You should try room treatments. Your equipment is great. Treating your room is also important.
Realism in instruments how to achieve it?
Hi all,
Based on the recommendations of this forum I added a BAT VK3i Preamp to my system a few months ago and it lifted my whole system, before that I was going from SMSL RAW MDA1 DAC directly to Apollon Purifi Amp, now the BAT is in between and it gave me that warmth and analog sound I was looking for. Frank Sinatra, Elvis, Nat King Cole all sound real and "In the Room" feeling. On the analog side which I don't use as often I added a Lector tube phono preamp and it made a massive impact more than on the digital side. The thing I noticed on the digital side is that voices mainly sound so real more than instruments which have body and textures but not yet reaches that realism I feel from hearing voices mainly and when I play a record instruments are just more live and real. Guitars specifically sound much better with the BAT preamp in the signal but other instruments like in classical symphonies are not quite there yet.
Is it the speakers that gives that realism to instruments?
I cycle between Totem Arro and Sonus Faber Grand Piano Home speakers. Also, have a JBL 530 in storage but needs a speaker stand.
Two upgrade path I thought of: Push pull power tube amp or a single ended amp. The issue that my setup is in a modest bedroom and heat is a concern. Another thing I thought to add is a R2R DAC with a tube buffer like the upcoming Fiio Warmer Dac.
Another upgrade I considered is going for British bookshelf speakers like Spendor, Harbeth, Graham Audio.
What do you think is that realism in instruments can be achieved more with speakers or with a tube amp in the chain? should I just be pleased with what I have and ignore upgrades for now?
Thanks and sorry for the long post.
- ...
- 50 posts total
I listen for the "musicianship" and the "composition". These, are the essence of listening to music for me, and have been for over 60 years. Trying to capture the tone of instruments, the localization of the instruments and the recreation of a stage, is all well and good (my system does these things well), but convincingly portrays musicians "playing", for me. A "recorded" violin, ime, can never duplicate the essence of a violin being played live. I agree with some of the posters above, that hearing music played live, unamplified, is a learning experience for sure, and an enjoyable one, in most cases. I am not a negative person, but a realist. I wish you luck in your pursuit of audio nirvana. My best, MrD. |
I, too, think that achieving some level of realistic sound begins with speakers. For one thing, they are a fairly "subjective" item in the chain, with different speakers having different tonal qualities. Probably next would be the preamplifier; I went from a Rogue RP-1 to an RP-7, and there was a marked change/improvement in the quality of of the music reproduction. Power amplifiers boost the signal to power the speakers, and I would think they would be less finluentional; HOWEVER, when I had a tube power amp with my tube preamp, I felt I had lost sound quality, even though both were well-respected units. Switching back to solid state power amplifiers greatly improved sound reproduction quality, so the type of amplifier--and of course the quality of the build and components therein--do make a difference. All of this assumes quality source material. So, in my own experience, speakers, preamplifier, and then amplifier choices are the order of importance. |
@howardlee Good comment. Not sure what that sarcastic response is about...? |
I own Pure Audio Project Quintet 10's with Heil tweeters powered by AR tube pre & 150wpc tube amp.Upgraded X-over caps & resistors. All Kubala-Sosna Emotion cables.LAiV Harmony DAC. Instruments & vocals sound real depending upon quality of recording/source. Definitely check out their new scaled-down model with Heil. |
- 50 posts total