2. misc-audio
  3. 1042513548

Where's the rest of the music???

I have a problem with my system and I'm hoping someone can provide me with some ideas. I have a modest system (outlined below) and I listen to a lot of jazz and some HT. The HT sounds fine but I'm having problems with 2 channel. Almost everything I listen to sounds very vocal heavy. The vocals shine but the accompaniment is very faint, especially the low end. Overall I don't think that my system is as full sounding as it should be (most things sound better through my cheap headphones).

I would say that the only thing I've found that I'm happy with is the new Diana Krall "Live in Paris" DVD. This sounds excellent on my system but if I listen to it straight through headphones it is extremely bass heavy.

Lately I've upgraded my cables and my amp, which has provided some improvement. I also have a REL Strata III on the way which I'm hoping will fill it out a little more. Any other advice would be appreciated.


Here's my current setup after upgrades:

Speakers: B&W CDM-1s
CD: Yamaha CDC-765
Pre: Yamaha V992 (not using amp portion)
Amp: B&K AV5000
Cables: Signal Cable IC and biwire speaker cable

Thanks,
warehouse

Showing 3 responses by sugarbrie

sugarbrie
3,854 posts
 
I agree it could possibly be the preamp section of the Yamaha. The best preamp section for music in an HT receiver would be one that has the ability to bypass most everthing but the volume control.

It might be too much trouble, but if this is the problem, a possibly cheap solution would be to pick up something like a passive Creek OBH-10 or OBH-12 and use it to listen to music, and then manually switch the cables back to the Yamaha for playing movies.
sugarbrie
3,854 posts
 
It is definitely not the speakers. Other than the tweeks you are trying, I vote for the source CD player and the amplifier. I've run CDM-1's with amplifiers costing well over $2000 and they sounded great.

If you want to upgrade at some point, I would start with the amplifier, then the CD player.
sugarbrie
3,854 posts
 
Tweeking is what makes this hobby fun. I still use my original model CDM-1 in my smaller home office system. I was using some 16 inch B&W stands there. I later came accross some used 22 inch stands. Just raising the speakers 6 inches in the same location made a huge difference.
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