When does your set up come alive? I mean on the volume dial. For me it's around 2 oclock on the volume dial though sometimes a little less depending on the recording.
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When does your set up come alive? I mean on the volume dial. For me it's around 2 oclock on the volume dial though sometimes a little less depending on the recording.
Depending on source and recording, anywhere between 10 and 1 'o clock.
Can't remember the last time I went any further than about 10 o'clock!
10-12 o'clock.
S.
10-11 o'clock
Mines alive at any volume, but then you get that with open baffles.
Yeah, same with me (using large Tannoy DCs). I think we need to define what is meant by "come alive"... In that respect, are we saying that below the specified level the system sounds 'dead'? If so, that's not good!
And I've heard a lot of systems precisely like that, where they sound flat, lacklustre and 2-dimensional, lacking in 'presence' and dynamic impact, at low levels - and indeed only 'come alive' when the wick it turned up. Often that's the case when low-efficiency speakers are partnered with amps unable to drive them properly.
In my system (and I'm sure that of others mentioned here), the music is 'all there', at low levels, and sounds clear, well-defined and 'real'. There is no lack of 'punch' or excitement. The sound simply gets progressively louder, as the volume is increased, and with it, the collective aspects of the music.
That is precisely how it should be, in a well-sorted system, particularly ones possessing wide dynamic range and high levels of resolution. If you're not getting that, then change your system! :cool:
Marco.
Saying that one's hifi sounds right from low volumes all the way up is forgetting the equal loudness curves. Unless the designer has implemented a special Fetcher Munson Tilt control in your pre-amp then it just doesn't sound the same at low volumes as it does at loud ones because the ears response to different frequencies isn't linear.
Mine comes on song about 1 O'clock (from 12) and stays there until I'm bleeding from the ears at 6 O'clock. I could do with -10db on my DAC output to be honest. My phonostage is perfect as the gain on my power amps was selected to be exactly where I like it with the volume pot at halfway, right in the middle of its most linear operating point.
As Simon (?) above infers, it depends very much on the type/design of the volume control, the compatibility/synergy of your amp. to your speakers, the level of the input signal with reference to input sensitivity and lastly, your auditorium shape, size and furnishings.
Ergo, there cannot be a comparable factor in different people's experiences. The speakers alone, with large efficiency and load characteristics variations (as from Maggies through ESLs to high efficiency horns) would render comparisons odious, as it were, even without the other factors.