Aftermarket power cord for receiver?
September 15, 2008
Should I buy an aftermarket power cord for my Harman Kardon
receiver? I have read online that it might make things sound better. The receiver is about
three years old and seems to sound fine to me.
Eric
I wouldn’t spend a ton of money on an aftermarket
power cord for your receiver. These can cost several hundred or even thousands of dollars
and for many people that kind of expenditure could be better used elsewhere in the system.
For instance, does your receiver have preamplifier outputs? If so, a good upgrade for you
would be to add a stereo amplifier to drive your main speakers. This will improve your
system’s stereo performance and ease the load on your receiver in full-blast surround
mode. That would be the first upgrade I’d look at making.
Blu-ray alternatives
September 9, 2008
You guys have reviewed plenty of DVD players over the
years, but I am wondering if Blu-ray players other than the Sony PlayStation 3 will become
available and if you will be writing about any. I don’t want a gaming machine as a
source for my audio system, but I would like a Blu-ray player so that I can use the newer
sound formats. Any recommendations?
Burt
If you check out the SoundStage!
Network’s CEDIA coverage you’ll see that at least one new Blu-ray player was
announced from a company that we know and really like: Oppo Digital. The BDP-83 will
reportedly be available sometime this winter and includes some neat features such as a USB
input. Other alternatives include the new Pioneers -- they perform flawlessly and look to
be built really well. So yes, the alternatives are growing and there’s no doubt
we’ll be writing about some of them soon.
Bananas and spring clips
September 4, 2008
What would be the easiest way to connect the banana plugs
from my speakers to the spring clips on a vintage Marantz 1060 amp?
Santiago
The easiest thing to do is to cut off the bananas and
strip the cables down to bare wire. Vintage electronics rarely work with bananas, spades,
or other modern connection methods. Most older amplifiers were designed to work with bare
wire only, so this is a common dilemma to have. The good thing is that bare wire will
perform just fine and if you’re careful and you’ll end up with a tight, solid
connection.
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