Questions about Resolving Systems

Good, better, best.

Good- a stereo that blends into the room decor and has a good tonal range.  It might even have some strong bass and clarity in the midrange.  Good for dancing, background listening and parties.

Better- a stereo that is incorporated into the room decor.  It stands out in the room but still blends in and often times makes a statement as both tech and art.  It makes some friends just a little envious but most will admire it and be impressed with its performance.  Good for tuning out the world and just listening to the music.  Certainly engaging and fun.

Best- a stereo in a purpose designed/built room.  The stereo is the main object in the room.  The room electrical and acoustics are dedicated to optimum sound.  Large, room filling components and speakers that completely overtake the room offering limited seating for others.  Creates an immersive sound stage with totally engaging music.  Perfect for critical listening and tuning out the world for a few hours.  Escape comparable to a good movie.  Friends and family are no longer jealous, they are concerned.

@cdc - RE: "Okay, I gotta ask what is it???"

Its a yamaha integrated rado/CD/usb/amp unit with seperate speakers

I upgraded the speaker cables and it resolved all of the distortions and improved bass perofrmance coming out of the silly little speakers

I updated the power cable and it again improved the bass depth and accuracy and in the upper frequencies it improved clarity and details, at the same time improved the imaging

I have also upgraded the power cables in all of my Bluesound components with amazing success.

I actually took one of my power cables to the audio store when I bought the bluesound remote speaker and the guy there was amazed at the improvements in sound quality from just a power cables.

• I later returned with power, speaker and interconnects and two guys at the store spent the better part of an hour swapping amps and speakers - totally amazed at the transformation

Even my Bluesound Soundbar improved its imaging significantly with just an upgraded power cable.

Unfortunately, all of my cables are an advanced DIY design, which I readily share with others via the links in my first post of this thread, but I do not make them for others.

At no time were magic mushrooms part of the equation 😁

Regards - Steve

@lanx0003 - there is no Phase issue with the helix cables

1. due to it’s longer neutral conductor because the neutral is a thicker gauge, which balances the resistance of both neutral and signal conductors to the same level (approximately)

However - If you are of a belief that that the "negative Polarity signal" only travels down the negative conductor you are mistaken

• both +ve cycle and -ve cycle parts of the signal travel ONLY down the signal wire - this can easily be seen using an osciliscope
• the neutral wire is just that - NEUTRAL - , because it is connected to the neutral sides of the connected components, which in both components should be at ZERO volts.
• There is no phase implication between the signal and neutral conductors in any cable

The phase implications that impact sound quality and imaging is between the signal conductors in the cables that convey left and right channels. any phase difference between the L and R channel will alter the image dramatically

• a pair of Helix interconnct or speaker cables will maintain phase accuracy providing a stunning image

Hope that clarifies things - Steve

@hilde45 

Thanks for the links. The uncanny is an interesting topic. The term gets applied to CGI graphics, which can be simultaneously impressive and disappointing. I'll admit I didn't see the connection to my post at first, but the idea that something is so right in some ways but so wrong in others I think is on point. CGI graphics come to mind because they allow portrayals of people and animals that can do thing that no Muppet could ever do, and yet they don't move quite right and so it's really weird - really bad sometimes. I'll take the Muppet because it fails more broadly and evenly and better allows me to suspend my disbelief. The ways it does move are perfectly in alignment with real physics and real human motion of the Muppeteer. 

@asctim

I love the example of the muppets because they align with something Steve Guttenberg likes to say — namely, "abandon the quest for perfect realism," or words to that effect. What we want is something that pleases us. We might call that "comfortably real."

Your post made me consider that there are lots of ways a system can be comfortably real, and that involves (as you put it) "alignment with real physics and real human motion." Another way of describing such alignment is "natural" or, more humbly, "the way I move, too."

Your post also made me consider that there are things a system does in obvious and overt ways which also create other non-focal aspects. We could call these the "fringe" or background that makes us feel at home. None of this is unusual for an interior decorator, who understands that colors and placement of objects — however much we’d call them environment or background — are critical to making a house feel like a home.

What we may be making explicit, here with audio, is that same kind of thing. Music that makes us feel "at home."