2. amps-preamps
  3. 1075645071

Help me find it again

I need your collective advice.

I have reached a critical point. If I don't start enjoying my system again, I will give up and sell!

I listen to mostly rock and pop with some blues and jazz. A little large orchestra stuff. I grew up listening to the best jazz and rock and roll live at my father's bootleg clubs. I've sat at the piano and poured drinks for the count, twisted with Chubby and lived in "Salt Pork West Virginia". I played piano and hammond organ professionally for several years working everything from rock to jazz to blues to gospel. I know how music sounds. I know how it can move you.

I have been living with my current system for about 6 months. "Maybe I'm doing it wrong, but it just don't thrill me the way that it should."

The sound is very clean but lacks emotion. It has a thin low end. Sometimes sounds harsh in the high end. The mids are good. It sounds like crap on lots of recordings that were OK on less revealing systems.

Components: Audiomeca transport and DAC, Aloia pre-amp, Goldmund 28M amps, Piega C-40 speakers, Goldmund line treatment, Piega speaker cables, Audio Techne interconnects.

I already have dedicated lines.

I'm done with vinyl. Just too much work... My turntable and record cleaner will be on the gon soon.

Room is large (32 X 20 with vaulted ceilings that rise from 10 to 18 feet). The system is on the longer wall with the shorter height. I have thick rug and window treatments. The speakers are spaced 3.5 feet from the wall and 11 feet apart. Seating is 10 feet back from the speakers and 6 feet from the back wall.

I'm thinking I need to change the preamp (perhaps tubes), but I'm willing to consider almost any changes. My current economic situation might limit my options. Also, since I live in central NC, it is almost impossible to audition anything...
spudco

Showing 1 response by rooze

rooze's avatar
rooze
566 posts
 
Just my two penneth for what it's worth....I was at exactly the same place as you are at with your system (albeit, my components are very different than yours)....I was on the verge of packing it all up and selling it on AG. I've posted a few threads in the past, basically moaning and groaning about having to drag my Maggie 3.6's around the room trying to get a 'good sound'. Well, as a last ditched attempt, before giving up, I bought a Tact RCS 2.0 - Room correction preamp. They are a steal direct from the m/f at $1500, with a two week return policy, so you have nothing to loose.
It slots easily between your transport and DAC, and setup is a complete breeze, though time consuming. I can't say that I've completely nailed the right tonal balance for me, but I've been able to warm up the sound of the 3.6's, roll off a little treble harshness, extend the bass a little and remove soom of the peaks and troughs on the frequency repsonse curve in my room. Bass is now consistent, midrange is warmer, there is no loss of detail that I can detect, and I'm a lot happier about the system.
The only downside is that it is a bit tweaky, you find yourself switching in different frequency repsonse curves to suit a particular CD's tonal balance, so it is a little distracting at times. However, I think this 'tweak factor' is probably just 'newness' and that the novelty will wear off and I can get back to enjoying music.
Highly recommended component in my humble opinion.
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