+ Reply to Thread
Page 1 of 3 123 LastLast
Results 1 to 10 of 26

Thread: Guide to Improving Your System

  1. #1
    Join Date: Aug 2009

    Location: Staffordshire, England

    Posts: 37,777
    I'm Martin.

    Default Guide to Improving Your System

    Thought I'd start this to see what people's thoughts and or methods are. Is there even a method?

    Here's mine:

    1) The Different Strokes Rule -- simply put 'What might be right for you might not be right for some.' -there's no best component or cable or stand or whatever.

    There's no league table or hierarchy. 'I had X component and I replaced it with Y component and I much prefer the sound so Y component will be better than X component in any system and for anyone.'

    No it won't.

    Brings us to

    2) Have an idea of the sort of sound you want to get. Play Thin Lizzy's 'Live and Dangerous' on cd through some ATC active speakers now play the same album on vinyl through Avantgarde horns with single ended Kondo valve amps - pretty much chalk and cheese. Some will prefer one, some the other. Some might hate both presentations.

    Personally I think my idea of how a hi-fi system should present music was formed by the infamous 'mate's dad's systems' when I was in my teens so I've been after that ever since. I only realised that a couple of years ago. But even now hearing lots of other systems can give you an idea of what you are after. Or refine it. Without any idea what to go after you're pissing in the wind.


    3) Don't try to solve fundamental problems like hardness, harshness, distortion, with ancillaries like stands, cables, room treatment, conditioners, magic beans or any of that stuff. It won't work. Get the basics right first then you can muck about with all that stuff if you still feel the need. Which you might not.


    4) If it isn't sounding like you want don't jump to conclusions about what the problem is. Harsh treble is probably not the speakers. Lack of bass is probably not the amplifier. Things are often not what they seem to be in hi-fi land, very easy to change or 'upgrade' the wrong thing and make a bigger and more expensive mess. Most of us must have done this at least once. I've done it loads.


    5) The fancier it gets the harder it is to get it just right. Sort of the 'Peter Principle' of hi-fi. 'Given infinite upgrading every system will one day reach the point were it is unlistenable.'

    There's no real solution to that one except to stop when you're happy.


    6) Have fun. It's supposed to be a hobby. Or a pastime.

    Whatever, it beats being at work.
    Current Lash Up:

    TEAC VRDS 701T > Sony TAE1000ESD > Krell KSA50S > JM Labs Focal Electra 926.

  2. #2
    Join Date: Apr 2012

    Location: N E Kent

    Posts: 51,624
    I'm Geoff.

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Macca View Post
    Don't try to solve fundamental problems like hardness, harshness, distortion, with ancillaries like stands, cables, room treatment, conditioners, magic beans or any of that stuff. It won't work. Get the basics right first then you can muck about with all that stuff if you still feel the need. Which you might not.
    Exactly!
    It is impossible for anything digital to sound analogue, because it isn't analogue!

  3. #3
    Join Date: Jun 2014

    Location: Chorley Lancs

    Posts: 14,590
    I'm Steve.

    Default

    O wise man of The Potteries, we're not worthy!

    All pretty obvious when you see it written down, but it's funny how easily we can lose sight of these fundamentals. Your post should be printed on the packaging of Hi fi components and accessories, like the health warnings on fag packets, to remind us.
    I just dropped in, to see what condition my condition was in

    T/T: Inspire Monarch, X200 tonearm, Ortofon Quintet Blue. Phono: Project Tube Box CD: Marantz CD6006 (UK Edition); Amp: Musical Fidelity A5 Integrated.
    Speakers: Zu Omen Def, REL T9i subwoofer. Cables: Atlas Equator interconnects, Atlas Hyper 3.0 speaker cables

    T'other system:
    Echo Dot, Amptastic Mini One,Arcam A75 integrated, Celestion 5's, BK XLS-200 DF

    A/V:
    LG 55" OLED, Panasonic Blu Ray, Sony a/v amp, MA Radius speakers, REL Storm sub

    Forget the past, it's gone. And don't worry about the future, it doesn't exist. There is only NOW.

    KICKSTARTER: ENABLING SCAMMERS SINCE 2009

  4. #4
    Join Date: Aug 2009

    Location: Staffordshire, England

    Posts: 37,777
    I'm Martin.

    Default

    Yeah - not saying it isn't obvious to anyone with a bit of experience but that's not everyone who is reading this. I'd have been a lot better off if I'd read that in a hi fi mag back when I was starting out.
    Current Lash Up:

    TEAC VRDS 701T > Sony TAE1000ESD > Krell KSA50S > JM Labs Focal Electra 926.

  5. #5
    Join Date: Jun 2014

    Location: Chorley Lancs

    Posts: 14,590
    I'm Steve.

    Default

    I'd made an assumption that it would be obvious to everyone else - if I'm honest it wasn't obvious to me until just now.
    I just dropped in, to see what condition my condition was in

    T/T: Inspire Monarch, X200 tonearm, Ortofon Quintet Blue. Phono: Project Tube Box CD: Marantz CD6006 (UK Edition); Amp: Musical Fidelity A5 Integrated.
    Speakers: Zu Omen Def, REL T9i subwoofer. Cables: Atlas Equator interconnects, Atlas Hyper 3.0 speaker cables

    T'other system:
    Echo Dot, Amptastic Mini One,Arcam A75 integrated, Celestion 5's, BK XLS-200 DF

    A/V:
    LG 55" OLED, Panasonic Blu Ray, Sony a/v amp, MA Radius speakers, REL Storm sub

    Forget the past, it's gone. And don't worry about the future, it doesn't exist. There is only NOW.

    KICKSTARTER: ENABLING SCAMMERS SINCE 2009

  6. #6
    Join Date: Aug 2008

    Location: Suffolk, UK

    Posts: 1,473
    I'm Paul.

    Default

    I would say go to events like bake-offs and Kegworth and listen to other peoples genuine honest systems in order to get some perpspective. You won’t get this from commercial shows unless you already really know what you want.

    There is loads of good information available on the web and in publications but there is also a lot of information that is there to get you chasing someone else’s ideals, not your own. Beware!

    Just sit back listen to some music and spend some time moving your speakers about and trying different tyes of mounting such as isolation, rubber feet, spikes, blu tac, etc. Chances are you can eek a bit more out of your system without spending any money.

    Often what your are listening to is your room more than your hifi system. Try to get your room as right as it can be.

    Don’t believe every opinion that you read online...
    ~Paul~

  7. #7
    Join Date: Mar 2017

    Location: Seaford UK

    Posts: 1,861
    I'm Dennis.

    Default

    I have settled on being unhappy with my sound, because I think that it is revealing nasties in the sources more than before, and my aspiration to 'get to reality' persists. But finding the source of the unpleasantness is not easy, an improvement in Hi-Fi can sound worse.

    I do think that early in our lives as we develop, there are 'perfect moments' of revelation and ecstasy, and that these imprint us, we seeking to replicate that thereafter. The same applies to having lovely food for the fist time as a child; the best chocolate cake, or the best strawberries for example - you don't forget it.

    Yes, as it gets better, the presentation is a major difference in the sound rather than any obvious 'this is better'.

  8. #8
    Join Date: Dec 2018

    Location: Maidstone

    Posts: 82
    I'm julian.

    Default

    +1
    PS Audio Directstream DAC, modified Dennon DVD player, SP10, Trans Fi linear tracker, Stack audio streamer
    1980's Aloia 6L6 prototype, Cat's Whiskers Autum Leaves 300 B mono blocks, Definative Audio modded Rogue 88 Magmum 6550. Firebottle LDR battery pre. Classe 103, Herron VT2
    RFC Tannoy Cheviot's,Wilmslow Audio modified Chario Academy Millenium II's,Frankenstein DIY's, Oris Onken horns, Fostek full range drivers
    Ripnas etc

  9. #9
    Join Date: Dec 2018

    Location: Maidstone

    Posts: 82
    I'm julian.

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Primalsea View Post
    I would say go to events like bake-offs and Kegworth and listen to other peoples genuine honest systems in order to get some perpspective. You won’t get this from commercial shows unless you already really know what you want.

    There is loads of good information available on the web and in publications but there is also a lot of information that is there to get you chasing someone else’s ideals, not your own. Beware!

    Just sit back listen to some music and spend some time moving your speakers about and trying different tyes of mounting such as isolation, rubber feet, spikes, blu tac, etc. Chances are you can eek a bit more out of your system without spending any money.

    Often what your are listening to is your room more than your hifi system. Try to get your room as right as it can be.

    Don’t believe every opinion that you read online...

    +1
    PS Audio Directstream DAC, modified Dennon DVD player, SP10, Trans Fi linear tracker, Stack audio streamer
    1980's Aloia 6L6 prototype, Cat's Whiskers Autum Leaves 300 B mono blocks, Definative Audio modded Rogue 88 Magmum 6550. Firebottle LDR battery pre. Classe 103, Herron VT2
    RFC Tannoy Cheviot's,Wilmslow Audio modified Chario Academy Millenium II's,Frankenstein DIY's, Oris Onken horns, Fostek full range drivers
    Ripnas etc

  10. #10
    Join Date: May 2008

    Location: U.S.A. Neo-Socialist Kalifornski

    Posts: 3,262

    Default Speakers first

    Start buy listening to a lot of speakers, buy the ones you like even if it means getting a fat loan.
    Then build your system to suit the sensitivity and need ability to drive them to levels that make you happy.
    If they are 4 ,6 or 8 ohm, 84db at 1 meter or 105 db. 1 meter amp choice is important.
    Then choose a really good source. When everything else is how you want it, then upgrade cables , dead last.
    Upgrade every part inside every component till you have spent 3x more than its full retail price in upgrades alone.
    After your happy.
    Then change speakers and everything else up stream all over again, same order as before.

    Repeat process till death.
    Last edited by goraman; 02-04-2019 at 14:51.
    Jeff :UBERTHREADKILLER

+ Reply to Thread
Page 1 of 3 123 LastLast

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •