Can HI FI components really make music?

Thank you all for your time, consideration and excellent input thus far. I want to take a little time to re-read all of your posts and respond. In the mean time keep it coming. This is great stuff. Real and no BS. I love it!

Thanks

Well I have settled down a bit. Now with a clearer head and your help I have decided to keep my gear and address some of the issues you have pointed out. I have to much time and money invested to just chuck it all. Not to mention the fact that I would really miss the music. I listen to just about everything but mostly jazz, blues, rock, fusion and electronica. Lately Ive been getting into 60s latin jazz. I love that Jimmy Smith organ but not wild about the big band backing. Let me know if any of you have come accross great latin jazz recordings.

I would like to point out that I am getting very good sound but as Pbb stated the problem is with me. I can be a bit of a perfectionist at times. The things I find lacking in my system are as follows: A huge lack of micro and macro dynamics (this is why I think more power may help), a much to forward treble, a strange un natural tonal character to the mid range. There are some good things like the huge holographic soundstage and pinpoint accuracy with certain recordings. I agree that all live performances dont blow my skirt up. Ive heard some terrible ones that make me love my system. What Id like to reproduce is the sound you get at a small well set up blues or jazz club. I saw Tito Puente at Jazz Alley and it was fantastic. To bad he's gone now. Ive only seen a couple of good big shows. The Cult was great and though Im not a fan of Sting (went for my wife) he sounded fabulous. Im not really considering a Bose Wave radio although I would love one in my bedroom or kitchen.

As far as set up goes I have a long way to go. This is what I have done so far and what I have learned about my room. I did the test tone thing with the Rives test CD and SPL meter and found that I have some big peaks and suck outs. As much as 12 db in some frequencys. Also I tested left and right channel independently and found that the right and left side actually vary quite a bit. Could this be causing the problems? Ive had the 3As all over the room. They are set up along the 13' wall about 6' out. They seem to image best there.The back wall is not perpindicular to the side walls. There is almost a foot more space behind the right speaker. Another possible problem? All equipment is on a mixture of 3 and 4 Black Diamond Racing cones.

I am going to keep the 3As and try to make them work. I have to, I just got em. I will put in a dedicated AC line and try to get the frequency response of the room a little flatter. Once you know where the problem areas are frequency wise, how do you deal with them?

I think Im going to go down and enjoy some music now without listening to the gear. Thanks again for all your help. Oh, if any of you are near the Seattle Tacoma area and want to help me sort it out please contact me.

Herman I take it you use horns, Jeffrey Jacksons? Tell me about your experiences with them.

Herman, I like your room. I notice you have treatment in the front upper corners. Did you notice much of a difference after adding this tweak? My room has a sort of buzzing sound that is quite loud. If I clap my hands while sitting in the sweet spot the room rings or buzzes for about 1 second. I thought maybe the corners like you have would help.

C5150, I dont see any reason to get rid of everything if a few inexpensive tweaks will get me close to where I want to be. If I can get say 75% of the way there I think I will be quite happy. Especially after realizing its never going to sound like the real thing. My wife put it in perspective when she asked me if Id ever heard a system anywhere that sounded like the real thing. My response was NO.

Newbee, I have switched everything in my system around trying to figure out where the channel varriation is coming from. Im fairly certain its the room. Not all frequencys are different in the same way. I dont have the chart in front of me so these are not the actual numbers but it goes something like this:

R at 100 hz + 6db
R at 150 hz - 6db
R at 15 khz + 12db
R&L at 200hz same

etc.

My room is in the basement. Luckily it has an 8' ceiling but there is a step. Directly above the listening position is the entrance to the upstairs, a sunken entry which results in a bumb in the basement ceiling. This bump extends out from the right wall about feet and is about 8 feet long and 15" deep. Could this bump be causing some problems along with the fact that the wall the speakers are on is not perpedicular to side walls. I talked about it in earlier post.

Cdc, I never said any speaker sucked. I chose the 3As because of the speakers that are available for me to demo they were the best for the money. Thats why I bought them.

Cdc I was reffering to your comment. "Wow, you say this speaker sucks". I am just trying to clarify that I think they are good for the money but I am to a point where I realize no comination of "hi fi" components and recorded media is ever going to sound like the real thing. Its my own fault for thinking I could make it happen even though Ive never heard a system that could. I guess it just shows my lack of experience. It was a very expensive lesson. Thanks for your response.

Cdc, I think we are on the same page now. When I made the comment about me being inexperienced I meant just that. It was not dirrected at you in the least. Sorry for the confusion and thanks again for the advice.

Just wanted to give everyone an update. After much tweaking I have come to the conclusion that HI FI just wont do what I want. Im going to sell everything and build a small, simple system for background music. No more critical listening. I will be posting adds for my gear here soon.

Thanks

I'm back in the game and happy to report getting some very good sound. No, its not perfect but its damn good. I replaced the VTL mb125s with Parasound JC 1s. Every aspect of the sound has improved dramatically. Well, the midrange was a little sweeter with the VTLs but for me its worth the slight trade off for all the other benefits. The Vandersteens obviously need lots of power. They sound like a completely different speaker. I still may replace them in the future but for now they sound fine and they are not even broken in yet. This has been a very valuable lesson regarding system synergy. I really hated the Vandersteens until I paired them with the right amp. Now the sound very good. Best imaging and sound staging I have heard in my system yet.

Absolutely!