Hello all

[Spod]

:wave:
I come seeking knowledge so I suppose its only right I introduce myself before I ask.

I wasn't an audiophile. And I suspect to most people on here I'm not and never will be an audiophile. (Some of the things you lot say scare and baffle me in equal measure!)

But ... one Friday afternoon off work several years ago I sat down on the settee, put Natalie Imbruglia's "Left of the Middle" CD onto my budget Sony CD player, piped through a ProLogic Sherwood receiver and random Mission speakers.

And thought "this is good". Don't know what it was about the way things were on that day but Natalie was with me in the room and the music was punching me in the solar plexus. It was fun, it was exciting, I could hardly breathe. I liked it.

And two weeks later the Sherwood exploded (one of a few electrical things that exploded in the house around that time, very odd) . Ever since I've been on a never-ending unsuccessful and expensive (by my budget) search to replace or even improve on that sound.

One thing I've discovered is that my ears are completely, utterly and totally different to the ears of the What Hi-Fi reviewers. Arcam CD73t :steam:

And so I find myself here. Just got work out what questions to ask and check they haven't already been asked!

[Spectral Morn]

Welcome to AOS....Spod.

As we work on first names here what might we call you ?


Regards D S D L----Neil :)

[Beechwoods]

Hi there, and welcome to AOS. Nice introduction, Mr Spod! I'm pretty sure that you'll get a shed load of ideas for kit to audition that'll be in your price-range from the friendly folks on here.

You say that your Sherwood is no longer working. What are you using instead? I notice you've tried a different CDP... tbh I think the amp (and speakers) is probably where you should look to make the most noticeable improvement to your sound.

What is your amp budget, and what kind of sound are you looking for - are you looking for good value new equipment, or a venerable classic? There are some very good classic bargains to be had if you know what you're after :)

[Spod]

As we work on first names here what might we call you ?Well actually, I really do get called "Spod" by everyone in the real world!!! (Since I was about 6, as nicknames go its a persistant one!)


What are you using instead? I notice you've tried a different CDP

The current set up, via a lengthy route, is a Nad C352 amp, through Kef IQ5se's. Through which the ancient budget cheapy Sony sounds pretty good and the Arcam sounds limp and metallic. With the Sony I've got the natural vocals back, but its lacking a little in the solar plexus violence (and the soundstage and detail could be improved). I'm willing to believe that's partially because I'm using floorstanders rather than standmounted speakers, but part of my journey involved the discovery of floorstander's bass, which I like so I'm keeping. (The most recent purchase was the Kefs, which replaced Wharfedale Pacific Evo 30s. As a consequence I love them! Soooo much of an improvement!)

As the next attempted tweak I was thinking DACs, but I'm worried that as I obviously hear the Arcam differently to the rest of the universe I'll hit the same problem with the DACs.

[Spectral Morn]

Hi Spod

No problem, Spod it is.....


What is it about the sound of the Arcam that you don't like ?....it may come as a surprise, but you may not be out of step with those who can hear ;)


Regards D S D L----Neil :)

[Spod]

Two things about the Arcam. Unfortunately they're the important two things to me.

Firstly - and it took me ages to realise it was the Arcam to blame for this - vocals sound like recordings of vocals, they're not realistic at all. They're metallic and nasal. Even the Sony or DVD players sound far more realistic.
Secondly, zero excitement. The punch is completely, utterly, totally absent. I realise that's what a lot of people like, but not me, not me at all. I want to be gripped and attacked by the music, not sent to sleep by it.

I can see some of the advantages of the arcam over the Sony, the detail is tremendous by comparison and there's definitely a better soundstage, but ....

So now I'm thinking Arcam as a transport, maybe a Beresford DAC?

[Spectral Morn]

Hi Spod

Nothing wrong with your ears..... Yes, Transport duties and a Dac would be the way to go IMHO.


Regards D S D L---Neil :)

[John]

Wekcome Spod will try not to scare you around kit but pleae feel fee to ask any questions there is a wealth of knowledge and a friendly vibe

[Spod]

Cheers for the welcome but just bear in mind I'm a software engineer - the forum has a lot of talk of solder and pots and ICs and the length of pin legs and buying things from ebay called LC999111666 or whatever. I repeat, I'm a software engineer - and we all know what means when it comes to hardware - hence scary!!!

At work I'm "famous" for doing what I thought was logical and swapping a bit of wire from one hole to another and instantly causing £7000 worth of damage. Logically sensible but apparently one hole was "optically isolated" and the other wasn't. And so it stopped working. With an expensive bang. (though to be fair, it was my software that confirmed it was boogared!)

I'll definitely be plucking the collective brains, but I suspect I'll be struggling to contribute back.

Can we have more threads about alcohol? I'm good on that!:cool:

[Puffin]

Spod from the planet Threwn (Kenny Everett ca 70's - 80's)

[Marco]

Is that near Zebron 5? ;)

Marco.

[Puffin]

No, Chevron diagonal.

[Marco]

Ah, that's just down the road...

Marco.

[Spod]

Aaarrgh:wah: childhood flashbacks! ( Iwas already known as Spod then Kenny Everett came along and complicated things!)

More like the planet Threwn-up after last night's Jack Daniels session though (attempting the alcohol approach to getting rid of my cold)!:bog: