need amp recommendations for more separation of instruments


I've noticed that if I play music that only has a few instruments playing at the same time it generally sounds great, but, if it's got a lot of instruments playing different parts at the same time it all mushes together and you can't hear the individual instruments clearly. My current rig is a NAD M10 and Focal Aria 948s. At a store, I heard 948s paired with a front end costing about $100,000 and that system did not have this problem, at least it not to my ears. That tells me that with really good electronics this problem can be greatly reduced and that the problem is more with my electronics than it is with my speakers. But $100k is out of my budget. My questions are:

  1. Are there some classes or types of amplification that are notably better at getting separation between instruments in complex music?

2.  Are there some brands that are notably better at getting separation between instruments in complex music?

3.   How much would I need to spend to get something that solves this specific problem notably better than my NAD M10?

4. How much would I need to spend to get something that's a really good solution, where I probably wouldn't notice the problem unless I went out of my way to listen for it? (I know, this differs between people, but I'm still interested in your opinion).

Thanks,

ahuvia

Showing 1 response by newbee

Re your flute question. Have you heard it live when it is playing in competition with a full string section? Unless it has been spot lit by a mic (many orchestras do use spot mics) I bet not. In a recording session the man at the mixer hitting the sliders will do much to accent the flute (or not). You may like the result or not. FWIW you may need a few great recordings which were made without spot lit violins (most are that's why the are often screechy and dominant and would easily hide a flute).

Don't blame your audio stuff for problems which may only be related to the way the recording was made.