My new system is "underwhelming"...how do I improve sound?

[crisnee]

Caleb,

 

I recently communicated with Natural Sound, I live in northern NH; they're the closest dealer to me. They don't carry the MMGs. I don't think many, if any dealers do; it's why Magnepan offers the 60 day return bit. You have to do it through their website.

 

They do have the MG 12s, they go for $1200 new, I don't know if they have the minis. They said to give them a day or two notice if you want to seriously demo something.

 

-Chris

 

[Paul R]

I guess I forgot to ask, but did the OP significantly up his original $2K?

When I think about it, putting together an oh wow $2k system is pretty difficult to do, especially from different manufacturers.

 

All in all, I am thinking that a softer, somewhat less honest DAC might help there as well.

 

[bdiament]

Hi Chris,

 

**"...That is obvious, but not my point. Remember I said a huge room and I might also add an oddly configured room. Although the desk reflections will be similar, the rest of the rooms reflections will weigh much more heavily on the sound picture..."**

 

I understood your point. What I'm saying is the rest of the room reflections can do whatever they want. You say they'll "weigh much more heavily on the sound picture". I agree. But this will not in the slightest way, diminish that presence dip caused by the cancellation from the nearby desk.

 

They're all important. Yes, of course it is true that if something elsewhere in the setup is bad enough, it will likely divert attention from the desktop dip. What gets neglected becomes the primary problem.

 

Best regards,

Barry

www.soundkeeperrecordings.com

www.barrydiamentaudio.com

 

 

[PJH]

Yes absolutely

go for the Airmotives.  I suspect that with your present equipment you have entered the Speaker/Amplifier upgrade treadmill.  The endless search for better sound by replacing the amplifier and then the speakers, and then repeating.

I was on it for 20 years (5 pairs of speakers, 3 amps) until I tried true active speakers which I liked so much I bought another pair of less expensive ones for my TV.  I haven't looked at other speakers or amplifiers for years and probably never will unless they are active or planar or some form of passive crossover free design.  Not that I believe there aren't good passive speakers, it's just that for the money you can get truly excellent sound for a fraction of the cost with active speakers.

Mine are Dynaudio and I too like the sound their tweeters produce.  

 

 

[crisnee]

Hi Barry,

 

The funny or not so funny thing (apparently) re this topic was that I meant to be very slightly facetious or perhaps absurdist. It's a quirk I often entertain because in a sense I think folks take this whole audiophile topic a wee bit too seriously--me included at times. So I insert a bit of truth into a somewhat absurd scene.

 

It's pretty obvious if you imagine a huge cavernous room with just speakers on one side and a guy behind a desk working feverishly on the other, that the question of SQ wouldn't be a primary issue and the reflections off the desktop even less so. In my mind I saw it as a New Yorker cover.

 

-Chris

 

[bdiament]

Hi Chris,

 

**:...In my mind I saw it as a New Yorker cover...."**

 

Understood. ;-}

 

Best regards,

Barry

www.soundkeeperrecordings.com

www.barrydiamentaudio.com

 

 

[spdif-usb]

If the Airmotiv got more love than the MMG then to be perfectly honest I wouldn't be the slightest bit surprised. Would the designer of the TacT room correction system found in $20K Lyngdorf amps be working on a custom version of his creation exclusively for Emotiva's soon to be released XMC-1 prepro if he suspected the brand was somehow questionable? The speculation some folks have come up with is virtually as entertaining as the excellent music choices that were mentioned in between.

 

[Paul R]

Just that the build quality of their products is sometimes questionable, and that appears to be true.

 

I imagine it would be difficult to ensure top quality from gear that is made and assembled in a country where cheating is often considered good business. (shurg)

 

-Paul

 

 

[SteveChicago]

I'm not condemning all products made in China; nor am I saying that all Emotiva products are of questionable quality. What I am saying is that they have had serious problems with certain of their products, IIRC, one or more of their DACs ... about which there were various complaints. That said, they /do/ have good customer service, very competitive prices, and a strong return policy and warranty. If the OP wishes to try them out, great and if he loves their gear, even better. There's certainly nothing wrong with that.

 

[Kimo]

I won't argue with you. I certainly won't buy dog treats made there.

 

That being said, I do have a Cambridge 650c, which I sometimes use for a CD transport, and it seems to be relatively well built and laid out nicely. I purchased it to support one of my few remaining local dealers.

 

[JJinPDX]

Haven't read through the entire thread yet, so don't quite know where things stand. Just a small suggestion, and that is that I'd step up to the NAD 356Bee. You'd have plenty of power and the cost difference isn't that great. However, I must admit that the pre in this unit does sound a little harsh and the bass too full at times. Not sure if the pre has anything to do with the latter, but it's definitely more strident than I like (I obviously have one and use a different pre/pro, which I consider more to my taste).

 

That's it. Room treatments a must. Speaker placement a must. Followed by power and cabling.

 

[spdif-usb]

The only flawed product ever released by Emotiva was their UMC-1 preamp and their staff have never even once been dishonest about it. My personal experience with the XPA-2 amp has taught me the real cheating occurs with brands charging up to 5 times as much for a product that has an inferior build quality and doesn't produce better sound.

The DAC that I have was also assembled in China. No complaints about build quality here, either. Like I said, it's the only non-harsh ES9018 based DAC that I know of (except the Weiss DAC202, which sounded too analytical and non-musical to me).

I also much prefer my pair of Cantons over Magnepan 1.7s, by the way. They sound overall more balanced and neutral, more organic, fuller, with more powerful, deeper bass that's more detailed as well as more real and tighter, combined with richer, more refined dynamics, more air and a more convincing three-dimensional, both taller and wider soundstage. And please don't waste your time by giving me that stereotypical excuse that the Magnepans I listened to weren't set up properly. They were. As a matter of fact, the Cantons clearly sounded better even when they were not yet set up properly. And I mean it.

 

[Paul R]

Well, other people have other experiences and opinions. I like Emotiva, but my few experiences with them have not provided me with examples of well built gear.

 

When their stuff works correctly, they sound pretty good. When it it does not work correctly, I am left with the bill to replace expensive tweeters.

 

But your experience is different, and I am glad you are sharing it.

 

I will keep my Maggies though.

 

-Paul

 

 

[spdif-usb]

Even Mercedes Benz has built cars that tipped over. lol