Ehart, what are you asking folks for advice for ??? Your the only one so far that has looked at this logically. While everyone can be pissed at me for saying this, so be it.
While many suggestions are valid in terms of building a system composed of better components and an improved listening atmosphere, none of them have approached your main problem right NOW. My guess is that you would like to get the gear that you currently have working as good as possible and then slowly build from there. If that is a correct assumption, then continue reading. Otherwise, skip this post and consider it gibberish.
At this point in time, i'm assuming that you HAVE played around quite a bit with speaker placement and your seated listening position. Other than that, here are some other comments / observations.
"Generic" cd players ARE bright and grainy. "Better" cd players are warmer and smoother. So much for fixing the "boom" problem with that suggestion.
Your room IS live. Adding more damping of ANY type will only absorb / dampen mids and highs, even if they are reflections. While this might help soundstage, imaging, etc... it will only further skew the tonal balance towards "warm mud". The only way to effectively minimize the "boom" would be via some form of "bass trap" or VERY large, VERY overstuffed furniture. Normal "acoustic treatments" and rugs do nothing below about 400 Hz or so due to the increased wavelength of low frequencies. Since this is where your main problem exists, you would be throwing your money away in terms of correcting the blasting bass.
Cabling CAN make quite a difference if you are experienced with a large quantity of cables and know what to use where. As such, i've commented on that below.
As to answering the questions that i asked of you, Thank you. It is much easier to diagnose a problem when you have the necessary info to do so. It was i that asked about your "equipment holder". As such, your set-up is quite conducive to "muddy" sound. This is especially true if the in-wall unit is located near a corner of the room. Either way, you REALLY need to do something with that situation. If at all possible, you need to get the components isolated from the shelf and other equipment. If worse comes to worse, stick the CD on top of the RX and use some ALUMINUM cones between them, point side facing the receiver lid. A small amount of sand in a FULL SIZED ZIP LOCK FREEZER bag on top of the CD player will help minimize airborne resonances. Use just enough sand to fill the bag out in a "flat" layer across the top of the CD. Nothing super thick or "lumpy", just a nice even layer. This may help "band aid" your problem, but you really do need to get some type of "audiophile approved" rack with a shelf for each component.
As to your speakers, there are several things that you could do. You did not mention if you are over a basement, i.e. you could have a suspended "bare wooden floor". If you are over a basement, the floor itself is resonating. While i can't see your Celestions "thumping" out bottom end in massive amounts, it might be just enough to cause problems. As such, slightly elevating the speakers OFF the floor can help reduce this while changing the driver to floor reflection point. This can either help or hurt ones' tonal balance, so try it and see. Moving the mid-woofer and tweeter closer to ear level will help to accentuate the mids and highs while slightly lowering bass output, so this might be a two-fold step in the right direction.
If that doesn't work, you can experiment with plugging the ports. This will play MAJOR games with the tuning of the cabinet and bass output levels. You will have to experiment with plugging one or both ports, a partial plug of one or two, etc... It is quite possible that a "resistive port" ( called a "variovent" or "aperiodic tuning" ) will work well for you. This can also affect power handling of the driver, so PAY ATTENTION to the results and don't overdue anything until you're sure that everything is working okay.
In terms of cables, your 16 gauge zip cord is not overtly offensive. Using a heavier "zip gauge" will tend to attenuate the upper mids and treble response while slightly accentuating the bass ( even though it would be firmer ). As such, i don't think that your speaker cables are part of the problem.
I have no idea about your interconnects. You might try using some generic "OEM" cables that came with the gear. These "el cheapo" cables tend to sound thin and bright, which might alleviate part of the problem. Otherwise, you might even try making some interconnects using a thin gauge enameled "magnet wire" that is available from Radio Shack. Should you want to tackle something like that, post something here or give me an email and we can go into details. I know that "Gizmo" had written about this type of cable a while back in Listener.
All of these suggestions are on the "quick fix" and "low budget" type of approach. I don't think that anyone here could give you a "this will work" type of answer without being there or examining / experimenting with the system first hand. I would rather see you work towards correcting your initial problem and make the system listenable than just add more "new" variables to it. While the end result would be nicer gear that cost more money, you might still end up with the same sonic mess that your experiencing now. By working with what you have to find the "problem", you'll know what components / situation needs the most attention right off the bat. Hope this helps and the "regulars" aren't too pissed at me : ) Sean
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While many suggestions are valid in terms of building a system composed of better components and an improved listening atmosphere, none of them have approached your main problem right NOW. My guess is that you would like to get the gear that you currently have working as good as possible and then slowly build from there. If that is a correct assumption, then continue reading. Otherwise, skip this post and consider it gibberish.
At this point in time, i'm assuming that you HAVE played around quite a bit with speaker placement and your seated listening position. Other than that, here are some other comments / observations.
"Generic" cd players ARE bright and grainy. "Better" cd players are warmer and smoother. So much for fixing the "boom" problem with that suggestion.
Your room IS live. Adding more damping of ANY type will only absorb / dampen mids and highs, even if they are reflections. While this might help soundstage, imaging, etc... it will only further skew the tonal balance towards "warm mud". The only way to effectively minimize the "boom" would be via some form of "bass trap" or VERY large, VERY overstuffed furniture. Normal "acoustic treatments" and rugs do nothing below about 400 Hz or so due to the increased wavelength of low frequencies. Since this is where your main problem exists, you would be throwing your money away in terms of correcting the blasting bass.
Cabling CAN make quite a difference if you are experienced with a large quantity of cables and know what to use where. As such, i've commented on that below.
As to answering the questions that i asked of you, Thank you. It is much easier to diagnose a problem when you have the necessary info to do so. It was i that asked about your "equipment holder". As such, your set-up is quite conducive to "muddy" sound. This is especially true if the in-wall unit is located near a corner of the room. Either way, you REALLY need to do something with that situation. If at all possible, you need to get the components isolated from the shelf and other equipment. If worse comes to worse, stick the CD on top of the RX and use some ALUMINUM cones between them, point side facing the receiver lid. A small amount of sand in a FULL SIZED ZIP LOCK FREEZER bag on top of the CD player will help minimize airborne resonances. Use just enough sand to fill the bag out in a "flat" layer across the top of the CD. Nothing super thick or "lumpy", just a nice even layer. This may help "band aid" your problem, but you really do need to get some type of "audiophile approved" rack with a shelf for each component.
As to your speakers, there are several things that you could do. You did not mention if you are over a basement, i.e. you could have a suspended "bare wooden floor". If you are over a basement, the floor itself is resonating. While i can't see your Celestions "thumping" out bottom end in massive amounts, it might be just enough to cause problems. As such, slightly elevating the speakers OFF the floor can help reduce this while changing the driver to floor reflection point. This can either help or hurt ones' tonal balance, so try it and see. Moving the mid-woofer and tweeter closer to ear level will help to accentuate the mids and highs while slightly lowering bass output, so this might be a two-fold step in the right direction.
If that doesn't work, you can experiment with plugging the ports. This will play MAJOR games with the tuning of the cabinet and bass output levels. You will have to experiment with plugging one or both ports, a partial plug of one or two, etc... It is quite possible that a "resistive port" ( called a "variovent" or "aperiodic tuning" ) will work well for you. This can also affect power handling of the driver, so PAY ATTENTION to the results and don't overdue anything until you're sure that everything is working okay.
In terms of cables, your 16 gauge zip cord is not overtly offensive. Using a heavier "zip gauge" will tend to attenuate the upper mids and treble response while slightly accentuating the bass ( even though it would be firmer ). As such, i don't think that your speaker cables are part of the problem.
I have no idea about your interconnects. You might try using some generic "OEM" cables that came with the gear. These "el cheapo" cables tend to sound thin and bright, which might alleviate part of the problem. Otherwise, you might even try making some interconnects using a thin gauge enameled "magnet wire" that is available from Radio Shack. Should you want to tackle something like that, post something here or give me an email and we can go into details. I know that "Gizmo" had written about this type of cable a while back in Listener.
All of these suggestions are on the "quick fix" and "low budget" type of approach. I don't think that anyone here could give you a "this will work" type of answer without being there or examining / experimenting with the system first hand. I would rather see you work towards correcting your initial problem and make the system listenable than just add more "new" variables to it. While the end result would be nicer gear that cost more money, you might still end up with the same sonic mess that your experiencing now. By working with what you have to find the "problem", you'll know what components / situation needs the most attention right off the bat. Hope this helps and the "regulars" aren't too pissed at me : ) Sean
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