Is the grass greener on the other side?


Hi all,
I'm relatively new to the serious audiophile world for speakers. I've been into audio since I was a kid (getting nice car stereos and headphones etc), but I just recently got my first house so decided to try getting a nice 2.1 system for my living room. I've been blown away by how much more I can enjoy the music as opposed to headphones (even with very nice headphones like my Audezee LCD-3's and Woo amp). But now I have fallen into the trap that many have. I am constantly wondering what I can tweek or change out to make the sound even *better*. So I'd like to solicit thoughts from the community on two questions:

1. How do you deal with the temptation to wonder how much better things could get? 

2. Help feed my addiction ;) What should I *fix* next. (Gear list below)

Source: TIDAL -> Roon
Roon Core: Gaming PC in another room
Roon Endpoint: Surface Book Laptop (tuned to make sure the fan stays off)
Surface is connected via Transparent USB Performance cable to Anthem STR Integrated (my newest toy)
Anthem STR is running ARC
I use Transparent Wave Speaker Cable to connect from the STR to my B&W 704 S2's
I use the Tuneful Audio Cables for jumping between the two posts on the P&W's instead of the brackets they provide.
For power I use a APC H10 and connect everything to it. 
Ag insider logo xs@2xmattlathrop

Showing 7 responses by mattlathrop

@blueranger thanks for the analogy! Pretty insightful. I completly agree on the process of finding the right system. If only there was a magical store you could go to and try all the different gear and hear exactly how it would sound in your room! 
@erik_squires Do you think the “natural” room fixes will improve the sound over the ARC? I’m just worried that I’m going to get the Gik stuff, re-run ARC and it sound the same just with less correction. 

@stevecham Honestly i can’t be bothered to walk across the room and change a CD/Record. I also can’t stand to finish a song. I bounce from song to song so streaming is for me! Mellinieal through and through! 
@mapman 
I will have to see if I can find a show here in Seattle. If not maybe I'll make a trip to RMAS one year. Do you have suggestions on where to go for good sounding concerts that aren't classical music? Most concerts I've been to sound like garbage. 

As far as what is wrong... Well it's hard to say since it is so hard to say since I don't have a good reference point (hence my desire to try and hear the best). One major issue I have is I can't get my speakers to an ideal equilateral triangle. The layout of the room is such that the speakers are only about 6' apart yet I sit 15' away. Perhaps I should move it all to a different dedicated listening room to get the speakers set right but then I'd need another audio setup in the room my speakers are currently in because my speakers play double duty between music and TV/Movies. 

As an extra side note I tried playing with toe-in, and pushing the speakers around in the few feet area they have but didn't see any dramatic changes to the plot from ARC quick measure (only 1-2 db)
@erik_squires 

Do you think the designers at GIK can learn enough about what is needed just from pictures/sketches with measurements? Or Do you think (as I have seen suggested before) that they are simply throwing darts at a board hoping to hit something? Should I have someone come out to take measurements and make recommendations (I'm assuming such a service even exists) 
@jburidan 

I've listened to say the 702 s2's and the difference was there but nothing to go crazy over. Especially when I use a sub to supplement the 704 s2's low end. If you were recommending something what would you recommend? 
@mental Yes I did. It was just a trial when I did it, but it had some neat recordings.