After leaving my system on for 3 days...


...I listened to a CD I'm pretty familiar with, and found that the sound is harsher than it used to be!

I know that there is the arguement that leaving solid-state devices on usually yields better or at least no performance difference, but is it possible that the performance actually suffers?

Before my little experiment of leaving it on for 3 days, I used to turn it off in the night, and leave it on all day during the day. Also, I just purchased a tuner, which I have stacked on top of my CD player, which is on Vibrapods. Perhaps that is the cause. (They say you shouldn't stack)

Or is my system just revealing the real sound from the CDs?

I admit, I will have to go home after work and do some more experimentation before I come to a solid conclusion whether the sound has gotten worse or not. (Perhaps unstacking my tuner from on top of my CDP)

I own the following system:
- NAD C370 Integrated Amp
- NAD C541 CD Player
- NAD C420 Tuner
- IXOS & Monster interconnects
- Monster speaker cable
- B&W DM601S2 speaker pair

Any ideas?
lennychen

Showing 1 response by bbtuna

interconnects and moving things around isn't the answer...you said you came back 3 days later with the system the same as before except you left equipment on, right?

So the answer doesn't lie in changing things around. You are trying to discover what is the difference now. If you start changing things you will be introducing new variables and you will be hard pressed to understand what has changed.

Isolate the problem. Make sure you have more than one CD to test with, test at different times and be patient. Even if nothing changed, your mood alone could impact things so you want to make sure the change is consistent at a number of times and moods and with a number of CDs you know well. Then if you are still sure there is an issue or the issues is intermittent, I would follow the lead of several other posters and look into electricity control. If you can afford it, get a PS power plant (probably the p-300, $1245 http://psaudio.com/products/p300_overview.asp). If you can get one from a friend or local dealer or I think PS has a 30 day trial period, either way, TRY before you BUY. A lot of money, probably your most expensive piece, but since it will help all 3 NAD units then it is only like $400 a piece. Who knows you might be able to find one used and save a few bucks, just make sure you are getting the most recent model. (But this way you can’t audition it first.)

cd
interconnects and moving things around isn't the answer...you said you came back 3 days later with the system the same as before except you left equipment on, right?

So the answer doesn't lie in changing things around. You are trying to discover what is the difference now. If you start changing things you will be introducing new variables and you will be hard pressed to understand what has changed.

Isolate the problem. Make sure you have more than one CD to test with, test at different times and be patient. Even if nothing changed, your mood alone could impact things so you want to make sure the change is consistent at a number of times and moods and with a number of CDs you know well. Then if you are still sure there is an issue or the issues is intermittent, I would follow the lead of several other posters and look into electricity control. If you can afford it, get a PS power plant (probably the p-300, $1245 http://psaudio.com/products/p300_overview.asp). If you can get one from a friend or local dealer or I think PS has a 30 day trial period, either way, TRY before you BUY. A lot of money, probably your most expensive piece, but since it will help all 3 NAD units then it is only like $400 a piece. Who knows you might be able to find one used and save a few bucks, just make sure you are getting the most recent model. (But this way you can’t audition it first.)

cd