Buckingham, if you get the chance, take a listen to your system in the wee hours of the morning. I am talking about the time that most people are sleeping i.e. 12 - 1 at night and up to about 6 AM or so. I can literally hear an abrupt change every night at somewhere between 12:30 and 2 AM when listening. I can be concentrating on something else ( like the puter ) and the difference is startling enough that it stops me from what i am doing to take notice of it. It is almost like a veil has been lifted and the music becomes far more transparent, liquid and effortless. I wish that i could get these results ALL the time.... Sean
> |
well, of course it'll be brighter in the daytime .. . .the sun'll be up! |
Pick up a couple of those Blue Circle BC-86 Noise Hounds and you will come pretty close to getting early AM sound all the time. Two are better than one. |
The other costly alternative is to get a Burmester line conditioner. It goes for about $6K, but it is their most sought after product (over their other gear). I was blown away when I borrowed one for a weekend... I also live in an area with pretty "dirty" power. |
Does the sound get darker if you listen with your eyes closed? |
Sean said it very well. My experience exactly, and I know my in home voltage is lower during the day than late at night. Prime listening time for me starts about 11 PM, but mid-night to 1 AM is best and music quality is the difference between night and day;>)-- can't stay awake beyond that. Cheers. Craig |
Your thread really got out the funny birds! :-)
Seriously: Get a PS AUDIO Power Plant! Pure juice - pure sound, regardless of the time of day or night. Their money back policy takes away any risk. Try it, it works!
Good luck! |
When a man asked which was more important, the Sun or the Moon, the audio fool answered, "The Moon."
"Why do you say the Moon?" the man queried.
The audio fool replied, "The Moon always provides light at night when it is needed." |
While I believe AC to be the main culpret, I am guessing RFI or EMF? augmented/generated by the sun also contribute. I obviously do not know the precise terminology or happenings. My theory comes from the fact that there is more hum from my TT/preamp when the sun is staring at my west window. Does anyone else have any comments on this? Obviously the magnitude changes with windows and shielded cables, etc.
Albert, is there a night and day difference with your rig? I know who have taken my electrical provisions, so I am just curious. |
Hmmm.... I guess I'll just have to work during the day like everybody else. I would feel better putting the money into a P300 or a new DAC. It gets dark quite early here in the great white north anyways :) |
Whoa! 6K for a power conditioner!?! It is discouraging the sound is better late at night and early morning hours. Makes you feel like you are getting robbed (of good power) when you listen during the day. |
I certainly experience the best sound late at night. However, the problem during the day is often not that my system is too bright but just the opposite--that the system sounds dull and lacking in clarity and "aliveness." This is in fact the biggest "issue" I have in my continuing pursuit of good sound: the balance between brightness and whatever is the opposite of brightness.
When I am seeing live music, say a jazz group, and I leave the room, step out into the hall, I still can tell there is live music happening in the room. But I don't get that sense of aliveness that I get when I'm in the room, and I think the primary difference is a loss of higher-frequency energy, particularly the bite of cymbals. Like when you cover your ears or wear earplugs. You may indeed want it quieter, but you don't want to lose that high frequency energy, which is why conventional earplugs are so unsatisfactory.
I am constantly struggling with this balance in my stereo system,and often the problem is not enough of that energy (sometimes I get too much, too). The cymbals don't sound like I'm in the room, if you will, and without that, it just ain't happening for me. I have tried silver cables, solid state and tubes, PS Audio and Hydra and power cords and the whole nine yards.
And here's the most frustrating thing: I'll get it just right, only to find a week later that it sounds all wrong again. For example, a couple of weeks ago I removed the Hydra PLC from my system and--voila--got the energy back. But now it's gone again, and putting the Hydra back in doesn't hurt at all (it seems to help, in fact). This drives me crazy!
Sorry for angst-ridden post. :-)
Dan |
Dan,
Maybe your mood when you are listening is the culprit. I know that sometimes when I have a lot on my mind I can not concentrate on my music and I do not enjoy it as much. |
Your system sounds better late at night because there is less use of electricity in your house, and your neighbor's, therefore less interference in the lines. |
Dan: What you describe "dull" is still the AC power. It is the problem I had on my old house. It is where I first got introduced to power conditioning a few years ago. |
So how did you fix it, Sugarbrie? |
You may want to start with speaker placement and room accoustics. What is your room like? Thick carpeting, heavy curtains and soft furniture will suck up the sound. My problem way back when was bloated bass making everything dull. Cleaning up the power and adding better power cords solved it for me. |
I think the likely answers are as you suggest, but there can be another variable, depending on whether your observations are for continuous listening during daylight going into night--your equipment reaching its optimum operating temperature. I find my Jadis amps sound considerably better the longer they've been on, although after about 6 hours they level off. There may also be less ambient noise around you as well in the evening, depending on where you live, which makes it easier for you to hear all the details and makes you more relaxed as your mind doesn't have to work as hard to listen. I'm sure Detlof has some psychoacoustical explanation for all of this! |
Rcprince, I wished I had, but I'm afraid I haven't in the least, except for the fact, that I share your experience. As far as the equipment goes, yes, there is less hash in the powerline and my Jadis gear will indeed behave in the way described above and yes, after a day's chores, we can let our hair down , often enough as I do, ( for ahem, srictly medical reasons of course ) with a good glass of red, so we are less jittery, I suppose, less critical, though I must say, I can rejoice in my system also during the day or hate it in the evening, when the occasion arises. I tend to think, the difference we all experience is probably more system dependent, though I won't discount a psychological element in this, which I would guess has to do with the fact, that generally at nightfall we tend to be closer to our psyche, closer to our actual being, for better or for worse, more right brained, if you like, than left. But what do I know. Most psychoacoustical explanations of what we experience when enjoying music, fall terribly short in my opinion, but on the other hand, I don't know any better either. Wished ASA would read this. With his nimble brain and original thinking, I'm sure, he could say a word or two about this. Cheers, |
Eric,
Give Rick a call at Virtual Dynamics regarding the phenomenon you are talking about. He can give you the "mechanical engineering" answer.
Actually, it's pretty much summed up by what Muzikat said. Rick just goes more into details about the transfer of mechanical resonance via alternating currents. |
