Volume Control

Thanks everyone for the responses. Indeed cables do play part in how the system sounds and mix and match mandatory. I have tried many many AQ i/c and some other Cardas cables until the GX is put in. I shall spend more time to listen and enjoying the music more so.

Hifiman5 interestingly it is a vinyl system. Golden Cross is used between the phono pre and the main amplifier. The last chain in the system is a pair of Omega Super 3 XRS with a sub augmenting the lowest frequency range below approximately 80hz.

That is interesting as the Golden Cross is used by many audiophiles to tame the upper midrange and treble of digital sources that are all too often "hot" in those areas.

It's not only on digital sources that the treble and upper midrange are too frequently "hot" or too bright, it's also on a good number of non digital components as well. In fact at times it seems pervasive. Several of my audiophile friends, including two who have been in the electronics business for many years, recently attended a big audio components show. I couldn't partake, but when I asked them about what they had heard, their main reply was that I "didn't miss much". In the large majority of rooms they reported the kind of sound that was annoyingly bright. In some instances when they questioned this they invariably received the reply that it was "the fault of the rooms". But this sort of chant is nothing new, and seems to have become the proverbial "broken record".

Agreed Opus88!

All it really takes IMHO is listening to live unamplified music to hear that sort of brightness is not what one hears from real instuments! As my daughter is a college music major I am treated to frequent live musical performance that "calibrate" my ears to the "real thing".

And I couldn't agree with you more, Hifiman. I also attend live orchestral concerts fairly regularly, and do not hear the kind of crystal clear neutrality, squeaky cleanness and treble prominence that is fairly frequently projected by stereo equipment, including a good portion of which costs tens of thousands of dollars. We all enjoy our own preferred, reproduced illusions in the comfort of our homes. Some of them may come closer to approximating reality than others, but there's obviously something unique about unamplified music, and it's easy (and often uplifting) to notice this when we hear the sound of the violin or piano live. As you say, our re-calibration kicks in. Indeed, the warmth and natural, often easy tonality of the violin is rarely approached by electronics. Instead, we are often "treated" to a wiry, acidic and somewhat unfulfilling representation that belies the sort of relaxed enjoyment which accompanies the genuine event. Nonetheless, fortunate are those who, often after a long and sometimes expensive electronics journey, have been able to reap the rewards of their hard won audio nirvana.