Mshenay expresses his deep love for garage 1217 amps and related miscellania

When you posted "...I'm a big fan of redundancy..." I was reminded of Big D. He posted of redundancy numerous times. That is a picture of his system.

The whole saga is here.

 

Redundantly...

 

That was quite a ride, skipped the middle an read the beginning and end parts. Makes me wonder is that the future for me as well? Do I emanate the same level of instability and inflamed emotional states... maybe I should seek help

 

Buy some Emotiva T2s and a two channel amp either from Schiit or Emotiva. Amazing value. There you go. Choose your source.

 

True, buying internet-direct will provide better value than from a dealer and with brands that have been around for awhile like Emotiva or Odyssey, it decreases the risk of unhappiness or buyer's remorse because a lot of ears have been on them and various people have provided feedback to form a personal opinion on if that piece of kit will suit me (the listener).

However imo, Vidar is still way too new to be considered amazing value or even a great piece of gear. With so few ears on it, it seems rather fanboyish to just assume it will be in fact be great, and great compared to what else. I doubt it will be bad given their track record, but I unfortunately have not read anything of Vidar being compared to another device, like an Odyssey or Emotiva power amp for example, which should leave a person wondering rather than declaring.

Buying speakers is a very personal thing, imho, so dealing with shipping and shipping costs/restocking fees is the price to play in hopes of saving money overall. Audioholics did a nice summary of what to expect from various manufactures:

http://www.audioholics.com/how-to-shop/internet-direct-comparison

 

A qualm arrose tonight the iFi iCan SE will actually replicate radio noise when I have it and the Ember II both plugged into the dual set of RCA outs on my NFB10ES2, the "radio noise" which is literally radio broadcasting as it's people talking, is NOT audible from the Ember II regardless of headphone or output resistance, some tubes will how ever pick up and reproduce that Radio Noise but the one I'm using doesn't.

Any idea why that is? Why can I hear the interference that apparently the Ember II is picking up on an entirely separate amp? I suspect the issue is with both the Ember II and the RCA Output of the NFB10ES2 and I suppose on the iFi iCan SE as well, but when I plug it into the Hugo 2 it's silent. An any amount of gain on the volume knob will also silence the noise on the iFi iCan SE

 

It was just the "...I'm a big fan of redundancy..." that reminded me of Big D saying that frequently (so I made a joke). I detect no similarity between you and Big D
(yet ).

 

Doesn't matter either way,

@Dino I am super excited about Portapro re-release!!! Thanks for pointing it out, I hadn't even realized they launched a re-worked porta pro. Ironically the Porta Pro is/wasn't my first Koss. I had the TD 75 before I even knew the Porta Pro existed

@msommers Saw your thread on the Massdrop x Alex Cavalli Tube Hybrid Amp (CTH)

At that price point it'll be competing again'st both the Vali 2 and the Garage 1217 Series, even better is the New Stock Electro-Harmonix tube it's shipping with. A 6sn7 variant of that was my first upgrade to the RCA Clear top I had in my Ember II.

 

I'd just like to thank @Marvey for giving the Horizon a chance, I know you hate the Ember and I'm apparently deaf that's all ok! But in the end I'm just happy to see G1217 getting some love from the rest of you! It'd be nice to move the impressions of the amps over to this thread ;3 but that's asking a bit much right

Non the less, I've got the Elise AND the Crack with Speed Ball in bound! So the Ember II will finally get some much deserved competition! Looking forward to seeing how it compares with my Eikon and HE 4, as I ultimately needed hybrid tube that could drive both well... though I do have a project I'm working on exclusively for my Dynamics, that will hopefully eclipse the Ember II and leave it solely on HE 4 duty