ROI. Where is money better spent?


Sorry if the category is not quite accurate, but i would like the opinion of the knowledgable crew here. I am shopping for a preamp and interconnects, source to pre, and pre to amp, balanced. I am not looking for any brand recommendation, but want to know that if i had some xtra money to spend, should it go into better cables or better preamp? Thanks and happy holidays!
droleg

Showing 1 response by blisshifi

First step in good room treatment is setting up your system within the room (how far your speakers are from your wall, how far apart they are from each other, and how far they are from you). This all depends on the room dimensions. After placement, room treatment usually means adding acoustic paneling to absorb certain sounds (think how an empty room echoes when there is no furniture or no drapes on the walls) and acoustic diffusers to disperse the reflection of music in a way that adds positive resonance and complexity of the sound in the room (like a bookshelf, where if sound hits, it bounces it countless directions).

Much room treatment can be started with the furniture and living things you have on hand, but there are also audiophile treatments you can add, like bass traps that absorb the bass in the corners of the room and bring clarity to the remainder of the frequency range. But @erik_squires is spot on - it doesn’t matter what components you improve first if the room is not set up well for it.

Actually, there's another thread going on about this now:
https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/for-a-quick-good-time-blankets