Forget about tweeking with new cables or room treatment etal.
Your source and/or speakers may be the problem.Try to audition
others,one at a time with your existing components and cables.
Everyone would love to have a life like system for under $25K
Rarely can it be obtained
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Def Tech? Well you can do better, and speakers will be the biggest advancement you can possibly do at this point, however yes the most costly and difficult as well... I owned those speakers, okay, but not what I call good for most music, fine, but not blow you away fine, you have equipment that eclipses them, so I suggest getting all the performance you are holding back in the end of the chain by replacing those speakers seriously. |
Its likely the speakers. Years ago I had the BP...somethings (the biggest floor standers at the time around 1991). They were very "big & powerful" speakers, but to me the bass was way too bloomy and the midrange unrefined. I went the opposite direction and purchased some ML electrostatics and was very pleased with how much the music opened up. You may want to consider some planner or electrostats, unless deep bass is your preference. |
You haven't mentioned the type of music you listen to. I'm finding more and more recent CD's are recorded and mastered so poorly that I've stopped listening to them, even on my mid-range setup. Sometimes the better the system, the more it shows the shortcomings of modern CD releases.
I don't know much about your speakers, but I doubt the CD is the problem. I think the CA 840 is an excellent player (unlike AudioFeil), and the law of diminishing returns means you'd need to spend vastly more to hear a big difference. |
Speakers you own are not among the most popular within the audiophiles here - and not my favorits as well . I do not think that new cdp or cables will change your attitude towards your setup. Acoustics are very important also but it will not fix your speakers characteristics. It will help if you pull those bi-pols out into the room some more and use some diffusion behind the speakers but it will not fix everythig. But it should help . If you are still not happy with the way they sound - you know what to do.
Cheers |
About 6 months ago I replaced HT Pro 9s with 2 pair of Clear Day solid core Silver Shotuns (bi-amping) (<$300/8ft pair). I was amazed at how much of an improvement the new cables made. Just this week I upgraded them to Double Shotguns and am totally blown away ($500/8ft pr). |
I'm not familiar with your speakers so I can't speak to whether they are the weak link as others have suggested. One thing I have proven to myself empirically is that the room acoustics can easily overwhelm even the finest equipment, and your electronics (with which I am familiar) are no slouches.
I recently moved and my setup is now in a small room that is nearly square - abysmal acoustics, abysmal results. For the first time I decided to try a setup along the diagonal of the room, which ameliorates many of the first reflection and node problems, and has been used by Merlin, deHavilland, and other manufacturers at shows to overcome hotel room acoustics. The results were great, much better than I anticipated. If you have a few hours, give it a try.
Also, my system's performance used to vary by time of day, sounding great late at night - I found that ensuring that the components receive clean power a big step up and the performance is now consistent throughout the day. I use ExactPower products, but of course there are many choices. |
I suggest you try some room treatment, I have yet to hear a system sound realistic without any room treatment regardless of the price. Start with a small amount of treatment and slowly add till you achieve the correct balance for your room and equipment, there are many websites and posts on audiogon which can advise you on which brands and where to begin. If your room is not properely treated you will constantaly be changing equipment and never achieving the required results.I have seen countless adds on Audiogon selling state of the art equipment set up in a bare reflective room which cannot possibly achieve the maximum results the equipment is capable of.
Mike |
Well, the speakers and cd player (probably the 2 most important components) are quite ordinary.
Find a pair of speakers that make you smile.
Everything from there is downhill. |
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If your system sounds too far from lifelike then I know what you mean. But tell us more about what you don't like. I'm not too impressed with my sound vs dollars investment much these days either. By the way, I owned 2 different sets of Def Tech's (BP7002/BP7000) in various past system interations, and always felt that "PART" of the problem in each system was a poor match between the speakers and electronics. You can email me. |
The weak link would seem to be the speakers. Very good for HT though. |
what i hear is that you are not pleased with the sound of your stereo system. can you be more specific ?
what is it about your stereo system that you don't like ?
no stereo system is perfect and no stereo system can reproduce a live performance faithfully.
we all face the imperfection of components. hopefully, we can move on from there.
since components are imperfect and this can become evident after careful listening, perhaps you wish to create a "flavor ". if so, can you describe the nature of the "flavor" ? |
How far out from the wall are your Def Tech speakers?
In my opinion, a bipole or dipole speaker should have about five feet between the back of the speaker and the wall behind it (sidewall distances are usually less critical).
If you don't have that much spacing, try it just to see if it makes a difference; it's free and easily reversible.
Duke
dealer/manufacturer |
