? How does this apply to my pre amp possibly being the weakest link? Are you saying that it only sounds mediocre after one year of ownership, but after ten years of ownership, it starts sounding really good? |
Lol Jmcgrogan, I know I move too fast alot of the time, but I don't know that I'll ever enjoy that song.
Thanks Mapman! I think I'm going to try some powercords first and I will try a power conditioner for everything except my amp also. |
I will try to get my buddy, Steve (who I bought the kefs from) , to bring over a couple of pieces of equipment. He was on the next level, compared to me and my system (5 yrs of obsessing vs. 9 months). He really has had numerous power cords, conditioners, cables, everything. We talked a long time about synergy within a system. He was using really cheap pressed board from a hardware store to tame some flutter echo so I don't think that was the difference. I'm more picky about speaker placement than he is. My system just sounds like the mids are predominant. These same speakers on his rig sounded so smooth, transparent and perfectly eq'd, for a lack or better description. It did look like he had some sort of power conditioning going on also. He was a tweaker in that he is on the level of opening his pre amp up and soldering in better caps, op's (whatever those are) and a bunch of other stuff that went over my head. He had also put dynamat on the insides of some components and built shields around the power supplies. I'm not talking about his system imaging better, which it did, but more the overall sound (tone?) of his system. Again, my paradigm, vanies and now these kef's are just too pronouned through the mids and I can't figure out what's going on here. I guess I should add some powercords and room acoustics because those will help ang gear, and then try his pre amp as I'm suspecting that's where I could gain an improvement. |
Ps, Chuck, Bro, I know now that I am flying blind. I thought that the sound that I didn't like was because of my speakers. You hear from some people that speakers make the biggest difference in sound; I didn't believe that so much before but now I'm certain of it. Dealers around me don't know nearly as much as you guys; they're just there to sell equipment, and I do have some "hi-end" dealers around me. Ahhhh, going crazy here. I know the sound I'm after, i just can't seem to get there. |
Ps, again, Jmcgrogan, what pre amp would you recommend? I can probably try my buddies to see if that's partly responsible. I've read reviews stating that the classe ssp 25 isn't that great for a 2 ch. pre. |
You all rock!! Thank you to everyone trying to help me out here. I suspect it's a combination of things: pre amp, room treatments and power cords. I think pre amp because the difference in sound is noticeable even at very low volumes. I played with speaker placement /listening seat placement snd overcame the bass issue but there are still many things off. I'm assuming pre amp and room treatments are going to get me 90% there.
I must say that I really, really appreciate all the help everyone has givin me, and so quickly, today and yesterday. Thank you, thank you thank you :-) |
Do you guys think a peachtree decco would be a big upgrade over the ssp25 in terms of a pre amp? |
First off, scratch that decco idea; not what I'm looking for.
Hey Mezmo! Thanks for the reply. It's hard to explain what it is that I'm looking for in terms of sound because I'm relatively new to all this audio stuff. Basically, sometimes my set-up just has what I would describe as a pronounced midrange; it seems like I lose bass response and the extension, air and detail in the highs. My buddies system, who I mention above, just sounded so clean(?) and airy(?). The music seemed to flow so effortlessly.
I think I'm going to grab 4 gik 244 panels and experiment with those set up behind my speakers and at side first reflection points. I'll see if I can get some sort of decent pre amp on loan from somewhere and I'm thinking about grabing four pangea power cords (3 ac14se, 1 ac9). The reason why I'd go with pangea is because I can grab all four for like $340 from audioadvisor and I guess if I don't like them, I can return them; I dunno.
One thing that I should add though is that my stereo has always sounded quite a bit better to me late at night. The house I live in was probably built in the early 90's so it's not like it's super old. I don't know if it really is sounding alot better, or if its my mind set and lower ambient noise or if it's actually because I'm getting cleaner power, or a combination of all three of those things.
My room is only 12x13 and there isn't much in here so I had terrible slap echo so I grabbed a thick queensize mattress out of the guest bedroom, propped it against my back wall and threw a thick blanket on it. I've also got four sliding closet doors that I know have to hurt bass response at high volumes.
As for the vandersteens, they just weren'f for me. Compared to my paradigms and these kef's, they sounded slow (to me) and not nearly as detailed. I listen to all kinds of music and especially like percussive sounds; the vandies didn't cut it for me for drums. The vandies did sound crazy good for listening to house / electronic music though (so much so that it is going to be hard to part with them just for that reason). I like more of a pin point image also, and the vandies seemed a little diffused. They're a little on the big and ugly (to some) side, and I know it would only be a matter of time before my cat or girlfriends cat started using them as scratching posts. |
So, just to update the thread, I have since picked up 4 gik 244 panels placed on the sides and behind my speakers; big difference for me. Less "beaming" and reduced some "brightness (?)". First thing I noticed was a more focused image and that I turned it up 5db louder on my pre amp because it sounded quiter. This allowed me to see deeper into the music and pick up on micro details easier, as the volume was higher. Second step was getting a lightspeed attenuator which brought out more detail and lifted the "veil" off my speakers, so to speak, along with improving many other aspects. Step three was upgrading the power supply for my wadia 170i which is the source that I use 90% of the time. I also played with speaker placement. I must say that these three tweaks resulted in a much improved sound which is very close to what I was after. Next up is possibly a quintet power conditioner and a couple of pangea power cords, but I must say that I am finally happy with the sound that I have :-) . At least for now... |
