We all experience listening acclimation because it is a basic function of the central nervous system. It is very adaptive for the average individual because it rapidly helps us develop a balance with our sensory environment. Unfortunately, it is the bane of audiophiles because as we search for our personal sense of audio nirvana we start to assign positive values to a “different” sound, even when the change is a step backwards.
All honest audiophiles know the feeling the next day when we listen to our systems that we so carefully tweaked until late into the previous night and concluded that we finally got the “best sound ever”, only to ask that question the next day we all know so well---- “what the hell was I thinking when I thought that sounded great?”
Ten days ago I was at my friend Marty’s house listening to his system that he felt he had at its “best in years” (Marty has easily spent 10,000+ hours tweaking his current system, making 1/10 db changes with his Tact in pursuit of said Nirvana and has excellent ears and strong sense of live music). Marty and I have played together with this tweak game for more than 45 years, making this one of the backbones of our long friendship, so I expected great advances. Within several bars of listening to the latest iteration of his system which warranted a special trip to his house for a listening session, I said to myself “listening acclimation strikes again!”.
The reason for this thread is several-fold: to describe an audio listening acclimation experience that few of us get a chance to experience; and to offer an example of how expensive it can be as one takes a big step to try to progress on this endless road.
Marty and I have very similar sound preferences and thus similar equipment interests. We share many common components (Spectral amps, Meitner DAC’s, JL Subwoofers, Shunyata Triton, Typhon, Sigma and Alpha PC’s, MIT interconnects and speaker wire, use of similar sounding tube preamps used with SS Spectral amps). Marty’s room is dramatically better than my listening space because it is custom designed and in its second iteration (just built again in a new home). Marty uses Pipe Dreams with his JL’s and I use(d) Martin Logans with my JL’s, both of us first hearing our respective speakers at the same time at CES’s many years ago, and commenting on both occasions, “this is something special”! More later on my new speakers after listening acclimation!!!!!
Listening Acclimation Secondary To Shunyata Changes
I have used most of the range of Shunyata products for the past 2+ years and love them and am amazed by how they have helped the sophistication of my ability to listen and assess what is good and what is not so good.
After a trip to Shunyata last April and lots of conversation with Caelin, (http://www.whatsbestforum.com/showt...A-Weekend-Of-Listening-Bliss&highlight=amigos v2) I decided to upgrade my Triton to a V2 after hearing in on a pair of Vivid G3’s in his listening room as well as in his home system.
Since receiving the Triton V2 about 2 months ago, I have been in the process of evaluating it and moving various Shunyata PC’s around my system to get the best sense of location and next steps, thinking that at most I would be buying a few more Sigma PC’s.
After upgrading my Triton from a V1 to V2, and buying a custom made version of their latest Anaconda interconnect with a DIN termination for my SME IV tonearm holding a Spectral Reference cartridge, I thought I was done. Then I got the bug again because Caelin told me that I had not truly heard the Triton V2 with a Sigma HC powering it.
To help me determine if I needed more Sigma PC’s in my system and found the sound change to my liking, I did something very hard for me to do and bought (for more than I sold my Anaconda’s for) a Zitron Anaconda AC cord with a C-15 termination and a Shunyata C15-C19 adapter so I could insert the Anaconda into various parts of my system to offer a comparison of new and old general Shunyata products. Since I was down, I took the opportunity to send my recently retubed preamp back to BAT to insure that it was fully up to spec, which it was.
Listening Acclimation In Reverse-The System Without A Triton, with a Typhon, Shunyata outlets on dedicated circuits, But With My Full Compliment Of Shunyata AC Cords
Sometimes the easiest way to determine whether a new addition produces a positive impact is to remove it and compare. I had no choice but to do this with my Triton while it was back at Shunyata being updated to a V2 for two weeks. At first it was truly painful to listen to my system without the Triton because it sounded like a “system” and not music, despite all of the high quality Shunyata AC cords installed throughout. As things settled in and contacts annealed the sound improved and became listenable, and somewhat enjoyable. It still sounded like a system and had a much flatter soundstage than when the Triton V1 had been installed. Also the bass from my ML’s and my twin JL F113’s was much more loose (the JL’s and my Spectral amp are plugged directly into dedicated 20 amp circuits with Alpha Digital HC PC’s so the changes in the bass were coming from my preamp, DAC and transport which were powered via the Triton). TV sounded great because it sounded dramatic, but not real, kind of like an early stereo demo disc.
Listening Acclimation With The Triton V2 And With My Full Compliment Of Shunyata AC Cords
This test was done after the Triton had been plugged in for three days, although I must admit I forgot to flip the power switch to the “on” position. Despite just having been turned on, insertion of the Triton V2 made an instant and major difference, although it was just he beginning of what would evolve over the next several days and weeks.
The four most notable changes after 24 hours were: 1) the first signs of the increased depth of the sound stage, both front and back; 2) markedly improved cohesion between the various sounds that makes the difference between a system and “real”. This was true with all types of music, from symphonic, opera, rock to techno and especially with female vocals, strings and percussion; 3) much smoother mid’s and high’s; and 4) the bass became MUCH tighter throughout its entire spectrum. With each passing day these changes continued for at least a month, although much more pronounced in the beginning.
In summary, with the Triton V2 new out of the box because I forgot to turn it on and all of the CupperCon outlets needing to anneal with the AC cord male terminations, my system overall sounded out of the box much as it had with the Triton V1 fully broken in and stabilized. After only one hour in my system, the sound continued to improve in ALL dimensions and I began starting to hear things that I have never heard on very familiar tracks, clearly something other than listening acclimation—most likely lower noise floor.
I then started inserting the newly repurchased Anaconda around the system to evaluate its impact compared to the Alpha HC’s that formerly replaced the previously installed Anaconda’s go generate money so I could purchase a Typhon over a year ago. The question was how much would I gain from shifting from an Alpha HC to a Sigma HC for the Triton. Putting an Anaconda on the Triton V2 made quite a positive difference namely by moving the overall sound more in the direction of tube sound from the more SS sounding Alpha series, so I am assuming, and Caelin confirms, that a Sigma, ( would be much better.
I moved the Anaconda and 20 amp adapter from the Triton and less the adapter put in on my Spectral instead of the Alpha HC, which also improved the sound. However, with the markedly lower noise floor from the v2, the Alpha HC on my preamp created some harshness, so I put the Anaconda on the preamp and reinstalled the Alpha HC to the Spectral with an overall improvement. So I am considering an Sigma Analog for the preamp and putting the Anaconda back on the Spectral since I do not want to go for two Sigma HC's.
After several months in the system and the Anaconda now on my preamp, I have totally acclimated and take the new sound as my latest basic reference, which is so good that what Marty thought was great sound before with an Alpha HC on the preamp was now deemed unlistenable, forcing a shift in the Anaconda from the Spectral to the preamp which in turn produced an instant improvement in sound, which only improved over time.
I had concluded that I would replace the Alpha HC on the Triton V2 with a Sigma HC because the Anaconda, even with an adapter driving the Triton produced an instantly superior sound to the Alpha HC and Caelin quietly suggested that a Sigma HC would be massively better than the Anaconda. Since I liked the Anaconda on the Spectral, and even more on my BAT preamp, I am also going to buy another Sigma Analog PC for my preamp and will put the Anaconda back on my Spectral.
I thought that that last $6k expenditure would be it for a while. How wrong I was because now I am awaiting the arrival of new speakers that cost four times what my existing ones do. However, let me not get lost in the latest acquisition until I finish my thoughts on listening acclimation.
The Eye Opener
Back to 10 days ago when I went to Marty’s house for a listening session to a system I know very well. As I said earlier, I knew something was quite wrong with his system within several bars. Even though it sounded very good and could do things that my system cannot do because Spectral amps do not like the impedance curves of ML’s and go into protection mode especially with brass surges, something was wrong, top to bottom.
It took me a while to figure out what was wrong and then it dawned on me. Marty has a Triton V1 and not the V2. Although I will not know for sure until we substitute my V2 into his system, I am quite sure that my theory is right because I heard mush on his system between sounds where I hear nothing on mine. In addition the individual sounds that make up the music on his system are not nearly as distinct as they are on mine and he has Spectral 400’s and I have a lowly 260. Previous to the Triton upgrade, it was clear that the two amps were cousins, but the 400’s were more articulate and quieter. I am sure that will be true when Marty upgrades, but it is not the case currently without a V2.
The Expensive Part
We were listening to Hugh Masekela’s amazing cut Coal Train and I was blown away by Marty’s system’s dynamics, which mine will not do because my Spectral shuts down at moderate to high levels due to ML impedance issues. Despite the lack of Triton V2 enhancement, the dynamics of Marty’s system shifted my appreciation to the point that what was somewhat of problem with my system’s, lack of dynamics due to protective shut down, had now become intolerable and a remedy was needed.
I had two choices, change the amp or change the speakers because together I could not get what I wanted. I love the Spectral amp and thus the speakers had to go. My new Vivid G3’s should arrive tomorrow and hopefully listening will improve and acclimation will help me sit tight for a while, although I doubt it.
All honest audiophiles know the feeling the next day when we listen to our systems that we so carefully tweaked until late into the previous night and concluded that we finally got the “best sound ever”, only to ask that question the next day we all know so well---- “what the hell was I thinking when I thought that sounded great?”
Ten days ago I was at my friend Marty’s house listening to his system that he felt he had at its “best in years” (Marty has easily spent 10,000+ hours tweaking his current system, making 1/10 db changes with his Tact in pursuit of said Nirvana and has excellent ears and strong sense of live music). Marty and I have played together with this tweak game for more than 45 years, making this one of the backbones of our long friendship, so I expected great advances. Within several bars of listening to the latest iteration of his system which warranted a special trip to his house for a listening session, I said to myself “listening acclimation strikes again!”.
The reason for this thread is several-fold: to describe an audio listening acclimation experience that few of us get a chance to experience; and to offer an example of how expensive it can be as one takes a big step to try to progress on this endless road.
Marty and I have very similar sound preferences and thus similar equipment interests. We share many common components (Spectral amps, Meitner DAC’s, JL Subwoofers, Shunyata Triton, Typhon, Sigma and Alpha PC’s, MIT interconnects and speaker wire, use of similar sounding tube preamps used with SS Spectral amps). Marty’s room is dramatically better than my listening space because it is custom designed and in its second iteration (just built again in a new home). Marty uses Pipe Dreams with his JL’s and I use(d) Martin Logans with my JL’s, both of us first hearing our respective speakers at the same time at CES’s many years ago, and commenting on both occasions, “this is something special”! More later on my new speakers after listening acclimation!!!!!
Listening Acclimation Secondary To Shunyata Changes
I have used most of the range of Shunyata products for the past 2+ years and love them and am amazed by how they have helped the sophistication of my ability to listen and assess what is good and what is not so good.
After a trip to Shunyata last April and lots of conversation with Caelin, (http://www.whatsbestforum.com/showt...A-Weekend-Of-Listening-Bliss&highlight=amigos v2) I decided to upgrade my Triton to a V2 after hearing in on a pair of Vivid G3’s in his listening room as well as in his home system.
Since receiving the Triton V2 about 2 months ago, I have been in the process of evaluating it and moving various Shunyata PC’s around my system to get the best sense of location and next steps, thinking that at most I would be buying a few more Sigma PC’s.
After upgrading my Triton from a V1 to V2, and buying a custom made version of their latest Anaconda interconnect with a DIN termination for my SME IV tonearm holding a Spectral Reference cartridge, I thought I was done. Then I got the bug again because Caelin told me that I had not truly heard the Triton V2 with a Sigma HC powering it.
To help me determine if I needed more Sigma PC’s in my system and found the sound change to my liking, I did something very hard for me to do and bought (for more than I sold my Anaconda’s for) a Zitron Anaconda AC cord with a C-15 termination and a Shunyata C15-C19 adapter so I could insert the Anaconda into various parts of my system to offer a comparison of new and old general Shunyata products. Since I was down, I took the opportunity to send my recently retubed preamp back to BAT to insure that it was fully up to spec, which it was.
Listening Acclimation In Reverse-The System Without A Triton, with a Typhon, Shunyata outlets on dedicated circuits, But With My Full Compliment Of Shunyata AC Cords
Sometimes the easiest way to determine whether a new addition produces a positive impact is to remove it and compare. I had no choice but to do this with my Triton while it was back at Shunyata being updated to a V2 for two weeks. At first it was truly painful to listen to my system without the Triton because it sounded like a “system” and not music, despite all of the high quality Shunyata AC cords installed throughout. As things settled in and contacts annealed the sound improved and became listenable, and somewhat enjoyable. It still sounded like a system and had a much flatter soundstage than when the Triton V1 had been installed. Also the bass from my ML’s and my twin JL F113’s was much more loose (the JL’s and my Spectral amp are plugged directly into dedicated 20 amp circuits with Alpha Digital HC PC’s so the changes in the bass were coming from my preamp, DAC and transport which were powered via the Triton). TV sounded great because it sounded dramatic, but not real, kind of like an early stereo demo disc.
Listening Acclimation With The Triton V2 And With My Full Compliment Of Shunyata AC Cords
This test was done after the Triton had been plugged in for three days, although I must admit I forgot to flip the power switch to the “on” position. Despite just having been turned on, insertion of the Triton V2 made an instant and major difference, although it was just he beginning of what would evolve over the next several days and weeks.
The four most notable changes after 24 hours were: 1) the first signs of the increased depth of the sound stage, both front and back; 2) markedly improved cohesion between the various sounds that makes the difference between a system and “real”. This was true with all types of music, from symphonic, opera, rock to techno and especially with female vocals, strings and percussion; 3) much smoother mid’s and high’s; and 4) the bass became MUCH tighter throughout its entire spectrum. With each passing day these changes continued for at least a month, although much more pronounced in the beginning.
In summary, with the Triton V2 new out of the box because I forgot to turn it on and all of the CupperCon outlets needing to anneal with the AC cord male terminations, my system overall sounded out of the box much as it had with the Triton V1 fully broken in and stabilized. After only one hour in my system, the sound continued to improve in ALL dimensions and I began starting to hear things that I have never heard on very familiar tracks, clearly something other than listening acclimation—most likely lower noise floor.
I then started inserting the newly repurchased Anaconda around the system to evaluate its impact compared to the Alpha HC’s that formerly replaced the previously installed Anaconda’s go generate money so I could purchase a Typhon over a year ago. The question was how much would I gain from shifting from an Alpha HC to a Sigma HC for the Triton. Putting an Anaconda on the Triton V2 made quite a positive difference namely by moving the overall sound more in the direction of tube sound from the more SS sounding Alpha series, so I am assuming, and Caelin confirms, that a Sigma, ( would be much better.
I moved the Anaconda and 20 amp adapter from the Triton and less the adapter put in on my Spectral instead of the Alpha HC, which also improved the sound. However, with the markedly lower noise floor from the v2, the Alpha HC on my preamp created some harshness, so I put the Anaconda on the preamp and reinstalled the Alpha HC to the Spectral with an overall improvement. So I am considering an Sigma Analog for the preamp and putting the Anaconda back on the Spectral since I do not want to go for two Sigma HC's.
After several months in the system and the Anaconda now on my preamp, I have totally acclimated and take the new sound as my latest basic reference, which is so good that what Marty thought was great sound before with an Alpha HC on the preamp was now deemed unlistenable, forcing a shift in the Anaconda from the Spectral to the preamp which in turn produced an instant improvement in sound, which only improved over time.
I had concluded that I would replace the Alpha HC on the Triton V2 with a Sigma HC because the Anaconda, even with an adapter driving the Triton produced an instantly superior sound to the Alpha HC and Caelin quietly suggested that a Sigma HC would be massively better than the Anaconda. Since I liked the Anaconda on the Spectral, and even more on my BAT preamp, I am also going to buy another Sigma Analog PC for my preamp and will put the Anaconda back on my Spectral.
I thought that that last $6k expenditure would be it for a while. How wrong I was because now I am awaiting the arrival of new speakers that cost four times what my existing ones do. However, let me not get lost in the latest acquisition until I finish my thoughts on listening acclimation.
The Eye Opener
Back to 10 days ago when I went to Marty’s house for a listening session to a system I know very well. As I said earlier, I knew something was quite wrong with his system within several bars. Even though it sounded very good and could do things that my system cannot do because Spectral amps do not like the impedance curves of ML’s and go into protection mode especially with brass surges, something was wrong, top to bottom.
It took me a while to figure out what was wrong and then it dawned on me. Marty has a Triton V1 and not the V2. Although I will not know for sure until we substitute my V2 into his system, I am quite sure that my theory is right because I heard mush on his system between sounds where I hear nothing on mine. In addition the individual sounds that make up the music on his system are not nearly as distinct as they are on mine and he has Spectral 400’s and I have a lowly 260. Previous to the Triton upgrade, it was clear that the two amps were cousins, but the 400’s were more articulate and quieter. I am sure that will be true when Marty upgrades, but it is not the case currently without a V2.
The Expensive Part
We were listening to Hugh Masekela’s amazing cut Coal Train and I was blown away by Marty’s system’s dynamics, which mine will not do because my Spectral shuts down at moderate to high levels due to ML impedance issues. Despite the lack of Triton V2 enhancement, the dynamics of Marty’s system shifted my appreciation to the point that what was somewhat of problem with my system’s, lack of dynamics due to protective shut down, had now become intolerable and a remedy was needed.
I had two choices, change the amp or change the speakers because together I could not get what I wanted. I love the Spectral amp and thus the speakers had to go. My new Vivid G3’s should arrive tomorrow and hopefully listening will improve and acclimation will help me sit tight for a while, although I doubt it.
