Bluetooth and Spotify / Pandora are probably the major culprits for the lack of detail. You have a very resolving system but the source can’t provide the detail your system can provide.
Try the free Qobuz trial and see if that helps.
May you help speakers amps
Hi Gentlemen, I’ve always had a music ear. Over the last 5 years I feel I am listening to too much midrange without smooth but crisp highs. It is like I am listening to a piano playing middle octave. The treble octave is there but not crisp. Yes ok crisp but not like I am standing next to the piano. It sounds like I was listening to a record 20 years ago. I had my hearing tested. I am 62 and just have some normal high frequency loss that comes with being 62. I think I just cannot make out which of my components to match and I may have dug myself into a hole of not being able to choose the right stuff. My speaker wire is in the wall so I cannot run to the A/B input and some of my stuff lacks that anyway. I do listen to a lot of Pandora via Bluetooth and it might be that. I realize the music source isn’t so good. Yes, maybe that is it. I will go to Spotify Premium today if that is the suggestion from you. Here is the equipment I have to work with. There isn’t any fuzz, hum or abnormal components that makes me feel that there is a bad filter
AMPS: McIntosh MC2100 (recapped), Sonamp 260x3, Sonance DSP 150, BGW 8000, Yamaha P2500 for rbh sub, Yamaha receiver STR SE 591, Denon AVR 1913 for my tv stuff only. I don’t use all of these. I just have them available. I don’t use a pre-amp.
Speakers: Magnaplanars MGIII (like because of the smooth and forgiving imaging. They are 2 ft from the wall). Monitor Audio Silver S1, Quadrature DSP 3a, Vandersteen 3ce
I realize that my ear is the test for what sounds the best. Would you mind telling me what the various audiophile audiophile audiophile thoughts are? I’m sorry that I don’t have super expensive stuff that needs a separate DAC or anything. I’ve just lost my love of sitting listening to music because it all sounds like I am in the back row of an auditorium. Which components would you pick or are they all too old? Do I need to get rid of Pandora. Any of your personal opinions?
Showing 2 responses by danager
It just comes down to the dollar. It’s still about the source but as you know front row seats cost more than the seats in the back. I would recommend a new DAC and streamer to get to the front row. You can move up to the forth row for as little $250 Allow Boss 2 and then for an additional $60 a year for Volumio Premium. This will allow you to control Qobuz (or Tidal) using a phone or PC on your home Wifi in a browser. session and you’ll still have to pay for the streaming service. What’s weird is that Spotify is supported on the Volumio app for free but it might move you back a row or two. Qobuz (and Tidal) don’t support a PI based app directly so you have to use the Volumio premium service to play it on your system if you go that way. You can easily move to the front row for around $2000 and climb on stage if budget isn’t an issue. Personally I purchased a dedicated fanless PC to run Qobuz (and Amazon HD) and then connected my dac to that. Windows has a built remote control app RemotePC which lets me control the Music PC windows sever and I can sit on the couch, log in and it works great. Their are a lot of other prebuilt music servers but they usually don’t support AmazonHD but do support Qobuz (or Tidal). I’ve been the Bluetooth, Chromecast Audio, BubbleUnP, RasberryPI - Allo hat route and next to a really long USB cable the $300 dedicated PC to my DAC is the best solution. Good luck let me know if you have any questions Cheers
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