What's Important To A Great System (from most to least)?

[PopPop]

Yes you are, John - and I suspect Blake will agree. Lubrication is essential for a most pleasant aural experience.

Escape to the islands, any season.

[tne]

Friday night in Shanghai. Listening to Ella sings the Duke Ellington Songbook.

And these -

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hey TNE, is there any special equipment you have to use in China to keep the smog out of your equipment?

 

 

 

I keep my windows closed and clean the AC filters regularly. My gear here is pretty minimal - Macbook Pro, Resonessence Concero HD, Adam A7X speakers, so fairly compact. See photo below (previously posted on CA in another thread) from before I moved it and put the Adams on stands.

 

 

More of a concern when the PM2.5 gets above 300 ( it was in the 400 - 500 range for a while a couple of months ago),

is keeping smog out of my biological system. That is where the scotch and baijiu play an important role...or so my theory goes.

[Mike Mcsweeney]

 

 

 

I keep my windows closed and clean the AC filters regularly. My gear here is pretty minimal - Macbook Pro, Resonessence Concero HD, Adam A7X speakers, so fairly compact. See photo below (previously posted on CA in another thread) from before I moved it and put the Adams on stands.

 

[ATTACH=CONFIG]10899[/ATTACH]

 

More of a concern when the PM2.5 gets above 300 ( it was in the 400 - 500 range for a while a couple of months ago),

is keeping smog out of my biological system. That is where the scotch and baijiu play an important role...or so my theory goes.

 

Why do you have different systems in US than CHina? Which system do you like better and why?

[InfernoSTi]

Yes you are, John - and I suspect Blake will agree. Lubrication is essential for a most pleasant aural experience.

 

I have thoughtfully tested this theory and the preliminary findings are positive. However, I feel additional research is necessary prior to finalizing my thoughts on the matter. This may take years to accomplish as it will involve testing various types and years to see if that makes a difference. Just saying...

[4est]

Agreed!

I've heard a little Naim Nait driving those Sasha's and it sounded great. It's really difficult to qualify which part of a hifi is more important than another really. Matching all the moving parts is probably the biggest challenge and usually the best place to start is the speakers I have found.

[Harpy]

I would say that the "right amp" is speaker dependent. This is a case of impedance matching or system synergy. A low ohm load on planer speakers needs a great amp that is matched to play that load. A highly efficient 100 db speaker prefers that golden first watt often found with Class A amps ranging from 1 to 15 watts of power (tube or SS).

 

+1

 

My speakers are 82db and they need a few watts. This is pretty subjective, but I've always preferred each speaker have it's own amp too.

[PopPop]

By Prima Luna is rated at 37.5 wpc with KT88 tubes in the power section, the output impedance of the preamp is 256ohms. I don't have moxy about electrical theory to evaluate this as a good match for my MG12QRs but I'm pleased with the sound and level of playback when I plug them into the 4ohm taps on the rear panel.

[pooger]

I think this is such a hard question to answer as a general priority list. The priorities could change based on overall budget (for instance, for an under $10K system I'd probably spend more on amp than speakers), the room that this is going in (I've heard very few good sounding "big systems" in rooms that weren't also truly "big"), and maybe most importantly, what an individual's priorities are. This last issue has for me always been the decision of just what compromises I'm willing to take. I've never heard a stereo that really fooled me into thinking I was in a real venue with real performers. Some certainly come close though. So—what's most important? Dynamics? Staging? Tonal accuracy? Etc.

 

As was mentioned in an earlier post, back in the LP days, it was an easier hierarchy. But it's always been a matter of careful system matching. And by system I mean the works—the room, the electrical supply, etc. I think the two systems I've heard over the past 35 years that impressed me the most both shared the same strengths and weaknesses. One was original Quads powered by a set of Futterman OTLs; the other was Lowther horns powered by 1.5 watt triode single ended amps. Both were LP based, with front ends that were in the $15K+ range. Neither had big dynamics (especially the Lowther system) but both had such a palpable coherency in presentation, one I've still not heard from a multi-driver system. All I can figure is the combination of no crossover and only a single point source. Full bore symphonies or power rock are better served by by a completely different approach. In ways, the head-fi people have it right—have a different system for each type of music. Much harder (or at least expensive and room consuming) with a speaker system.

[pooger]

+1

 

My speakers are 82db and they need a few watts. This is pretty subjective, but I've always preferred each speaker have it's own amp too.

 

Wow—in 1982 I bought DQ-10s—they were my first good speakers. You're right—they need a lot of power to drive them. But I have very fond memories of them.

[Harpy]

Wow—in 1982 I bought DQ-10s—they were my first good speakers. You're right—they need a lot of power to drive them. But I have very fond memories of them.

 

Yea, they needed a full rebuild. Stocked up on a few extra parts. Good budget DYI project.

[Jud]

Wow—in 1982 I bought DQ-10s—they were my first good speakers. You're right—they need a lot of power to drive them. But I have very fond memories of them.

 

Never bought them, but for a while back in the day, you couldn't walk into a high end audio store without hearing them hooked up to the main demo system. Fond memories indeed.

[gmgraves]

I'm trying to gauge the overall scale of things important in my audio world compared to what others think is important. I thought a "first, big things, first" thread would help illustrate this. For me it is something along these lines:

 

1. Speakers (including location)

2. Room Treatment (absorption and diffusion)

3. (tie) Amp/Pre Amp

3. (tie) DAC

5. Server

6. Clean Power/Electrical

7. File Resolution/File Format

8. Player Software/Audio Optimizing

9. Amp Electronic Tweaks (better capacitors, tubes, etc)

10. Speaker Cords/USB and RCA Cables/Power Cords

11. Isolation/Dampening Tweaks

 

I'm sure I'm forgetting something important but this is pretty much my order.

 

The top two items are where the sound is produced and heard. The tie for third is where the sound goes analog and is amplified. The next two are about reducing source (and other) noise. The next two are about the playing of the files themselves. The final three are about tweaks and slight adjustments.

 

Please post your thoughts and any rational you might have developed? I'd love to understand both the what and the why.

 

Best,

John

 

 

To me, it's speakers, first, then the room. And unless you have the proper tools, or hire someone to do a proper analysis of the listening room, I find that there is little you can do that will effectively improve your room very much. The haphazard application of room treatments, without knowing what kind of treatment to use and where to place it, can just as easily ruin a room as improve it. Luckily I have an excellent room and my amp comes with a microphone and built-in firmware that ostensibly alters the amp/speaker's frequency response to solve room problems. I didn't notice much difference after running the program (the amp lets you switch the setup in and out after the program has made the adjustments), but what I did notice was that the program did a better job of integrating my sub-woofers and my Martin-Logan Vistas together than I had ever been able to do by ear - even when using an audio generator and a spectrum analyzer program on a laptop!

 

After speakers and room, the amplifier is, in my opinion, the most important component. When I say amplifier, I'm referring to either an integrated a receiver, or a separate power amp/pre-amp. Whatever you buy, listen to it at length before putting your money down. Next come the music sources. While most CD players will make decent enough sound, excellent players are worth the money. One needs to be picky with regard to things like SACD, DVD-A players, DACs, turntables, cartridges, tape decks (digital and analog, etc.). If you have those four things to your liking, then the rest is relatively trivial, and depending upon your belief system, even unimportant. But even if you do believe strongly in the role played by interconnects, speaker cables, line cords, power conditioners, cable lifts, myrtle wood blocks, treated clocks and the like, their contribution to the overall sound of your system will be, at the least, imaginary, and at best, tertiary effects.

[InfernoSTi]

And unless you have the proper tools, or hire someone to do a proper analysis of the listening room, I find that there is little you can do that will effectively improve your room very much. The haphazard application of room treatments, without knowing what kind of treatment to use and where to place it, can just as easily ruin a room as improve it.

 

I have found the exact opposite results. In a "small" room, there are always massive bass modes under 500 Hz and the solution of bass traps in the corners is always the first, easy solution. And that improves the entire sound…it really makes a big difference in the musical presentation to tame the massive mode issues down to plus/minus 10 dB from 20 or whatever. Also the RT-60 is improved at the same time below 500 Hz and that makes things better right away, too. Kind of like a big truck that is idling outside your listening room turns it's engine off.

 

Thank you for your comments…I think we are generally in agreement!

 

Best,

John