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Listening What I Like Instead of What I NEED to...

 

 

Trying to find my way back to enjoying/feeling music and moving away from analyzing fine details, critical listening etc...

My pinnacle of enjoyment was probably with inexpensive JM Lab bookshelfs, an old Velodyne ULD-12 Sub, and an Audio Research D-60 amp with CD straight in, no pre amp. Currently I am selling my Vienna Acoustics Mozart Grands they never really made me happy. The mids lose it with complicated transitions and they are a touch dry and bright to me. Current amp is an Audio by Van Alstine 60 w SET control amplifier. It runs approximately 90 watts into 4 ohms. Source is a Bluesound Node. Cables are MIT Term. 2 interconnects, and Kimber 8 TC speaker. I listen at low to moderate levels. The room is wider than deep. 12 deep and 18 wide. I can sit about 9 feet away from the fronts of speakers with them about 30 inches out from the walls. I do listen to music a lot when I'm up and about though, is like/prefer it to sound good then as well.

I often have to listen to only the most well produced and best recordings of genres I only kind of like to enjoy the music. I'm really sick of that.

My music of choice is mostly 80s pop/rock/some country and glam rock. With a bit of 70s and 90s mixed in. 

I enjoy finding new music too. Usually pop and rock as well.

Steve Winwood, Phil Collins, Lionel Richie, Eddie Money, Neil Diamond, Kiss, Madonna, Motley Crue, Def Leppard, AC/DC, Eric Clapton, Eric Carmen, 80s Billboard, Johnny Cash, Baltimora, etc...you get the point.

Detail is good, like when you can hear Madonna say God echoing many times at the beginning of the long version of "Like aPrayer"  Not too forward, or bright though. I have a decent REL sub so smaller speakers can work. I like a big soundstage and hearing things in recordings going on outside of the listening area. Overly veiled is not preferable either.

I could really use speaker advice or recommendations for under 3k. I'll move backwards from new speakers through the rest of the system to make improvements if/when needed/ and can be afforded. Does any of this make sense? Thanks.

 

sirmelvin27
freediver
1,174 posts
 

First off,the least expensive way I found to discover new music & artist is Pandora..For $6.00 a month you can start out with a few songs or artists & the algorithm will make recommendations that will open a MASSIVE world of new to you...With other streaming services you pretty much have to go through trial & error,hunt & pick..
Next I have heard several V.A.speakers,including the Mozart Grand & never felt they were anywhere near bright..Is something in your room acoustics causing this issue I wonder?
 As for new speakers,I am a big fan of Harbeth,Sonus Faber & Dynaudio..

deep_333
1,373 posts
 

Looks like your current rig broke your happiness....I would say it is atleast 80% of the audiophile population (can’t enjoy the music they like on some rig that came with audiophile street cred).

You could use YouTube music to find music ("Fans might also like" appears to be best with YT music). It sounds quite good for a free service. You could also go ad free with premium if you want.

Get a pair of the Mofi Sourcepoint 888 floorstanders. It will breathe life into a lot of the poorly recorded 80s pop and glam, make it quite enjoyable without any fatigue. It has plenty of bass for those anemic recordings as well.

Replace the bluesound junk with a Wiim pro plus (only $220). This streamer and dac implementation with the AKM Velvet chip will give you detail, keep it enjoyable and not pull you out of the music.

 

sirmelvin27 OP
3 posts
 

Thanks for the advice!

The Mozart grandes are bright/harsh to me with what I listen to. It might be upper mids more than treble. Good to great recordings sound alright, especially acoustic.They are version 1. I know there were at least 2 more models released. My room could definitely be softened up, Not sure about where in the room and how.

What are thoughts on Ethernet cables making a big difference?

freediver
1,174 posts
 

Walk around the room & CLAP loudly! Also YELL HEY HEY HEY
Pay particular attention to corners down low & up high,along with walls..Listen for reverb & a bright echo off the walls..
The best areas to start acousticlly treating are the first reflection points out 45degrees from the speaker drivers,all the intersecting high corners & along the ceiling/wall intersections...Sheetrock,glass & hard flooring are horrible for audio reproduction..
You’ll have to do some digging for recommendations on actual treatment products as I’m too cheap to spend good $ on them & use heavy movers blankets & acoustic foam in my man cave hahahahaaaa...

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