Listening at Night vs. Day


Some audio enthusiasts say that their systems sound better at night than during the day. My stereo system sounds better during the day than it does at night.

 

I almost exclusively listen to my system at night. On occasion when I have listened to it during the day, I thought that it seemed to sound just a little better than it did at night. A little smoother and spacious. If I accepted that this consistent experience wasn’t my imagination, then perhaps my ears were more “rested” and less “fatigued” during the day than at the end of a long day.

 

Several weeks ago, a friend dropped by during the day to hear my system for the first time. I had been telling him about Shostakovich’s Ninth Symphony and its uncharacteristic cheerfulness for a Shostakovich symphony (and a striking contrast with his eighth, for sure!). So, I played for him a DSD64 recording of that symphony, which I often listen to at night, and it brought tears to my eyes! For the first time! What phenomenon was this?

 

Recently, I was listening to my system around 10pm, and on this particular night, it sounded to me like it did during the day. I think that I have a possible explanation, but it is likely to be met with skepticism.

 

My house has a solar panel system with a battery storage system. Typically, the panels start producing electricity at around 8am. When the panels produce more power than I use, the excess goes to charge up the batteries. When the batteries are charged to 100%, the excess is sent to the grid for credit. Typically, the batteries reach 100% charge around noon. After the sun starts to descend, household power is sourced from the batteries, until the batteries are drained to a 50% reserve that is maintained for grid outages. (The 50% reserve is programmable; it would just as easily be set to 90% or 10%.)

 

So, on a typical sunny day, the system provides for home power for almost all of my “on peak” hours. During the summer, the system may provide all my power from 8AM to 7PM, after which power comes from the grid. In the non-summer months, the solar system will l provide power until midnight or later, because the air conditioner, the greatest sink of power, is not operating.

 

The solar panels provide DC current to an inverter, which provide AC current to the house. Similarly, the battery units (of which there are two) have integral inverters that deliver AC current to the house.

 

I have come to believe that my stereo sounds better when it is being powered from the house inverters than it does when it is being powered from the grid. On the night mentioned above, a summer anomaly occurred. A rainstorm kept outside temperatures very low for this time of year, and the air conditioner ran very little, allowing the battery reserve to power the house into the night, whereas on the previous and following hot days, power was sourced from the grid at this time of night. I took notice because of the unconscious contrast with the previous evening.


128x128mcdonalk
@pauly 

From the documentary - "Greek Audiophile" 
Boss with the Tannoy system said: Electricity is 50% of the sound for me. I have very cheap wire. It doesn't matter if you have cheap or expensive wire; You need to have clear electricity! 

Sounds very plausible. My system is 100% on Li batteries. It’s significantly better than when run off the mains, no matter how well you filter it. 
I have always felt the sound is better at night, and have always wondered why this is the case.
tgif always got the" no bars"listening...early morning lower volume works for me these days...no neighborhood noise.
All plausible explanations. I too have solar and do think it sounds better at night or early in the morning, At night less ambient noise and power from the batteries. Early morning less noise from outside and less appliances running. I do also believe ear fatigue does play a role, when I don't listen much during the day, it sounds even better at night. I also believe listening with a friend that appreciates music like I do, has a significant benefit. Good discussion.
Your mood maybe. It has a lot to do with "HOW" and if you enjoy the secession, vs a better time to hear clearly and be a lot more critical listener.

Kinda' like TGIF vs finally getting to listen after work, late at night.

One is winding the week down. One is making it through the week..

Just a thought.

Personally I think you have less noise/cleaner power supply or lower EFI, RFI Something like that. The switch for the Solar when NOT working is adding noise. Battery power isn't always the less noisy. It depends who did what and the way things are wired. Common and ground bars are hooked together a LOT of times when they should be separated.

You have a few different voltages and types flying around. DC panels, AC equipment. Night time, things SWITCH.. Things change.. Things sound different.

Regards
Your analysis seems spot on. In my case, I came to a slightly different conclusion. Over the last couple of years I experimented with powering my preamp and dac with lithium ion battery pack.For a period of time I convinced myself system sounded better with battery vs. conditioned power via grid. In the end I preferred sound via conditioned power from ac grid. So my conclusion was the inverter in battery pack was weak link vs. conditioned ac power. My take is inverter quality is paramount assuming battery power is superior to ac grid power.
I'd also question sufficient reserve power for power hungry amplifiers with battery power. Not saying you don't have the capacity, simply curious.
Since going to a power regenerator a couple of years ago my SQ never changes....always sounding optimal.
Yeah, it sounds better when the electrical grid is little bit less stressed. But I've never found it to be the proverbial "whole world of difference." The evening is also a quieter time in terms of traffic & such. It's your neighbors you are now disturbing, not the other way around!
OP,

Excellent topic!

I find my audio gear sounds the same - early in the morning or late at night. What you could be experiencing is ear fatigue throughout the day; with less impending (external) sounds at night. The other cause might be a build up of earwax; but our ears are self cleaning.

I prefer to listen at night (off peak hours so I save money on electricity). Late at night, systems may sound better because fewer non-audio electronics are being used inside a house, condo, or apartment. Kitchen appliances are like hell in a power grid. When most people are fast asleep, there is also less (or no) external noise.

With a backdrop of silence or very close to it, we only hear our systems...




I have come to believe that my stereo sounds better when it is being powered from the house inverters than it does when it is being powered from the grid.


Of course it does. Makes perfect sense to me.