Equipment Recommendations - The Home For New System and Upgrade Advice

MikeH said:
Ah I think it’s cool! Looks like it’s from a recording studio or something haha. I’m sure it’s done to match the Ultradeck though which I know you don’t like
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Ah yeah; the monolith with yellow highlights!

Equally pro gear has never been the height of style lol!
 
Mather said:
It's all good I'm just kidding, I completely understand what people don't like about the 2M Black. It's very clinical. I just think the rest of my system does to a degree make up for that clinical nature. That being said I have not yet gone outside the Ort ecosystem for carts so I am fully aware I have no point of reference and could very well switch houses and then be absolutely horrified that I spent so much time with the Black. I don't think that will be the case. But I can't definitively say it won't be.
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VPIs and Orts get along very well.
 
HayesWeighsIn said:
Imagine listening to Down Rodeo whilst simultaneously being Paul Ryan
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it probably looks something like this
time_paulryan_20111205_0402.jpg
 
Angsty said:
For less cash, Sutherland would have me at Duo.
[/V QUOTE]
I’ve really enjoyed the Aesthetix Rhea Signature in my system that replaced Ron Sutherland’s Duo a couple of years ago. That said, the Duos, at less than half the retail price, are probably close to 90% of the Rhea’s performance without the hassle of running a phono pre with ten tubes. The Duos really are great.
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Bummer, Echo Audio up for sale. Kurt's retiring. Email content below, along with some sale items -

“The best stereo in the world is free. Inside your head. It sounds as good as you want it to. As loud as you want it to be.” - Lee Child, Killing Floor


It’s no surprise that wherever you place your attention, you will get results. I place my attention on hearing. Every day, every moment. Listening to the smallest of sounds in your every day life increases your acuity for listening to dynamics and tones.

I’m 56 years old, and I know that my hearing is better now than ever because I've continually paid attention to it and made it a priority. If you go for a hearing test, they will often place a band around your skull and it’s surprising how perfectly you can hear when the headphones aren’t producing any sound. Just for fun, you may try going through days with a little cotton in your ears because it will accentuate your listening experience at night -- almost like eating nothing but broth for several days so that dinner is a gastronomicaI epiphany. Another fun experiment is to hold a mylar balloon when listening to music (many of our deaf clients do this and mylar is much better than latex) or plugging your nose and blowing lightly to hear high frequency clarity. We all experience sounds uniquely; it's such a subjective and neural experience that reading reviews is no replacement to hearing different systems for yourself. Go in to your favorite audio shop to listen; and hopefully they have a "loan out" program so that you can take it home for the weekend in order to really hear it in your own system & environment.

Transparent Audio, the best cable maker in my humble opinion, recommends that you simply listen for tonality, dynamics, and space. Listening is a heuristic evolution for us all. The crew here at Echo Audio learns more by listening together and comparing notes. Selling mostly used equipment allows us to be relatively agnostic and not prefer one brand over another, but simply give each and every brand a fair and equal listen regardless of brand or price. You’d be surprised how much price forces you to lean toward a certain product but I encourage you to do 'blind listening' as much as you can and don't be embarrassed if you like a $1500 system better than a $25k system.

If you pay attention to your hearing, you will become a more present and involved person to situations around you; and this simple act of paying attention and appreciating your hearing makes you an audiophile. It’s not about how expensive your stereo is or the cables that connect it together; it’s simply about the act of loving audio. I suggest you go and listen to the unamplified sounds of a chamber music event (or similar) because it’s good to hear the natural tones coming from the soundboard of a piano or the woody-ness of a reed instrument. High Fidelity will never sound like the "real thing" but, in many ways, it's less aggressive and more palletable. After a while, you’ll begin to realize the differences between a Fazioli and a Steinway piano in the privacy of your own home.



For a summer sale, we’ve decided to offer a few specials if you are interested in hearing some of the best combinations of new equipment that we’ve experienced.

This first one surprised us. We hooked up a Denon PMA900 to a pair of KEF R3 Meta speakers and couldn't believe the weight, fullness and soundstaging of this small, room-filling system. The internal phono stage + ease of streaming Tidal through HEOS made this difficult to beat. Retail price with designated KEF speaker stands = $3847. Our summer special price is $2950

Second is an affordable, yet infinitely upgradable system that includes a Pro-ject Debut III SB turntable which is on sale now for the crazy low price of $249 (in walnut or black) + a Marantz NR1200 receiver and KEF Q150 speakers. Retail price - $1897. Our summer special for this complete system is just $1247.

Third is for those who want to downsize from a large audiophile system to a unique, full-functioning stereo system with just 2 powered speakers, the KEF LS60 Metas. These beguiling speakers are infinitely adjustable, full range and allow easy music streaming plus HDMI ARC and more. Retail price - $6999, summer special price of $5950 which includes a new Music Hall Classic turntable. BTW, some of our customers prefer the KEF LS50 Wireless II Meta speakers combined with a KEF KC62 subwoofer which retails (with S2 spkr stands) for $4747. Summer special package price of $3750.

Fourth is also a surprise to us. The combination of Marantz' new SACD 30N super audio player + 40N integrated amplifier electrifying a pair of KEF's new R7 Meta speakers is stunning. The 70 watts of high current power mates perfectly with the R7s. This is a system that all of us could live with for the rest of our lives; we love the streaming, SACD, DAC inputs, phono stage and "yes" tone controls!

Finally, for those of you who want the best and have been putting off buying your dream system, we have found the combination of KEF Blade 2 Meta speakers paired with a Parasound JC5 amplifier nearly impossible to beat. Yes, we've had D'agostino M400s, Simaudio W8 & Lamm 2.1s married to the KEF Blade 2s but nothing seems to "own" and control the Blade 2 Metas like the JC5 with presence, balance, detail and grace. So we're willing to 'throw in' a brand new Parasound JC5 amplifier with the purchase of a pair of KEF Blade 2 Meta speakers; that's a discount of $6399, but we feel this terrific combination needs to be shared with you, our dedicated customers who have supported us and signed up to receive this email.

I’ve owned a hi-fi store for 33 years and loved every minute of it, but I am ready to retire. If you, a group of your buddies or a stereo company wants to lease a 4200 square ft. bldg on the west coast with more hi-if than you can imagine and the ability to sell anything quickly, efficiently and discretely, just email buyechoaudio@gmail.com. You get everything: the store with $200k of inventory, the website and a turn-key, used + new hi-fi business on a busy street with plenty of parking. I'm in perfect health and just want to play pickleball, golf, cards in the middle of the day, travel, learn languages and volunteer. The price is 1.75 mil (less than our gross annual sales) and you'll get the keys to this terrific shop with no debt + $200k of inventory/tubes/huge customer base/full repair facilities, parts, etc. Send a brief message about how you will steward this successful company and I will respond to the lucky winner with P&L, taxes, etc by Sept 1st. Only genuine offers will receive a response.


Sincerely, Kurt Doslu
 
Matt M said:
Bummer, Echo Audio up for sale. Kurt's retiring. Email content below, along with some sale items -

“The best stereo in the world is free. Inside your head. It sounds as good as you want it to. As loud as you want it to be.” - Lee Child, Killing Floor


It’s no surprise that wherever you place your attention, you will get results. I place my attention on hearing. Every day, every moment. Listening to the smallest of sounds in your every day life increases your acuity for listening to dynamics and tones.

I’m 56 years old, and I know that my hearing is better now than ever because I've continually paid attention to it and made it a priority. If you go for a hearing test, they will often place a band around your skull and it’s surprising how perfectly you can hear when the headphones aren’t producing any sound. Just for fun, you may try going through days with a little cotton in your ears because it will accentuate your listening experience at night -- almost like eating nothing but broth for several days so that dinner is a gastronomicaI epiphany. Another fun experiment is to hold a mylar balloon when listening to music (many of our deaf clients do this and mylar is much better than latex) or plugging your nose and blowing lightly to hear high frequency clarity. We all experience sounds uniquely; it's such a subjective and neural experience that reading reviews is no replacement to hearing different systems for yourself. Go in to your favorite audio shop to listen; and hopefully they have a "loan out" program so that you can take it home for the weekend in order to really hear it in your own system & environment.

Transparent Audio, the best cable maker in my humble opinion, recommends that you simply listen for tonality, dynamics, and space. Listening is a heuristic evolution for us all. The crew here at Echo Audio learns more by listening together and comparing notes. Selling mostly used equipment allows us to be relatively agnostic and not prefer one brand over another, but simply give each and every brand a fair and equal listen regardless of brand or price. You’d be surprised how much price forces you to lean toward a certain product but I encourage you to do 'blind listening' as much as you can and don't be embarrassed if you like a $1500 system better than a $25k system.

If you pay attention to your hearing, you will become a more present and involved person to situations around you; and this simple act of paying attention and appreciating your hearing makes you an audiophile. It’s not about how expensive your stereo is or the cables that connect it together; it’s simply about the act of loving audio. I suggest you go and listen to the unamplified sounds of a chamber music event (or similar) because it’s good to hear the natural tones coming from the soundboard of a piano or the woody-ness of a reed instrument. High Fidelity will never sound like the "real thing" but, in many ways, it's less aggressive and more palletable. After a while, you’ll begin to realize the differences between a Fazioli and a Steinway piano in the privacy of your own home.



For a summer sale, we’ve decided to offer a few specials if you are interested in hearing some of the best combinations of new equipment that we’ve experienced.

This first one surprised us. We hooked up a Denon PMA900 to a pair of KEF R3 Meta speakers and couldn't believe the weight, fullness and soundstaging of this small, room-filling system. The internal phono stage + ease of streaming Tidal through HEOS made this difficult to beat. Retail price with designated KEF speaker stands = $3847. Our summer special price is $2950

Second is an affordable, yet infinitely upgradable system that includes a Pro-ject Debut III SB turntable which is on sale now for the crazy low price of $249 (in walnut or black) + a Marantz NR1200 receiver and KEF Q150 speakers. Retail price - $1897. Our summer special for this complete system is just $1247.

Third is for those who want to downsize from a large audiophile system to a unique, full-functioning stereo system with just 2 powered speakers, the KEF LS60 Metas. These beguiling speakers are infinitely adjustable, full range and allow easy music streaming plus HDMI ARC and more. Retail price - $6999, summer special price of $5950 which includes a new Music Hall Classic turntable. BTW, some of our customers prefer the KEF LS50 Wireless II Meta speakers combined with a KEF KC62 subwoofer which retails (with S2 spkr stands) for $4747. Summer special package price of $3750.

Fourth is also a surprise to us. The combination of Marantz' new SACD 30N super audio player + 40N integrated amplifier electrifying a pair of KEF's new R7 Meta speakers is stunning. The 70 watts of high current power mates perfectly with the R7s. This is a system that all of us could live with for the rest of our lives; we love the streaming, SACD, DAC inputs, phono stage and "yes" tone controls!

Finally, for those of you who want the best and have been putting off buying your dream system, we have found the combination of KEF Blade 2 Meta speakers paired with a Parasound JC5 amplifier nearly impossible to beat. Yes, we've had D'agostino M400s, Simaudio W8 & Lamm 2.1s married to the KEF Blade 2s but nothing seems to "own" and control the Blade 2 Metas like the JC5 with presence, balance, detail and grace. So we're willing to 'throw in' a brand new Parasound JC5 amplifier with the purchase of a pair of KEF Blade 2 Meta speakers; that's a discount of $6399, but we feel this terrific combination needs to be shared with you, our dedicated customers who have supported us and signed up to receive this email.

I’ve owned a hi-fi store for 33 years and loved every minute of it, but I am ready to retire. If you, a group of your buddies or a stereo company wants to lease a 4200 square ft. bldg on the west coast with more hi-if than you can imagine and the ability to sell anything quickly, efficiently and discretely, just email buyechoaudio@gmail.com. You get everything: the store with $200k of inventory, the website and a turn-key, used + new hi-fi business on a busy street with plenty of parking. I'm in perfect health and just want to play pickleball, golf, cards in the middle of the day, travel, learn languages and volunteer. The price is 1.75 mil (less than our gross annual sales) and you'll get the keys to this terrific shop with no debt + $200k of inventory/tubes/huge customer base/full repair facilities, parts, etc. Send a brief message about how you will steward this successful company and I will respond to the lucky winner with P&L, taxes, etc by Sept 1st. Only genuine offers will receive a response.


Sincerely, Kurt Doslu
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Having him in town has been great. I’ve bought a bunch of stuff from Echo over many years. Very fair prices and a nice guy.
 
I can't say enough good things about @krichard2496 and Darlington Labs. Recently upgraded from my MM-6 to the MM-7 and added a mono switch. I was really happy with the MM-6 but wanted the switch so it made sense to upgrade. Fantastic customer service and the upgrade in sound is very noticeable. I've never heard a stage at the $2000 plus price point but at a start of $499 on these, I think you'll be hard pressed to do better without spending thousands.
 
marshall said:
I can't say enough good things about @krichard2496 and Darlington Labs. Recently upgraded from my MM-6 to the MM-7 and added a mono switch. I was really happy with the MM-6 but wanted the switch so it made sense to upgrade. Fantastic customer service and the upgrade in sound is very noticeable. I've never heard a stage at the $2000 plus price point but at a start of $499 on these, I think you'll be hard pressed to do better without spending thousands.
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Did you trade the MM-6 in? I've been debating doing the same thing, especially after changing to the SAE.
 
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