Equipment Recommendations - The Home For New System and Upgrade Advice

kvetcha said:
I mean, I'd still rather have an accurate TV if I'm watching a movie. I want to get as close as possible to the artist's intent.
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Yeah this. Audio is a bit more subjective, especially with music as it's a weird art, and has very nebulous "standards", but ideally every display should be calibrated to the industry standard D65 color space and gamma BT.1886 and proper EOTF for HDR. I ALWAYS look at measurements for TVs and monitors on RTINGs or HDTVtest and as a graphic designer I'll die on that hill. I don't have my TV pro calibrated at the moment, but if I had more cash to spend I would without hesitation. In the meantime it's easy to go on RTINGs or AVSforums or something to see what setting to put your TV on to take it out of the "torched blue eco vomit mode" it came with.

To @Joe Mac 's point, when people add motion smoothing on their TVs to simulate the 60FPS look it's even more heretical, but that's more a case of interpolation. As much as I do not like the aesthetics of something like Gemini Man the framerate is as intended.

Long story short, the video industry has real standards that are easy to adhere to, or at least as close as possible with user settings.
 
Joe Mac said:
Yeah this is bullshit! 60fps and above has it place, it’s called live sport and computer games. Both look amazing with high frame rates! It just looks horrendous for films and dramas because it’s absolutely not cimematic!
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Yeah I need the patina of 24p. 60p video sends shivers down my spine and gives me nightmares. Some like it though but I’ve found most are big gamers...
 
Joe Mac said:
For films yeah, I wouldn’t want to watch my football at 24fps though, that doesn’t work at all lol!
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Very true — the higher the frame-rate possible for sports and video games. I think it's really the way our brains have been programmed in many ways, we know what sports look like live, and we've seen so many movies in 24p. And nobody likes a laggy videogame.
 
zombie.modernist said:
Yeah I need the patina of 24p. 60p video sends shivers down my spine and gives me nightmares. Some like it though but I’ve found most are big gamers...
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I don't particularly like HFR films, but there were moments in The Hobbit where it kinda clicked.

Much much prefer 24p, though. Give me that judder.
 
kvetcha said:
I don't particularly like HFR films, but there were moments in The Hobbit where it kinda clicked.

Much much prefer 24p, though. Give me that judder.
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I dunno I kinda use The Hobbit as my prime example of why it should never be near films! I did not like Super Mario Dwarves in the Kingdom of the Goblin King...
 
kvetcha said:
I don't particularly like HFR films, but there were moments in The Hobbit where it kinda clicked.

Much much prefer 24p, though. Give me that judder.
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Never saw the Hobbit ones in HFR (only saw Smaug in theaters but it was 24p) but I just really don’t like it. No clue why it bothers me so much but it really does. Netflix put out that 4K HDR 60fps demo Meridian a few years ago and I think it should have won an Razzie for cinematography. It was essentially a techie’s wet dream but very far from the cinema aesthetic.
 
zombie.modernist said:
Never saw the Hobbit ones in HFR (only saw Smaug in theaters but it was 24p) but I just really don’t like it. No clue why it bothers me so much but it really does. Netflix put out that 4K HDR 60fps demo Meridian a few years ago and I think it should have won an Razzie for cinematography. It was essentially a techie’s wet dream but very far from the cinema aesthetic.
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The scene where it really works is Riddles in the Dark, because it's basically shot like a play. It looked amazing in HFR 3D and made me go 'oh, I see.'

Kinda hated it the rest of the time, though. It makes costumes and make-up look like...well, costumes and make-up.
 
kvetcha said:
I don't particularly like HFR films, but there were moments in The Hobbit where it kinda clicked.

Much much prefer 24p, though. Give me that judder.
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i probably would never wanna see a movie or even just someone moving around in live action in HFR

seeing anyone move in 60 FPS just seems too smooth... tbh i think it might also give me a bit of a headache seeing as i barely even game at 60 FPS (not a lot of games i own can run in high settings that aren't in 20 FPS)
 
TheMythOfSisyphus said:
I was here a few weeks back asking about some stuff, and I've created a shortlist of a new phonostage & integrated amp I'm going to get next year (I'll be gone till next spring so I plan on purchasing then, keeping in mind something attractive may come out in the meantime). Everything on my shortlist I can either demo here in Vegas or take a weekend trip out to Upscale Audio in CA (w/ one exception to be noted later). I request/would appreciate any further suggestions based on what I have listed or thoughts (pros/cons).

I will be pairing these w/ a Technics SL-1200G (w/ a Soundsmith Zephyr MIMC or a Dynavector Karat 17DX; I will be purchasing this at the same time, and am pretty much locked into this choice. My current speakers are MartinLogan Motion 40s and an SVS sealed sub; I plan on getting Klipsch Forte's at some point, but plan on using the ML's for a while longer.

Phonostage shortlist:
1. Sutherland 20/20 (plan on getting w/ LPS) - reviews are stellar, what more can I say?
2. Icon Audio PS3 MkII - what reviews I have found have been good; however, there aren't a lot and the only US dealer is MusicDirect, so there will be no chance to demo beforehand (but, of course, MD has a solid return policy); also much more expensive than others on list
3. McIntosh MP100- has a mono and phase switch, which is a nice feature in theory. But, honestly, my current PSAudio phonostage has a phase switch that I NEVER use; as for mono, the switcheability of headshells/cartridges on the Technics, I may just buy a dedicated mono cart. The McIntosh also has, IMO, the most user-friendly interface/front panel

Integrated amps:
1. Prima Luna EVO 400 - any idea on how these would push the ML's?
2. Musical Fidelity M6si
W/ these two, the obvious glaring difference (besides the price, which I'm not too caught up on to sway me either way) is solid vs. tube. Reviews on both of these are great and the nice thing is Upscale Audio carries both so I can due side-by-sides

Again, any input/amplification (no pun intended) would be appreciated.

Cheers!
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The other phono stage in that price range that has been getting glowing reviews is the new PS Audio Stellar Phono. I’d love to hear from someone who had heard one personally, or to hear one myself, because the reviews make it sound like a very exciting prospect!
 
TheMythOfSisyphus said:
I was here a few weeks back asking about some stuff, and I've created a shortlist of a new phonostage & integrated amp I'm going to get next year (I'll be gone till next spring so I plan on purchasing then, keeping in mind something attractive may come out in the meantime). Everything on my shortlist I can either demo here in Vegas or take a weekend trip out to Upscale Audio in CA (w/ one exception to be noted later). I request/would appreciate any further suggestions based on what I have listed or thoughts (pros/cons).

I will be pairing these w/ a Technics SL-1200G (w/ a Soundsmith Zephyr MIMC or a Dynavector Karat 17DX; I will be purchasing this at the same time, and am pretty much locked into this choice. My current speakers are MartinLogan Motion 40s and an SVS sealed sub; I plan on getting Klipsch Forte's at some point, but will use the ML's for a while longer.

Phonostage shortlist:
1. Sutherland 20/20 (plan on getting w/ LPS) - reviews are stellar, what more can I say?
2. Icon Audio PS3 MkII - what reviews I have found have been good; however, there aren't a lot and the only US dealer is MusicDirect, so there will be no chance to demo beforehand (but, of course, MD has a solid return policy); also much more expensive than others on list
3. McIntosh MP100- has a mono and phase switch, which is a nice feature in theory. But, honestly, my current PSAudio phonostage has a phase switch that I NEVER use; as for mono, the switcheability of headshells/cartridges on the Technics, I may just buy a dedicated mono cart. The McIntosh also has, IMO, the most user-friendly interface/front panel

Integrated amps:
1. Prima Luna EVO 400 - any idea on how these would push the ML's?
2. Musical Fidelity M6si
W/ these two, the obvious glaring difference (besides the price, which I'm not too caught up on to sway me either way) is solid vs. tube. Reviews on both of these are great and the nice thing is Upscale Audio carries both so I can due side-by-sides

Again, any input/amplification (no pun intended) would be appreciated.

Cheers!
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I think everything you have in your funnel is exemplary. Being able to test it all gives you an enormous advantage, now you can just decide what appeals to YOU most. It looks like you've done your homework and as you mentioned, all these options have glowing reviews. All I can add to the conversation is my complete satisfaction with both Sutherland and Prima Luna ;)

Best of luck :)
 
TheMythOfSisyphus said:
I was here a few weeks back asking about some stuff, and I've created a shortlist of a new phonostage & integrated amp I'm going to get next year (I'll be gone till next spring so I plan on purchasing then, keeping in mind something attractive may come out in the meantime). Everything on my shortlist I can either demo here in Vegas or take a weekend trip out to Upscale Audio in CA (w/ one exception to be noted later). I request/would appreciate any further suggestions based on what I have listed or thoughts (pros/cons).

I will be pairing these w/ a Technics SL-1200G (w/ a Soundsmith Zephyr MIMC or a Dynavector Karat 17DX; I will be purchasing this at the same time, and am pretty much locked into this choice. My current speakers are MartinLogan Motion 40s and an SVS sealed sub; I plan on getting Klipsch Forte's at some point, but will use the ML's for a while longer.

Phonostage shortlist:
1. Sutherland 20/20 (plan on getting w/ LPS) - reviews are stellar, what more can I say?
2. Icon Audio PS3 MkII - what reviews I have found have been good; however, there aren't a lot and the only US dealer is MusicDirect, so there will be no chance to demo beforehand (but, of course, MD has a solid return policy); also much more expensive than others on list
3. McIntosh MP100- has a mono and phase switch, which is a nice feature in theory. But, honestly, my current PSAudio phonostage has a phase switch that I NEVER use; as for mono, the switcheability of headshells/cartridges on the Technics, I may just buy a dedicated mono cart. The McIntosh also has, IMO, the most user-friendly interface/front panel

Integrated amps:
1. Prima Luna EVO 400 - any idea on how this would push the ML's?
2. Musical Fidelity M6si
W/ these two, the obvious glaring difference (besides the price, which I'm not too caught up on to sway me either way) is solid vs. tube. Reviews on both of these are great and the nice thing is Upscale Audio carries both so I can due side-by-sides

Again, any input/amplification (no pun intended) would be appreciated.

Cheers!
Click to expand...

To answer the Prima Luna question- the EV0400 will have no issues with your Martin Logans. If you go to Upscale, see if you can demo it with both EL34 and KT88 output tubes. You’ll get different presentations with each, and will likely prefer one over the other.

Regarding phono stages- Sutherlands don’t have switches by design. Every time you add a switch, your signal degrades just a bit.

I’d drop the McIntosh from your list. I’ve heard it. It was OK. Just OK, nothing I’d want to own. Also, some of the circuitry is to facilitate digital rips of your vinyl. I’d rather have all of the money go to getting the best sound possible. You won’t need it anyway as the PL has tape outs- you could use these to connect to your computer sound card if you want to make copies.

I’d seriously look at the Sutherland Little Loco in its place. The instructions say that because it’s a current amplifier as opposed to the usual voltage amplifier, you must use an MC cartridge. The Dynavector is a great choice. Here’s the thing: I saw a review where they successfully used a MI cartridge with it- in this case a Grado. The Soundsmith is a MI as well. It should work.

The Icon Audio PS 3 looks great as well. You have to be careful not to place the power supply near the audio circuits box or your turntable. And don’t place the audio circuits near your amplifier. You need at least a foot of room between everything. It will hum otherwise.
 
My parents actually said they'd get me some open back headphones for my birthday in 2 and a half weeks and my only debate is the sennheiser 58X (because no amp yet) or the grado SR80e... i hear the grado are amazing for mids and rock music but the 58X seem like better all arounder headphones that i can use on my record player and my laptop (the grados would be turntable only.. i dunno how youtube videos would sound on grados... but this also leads to a problem since half of my records are based on electronic instrumentation like rap and dance music so i dunno how grados work with that)
 
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