miss Sylvia. That will at least put you into a proper HX semiauto with good temperature control. People often buy these and move up later to an E61 group machine or some other machine, so there is a resale market. Manual, as in hand lever extraction, that is hard...

The LS50W2 does well with a sub for reinforcement. It is an excellent standmount or bookshelf stereo system, as it adds much more in the way of being active with a streamer and DAC, each speaker bi-amped, and they have a DSP "Music Integrity Engine.". The R3 Meta is of course a 3-way, and has...

NYC is fortunate to have some of the best-tasting public water anywhere, sourced as it is from the Adirondack Mountains.

Just push it around with the edge of the ol' Reg Barber and then give it your best 30# press. Don't overthink.

A whole online hobbyist world exists at CoffeeGeek. I use an Olympia Maximatic and grind with a Mazzer Mini B, having used an E61 QuickMill Andrea Premium previously and a Rancilio Sylvia before that. I am still tempted by levers (had an Olympia lever for a while also) and the Londinium R24 is...