The Thin Red Line between

thedudeabides · Dec 15, 2014

hi-fi sound (lots of detail - no meat on the bones) and musicality (no listening fatigue, ample detail, engaging) is something I've been playing around with for some months within the context of very low cost upgrades. Read under $200.

I've done some tube swapping in my CJ ET5 preamp (very enlightening) and most recently, changing the devices under my MBL's. Started with some reasonable quality cones made by oregondv placed on BDR pucks. Decided to ditch the pucks and was surprised by the additional detail and speed. FYI, I have relatively live room. Wood floor, lots of glass behind the speakers. Have an area rug between the speakers and my listening chairs. Large windows behind the speakers where I have numerous plants and (after experimentation) four 2' X 2' drywall panels on the window sills, which replaced same size ATS panels. Decided on this material after remembering how MBL typically demos their speakers at audio shows. Listen in near field. Speakers about 7' from my chairs.

I lived with this for a couple of months. Loved the detail, space, and speed but felt that it crossed that magic line. A touch too much detail versus musicality.

I then tried something I did with a previous pair on Martin Logans. I installed Mapleshade brass footers on my 116's. And there it was. Plenty of detail with the requisite sense of warmth and body. Great dimensionality and coherence. Improved intelligibility on vocals. Improved imaging.

Any inexpensive actions (relative term of course) you've taken that made an audible improvement to your system?

LL21 · Dec 16, 2014

Great thread...and really enjoyed reading it. I think that MUCH of what makes a system great comes from this work, not necessarily buying a bunch of great individual components. 'Tying the system together' is extremely important imho.

In my case, i spent MONTHS after learning about great isolation (Ultra 5s and HRS)...and over 18 months, now have each component in a separate isolation sandwich...each one slightly different based on what i heard and how i liked it. And yes, what you describe, is EXACTLY what i wrestled with in 2 specific cases. It took a few days of multiple iterations to finally get it right (ie, i refused to let the detail go...but i equally refused to leave the system sounding 'stiff'/'staccato')...which was keeping all the new-found detail and yet ensuring tonal purity was maintained and the system did come across as 'etched'.

For me, that sometimes involved using 45lbs of brass weight on top of my HRS damping plates on top of a component...dont ask me why it worked, but the beautiful tone returned...30lbs was a waste and did nothing...but 45lbs and suddenly everything came back...

...it sometimes involved using an elastomer type product (HRS Nimbus) on top of my Ultra 5s rather than just Ultra 5s alone. The detail remained but a slight loss of weight in the mids came back.

great thread...thanks for starting it.

bonzo75 · Dec 16, 2014

And if you listen to Marty's room, it is less about this and more about managing the frequency response. I was there, and he mentioned 99% of what he does is Manage frequency response. Will write more about the visit later

alexandrov · Dec 16, 2014

The best cost/improvement ratio I've obtained from the soundcare spikes under all components, incl. the speakers and the AC filter. Vibration management, often neglected, is of critical importance for the good sound, more than you can expect

It saves much money.
And the second best cheap (free actually) improvement was the Fidelizer which optimizes Windows 8 for audio.

thedudeabides · Dec 16, 2014

alexandrov said:
Vibration management, often neglected, is of critical importance for the good sound, more than you can expect It saves much money.

That is soooooooooooooo true.

marty · Dec 16, 2014

bonzo75 said:
And if you listen to Marty's room, it is less about this and more about managing the frequency response. I was there, and he mentioned 99% of what he does is Manage frequency response. Will write more about the visit later

Ked, I think a more accurate representation of what I said was that frequency response accounts for 99+% of what determines the correct timbre of instruments in audio playback. Hence, that is why so much attention is paid to it and in my case, using DSP is essential to achieving that result. As we all know, virtually everything we do effects the final sound in one's system from our choice of electronics, speakers, cables, resonance and cabinet support and, probably most of all, room acoustics. But if the basic frequency response of one's system isn't correct, its pretty hard to come back from that and still have high quality music reproduction in the home.

marty · Dec 17, 2014

Purite Audio said:
Marty may I ask what are you particular FR problems and what do you use ( which DSP ) to treat them?
Keith

Keith,
My main problem is trying to integrate a subwoofer with a mid/hi line array that stands 4 feet in front of the subwoofer. The DSP is therefore used for both crossover alignment as well as room EQ. I covered my set up in some depth in this forum previously, thus I hope these threads will be useful.

http://www.whatsbestforum.com/showthread.php?520-DSP-one-person-s-experience&highlight=tact
http://www.whatsbestforum.com/showt...n-New-Jersey&highlight=spectral+arrive+jersey

Marty

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The Thin Red Line between

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