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The vicissitudes of listening to classical music

Hello,

I'm a novice. I recently purchased a decco int. amp and usb/dac and era d5's. I am using a Mac mini. I've been using this set-up for two weeks. The sound is starting to become more dynamic. This is on the desktop, nearfield listening to cd's, internet radio and rips.

My problem is that when I listen to symphonic music everything is garbled during heavy orchestration. Solo piano, guitar, string quartets sound good except strings in the high register can be grating. Also, I find myself listening to a softer passage at a nice volume and when the brass and strings and percussion kick in I must always turn down. Opera is a problem as well.

I wish the mids were warmer, too.

Since there are area contraints on the desktop I thought a hifi integrated amp might suit my needs. More power to even out the louder passages and tame the high end. The decco is 50wpc. I would like to pay maye $1500- for the amp. I would buy another usb/dac.

I think the speakers are fine. I don't want anything bigger on the desk, anyway.

I'm in a small room approx. 12'x14'. I purchased the d5's hoping the bass at lower listening levels would work. The room is somewhat open on one side. I usually listen at moderate volume levels.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks,

jj
128x128jackiejr

Showing 2 responses by audphile1

audphile1's avatar
audphile1
4,154 posts
 
Cayin tube integrated amps are pretty good and should be within your price range. I would start with a tube integrated and may be change the dac later on.
Also, is there a wall behind the speakers? If so, experiment with a piece of dense fabric(something like a throw or a blanket) hung on the wall behind the speakers. This may minimize the midrange fatigue. If it works, you will need to think about what you will use as a permanent solution.
audphile1's avatar
audphile1
4,154 posts
 
check this out for solution:

1)get a Squeezebox SB3(if you have a router). You can even use it wired with ethernet cable.

2) Sell your Drecco integrated and get a standalone, dedicated 2-ch amplifier, such as McCormack DNA-1 Deluxe, McCormack DNA-0.5 Delux(cheaper) or even one of the old Pass Labs pure Class A amps. You should be able to pick any of these up at under $1k.

3) Keep your speakers for now.

You will have to rip music to your hard drive(if it has not enough capacity, get an external USB drive...they're cheap, plus you can use losless format to rip because you will have more space to utilize on your disk drive).

What you will have with this system is a very good, smooth sounding amplifier that will properly drive your speakers and won't compress the dynamics and soundstage, awesome internet radio, digital music off your hard drive, volume controlled by squeezebox with remote. All this should total to what you wanted to spend on the integrated alone or even less. The dedicated 2-ch amp can be stored under your desk or wherever you want, you will run a pair of RCA interconnects from SB3 to amp(something like bluejeanscable.com RCAs should be more than enough) and speker cables to your monitors.

if I were you, this is how I would set up my desktop system.
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