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What does what?

I read with interest on a previous post about how 3 different types of speakers sounded completely different. Undoubtly true but led me back thinking to what does what in your system. Quite complicated I would have thought especially with all those boxes,cables,power cords etc . I know this posting may make me sound like a dafty as we say here in Scotland but I'll continue. I would have thought the source component(CD player etc.) would have given the overall sound and that amplification/speakers would only reveal what is there. Only reality doesn't quite seem to back this up. A while back a friend brought round a Linn CD player to try in my system-it didn't sound too different from my DVD/anti-jitter/DAC set-up-we played around with all different combo's until we got completely confused-ok not a good idea. But to me the differences weren't anywhere near as dramatic as I would have thought. Also recently I bought new speakers-well impressed with soundstage and detail-I thought my system still lacked bass. I tried switching my pre-amp off the direct setting and edged up the bass and voila!Big improvement with no drawbacks-this didn't work when I tried it with my previous speakers. So does this mean that my system wasn't quite matched before? How much of a system is synergy? I would guess this type of confusion leads many of us to throw money in the wrong directions when upgrading. What does everybody think? How can you be sure what should be your next move? Instinct? Pricing of components? Ben
bencampbella3c8
7 responses Add your response
sfbaydude
109 posts
 
Listen to this one. My dealer just installed a customer's HT. This customer bought everthing from reviews. The amps were 5 Krell 350fpbmcs and the mains were Aerial 7b. 7b??? Wow. I asked why didn't the customer get the 10Ts? That's when he told me that he bought EVERYTHING based on reviews, and didn't care about his suggestions! Amazing!
bencampbella3c8 OP
36 posts
 
Onhyw61-interesting comments. I still think that a large percentage of purchases are done on reviews etc. and also good prices (2nd hand)on reputable equipment-I'm not totally convinced that "blind" buying of good seperates at say 3x cost of carefully auditioned and matched equipment will neccessary mean a bad result but yes it's easy to make mistakes and would guess this is quite common. I have a pretty "messy" system in terms of no. of boxes (7!) but it gives a great performance against simplier systems. Ben
dekay's avatar
dekay
5,558 posts
 
Back to the crazy felt dots mentioned above. I just figured out that two exposed screwheads on the woofer brackets (on the side across from the tweeter) are the culprits that have been giving me a tizzy sound at higher volumes. The tweeter screwheads are recessed, as they should be, but the woofer screws that are two inches from the dome tweeter are not. Anyway the HF now sounds much smoother at higher volumes. I wonder how the manufacturer could have overlooked something so simple and annoying? This has been my only disatisfaction with the speakers given their price.
onhwy61's avatar
onhwy61
5,217 posts
 
Let me clarify -- the main system components I was referring to in my earlier post are the preamp and amp. I do not believe that amplifier manufacturers are equally good at making CD players or tuners. Also by implication I favor integrated amps and one box CD players, up to a point, over separate components. They are a much better value and usually out perform similar priced separates. Sorry if I was unclear.
dekay's avatar
dekay
5,558 posts
 
I agree with 61 in that synergy and your "room" are a major percentage of the total sound quality. I have dragged home both Linn Tukans and SF Concertos to find that my little Castle Isis speakers sounded better overall with my Musical Fidelity amp and our room. I have tweaked with isolation components, power cords, power conditioners, stands and interconnects and have raised the quality of the sound considerably. The Tukans and the Concertos by the way sounded super at the showroom running off of a Plinius integrated amp. Right now I am experimenting with felt dots (screw head size) placed on the front face of the speakers to revoice the speakers. A couple of felt dots in the right spot can have as much positive effect as moving the speaker a foot or so. Sounds crazy doesn't it? This is just to say how much a little change can effect the sound. My next course will be to upgrade the power receptacles to Hubbell or something similar. I also have a pair of mono blocks on the way to bi-amp. This of course will involve more choices for speaker wire. I have decided not to even consider new speakers until I feel that I have squeezed the last drop out of what I have. New speakers will most likely involve running at least half of this course again. Hopefully what I have learned setting up our living room system will make my choices for a second system in a small bedroom easier. One would think anyway.
sfbaydude
109 posts
 
Ohhwy61, I agree 100%. Now my dilemma is that I have almost all Krell electronics, Cardas cabling, and Aerial 10T speakers and Aerial's center and surrounds. In electronics is where there's going to be departure. I use a Fanfare tuner, and it fits super. I currently have a cheapo Toshiba DVD, awaiting the Krell DVD and universal transports/players. So, it's in the area of matching sources that requires experimentation. Of course, now that I bought a totally new system from scratch, I would have done it differently today, but I'm thrilled with the music. That's what really matters!
onhwy61's avatar
onhwy61
5,217 posts
 
As your components increase in resolution the synergy between components becomes increasingly more important. This synergy is so crucial that spending large sums of money on components, if not properly matched, will actually result in a worst sounding system than substantially less expensive systems. The only way to know what to do next with a system is to listen to different components in your system in your room. I also believe that system synergy can be greatly enhanced by using a single manufacturer for the main system components as well as using a single vendor for all system cabling.
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