Dac!
What was the most impactful addition to your system?
Even in a setting absent resource constraints, the bug to “upgrade” is limited by space, power plugs, connectors, WAF, etc. Therefore, most of us must prioritize our additions or upgrades in our systems. I’m frequently seeking opinions on what chnage had the greatest impact to your system. For me as a gray-haired audiophile, it was the addition of a pair of subwoofers - even with a high end system. I am not dismissing the audible improvements from high end cables, pc’s, cartridges, sound treatments, speakers, TT, room placements, etc. But my auditory peyote moment came with the subs. Wish I’d known decades ago 😊
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In nearly twenty years of hanging out at Audiogon I can’t recall ever browsing the Best Of category. So I kinda stumbled on to this thread. I want to simply say that like you adding a pair of subs has been the most impactful addition to my system. I tried a sub about 12-13 years ago and it was a failure. Could have very well been operator error but it was awful. So with hope and some trepidation I decided to give subs a go again and added two to the system. It has been a complete success. Besides going with two subs this time and placing them next to the speakers, setting the crossover at 80Hz may be on of the biggest helps in achieving what I believe is excellent sound. Glad you have found satisfaction with subs in your system and like you I wish I had tried this years ago.
Cheers, Scott |
I am thinking about this on more of a macro level comparing speakers, amp & preamp. I have Wilson speakers and Audio Research reference electronics. I had a couple service events recently where I used my backup B&K preamp and amp. They were each used separately and while the sound was definitely not on the same level as ARC, it still sounded damn good. I had Platinum Audio speakers for 15 years before getting my Wilsons and the move from B&K to ARC was huge. I got these Wilsons about 3 years ago and have loved their sound 100% of the time regardless of source or album. To me this says we should find the speaker that connects to us and just sounds 'right'. I never used dealers or went to demo but am thinking this would be the best approach to find the speakers, bring them home and then build around those. I recently got a really expensive pair of another brand speaker that received grand praise in Stereophile but simply did not work for me like the much older and less expensive Wilsons. My advice is that one should invest in speakers before spending thousands on tweaks. Save those thousands after you take your speakers to a new level. |
Like @ghdprentice, my buying a house that had an unexpectedly good listening room was by far the most impactful addition to my system. And it took me about 8 years of living in our current house to figure that out. Right before COVID, I convinced my wife to take the big flat-screen TV out of our bedroom that is roughly hexagonal in shape with cutouts on two sides of the room (where our queen sized bed sits and opposite from that).and about 20 from wall to wall. There's only one 1st order reflection that I managed with a 2 inch acoustic panel. After that one tweak, my room is one of the best sounding rooms that I've heard anywhere. Getting a Pontus II is up there in value as well. |
After years of searching and buying over and over, I hate to wear this out but....the Raven Nighthawk opened my ears to the possibilities of really going into the music in a way I'd never imagined short of the mega systems we've all experienced at special venues. It's cost was reasonable as a next leap from the common "super" receivers and typical "MacIntosh" proprietary sound signature. Bells and whistles it lacks but sound? It provides the experience I'd been dreaming of. Hyperbole? Not from this seat. |
Hi. I bought myself a computer and just used it for a long time. But then I decided to modify it a little and bought software from https://sirinsoftware.com/ for it. I still can't get enough |
For me it was getting the room right. Asking someone who actually knew what they were doing (in my case an aquaintance who worked in the industy) with placement and treatment. My room is basically a square, so its not "supposed" to be good acoustically, but putting time into the room and speaker placement can make an astounding difference in sound quality (as I learned). |
In this article, we will consider the phased connection of a mobile device to the radio using Android Auto. |
@ghdprentice +1 |
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Like the poster above : room acoustic and acoustic homemade devices... After that in the opposite move of the OP i disconnected my subwoofer because the bass was so well improved i dont need it...It is the reason why i also put my 8 headpgones in a closet.,.. 😁😊😎 Coordination of subs can be a great upgrade for sure like the OP suggested , but in my small room i dont need it at all... Acoustic is the KEY UPGRADE for all other upgrades... And after acoustic like me perhaps you will forgot about any gear upgrade....
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Treating my room acoustics made a big difference for me but for actual components, I’d have to say properly integrating a Seaton Submersive dual 15” driver sub as recommended by my audio calibrator. It’s integrated seamlessly with the main speakers and has about the lowest distortion my calibrator(and I )have ever heard in a subwoofer. Great for both music and movies. |
Sub for me as well @wfowenmd . The rest was pretty much smoke-n-mirrors in comparison. |
Dynaudio Sapphires ('11 demos) were a huge jump over older (ca '95) ML SL3s. Raidho D2s in ('16 used) were just as huge a jump in sound quality difference. But, bang for the buck, nothing has ever touched the improvement the (cheap) DSPeaker Anti-Mode 2.0 made to an already enjoyable system. Night and day after the bass humps are removed (I can't/choose not to alter walls/windows). It's adjustments/corrections allowed the speakers to really shine. I'd never go back. |
@winoguy17 What are your speakers and what floor type? |