Warm sounding Power amp

[wee tee cee]

Any members near you that could pop across with wires boxes to let you try before you buy?

Arcam stuff is really good, dont leap before you have looked!

[Rob Tube]

Hi Tony, that is very good advice, I am just looking for options, I was very surprised the first time when I bought the chord speaker cable what a difference it made in the sound, Chris ordered the van Damme cable when he has that installed I will hop around, I have seen some reviews that say it makes the speakers sound warmer. It is not that I am desperate to change my equipment, but I am always looking to update my system, then I say this is it no more changes, and after a while you start hearing little thing and then you start thinking again what you can change to improve the system, it is a never-ending story, but I think that is the fun of it. I think when someone says here is 30000 buy a system that is ready to go it wouldn't be as much fun as doing a little tweak at a time. Don't get me wrong if I would be in the position to spend that much on a system I probably would but unfortunately there are sometimes more important things in life.

[Primalsea]

How close are your speakers to the walls? As you have small bookshelf speakers they will need to be close to the back wall to reinforce the bass, overwise they could sound a little light. There might be a few things you could do with placement first before you buy anything.

[Rob Tube]

Hi Paul they are floor standing speakers and they are about 20 cm from the wall

[Primalsea]

Hi Paul they are floor standing speakers and they are about 20 cm from the wall

Have I missed something? In the first post you said that you have the 2030s. I googled these and they came up as bookshelf speakers.

[agk]

2050 maybe?

[walpurgis]

I'm thinking that if two systems using same model speakers are producing a similar sound that you describe as "missing some oomph", it might be that trying different speakers could help. I note that the 2030's are quoted as having a 64Hz low end cut off, which means they are likely rolling off well above that. This may account for the perceived lack of 'wellie'.

[Edward]

Rob, judging from a post that your friend Chris made your speakers are the Q Acoustics 3050 which are floor standers.

I would definitely recommend you try out different things in your system to see what differences stuff makes. Try to find AoS members near you who are willing. Pity you are not near me as I have various things you could try (cables, pres, amps, speakers etc). Also try shops like Richer Audio and see if they will do a home loan. Many shops do. Chord I believe have a loan system for their cables. Try out one thing at a time.

Couple of quick questions. What are the music files you are streaming to your DAC? Make sure they are lossless. Also have you tried tweaking your speaker placement. You may be surprised how much difference small movements can make - but a lot depends on your room acoustics.

HiFi is a journey not a destination.

[Rob Tube]

Sorry guys, must have been a typo, they are the 3050’s and I stream flacs and lossles apple files. Some 24 bits some 16 bits. Unfortunately i am bound to the living room that I have to share with teo teenagers and two huskies, so not ideal, as I do shiftwork it gives me some time during the week to have a lsten in piece.

[swampy]

Have you considered tube rolling ?

Also most tube gear from china tend to use basic coupling caps of the smallest value they can get away with such as wima mk. Sometimes changing these for a better quality one and slightly larger value can increase the bottom end extension.

I do find it amusing that we 'tone control' by changing cables and parts these days when we used to have tone controls on the amp. Music studios and the pro audio sector never got rid of their EQ tools like the hifi industry

I like the tone controls on my yamaha AS-1000.