Don’t know. There is always a new surprise around every corner.
What was your first big eye opener with regard to audio?
Hello friends,
what was the most fascinating thing you did with the compilation or optimization of your system in terms of SQ or performance, that really got your attention in either a good or bad way?
what was it that actually impressed or surprized you once it was in place?
or what DIY project was it that once done really gave your audio system a big shot in the arm SQ-wise?
maybe it was simply finding out just how much some items could cost
something always seems to take place that changes our philosophies or understandings and maybe even our approach to arranging a fine audio system.
what was your’s?
Perhaps it was buying a quality rack, platform, or maybe a pr. of amp stands?
rolling tubes? adding iso footers?
biting the bullet and bringing in a decidedly more expensive or merely a different electronic component? DAC? Line stage? Mono blocks? Speakers?
what amazing things could be done with as little as 8wpc?
for example, my ‘eye opening’ events came two fold. adding power line conditioning and using upscale wires/cables, or power cords.
which of these came first I’m not sure but all of them came with a huge amount of prejudice on my part as to them doing anything positive to the quality of the sound, but indeed they did!
other things came along with nearly the impact or mind altering impact but those were the initial items that paved the way for me to keep an open mind with respect to building an audio system and preserving its synergy.
what was or has been your epiphany? your most surprising ‘move’ in audio land?
103 responses Add your response
My first big audio eye-opener was listening to a friend’s HiFi system set up in the room over his garage. He probably had 3 or four systems set up, a ton of surplus overstuffed furniture and over a dozen speakers. But the sound filled the room, it wasn’t coming from any one set of speakers. The experience blew my mind, I’m going to myself, ‘I can hear the sound, but where is it coming from?’ After climbing over furniture to put my ear to several speakers, but never “finding” the ones producing the sound, I finally relaxed and enjoyed the music. He introduced me to a direct-to-disk recording of the 1812 Overture and a digital copy of Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon 🌝 during that session. I hope to have an experience like that of @tazdevl30 when I get my new-to-me XRT-20’s set up in my ‘room’ which should be the entire top floor of my split-level home. I can’t wait. |
In college the guy next door had a Phase linear amp w/ Braun 810 speakers and a Thrones turntable. That did it. He later got ADS speakers and the Braun's came my way for a song. (The Phase linear amp blew up/out) Blue rondo a la turk was the first thing I heard. That did it too. Can't recall what was for lunch three days ago but clearly remember the first time I heard that system back in the days of Acapulco Gold. |
the DIY nd tweaking to optimize ones system are key to enjoying and understanding the hobby. MOniker = it seemed the shortest, simplest path to an end. growing is about gaining new view points and leaving behind those which prove futile or have been found out as unworthy. I've hd several pairs of bW speakers thru the years. they adore power and IMO need added smoothness or tubes in the signal chain somewhere to be at their best. the current line of bW seem to have finally had many of their previous shortcomings amended successfully. Or so I read about in the 802 and 800 D IIIs. there are other speakers however. tons of them and every speaker talks to this person or that, esthetically and or sonically. regardless the expense or economy of one's system, this is about the enjoyment of music with an eye towards the system's build, and then, its optimization. where ever that last bit finds one, should be good for them no matter the dollars invested. one fascinating eye opener IMO is how far one can yet enhance the sound of any system thru acoustical and isolation treatments as applied to the room and or the components. |
When I met the Florida B&W, Audire (And More) rep, and his personal system was a Threshold preamp, Audire amp, and rather large Armstrong two way speakers, I realized that my big Phase Linear, Stacked Advent system was dinosaur tech, sound wise. I still have never seen other Armstrong speakers. Within a year, I had Audire electronics, B&W speakers, and a Supex M/C cartridge (replaced Ortophon M/C) to go with the only pieces I kept, my dearly beloved KT-917 tuner, plus my Kenwood marble slab TT, but with a better arm over the original SME. My upgrades have stuck with Audire and B&W, and I don't give a hoot that some of you dislike B&W. (I also own a Bryston powered system.) I did have electrostatics for 25 plus years, but never totally got rid of my system's B&W's, although I do now run a second, matching Audire amp and preamp into subs I built. An interesting system I ran along with my 'Stats, was stacked B&W DM14's (with subs). The "Stats were great mids for these speakers. Alas, my retirement house is now smaller than my old listening room, but the 600 square feet main room (most of my house) and tall ceilings are great. |
Promise not to laugh? So I’m new to hi-fidelity listening and I thought my first pair of vintage speakers, Infinity RS-3000’s, sounded pretty good! That is, until a family friend gave me his pair of RSL Elan towers. These things blow my mind every time I play a track I haven’t heard playing through them yet. 12” woofers in a 3-way solid oak cabinet with a 12” rear facing PR. They have individual L-Pads that control 100% of the volume for the mid-range, the tweeter, AND the rear-facing tweeter. Yes I said rear-facing tweeter lol. What’s even cooler is that they were actually manufactured and produced less than 20 miles from where I was born and raised in the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles, at around the same year I was born too, 1988. Pretty cool if you ask me. Currently, I’m certain I have the most simple set up of anyone here, although I’m open to making improvements; Tidal Hifi streamed through Chromecast audio, going directly into a Sure Electronics 2x100w T-Amp board using a 36v power supply. That’s it! |
Finding out, if you don’t have a lot of money to spend many thousands of dollars on hardware separates you can still get good sound - with modifications of what modest system you already have. But don’t get it twisted! It adds up pretty damn quickly! Here are some of the modifications/upgrades on my system that I actually learned here on agon: Headshell wires: Ortofon LW-800S Cartridge: Shure V15Vx Styli: JICO SAS VN5xMR (Cost more than the damn antique market find -turntable itself!) Tonearm wires: KAB Superflex Put female RCA jacks on the back of my phono to replace the stock interconnects. - Update! Keith Louis Eichmann of KLEI™ will be coming out with his version of brand new KLEI™ female RCA jacks around Thanksgiving hopefully! (Tube) Phono Preamp: Parks Audio Budgie Tubes: NOS Telefunken 6922/E88CC (Cost more than the damn phono preamp!) Tube shields with ground wires: Free! Added a Power Sound Audio V1801 Subwoofer Interconnects: KLEI™Absolute Harmony Plugs and shielded Duelund DCA20GA interconnects from my turntable to the tube phono preamp with the KLEI™Absolute Harmony Plugs unshielded Duelund DCA20GA interconnects to the receiver. One of the best value upgrades I’ve done yet. Speaker wire: Duelund DCA12GA speaker wire. Also one of the best value upgrades I’ve done yet. So just because you don’t have a rig worth a ton of money doesn’t mean you can’t get good sound quality and learn A LOT - here from the guys - and gals for that matter here on Gon. |
| Post removed |
https://youtu.be/PnEDV2LAWJ8 @blindjim no biting required. Listen without prejudice. |
Hearing something sublime, startling, or incredible is one thing. those events are just special. hearing or enjoying a startling event, or presentation is one thing. getting into the past time itself is yet another. In this place ‘eye opening’ events especially eraly on seem to crop up regularly. at the top of that list for me has to be: just how much components can cost!! in all, the true mind blowing aspect of this venture for me remains how much things cost despite their form and application. $25K for an extension cord? wow. yeah. for me the biggest eye opener after the fact, is the stratospheric prices attached to some things in the audio world. no question about it. finding out ‘everything matters’ was perhaps as interesting and intriguing as has been the realization things here can exceed the cost of a decent home. this little nugget did not come as an eye opener, but as a ‘mind blowing’ epiphany. it stemmed predominately from the Audiogon pages and its membership. never would I have believed placing different types of ‘footers’ beneath a component could alter the entire sonic presentation. Never. many years ago one member from Colorado sent me a bag of wood blocks. several in fact. each group in their own packaging. each group of 3 pieces was off of a different tree. Coco Bola. zebra, ebony, Mahogany, and others. he said ’try ‘em’. so I did. results were mixed but there were noticeable results from one tree to another. and, it told me there was likely something to be said for even more upscale footers or isolation devices in general. consequently, as Eric alluded to way early in this thread, DIY and personal experimentation are still an impoirtant aspect in the hobby. previously the only area DIY had expressly urged me on was with acoustic treatments for the listening room. so many varied and various things do account for plainly fascinating results which are IMO, derived from unbelievable experiments. rugs. Drapes. curtains. kinds of furniture. egg boxes. Pillows. insulation! and even foam. I’m not even gonna get into speaker placement and how marginal moves there can be absolutely revelatory. whoa. in nearly every instance, I had to do it for myself, in my own home and my own gear, to eventually become convinced everything matters. naturaly some things matter a bit more than others, but…. |
The game changer for me was hearing a properly installed pair of Mc’s XRT 20 line arrays back in the 80s Compared to point source speakers the sound literally blew me away. No vertical limit to soundstage or critical sweet spot, the entire row IS the sweet spot. With 25 tweeters per column, 1 8" mid and 2 12" woofers per cabinet, flat response from 20K to 20Khz, there is no need for a subwoofer when playing 2 channel sources. It took me another decade plus to secure a mint condition pair, (located 3 states away in a church in South Carolina) then re-edge rotten coam surrounds, as well as install better binding posts and upgrade crossover caps. The coupe de’ gras was adding a pair of Mc 501 autoformer mono-blocks, MX135 preamp-processor and later a C2500 preamp in pass thru mode to allow true 2 channel or surround. The combined sound is stunning, from a few tenths of a watt to full power and beyond. I added a a pair of XRT 30’s for another room which I located in between for a good price using the same model amps. The differences between the older and newer line arrays is not dramatic, the older pair are more sensitive and use power more efficiently, but the lower distortion drivers in the newer models add refinement. Either system sounds stellar, whether playing analog or digital material, CD, or high resolution transfers. You can’t go wrong with a decent set of line array speakers. My ears tell me its the best of all worlds together, like attributes of best Point Source and Planar speakers mixed together. You don’t hear the room, you hear the music, with a depth and realism I never knew possible till I heard the XRT 20 and was blown away by what I heard. I do still own several sets of point source speakers as well, and the work perfectly for me in the smaller rooms I have them set up in. But if I want to hear a performance, I listen to either the 20’s or 30’s depending on my mood. The room the 30’s are in is a tad smallish for them, however they still rise to the challenge, effortlessly reproducing whatever music I play. I’ve had these speakers longer than any other pairs and don’t ever see a need or have the desire to replace them with anything out there I have heard, even mega buck offerings such as the Wilson Maxx, or the lesser price but still fairly expensive B&W 800 Diamonds that many people still couple with the big McIntosh amp offerings and a Mc tube or SS preamp. The B&W's are power hungry, requiring the big 1.2KW amps if you wish to get anywhere near concert levels. While the Wilson Maxx's are substantially more expensive with excellent sound reproduction and in a league of their own, for my ears they are nowhere near as satisfying as the line arrays are. To each his own I suppose. |
Back in the early seventies walking into a dealership in Poughkeepsie, NY and hearing a pair of pricey Ohm speakers being demoed for a customer. I recall the sound of cymbals shimmering across the room as it you could touch the sound. Not much later I heard some Quad Electrostatics which had a beautiful, clear sound. I wanted them badly but was in college then earning $115 per month in a work study program, so they were a bit out of reach. That second experience stayed with me so long I might have sprung for the newer Quads recently instead of my Magico A3’s if they weren’t of Chinese manufacture now. Mike |
Fool your ears! Back in the ‘50’s (when dinosaurs roamed the earth) I went to a “hi-fi” show in San Antonio, Texas. There was a good deal of equipment shown. But two things really caught my ear: one room was demoing Audio Fidelity Records, then quite new. They were playing it on a Rek-ko-kut, 16” turntable, into a McIntosh Amp and then on to a JBL Hartsfield speaker (monaural, at the time). They were not pushing the equipment, only the Audio Fidelity Record. It was the most fantastic sound I had ever heard! Another room, much larger (it seemed like a basket-ball court size) had about 20-25 ElectroVoice speakers/cabs. All the way from a small $25 job to their SOTA EV $800 Patrician. The demo started on the $25 speaker, you could ‘see’ people nodding, as if to say “not bad”. After a bit the demo moved up to the next level speaker. Again, you could ‘see’ people nodding “yes, that’s better. And so forth ‘til they reached the $800 Patrician. Again people were thinking, Wow! That’s a lot better.....but is it $775 better?. At that point in the demo, the music switched from the $800 Patrician to the $25 speaker..........they could not have GIVEN the $25 speaker away. That’s when I learned how easy it is to fool your ear. The louder speaker always sounds better than the quieter speaker. Something to keep in mind in ‘auditioning’ speakers‼️ |
@jszei +1. While I was aware that speakers make the most difference and components and cabling also made difference, it is the affect of power conditioning that made the most impact in my mind. I always thought that power through dedicated line is all that is needed. But the way the power conditioning affected my listening is simply substantial. The only problem is that it does not allow for background music. The music is alive and you HAVE to pay attention - it simply demands it.Room treatments can make your music sound amazing - locking instruments and vocals in precise spaces and making the music come out from places where there are no speakers. I am investing more in panels for even more effective spaciousness. |
one thing is for sure, despite any arguments on audionic memory, the first time anyone who cares at all about music hears something really special, extremely elevated excellence in sound reporduction, or a presentation that they have never encountered before which checks all of their boxes, THEY WILL CERTAINLY REMEMBER IT!! the recall may vasilate a bit, but that moment is solidly ensconsed in the memory. as well it should. I think it is experiencds like that 'one' or maybe a few which ignited the passion for us to pursue those event (s). otherwise, the vast majority of us would be really OK with entry level or mid fi gear so long as the presentation was engaging. but once ya hear something way beyond any other EXP... you are either hooked, or well, deaf. lol |
flynnrd Switching to tube amplification. Distortion? Maybe. But it sure sounds good to me. blindjim> plus 1 for sure! chuck92914 posts 07-19-2019 2:03pm While inquiring about another component, dealer suggested PS Audio Directstream JR DAC. I bought it, And Everything Changed. It was like listening to Dark Side of the Moon for the first time. Have since upgraded to SR and DMP. Second was at the Florida Audio show to listen to speakers. Many good ones there, but the Spendor A7s just sang to me. They are now singing in my listening room. blindjim> wasn't that room the one that also was showing with VA Listz? I only heard that rig with the Listz... I felt that demo had nothing to write home about. admittedly, the choice of music during my attendance was well, not striking. old 007 LP tracks. glad you enjoyed the Spendors though.. I would have liked to been able to hear them myself. jszei 1. First without question it is the impact high quality power can have on sound. 2. Second is a properly treated room. blindjim> on both counts, its like making significant component upgrades. bluetone in reality, this is a humidity issue in the room. I blindjim> humidity affects walls, floors, ceilings, furniture, furnishings, speakers, drivers, pianos, guitars our sinuses, and our hearing too. certainly Humidity is something to address. . guskund The music sounded like real instruments ! thus the rabbit hole appears ........ blindjim> ain't it the truth! always avoid the 'big room"! stvgray the most jaw-dropping single change I ever made in my many systems was installing a direct AC line from our breaker box to new four-plug boxes in my listening room. WAY more difference than any of the many multi-thousand-dollar changes I had ever made in my various systems up until then. blindjim> I believe to this day, had I stumbled onto or had any faith in upgrading power line conditioning or merely adding dedicated power lines sooner, I could have lived with the first substantial upgrades I made in power via Krell KAV 250 & BW speaks. the cables as it turned out were really substandard too. too bad. even adding the mate preamp to that amp was a premature move given nothing had been done to improve the power or signal wires live and learn the hard way or keep an open mind!! . Steve mrvordo Probably my "first" was realizing that the pre amp was the heart of any system. There is no way to tell what is going on in your system until the pre amp is of sufficient quality.But my first "Oh My Gosh" moment, was when I started trying power cords and power outlets. I couldn't believe the difference that they made. blindjim> it seems these two things are garnering a strong concensus for their bang for the buck! I know I'm sold. @jdl> Lampizator DACs. First a Big 6, followed by a Big 7. Lampizator DACs are indeed different. All of the analog stage is tubed. My Big 7, I loved the Big 6 but I wanted DSD capability, uses an R2R ladder DAC (not a chip) for the PCM decoding, and a separate filter (not a DAC chip) for the DSD decoding. It also uses a tube rectifier and directly heated triode tubes in the output. You can roll the tubes, my preference is for the 300b. There are no chips or op-amps in the signal path. They have turned digital into my preferred source, especially DSD. blindjim> Lampy has snatched and stolen my attention lately for sure. I flatly missed an opportunity to hear their Flag some months back and kick myself for it. have you heard the GG or Pacifica? @jandewitt> I remember. 35 years ago my audioshop lent me a set of loudspeaker cables. “Here, try this. Let me know what you think”. It made me listen to my cd collection in a whole new way. blindJim> 30 to 40 years ago a wire upgrade was cutting off the ends of extension cables and using them for speaker wires. sheessh! @cd3> The so-called upgrade ladder whilst promising much actually delivered precious little, especially after my upgrade to reasonably full bandwidth loudspeakers. blindjim> there is indeed wisdom in those lines. chasing that last 5 to 15% gets terribly costly, and after some extensive reflection on it, its just not worth it. optomizing the rig and room once quality pieces are on board is the real ticket. if curiosity still rages, IMO its time to simply put together a different design, or topology outfit elsewhere, rather than to drop tons into new amps, line stages, sources, etc. speakers as you say are key though. their mating to the amps is pretty much the whole make it or break it deal. room acoustics not with standing. speakers have to fit both room and amps or your gonna be chasing your tail. killer speakers too big for a room is asking for trouble. in fact, I've always seem or proven very good speakers with all else in front of them being great to outstanding is better than the other way around. @johnsonwu> Getting a pair of Technics SB-C700 and comparing them with my YG Hailey and Avalon Eidolon Diamond. blindjim> OK... I'll bite. What happend then? who won? |
First good experience was hearing Blood on the Tracks played via a Rega/Mordaunt Short bookshelf system way back in ‘83 - oh how I scoffed when someone said student days were the best! It wasn’t exactly realistic (not enough low end for a start) but it was far better in terms of space, depth, detail and separation (if not tonal richness) than anything I’d heard before. Worst experience was in the following decades with the dawning realisation that 90% of what was written in UK magazines was partisan backslapping bullshit. Worse was the discovery that this industry is plagued with parasites. The so-called upgrade ladder whilst promising much actually delivered precious little, especially after my upgrade to reasonably full bandwidth loudspeakers. Still, everyone must try to ‘earn’ a living somehow someway I guess. |
I remember. 35 years ago my audioshop lent me a set of loudspeaker cables. “Here, try this. Let me know what you think”. It made me listen to my cd collection in a whole new way. Why did I never hear these little background sounds before? I was a starting audiophile (without the money though) so my system, for a 20 year old, was not all that bad but cables was not a thing in my mind then. It has been ever since. And no, I do not know the science behind it. What I do know is that I hear a difference. And I do know that, after 35 years, putting it down as ‘it is just bias’ is pure ignorance. |
When I bought a pair of Koss ESP-9 electrostatic headphones 45 years ago (about 1974) when I was a teenager. I was driving them with my Crown DC-300! I felt like I was hearing the future of audio. Unfortunately for all of us living in the future, headphones got worse, not better. Even my Stax 009 just don’t quite have the magic and power that the Koss ESP-9 had. Or at least, I don’t think they do. They lasted for many years, until one of the ear cushions split open and the silicon fluid oozed out. The end. |
My life changing moments: 1.) Infinity WTLC (after the Servo Static and before the EMITs, used a Walsh tweeter) , Phase linear electronics. The system that started it all, it demonstrated to me that stereos could make a 3D soundstage. Soundstage has been my overriding need ever since. 2.) Audio Research D-79b, SP-6b, Acoustat 2+2 speakers, LINN table. The first system to open my ears to what high end was truly capable of. 3.) Magnapan Tympani I speakers, Mark Levinson ML-2 and ML-1 amp/pre, Goldmund table. Perhaps the single best system I have ever heard, and I have heard the Infinity I.R.S. system at P.S.Audio. It has so weighed on my psyche, I heard it around 1981, that I have since purchased a used pair of ML-2 amplifiers. They are as great as I remember. 4.) My first single ended triode amp. My first build, it uses the 45 triode. It taught me that everything I thought I knew about hi-fi was wrong, or at least over hyped. I now have three in a tri-amped home built Altec horn system. That speaker turned out so well it caused me to buy those Levinson amps for my Sound Lab electrostatics. This system also taught me that equipment doesn’t have to be commercial to be really good. 5.) Lampizator DACs. First a Big 6, followed by a Big 7. Lampizator DACs are indeed different. All of the analog stage is tubed. My Big 7, I loved the Big 6 but I wanted DSD capability, uses an R2R ladder DAC (not a chip) for the PCM decoding, and a separate filter (not a DAC chip) for the DSD decoding. It also uses a tube rectifier and directly heated triode tubes in the output. You can roll the tubes, my preference is for the 300b. There are no chips or op-amps in the signal path. They have turned digital into my preferred source, especially DSD. |
Probably my "first" was realizing that the pre amp was the heart of any system. There is no way to tell what is going on in your system
until the pre amp is
of sufficient quality.But my first "Oh My Gosh" moment, was when I started trying power cords and power outlets. I couldn't believe the difference that they made. |
The first jaw-dropping and unforgettable moment -- which launched my 40-plus years of audiophile adventuring -- was hearing the clock bells ringing on then-new Dark Side of the Moon at Tech Hi-Fi in Ann Arbor in 1973. I never dreamed playback of music could sound so real. Probably was on a lowly pair of EPI Model 100s. Forty years later, the most jaw-dropping single change I ever made in my many systems was installing a direct AC line from our breaker box to new four-plug boxes in my listening room. WAY more difference than any of the many multi-thousand-dollar changes I had ever made in my various systems up until then. And it cost just $1,200 -- would be even less in most homes. Steve |
I think what surprises me the most about my system, is how how one day it sounds very clear and balanced and then the next day I find myself wondering what sounds wrong. I have an original pressing of Brubeck's "Time Out,", which has very clear cymbol in the initial grooves (useing my recently retiped Grado Statement). The bass is very clean and sounding like a string bass ought to. And then another day the cymbol is somewhat muffled, the bass less clean. So. I've come to realize that rather than saying to myself: this is a phono preamp issue or some other thing like: oh oh, my crossover tolerances are changing with age, that in reality, this is a humidity issue in the room. I mean, how many thousands have been (happily) spent rather than aquireing a little patience regarding the local atmosphere. |
Anthem Room Correction (ARC). DSP for optimizing stereo sound and Bass management has gotten a bad rap over the years, IMO (I think that's changing). IME, ARC is incredibly effective and musical (and it seems to me to be underrated among the audiophiliacs out there). There are a pair of great, thorough older "reviews" of ARC on the "Secrets" site testifying to its effectiveness and how it is implemented. Here is a link to one of them: http://https//hometheaterhifi.com/technical/technical-reviews/anthem-room-correction-arc-system-part-2-including-a-subwoofer/ As far as I can tell the software just keeps getting better. FWIW/Cheers. |
Ah, yes. Circa 1978, I was already going good with Acoustat X speakers up the chain to an Ortofon MC20 moving coil cart in a Luxman turntable. Then I walked into Peter's Sound Components in Coral Gables, Fl. I instantly heard pure tones that I immediately tracked back into the store recesses. Making these sounds, rich tones if you will, was a Koetsu Rosewood cart. Wasn't familiar with it. Never heard anything like it. I remember nothing about the equipment associated with this Koetsu except that it was good but not top shelf. My bad. Regardless I bought it. Yep, right out of the arm. I wanted THAT one. Never regretted it to this day. |
As jouri_knegt posted about his Wadia 9, I was shocked when I bought, quite cheaply, a second hand Wadia 15 DAC which uses the same architecture as the 9 It 'only' does redbook but I have not heard anything else I prefer! Room treatment too. So few so called audiophiles who spend huge fortunes on gear just miss the boat, chasing their tail with endless upgrades. Not until the excessive decay is tamed, will the system shine. Best speaker heard were a pair of huge Tannoy corner horns. |
my biggest realization was, when I played a dual monoblock, single ended pentode stereo amp, through big 3-ways speakers, with high sensitivity rating, and the speakers were 28 feet apart, and on 6 foot high shelves in the corners of my 14' x 28' living room. wow. it changed my entire approach about audio. the speakers have to be up high, and far apart. no matter what the amp is. but there's nothing like a single ended pentode when it's warmed up and working correctly. and simple. 12ax7's into 6bq5's is all you need. dual monoblocks.you can listen to that setup for years. with headphones it's just as intoxicating, if not more, with the detail. you hear stuff on the old recordings you never even knew were there. and the soundstage is amazing. |
Finding out how big a difference a preamp can make. Going from the cheesey Dynaco pat-4 in the 1980's, to the Pat-5 bifet was amazing to my ears. Even more so, when I bought a used Dynaco Pas-3 tube preamp with Telefunken 12ax7's off a guy for $75.00 ,several years later. I have now gone up the ARC line ,from the LS-7, to an LS-16, to currently an LS-25 mkii. Working my way up to the reference line someday soon hopefully. |
1. First without question it is the impact high quality power can have on sound. This includes device PSUs (linear). Poor quality PSUs will pollute our music with noise. Wherever possible substitute or upgrade with the best power supply possible. 2. Second is a properly treated room. You can spend tons of time and money tweaking this and that, but properly treating your listening environment will have one of the biggest impacts and in the end influence the sound of those other things. When I say "proper" room treatment I mean using a professional to measure frequencies, find dead spots or problem reflection points. |
While inquiring about another component, dealer suggested PS Audio Directstream JR DAC. I bought it, And Everything Changed. It was like listening to Dark Side of the Moon for the first time. Have since upgraded to SR and DMP. Second was at the Florida Audio show to listen to speakers. Many good ones there, but the Spendor A7s just sang to me. They are now singing in my listening room. Hopefully 3rd will be when my GIK products arrive in a few weeks. |
