Re-Evaluation.

[Spectral Morn]

Hi Guys...its re-evaluation time.


Spent most of the day swapping isolation items, and mains cables around in an attempt to get to the bottom of what a particular mystery item can and can't do in the context of my system and well it has been a most interesting process. I may do it as a write up for SOG, or not as the case may be. However it got me thinking about the way many of us, perhaps settle to easily for a particular status quo in our systems.

I think it is way to easy to make assumptions that we have got the best out of our systems. How may of us regularly try a new bit of kit that we then dismiss to quickly because it just does not do what we want. The question I would like you to ask yourselves is...Did I really do everything I could, to make sure I have not missed out on a great addition to my system? I think the answer is probably no. We settle for the way we have our systems set up in the present, and without thinking to much assume, or feel we can force a new item into the old set up, without trying to discover what it needs to give its best. The process of messing around today has shown me that..well frankly I probably have not explored the way my system is set up as much as I should, or thought I had.

Is this the complacency we settle into with age ? The enthusiasm/questioning of youth replaced by the "if it works okay, why try to fix it" thought. Well if you haven't tried all the things you can, how do you know it isn't broken, or at the very least not doing what it can.

I thought I had my system "sorted" well I now know that it isn't "sorted". It needs a good spring clean in terms of trying different things out with it. By different things in my case I mean, mains cables, isolation products and interconnects...in your case though it might mean checking your speakers (insert most likely component or components in your case) are really properly positioned. Are they level ? Are the drivers nice and tight ? etc, etc, etc.

I think we settle on a thing that works way to easily, and thus miss the next step, the next thing we could do, but don't because we think we have arrived at the destination (folks there is no final destination, if we have the time, will and money to continue exploring). When I was new to audio I tried everything, including ridiculous things with an abandon and fire that perhaps only youth has. I want that back, and today I have decided to re-evaluate everything. The way my system is set up will be re-tried and again and so on, until I am sure that nothing that I have, which I can try has been missed. It scares me that a component or cable, might be rejected because a basic thing like run in has been missed (it does exist and is a real thing), though this is a mistake I would not make, though those who don't acknowledge it do. "This sounds wrong or I don't like it"you tell yourself, but you can only say that if you have explored everything. If people say a thing needs a couple of hundred hours of run in then try it...if it still is not right, after all that, then it probably is not right....but if you don't try all the things you can, then well frankly you may be wasting money and time. By the way I am not talking here about fundamental things..such as a 2 watt amp not being able to drive 80 db 4 ohm speakers. I am talking about the next steps once you have a system or group of components which should work technically and does, but can be better by attention to details.

For those who think such things are foo or the products or deranged minds..well keep on kidding yourselves if you want, but I can assure you that different mains cables, cones, isolation platforms and the like, can and do change the sound of your system, or component. I have heard it time and again today ( and in the past). I know this stuff works, but I had just settled on what seemed to work best for me and had left it at that...oh boy was I wrong.

Today my mystery component has been bright and forward, warm and veiled, open and detailed, punchy and musical (as it is at the moment) and all because I changed what it sat on, and what was plugged into it (mains cable). The same 3 albums were used throughout, and it was frankly really scary just how easy it was to miss (or mess up) what this item can do. Assumption and a lazy attitude can all to easily mean you miss something wonderful.

So Guys get of your backsides and have another look at your set ups, and see if you can push the boundaries of your system further. Trust me it can be done and even for free, with just a bit of open minded trial and error and time. You should be able to squeeze more out of what you have, and if you are trying something new, well give it a chance.

Go to it..you won't regret it.


Regards D S D L