Stu @ M Developments
23-08-2012, 10:31
Hi folks,
There have been a lot of changes to my system lately as I recently got the bug again, largely thanks to reading this and the Cyrus forum, and it not only taught me a few things, but also cost me a lot of money... I will try to elaborate.
My main components are as follows:
Cyrus CD 8 SE & PSXR
Cyrus 8 XP & PSXR
Mark Grant G1000HD Interconnects
Mark Grant DSP2.5 cables powering all the above.
Takima Mains & RF Filter
Monitor Audio Silver RX-8 loudspeakers
Chord Company Rumour 2 Bi-Wired with IXOS banana Plugs
Logitech squeezebox Duet
ARCAM r-Dac DA Convertor
Mark Grant G1000HD Coax
My problem with this system, whilst I do enjoy it, is best described as a bright, quite tiring high end, and a loose low end, lacking in real bass impact. So, onto the changes over the last few couple of weeks.
Speaker Positioning.
With a prompt from you guys I brought my speakers forward another 12" and inwards another 6". This didn't immediately give improvements, but I decided to try them here without the bung fitted, as before it was quite boomy and the bungs fixed it. Result. More bass again. The system is now actually sounding quite powerful low down. Very impressed. I think the bungs were needed before due to the funny two angles right behind my speaker rear ports, but this position change has allowed me to remove them and let those 2 bass drivers do their jobs as designed. Interesting really, as Monitor suggest the precise opposite in their manual... go figure. :)
Takima mains filter.
I read with interest on here quite early on, that the Takima mains filter can strangle amplifiers, this was interesting news to me, so I removed it. What a surprise, no big change at the top end, but the bass was without a doubt significantly sharper. It may have sounded a little more detailed in the mid-range, but my listening buddy disagreed, although he agrees undoubtedly that the bottom end was now far better, with what we think is more power and clarity. Maybe those cheap mains filters struggle to supply current as quickly as an amplifier needs it?
Next up - Upgrade the SB Duet to the SB Touch.
This was done almost purely to allow me access to the 24/192 files as not only did they not play, they also crashed the duet completely, requiring a power cycle which was really annoying when you played one by accident. Now interestingly, whilst its undoubtedly a better unit anyway, to my ears it also sounds better and quite significantly so. That seems odd as I am using an off-board DAC, but me and Mr X both agree it sounds far more detailed that the Duet in the mid-range and higher frequencies, however, I did install the EDO firmware upgrade right away so maybe its the firmware changes we are hearing. Maybe one day I will change it back, but for now its a definite improvement no matter what caused it, so lets move on...
Speaker cable - perhaps my biggest surprise of all.
The system has been Bi-wired, from new, with chord company rumour 2 as advised by my supplying dealer at time of purchase / demo. I read almost everywhere nowadays that this cable sounds very bright, just what I don't want, so I dug out some old Monster cable from the loft and ran that in its place, but this time putting the bridge links in so I only used one run of cable per side. The difference was immediate, and very very obvious. The bass was tighter, the midrange has more space and soundstage and the horrible top end I had always hated was gone! I couldnt believe my ears, so after listening to a few tracks, I swopped back. But it now sounded almost the same. Not as good, and brighter certainly, but not as bad as it was.
Confused, I went for some tea and had the wife listen with me afterwards, and she agreed, the Monster certainly sounded better, but somehow the Chord didn't sound as bad as it used to either. Why? Could it be the bridges? That was all that had changed, so I reverted back to Bi-Wired Chord... crunch, the top end harshness was back! It was the fact it was BI-WIRED!! All that extra cable and money to achieve a year of nasty top end. Very annoying! So, back on the monster and enjoying it for a few days and my appetite for speaker cables has been ignited, so it was time to try something a little more serious.
On with the Tellurium Q Black + Jumpers.
This stuff has pretty good reviews, specifically from Cyrus users, and as with all the stuff from MCRU, it comes with a 30day no quibble try before you buy guarantee so I thought "What the hell" lets give it a go. Well, I am amazed, literally, as is my missus, and my technically inept and strongly snake oil hating mate. The sound stage sounds about 2ft wider, and even taller as well if that is even possible, its almost like the speakers are no longer there and the instruments seem to have a clarity to them I have never heard before, and to quote my mate when listening to one of his favorite Dire Straits tracks "Is this a different version? I am sure I have never clearly heard those triangles behind his voice before?"
I have always been a bit of a disbeliever in speaker cables and believed that as long as the cable would carry sufficient current during transients, it would do the job. And I have told people that too. Well, now I need to eat my words as I was wrong. I don't know if your reading this David, but if so, bill my card mate, these cables wont be coming back to your house anytime soon... 30 days trial appreciated but not needed. LOL :)
Finally, MCRU Linear Power Supplies:
I got round to testing out my new Linear PSU's from MCRU on the SB Touch and Arcam r-DAC. They were both supplied with Davids No:14 mains cable.
The difference was interesting, Now I must admit that I simply couldn't be bothered to fit them one at a time, so fitted them both at once and the results are quite clear. The noise floor from FLACS, specifically 24bit versions, has been lowered. Gone is the slight hiss from the low end of my Dire Straits SACD and the soundstage seems to be a little more open and clear. It all just somehow sounds much nicer. An expensive upgrade, but I do believe it is worthwhile and will be keeping these.
A few images of the system and room as it was last night.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/0603/stu@mdevelopments/HiFi/MyPhoto-1.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/0603/stu@mdevelopments/HiFi/MyPhoto-2.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/0603/stu@mdevelopments/HiFi/MyPhoto-3.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/0603/stu@mdevelopments/HiFi/MyPhoto-9.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/0603/stu@mdevelopments/HiFi/MyPhoto-5.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/0603/stu@mdevelopments/HiFi/MyPhoto-13.jpg
So, there you have it, a lot of stuff changed over the last 2 weeks, which of course is not ideal but nothing was changed without at least 2 hours listening to very familiar music, which included Dire Straits, Mark Knopfler, Dido, Shelby Lynne, Leonard Cohen, Fleetwood Mac & Stevie Ray Vaughn and the three of us made notes on what we believed the differences were to try our best to at least avoid the placebo effect as best as possible as in all cases neither my missus or mate new what components they were listening to after the initial change.
My next upgrade is likely to be the Mark Grant Interconnects upgrade as I was immensely happy with the G1000HD's after swopping the Cyrus provided versions for them, so am keen to try the upgraded versions of this cable with better connectors. I am just chatting to him about availability by E-Mail, so hopefully can trial those next week... watch this space. :)
So what have I learnt?
Cheap mains filters may well be very bad for amplifiers (May one day try it on source only however) Bi-Wiring can be a bad thing, especially on single amplifiers, SM PSU's aren't a good thing where sound sources are concerned, Tellurium Q is incredible, even if its genetic make up is a secret and Mark Grant @ www.Mark Grant Cables (http://www.markgrantcables.co.uk), and David @ Mains cables R Us (http://www.mains-cables-r-us.co.uk) are great companies to deal with and genuinely believe in what they sell with a money where their mouth is money back guarantee. :)
There have been a lot of changes to my system lately as I recently got the bug again, largely thanks to reading this and the Cyrus forum, and it not only taught me a few things, but also cost me a lot of money... I will try to elaborate.
My main components are as follows:
Cyrus CD 8 SE & PSXR
Cyrus 8 XP & PSXR
Mark Grant G1000HD Interconnects
Mark Grant DSP2.5 cables powering all the above.
Takima Mains & RF Filter
Monitor Audio Silver RX-8 loudspeakers
Chord Company Rumour 2 Bi-Wired with IXOS banana Plugs
Logitech squeezebox Duet
ARCAM r-Dac DA Convertor
Mark Grant G1000HD Coax
My problem with this system, whilst I do enjoy it, is best described as a bright, quite tiring high end, and a loose low end, lacking in real bass impact. So, onto the changes over the last few couple of weeks.
Speaker Positioning.
With a prompt from you guys I brought my speakers forward another 12" and inwards another 6". This didn't immediately give improvements, but I decided to try them here without the bung fitted, as before it was quite boomy and the bungs fixed it. Result. More bass again. The system is now actually sounding quite powerful low down. Very impressed. I think the bungs were needed before due to the funny two angles right behind my speaker rear ports, but this position change has allowed me to remove them and let those 2 bass drivers do their jobs as designed. Interesting really, as Monitor suggest the precise opposite in their manual... go figure. :)
Takima mains filter.
I read with interest on here quite early on, that the Takima mains filter can strangle amplifiers, this was interesting news to me, so I removed it. What a surprise, no big change at the top end, but the bass was without a doubt significantly sharper. It may have sounded a little more detailed in the mid-range, but my listening buddy disagreed, although he agrees undoubtedly that the bottom end was now far better, with what we think is more power and clarity. Maybe those cheap mains filters struggle to supply current as quickly as an amplifier needs it?
Next up - Upgrade the SB Duet to the SB Touch.
This was done almost purely to allow me access to the 24/192 files as not only did they not play, they also crashed the duet completely, requiring a power cycle which was really annoying when you played one by accident. Now interestingly, whilst its undoubtedly a better unit anyway, to my ears it also sounds better and quite significantly so. That seems odd as I am using an off-board DAC, but me and Mr X both agree it sounds far more detailed that the Duet in the mid-range and higher frequencies, however, I did install the EDO firmware upgrade right away so maybe its the firmware changes we are hearing. Maybe one day I will change it back, but for now its a definite improvement no matter what caused it, so lets move on...
Speaker cable - perhaps my biggest surprise of all.
The system has been Bi-wired, from new, with chord company rumour 2 as advised by my supplying dealer at time of purchase / demo. I read almost everywhere nowadays that this cable sounds very bright, just what I don't want, so I dug out some old Monster cable from the loft and ran that in its place, but this time putting the bridge links in so I only used one run of cable per side. The difference was immediate, and very very obvious. The bass was tighter, the midrange has more space and soundstage and the horrible top end I had always hated was gone! I couldnt believe my ears, so after listening to a few tracks, I swopped back. But it now sounded almost the same. Not as good, and brighter certainly, but not as bad as it was.
Confused, I went for some tea and had the wife listen with me afterwards, and she agreed, the Monster certainly sounded better, but somehow the Chord didn't sound as bad as it used to either. Why? Could it be the bridges? That was all that had changed, so I reverted back to Bi-Wired Chord... crunch, the top end harshness was back! It was the fact it was BI-WIRED!! All that extra cable and money to achieve a year of nasty top end. Very annoying! So, back on the monster and enjoying it for a few days and my appetite for speaker cables has been ignited, so it was time to try something a little more serious.
On with the Tellurium Q Black + Jumpers.
This stuff has pretty good reviews, specifically from Cyrus users, and as with all the stuff from MCRU, it comes with a 30day no quibble try before you buy guarantee so I thought "What the hell" lets give it a go. Well, I am amazed, literally, as is my missus, and my technically inept and strongly snake oil hating mate. The sound stage sounds about 2ft wider, and even taller as well if that is even possible, its almost like the speakers are no longer there and the instruments seem to have a clarity to them I have never heard before, and to quote my mate when listening to one of his favorite Dire Straits tracks "Is this a different version? I am sure I have never clearly heard those triangles behind his voice before?"
I have always been a bit of a disbeliever in speaker cables and believed that as long as the cable would carry sufficient current during transients, it would do the job. And I have told people that too. Well, now I need to eat my words as I was wrong. I don't know if your reading this David, but if so, bill my card mate, these cables wont be coming back to your house anytime soon... 30 days trial appreciated but not needed. LOL :)
Finally, MCRU Linear Power Supplies:
I got round to testing out my new Linear PSU's from MCRU on the SB Touch and Arcam r-DAC. They were both supplied with Davids No:14 mains cable.
The difference was interesting, Now I must admit that I simply couldn't be bothered to fit them one at a time, so fitted them both at once and the results are quite clear. The noise floor from FLACS, specifically 24bit versions, has been lowered. Gone is the slight hiss from the low end of my Dire Straits SACD and the soundstage seems to be a little more open and clear. It all just somehow sounds much nicer. An expensive upgrade, but I do believe it is worthwhile and will be keeping these.
A few images of the system and room as it was last night.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/0603/stu@mdevelopments/HiFi/MyPhoto-1.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/0603/stu@mdevelopments/HiFi/MyPhoto-2.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/0603/stu@mdevelopments/HiFi/MyPhoto-3.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/0603/stu@mdevelopments/HiFi/MyPhoto-9.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/0603/stu@mdevelopments/HiFi/MyPhoto-5.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/0603/stu@mdevelopments/HiFi/MyPhoto-13.jpg
So, there you have it, a lot of stuff changed over the last 2 weeks, which of course is not ideal but nothing was changed without at least 2 hours listening to very familiar music, which included Dire Straits, Mark Knopfler, Dido, Shelby Lynne, Leonard Cohen, Fleetwood Mac & Stevie Ray Vaughn and the three of us made notes on what we believed the differences were to try our best to at least avoid the placebo effect as best as possible as in all cases neither my missus or mate new what components they were listening to after the initial change.
My next upgrade is likely to be the Mark Grant Interconnects upgrade as I was immensely happy with the G1000HD's after swopping the Cyrus provided versions for them, so am keen to try the upgraded versions of this cable with better connectors. I am just chatting to him about availability by E-Mail, so hopefully can trial those next week... watch this space. :)
So what have I learnt?
Cheap mains filters may well be very bad for amplifiers (May one day try it on source only however) Bi-Wiring can be a bad thing, especially on single amplifiers, SM PSU's aren't a good thing where sound sources are concerned, Tellurium Q is incredible, even if its genetic make up is a secret and Mark Grant @ www.Mark Grant Cables (http://www.markgrantcables.co.uk), and David @ Mains cables R Us (http://www.mains-cables-r-us.co.uk) are great companies to deal with and genuinely believe in what they sell with a money where their mouth is money back guarantee. :)