I find it's the actual recording rather than the source that makes the most difference. I have some LPs that are just terrible recordings and some that sound incredible. I also find that investment in a reasonable (but not outrageous) sound system of separates, not an integrated system, is worth it. I've had my living room set up for years and had no issues, it's a full Paradigm speaker system and Yamaha Aventage receiver. I have a second zone that it powers to some outdoor Yamaha speakers on the deck too. For the front room I have Audioengine A5+ powered speakers (no receiver necessary) for the turntable. You could spend a lot more but you enter the law of diminishing returns really quickly with audio equipment.
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The audiophile thread
- Thread starter kwtoxman
- Start date
kwtoxman
Well-known member
Yes, the quality of the recording is very very important. GIGO. Start will a well recorded song and then see if one can hear the differences in a system. Unfortunately, a lot of mainstream music today is not well recorded or over produced. Something to be considered for sure. Thankfully, many in the audio enthusiast community are dedicated to quality audio recordings. HDtracks and Chesky recordings are two examples. There are many many websites about enthusiast audio recording and recordings. Check it out. I find a lot of the music I enjoy is well recorded.
I'll again suggest that people who are interested in good music try some quality headphones. $250+ headphones are a great way to try out quality audio enthusiast equipment that can both be widely used and not break the bank. My Sennheiser HD 598's sound amazing. They are an open back headphone design rather than the much more common and conventional closed back headphones. This difference makes a big difference in how they sound; open back headphones soundstaging is next level. It is like being in a room surrounded by the music, rather than closed back headphones where it sounds like the music is in your head. They really do sound a lot different. Try both styles out and see what "you" think.
Sennheiser HD 598's were recently replaced by the HD599 model which costs $330 + tax. But there is still HD 598 stock around slowly being sold off, and when it is put on sale and discounted to under $200 the 598's are really great value. 598's are also available in both open back configuration as well as closed back.
With cooler fall days starting, I'm listening to and enjoying a lot of great music.
Cheers
"Garbage in, garbage out." - Ivor Tiefenbrun
I have a number of go to reference discs for testing gear. Was smart enough to scoop up some Sheffield Direct to Disc recordings back in the 80s (Growing Up in Hollywood Town, Secret of the Andes, James Newton Howard Test Record), a few out of the Linn Records catalogue (A Walk Across the Rooftops, Wellpark Suite), and a bunch of Japanese pressings of some of my go to rock favourites. It's the only way. DAC can only do so much.
JP0160
Well-known member
Anyone looking for some good riding earphones should check out the Shure SE215. I've put at least 500 hours of listening time on mine and I love 'em! The cord is very tough and the earbuds have quick disconnects if they get pulled too hard. They sit in-ear and don't pop out when pulling helmet on/off. They sound great and are very comfortable. The only thing I could complain about is that the stock memory foam buds lose their memory-ness after a week or so.
Here is my 2 channel system; all tubes except for a Bryston electronic crossover 10B to replace crappy internal speaker crossovers.
VTL 300 monos drive the electrostat panel of the Soundlab dynastats and bryston 4bst drives the woofer. Hovland takes care of the phono stage and pre amp duties.
Oracle Delphi 5 with SME arm takes care of the vinyl. Have dac/transport that hardly gets used.
I just added the Audience ar-12 power conditioner and to say that i never heard my system before is an understatement. Records that I thought I knew have been transformed.
BB
VTL 300 monos drive the electrostat panel of the Soundlab dynastats and bryston 4bst drives the woofer. Hovland takes care of the phono stage and pre amp duties.
Oracle Delphi 5 with SME arm takes care of the vinyl. Have dac/transport that hardly gets used.
I just added the Audience ar-12 power conditioner and to say that i never heard my system before is an understatement. Records that I thought I knew have been transformed.
BB
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kwtoxman
Well-known member
.Panels are one of my most favourite type of speakers.
Thx for sharing.
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Once upon a time, I used to DJ. I still have the turntables and mixer, and now using them connected to my Denon/Paradigm home theatre. Does the trick for the most part. (Turntables -> phono input of mixer -> master out of mixer -> aux in on receiver)
My current problem is that I used to own an equalizer that had a low frequency cut off (I think it was 30Hz?), but have since sold that.
Consequently, at high volumes, I am suffering from the infamous woofer rumble. Anyone have any suggestions to handle this without spending more money than i would on a new turntable?
I was looking at passive subsonic filters (see http://www.ebay.com/itm/2-Harrison-...c-Filter-Rumble-Reducer-RCA-USA-/390911171865)
Any other thoughts?
My current problem is that I used to own an equalizer that had a low frequency cut off (I think it was 30Hz?), but have since sold that.
Consequently, at high volumes, I am suffering from the infamous woofer rumble. Anyone have any suggestions to handle this without spending more money than i would on a new turntable?
I was looking at passive subsonic filters (see http://www.ebay.com/itm/2-Harrison-...c-Filter-Rumble-Reducer-RCA-USA-/390911171865)
Any other thoughts?
kwtoxman
Well-known member
What's the problem? I have no issue with subwoofer usage in any system other than room resonance issues. And for that, I have used an ART 351 EQ before (I used for room correction and to correct resonant bass frequencies).... if there is no on-board receiver EQ measurement and correction capability.
If it is just a loud subwoofer, one can always turn down the subwoofer gain on it, or perhaps it has a bypass filter built in. I run my HT sub to 20 Hz (bypass filter is set there), pretty much flat too
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I think he's getting the subsonic rumble from the turntable, as opposed to higher amounts of LF through the home theatre/digital source.
Room setup might be an issue. Lots of suggestions in this Audiokarma thread http://audiokarma.org/forums/index.php?threads/to-use-a-subsonic-filter-or-not.571982/
Room setup might be an issue. Lots of suggestions in this Audiokarma thread http://audiokarma.org/forums/index.php?threads/to-use-a-subsonic-filter-or-not.571982/
kwtoxman
Well-known member
Ahh, makes some sense now if that's the case. I don't use analog sources.
kwtoxman
Well-known member
I recently posted up a few examples of youtube songs I enjoy in the what are you currently listening to thread. With quality headphones I find one song is notably better recorded than the other. Have a listen; see what your audio system can resolve and what you think.
http://www.gtamotorcycle.com/vbforu...Listening-To&p=2524474&viewfull=1#post2524474
http://www.gtamotorcycle.com/vbforu...Listening-To&p=2524611&viewfull=1#post2524611
Cheers
http://www.gtamotorcycle.com/vbforu...Listening-To&p=2524474&viewfull=1#post2524474
http://www.gtamotorcycle.com/vbforu...Listening-To&p=2524611&viewfull=1#post2524611
Cheers
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Cork turntable mat? That might be the cheap option. Also get the balance protractor for the needle?
Isolating the turntable from the vibration is the key. Target makes a reasonably priced isolation stand and wall mount unit. There's lots of DIY plans as well that can be made relatively cheap.
hey all, i think i used the wrong word. It's more like inaudible flutter than a rumble.
It does not make any sound, but makes the woofer flutter. See the video for an example of what i am talking about
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a2h6aINngcY
I still think the flutter might be caused by frequencies below the 20Hz range, so I may give those subsonic filters a shot.
I've gotten audible rumble before due to a feedback loop. I solved that problem by using carpet underpad. Back in the DJ days, I also used to see cut tennis balls frequently.
Also going to try other things out with the tone arm weight. 1st world problems!
It does not make any sound, but makes the woofer flutter. See the video for an example of what i am talking about
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a2h6aINngcY
I still think the flutter might be caused by frequencies below the 20Hz range, so I may give those subsonic filters a shot.
I've gotten audible rumble before due to a feedback loop. I solved that problem by using carpet underpad. Back in the DJ days, I also used to see cut tennis balls frequently.
Also going to try other things out with the tone arm weight. 1st world problems!
I hate bs marketing.
"The Harrison Labs FMOD is an in-line active crossover simulator. "
It is a passive xover. It simulates an active xover in that it's a 12dB/octave filter. wtf.
Btw, I think this is probably a good solution to your problem. In shouldn't introduce any ugliness and it will get rid of all of the content that is just heating up your amp and speakers.
I hate bs marketing.
"The Harrison Labs FMOD is an in-line active crossover simulator. "
It is a passive xover. It simulates an active xover in that it's a 12dB/octave filter. wtf.
Btw, I think this is probably a good solution to your problem. In shouldn't introduce any ugliness and it will get rid of all of the content that is just heating up your amp and speakers.
No doubt it's fluff marketing, but as you mentioned, it seems to be a plausible solution. The fluff as you put it is used simply to drive up the price :S
Rumble is the term used to describe what you're seeing (and not hearing). If you had a speaker that could reach very low frequencies, you'd hear/feel the unwanted noise. If you had this subwoofer, you'd hear and/or feel the rumble https://www.cnet.com/news/worlds-most-amazing-subwoofer-has-no-woofer/
Holy god, the marketing wank is so strong in audiophile gear. Now I remember why I stopped researching and just listen to determine if I like it. Don't get me wrong, it's a cool idea, but they stretch reality quite far in their marketing. The damn thing may even work, I just get annoyed when so much bs is added.
"The air density is much too low to be a good impedance match with a cone loudspeaker. Take your hand and try and grab some air or flatten your hand and try and push some air as fast as you can. This illustrates the futility of trying to move air to create a small amount of pressure at low frequencies with a cone speaker. You can barely feel the resistance of the air to the motion of your hand, the air molecules simply slip around.
Now take your hand while driving down the road and stick it outside the window of a car. The faster you go the thicker the air feels. Also a simple twisting of your hand enables you to deflect a large number of air molecules. "
From info I can find, rotational tip speed is ~40 to 60 km/h so it isn't completely wrong, but it is definitely an optimistic interpretation as the average speed on the blade will be near half that. Mechanically, it isn't that difficult to make, they priced it in the realm of esoterica to get the early adopters to fund the research. It would be interesting to see what the uptake rate would be if they dropped it in line with conventional sub pricing. It still requires a ton of space, mechanical design and a conventional sub so maybe it wouldn't sell, but I think they would move quite a few.
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lol... when i was more into trying to get more into audio equipment, that and the snob effect were insufferable. Didn't help that I didn't act/dress/etc the part though.
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