Are There Improvements that Can Be Easily and Quickly Made Without Buying More Stuff?

Yeah…I like these kinds of ideas!  I’ve already made 5 - 6 upgrade purchases this year, so it’s time to step back to try some tweaks.  It’s easy to try things and if they don’t work I can go back.

I don’t have the opportunity to listen to better audio systems.  So I don’t know exactly what I’m “missing.”  I do hear live music occasionally, so I have that in mind as the highest level of achievement.  When I listen, I think “does it sound like it could be live…or is it flat like a recording?”  
Another area to explore is the adjustments available on my subs.  I’ve worked on those and have difficulty judging optimal “phase”, but bass is among the best sound of my system.  I turn it down so I don’t notice it per se, but when there’s strong bass it sounds great. I don’t hear any difference in different DAC settings.

I think my sound is excellent right now.  Of course listening to Radio Paradise different recordings sound better than others.  I get very close to “live” with percussion instruments like a wooden block.  Generally base and sub sounds are excellent.  I can’t say that many vocals sound like the singer is in the room.

I won’t repeat what my current system is, but I have updated my profile.

@mikelavigne 

Wow!  I did look at pictures of your room.  I appreciate your advice!  And I will follow up on it.

I’m out looking for “Get Better Sound” by Jim Smith.  It sounds like a source of information to keep working on.

@jl35 

My listening chair is quite low, so it will be a good starting point.  I can try raising it in increments as one variable.  Good idea!

And thanks to all the forum responders which resulted in my past upgrades: Node, power supply, cables, DAC and router.

Thx for the comments!  I do have a carpeted space upstairs with only 1 regular window that I could move to.  But then I would have to “do music” as a separate, stand alone activity.  If I did that, I would listen to music much less.

Windows and light are a blessing of our house.  When inside, I’m still connected to nature.  Even living in a city, we daily have deer sometimes coming a nose away from the glass.  And fox and bobcat in the winter.  With a 180deg view of the largest lake in the world 50ft away, curtains would shut out more that I would gain in sound quality.  If I had them, I’d probably rarely use them.  Maybe after sunset in the winter…no, not even then as the moonlight views out over the lake at night can be stunning.

So for me, I’m trying to do the best I can in this context.  Of course, it would be tempting to set up a separate audiophile space with an entirely new system upstairs, and keep what I’ve got here for regular use.  That’s a future prospect.  I’d still want to optimize what I have now.

I really appreciate all the suggestions. It gives me a lot to work with.  This forum has been a great resource for advice.

@joshua43214 

On isolation, my 2 subs are sitting on thick recycled rubber pads made to be used for outdoor patio blocks.  Each of my speakers are sitting on four rubber feet that were made for a big commercial espresso grinder.  All are on a concrete slab with no basement below.

@wturkey 

The speakers are powered and plugged into wall outlets.  Same for the 2 subwoofers.  I did a bit more cable management as you suggested.  But I could drill out another hole in the back of my cabinet for power cords to separate them from interconnects.  Good idea and free!  I’ll also open the speakers and make sure that all fasteners are tight.  All my cables are tight.

@immatthewj 

Everything is on 1 circuit, using 4 different wall and floor outlets - since all the speakers and subs are powered and in separate locations they each have their own outlet.

A few things that I can add to the equation:

When the sub-bass is good on a recording, it sounds really, really good.  I think if every recording was as good as the best ones I’d always have tremendous sub-bass.

I’m listening to MQA on Radio Paradise. My SMSL M400 DAC shows that it’s playing at 44.1 kHz.

My speakers are powered so my amplifiers are plugged directly into the wall.

My listening position is 10ft from my speakers - is that considered near field?

Been busy with all the ideas.

Made a new hole in the back of my equipment cabinet for power cords. All power cords are now separated from interconnects.

Checked and cleaned all connections. Found a loosened RCA connector in one speaker and tightened it.

Moved one speaker and am trying different toe in angles. This could be the key to better sound.

@waytoomuchstuff and @terry9 ​​​​​and @defendert My back wall is 29ft from my listening position, with furniture, counters, cabinets etc. between it and me. My bass and sub-bass is very very good when the recording is good. So that’s not a problem to fix except to change all recordings played to good ones.

@boomerbillone Yes, I regularly clean my ears. I have been missing the highest frequencies since I was in my 20’s. Sometimes with a very high note on a piano I hear the hammer hit the string, but not the note.

@lanx0003 My next step will be to subscribe to a streaming service.

@roadwhorerecords I’ve got the glass of bourbon right next to me.

So far, I think the sound is better. Vocals are more pronounced…the music is more airy…the sound waves from the 2 channels are meshing better…there’s more decay so there’s more of a sense of space. I’ll keep trying little changes in the location and direction of my speakers and my chair height to try to find the sweet spot. I understand that just a few inches or degrees can make a difference.

p.s. - had a grouse walk by the window today while I was changing things.

Thanks to you all!!!

@woofman74 @ghdprentice @jerryg123   Yes, ear cleaning is a regular maintenance item for me.

@chowkwan   Grills are off to see the impact.  I read quite an in depth article about this on audioholics which claims that the frame is the biggest factor on sound quality.  My speakers have a grill which connects to the sides of the speakers, so the effect from the frame is minor.

@waytoomuchstuff   Since the grills were off, I found that the 10 screws on each speaker that were holding the drivers did accept a bit of tightening.  Good idea!  I already fixed a previous issue with a loose RCA connector.

@paradisecom   I don’t actually notice that my room is live - is there an easy way to test it without using a microphone?  I have quite a few bookshelves along the walls, and other similar things around the room, so there are a lot of small surfaces.  I’ll add a rug soon.

@mapman  Based on the comments made I now see that my audio is set up for near field listening.  I’ll try to find tweaks that apply to that situation.  I’m comfortable taking the time and having the patience to move speakers a bit at a time to try to find the sweet spot.

@chayro  How true.  I have a list of favorites on Radio Paradise MQA…and they’re my favorites because I think they sound good.  Listening to them, my system sounds great!