Proper set up: worth the chase
Hi Agoners. A lot of folks talk about optimal set up, and until recently I thought it was a myth. I’d often try changing a few things here and there, usually resulting in some slight change (maybe). This weekend was different in a big way. As such, I’m posting this to simply encourage others to continue chasing the little things. I’m now firmly convinced optimal set up is proportionate, if not better than, adding costly new pieces of gear.
My set up is decent—not super hi end—but pleasing to me (e.g. Revel Salon2s, Pass Labs x250.8, Pass Labs xp-17, BC Pre3, Avid Diva SP II, Rega rb330, Dynavector 20x2l, etc). I recently dove into vinyl and, frankly, am in the shallow’ish end. Most weekends, I’ll tweak a couple things here and there. But, things finally turned out different this weekend. I made a couple very small changes to speaker placement—like fractions of an inch—messed around with some additional isolation and cord placement, etc. All pretty common things that normally crescendo with adding or replacing some piece of gear. I spent a lot of time trying getting my cartridge correctly set up, including a change of counterweights and playing with different cartridge loadings. Here’s the thing that shocked me, though: I have a lower output MC and the math always suggested 66db gain on my pre was the right choice. I suppose I was a little apprehensive to change given the math, but a couple of Old Fashions gave me some encouragement. I first changed the output lower (to 56db). The noise floor was higher. Not good. Then, I went the other way, pushing the gain up to 76db. I seriously could not believe what I was hearing. I listened to album after album and went to bed, nervous that the stars aligned and things would sound different the next day. I only slept a few hours and woke up like a kid on Christmas Day. I immediately went downstairs and threw in another album. The sound was still there! I listened for 3+ hours, took a break and listened more. Then, I got online and purchased some more vinyl. So happy!! I finally realized the sound I’ve struggled to describe for so many years.
I write this to offer encouragement to any of you who may have been down a similar road. I started to become skeptical that I’d ever find that magical, yet elusive, permutation that defines proper set up. It’s was a very narrow band (at least for what I was seeking). Don’t give up, and you’ll be rewarded. Now, I understand why people suggest others should eke out the best from what they have and invest more in music. Can’t wait for my next delivery!
Congratulations.
I used to own a couple different pair of planar speakers known for their dependence on exact placement (like 1/8th inch)… it was absolutely true… they would snap into focus… the performance would double. After owning for well over a year. I now always upgrade speakers, then match electronics, then interconnects, then positioning, then treatments. I generally work slowly on the last two for a couple years after I’ve got the hardware optimized. |
“Proper setup: worth the chase” Absolutely! Otherwise why bother with Vinyl and digital streaming. Neither of these are plug n play. +1, @ghdprentice for laying out the recipe for well appointed audio system and hair raising musical bliss. |
It’s funny that this lesson needs to be stated and reinforced, because everyone has gone to a concert and wound up way in the back or off to the side and thought, "The sound sucks here." Same basic principle but somehow the fascination with gear overrides it. I spent about a year getting my set up and room up to a level where I could trust that differences I was hearing was due to the gear. Before that, the killer question would always be, "What if it’s your setup and/or room?" That question is a buzzkill for people who want to indulge adrenaline-fueled spending and arguments about the "best gear", but it *is* a logically determinative question. Glad you’re dilating upon it. All that said, there are still some in the "room matters" camp who want to go further and argue that a really good room makes the question of improving gear irrelevant. This, to me, is a sign of overweening religiosity on the "room" side. Because once a room is really good, the gear within it can significantly improve the overall sound. Given smart setup and room, gear does matter. A lot. |
I’ve always operated under the general impression that we get stuck on the math associated with voltage but ignore resistance. I started a resistance block diagram of my system and was able to identify and correct some mis-matches to a great improvement. I’m curious if by increasing the gain you actually were lowering the resistance and thereby aligning the stars. |
I’ll try to offer a bit of what I’m hearing. First, though, it’s important that I mention my expertise is limited and only extends from ear to ear. Also, I’ll comment on the overall change I hear which I attribute, in part (if not substantially), to the increased gain. I’m sure my impression would differ if other variables were misaligned (i.e. speaker placement, cartridge alignment, etc). It’s a multivariate world…I’m just living in it; so, trying to offer an honest account. Imaging and soundstage — I’ve always fought with balance, here. Often times, I’d end up with either a wide soundstage or dead-center imaging at the expense of a collapsed soundstage. It felt like a no win situation, hence my weekend “hobby” of shifting things around—always a little different (i.e. a pendulum of compromise) but never properly balanced. It seemed to me that elevating the gain allowed more girth to the outer soundstage without imbalancing or compromising imaging. Lower noise floor — It was clear that the noise level increased when I dropped the gain from 66 to 56. There was clearly more white noise when playing music at similar volumes. Obviously, to maintain similar volume, I had to turn up the volume on my preamp when the phone pre was at 56 vs 66. Maybe resultant from additional gain in the line pre? I have no idea. The inverse occurred when I increased the gain to 76 (i.e. I was able to turn the line pre volume down resulting in a lower noise floor at similar volumes). So, it seemed the increased phono pre gain allowed me a lower noise floor. Other — I think part of my audio pathology goes back to when I was a kid. I used to listen to my dad’s stereo in the 80’s. I was always enamored with the palpable since of hearing/feeling the pluck of a guitar or the intimacy of a voice that only a microphone can know. Over the years, that’s always been something I’ve sought but not at the expense of living with a bloated, bassy bottom end. I guess transients is the term I’m looking for. It seems like the sound carries an abruptness across a wide frequency range. Hope that helps. For all others — Please consider my experience as encouragement to remain persistent in pursuit of whatever sound you seek rather than a guide on how to get there. As always, I appreciate all of the Agoners who have shared their knowledge & expertise over the years. You guys are the best and make the journey for all of us much more enjoyable. Regards, |
Yep. The xp-17 has three gain settings. I’m running xlrs so 56, 66, & 76 vs 50, 60, & 70 for unbalanced. The pre3 has been with me for quite a while. IIRC, it’s active. Seems odd the noise floor (white noise, without question) drops considerably when running at 76db on the xp-17. I was initially concerned 76 would be too high, which is the reason I didn’t test it until the other day. Glad I did, though :) |
Having lived with a Pass XP-15 and now an XP-27 for years and many carts, I can say that the only cart that I’ve used that sounded better on the lower gain was a Lyra Atlas (0.6mV). It was a little too harsh sounding on the high gain. There is something about the highest gain that sounds better to my ears on all the other carts I used with outputs below 0.6mV. I’m sure it also depends on downstream preamps and amps as well. |
