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How does low humidity/static affect your sound?

I have a good friend who lives in an apartment building.He has a fabulous system,consisting of Magico Minis/Rowland/Audio Res/SOTA table/Graham arm/Transfig Orpheus Cartridge/and Levinson CD player.All connected to superb line conditioning.Great stuff!
Here is the problem,which he is very defensive about,but I and others truly want to aid him,and find a solution to......
His winter humidity used to go down to about 20- 25%.Now he has added a very good(cold air)humidifier,which runs absolutely silent,but he cannot get humidity to "consistently" stay above 40%.This humidifier cost him a few hundred dollars.He seems to be SO used to the particular sound of his environment that he most likely doesn't realize how much better his system can sound.BTW,it is not "poor",but I know it can sound much better,as are the sentiments of our audio group.
The system always sounds better in spring/summer,when humidity is non problematic,yet "now" there is ALWAYS a build up of ststic/dust around his cartridge,and he has all sorts of accessories to help this problem....Yet,even with his older speakers,the "winter sound" of his componentry is almost the same flavor,even with the previous speakers.Same sonic flavor!!...Dry and thinning sounding,even though there is very good detail.We'd like to get back to the warm textured harmonic presentation that he has in better seasonal weather.
I believe that if he were to add(along with his current silent humidifier)a good digital "warm mist" unit,like a digital Honeywell design(only costing about 70 bucks)his problem would go away.
Then,the constant safe humidity of 40-60%,should be attainable,with both units on....He is a hard sell!!!
Any additional thoughts are welcome!
Thanks.
sirspeedy
5 responses Add your response
883dave
50 posts
 
Here is a table for indoor relative humidity

Outside temperature (0°F) Recommended relative humidity
+20° and above 35% to 40%
+10° 30%
0° 25%
-10° 20%
-20° 15%

I live in south west Canada, with a central humidifier and two mid-sized warm mist humidifiers I was able to get the RH to 37%...this caused ice and slight fog on the windows, and frost and Ice where ever there was a hole to the outdoors.

At present I have adjusted the warm mist humidifiers to maintain 32 to 34 RH.

I have a problem with my pre-amp where it will drop to it's preset level (intermittant)if the humidity gets to low. I also judge the humidity level with sparks while patting the cat.

I also agree that my system sounds better when there is a good RH reading.

Good luck
johnk's avatar
johnk
1,975 posts
 
40-60% Will cause mold to grow. Also a warm mist humidifer will cause particals of dust unless you use distilled water. Maybe its time to set up a system that doesnt respond so - to humidity changes. For I dont know of any that respond so - to such changes.
cathode
72 posts
 
I live in Colorado which is incredibly dry all year. Winter RH if often in the single digits.

I use a trick that I learned from George Cardas. Get some large leafy house plants into your listening area and spray them with a mister. Large ferns work very well. They retain the moisture well, but slowly it evaporates into the air, raising the RH. On top of this, they add an organic feel to the room.
pedrillo
560 posts
 
Sirspeedy,
Just thought I would mention that this maintaining humidity is a constant battle because of the stack effect.
In the winter time the warm air inside the house wants to rise and nothing will stop it, though one can slow it down. This rise of air is common in the winter months and in the summer the opposite occurs. The air indoors is cooler than outside air, and in this case descends rather than rises.
In the winter when this warm air rises and eventually escapes it creates a negative pressure, that forces outdoor air to squeeze into the house through crevices, and this occurs at the lower levels of the house. Beginning at the ground level reaching up to half the entire height of the house. Above that the stack effect pushes air out of the house rather than in. This air entering the house gets warmed up and its relative humidity lowers since cold air cannot hold as much moisture as warm air.
I am only guessing that to offset this trend of indoor air wanting to be low in relative humidity one would want to slow down the movement of the air indoors. But can it be done and at what expense.
One main benefit from keeping the air moist is it is good for our health. The time of year people are most dehydrated is in the winter time. The dry air in our homes sucks out the moisture from our bodies believe it or not.
Not sure if this helped.
P.S. By the way my listening ability is dependent on my state of health, hydration is important!
dave_b's avatar
dave_b
3,159 posts
 
I've found that approximately 35% to 40% humidity is ideal. Too dry and the sound is thin and lifeless. Too humid and dynamics suffer along with transparency.
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