How is it suspended?
Please show a photo if poss.
Thanks
Jim
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Yes I suppose we’d better get back to the thread topic. But I really appreciate your input, those are all some very excellent ideas, and getting a 250dr at about the same time as I get a 552 shouldn’t be a problem as there’s quite a few of those around here. And I do believe I’ll be skipping the interim units and go straight to the 552.
Home demos certainly are difficult in Canada, but I believe there’s a dealer in Central downtown Toronto that I may be able to strike up a deal with.
Thanks again for your time and input.
Cheers.
Agreed. The original pressing of Power Windows is quite engaging, I happen to find a mint copy, with the shrink wrap still on the outside, and hype sticker. Wonderful engineering done. Not too bright in my opinion. Manhattan project, mystic rhythms come alive in the room. My other rush albums, not so well engineered for sound.
Scott
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Some things we can control, others just have to live with them. Even if speaker movement is not really something you can change (much) toe-in can be done to some extent, and as someone else pointed out, try lowering the rear, so that the speaker is not firing exactly level but rather a bit upwards. I’m using dynaudio confidence 20’s and adjusting the speaker stands was a. breeze, they included a huge level for on the speaker and the adjustment is made from above so they are done in place. I’d only change either the angle or toe-in when you experiment , not both at the same time
Hi Jim. I’m currently using an inexpensive audio stand that is quite solid. In order to isolate the marble from the shelf it sits on, I placed the marble on a 3/4" bamboo cutting board, which in turn, sits on three medium-soft rubber supports. This has been the best sounding option so far, without having a proper audio stand.
My system sounds very good at this point, but I’m quite certain that it will all sound a lot better once I have purchased a proper stand, of which there are a few good options. But again, I won’t be doing that until I have moved house in a few years. C’est dommage …
Cheers.
Hi David
Thanks for letting me know.
I’m always on the lookout for effective ways to support components for better SQ.
The best thread I’ve read on this is:
As that thread shows, I copied the excellent design idea of @Xanthe for vibration isolation on basic racks.
I’m by no means an expert on this topic, but I’m not sure how your design works.
The marble slab is a massive base for your NDS.
Is it possible that the 3 rubber feet under the bamboo cutting board could make the bamboo cutting board and marble slab wobble as the rack and the NDS vibrate?
Best wishes
Jim
(sorry for thread drift)
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My stand and base for the NDS seems to be nice and solid, and not wobbly at all, and the marble slab does certainly make for a rigid base. It’s funny, I had initially thot that the unusual feet on the NDS were somewhat inferior, and I complained about them in a thread on the topic. I was quickly informed by HH (in no uncertain terms), that they were specifically designed like that to work with the suspended chassis on the NDS.
Thank you for the referral to Xanthe’s thread on the subject, I’ll have a look and make some adjustments if it seems better.
ATB,
Dave
(And yes, I guess we should stop the thread drifting)
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David, why not open another thread if you want to chat about your system and upgrade plans. You will then get others with relevant experience/knowledge chipping in too.
It is worthy of its own thread.
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Thanks Nigel, I’ll give that a thought. It’s a tad premature for me, but I’m a bit of a planner and I do like to know where I’m headed well in advance, and other member’s experience is very helpful.
Cheers.
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My journey re: ‘brightness’ spanned some years and found its way into the Forum on several occasions. I swapped and changed pretty much everything; several times. Most changes had a small, but cumulative effect, one way or another. Speaker positioning, eqpt isolation, dedicated mains, high quality cabling everywhere, room spec’ etc… Ultimately, nothing would have tamed the beryllium tweeter in my Sopra 2’s to my taste because it was just plain wrong for my ears. A speaker switch (to Dynaudio) instantly sorted the issue in a way none of the ‘tweaking’ ever could.
Looking back, change of speaker has always had the greatest single effect for me. We tend to get caught up in black boxes and ancillaries; perhaps because they’re earlier in the ‘chain of truth’; and less of an outlay/headache to change. They and their synergy together are critical, of course. But speakers are the ultimate arbitor and voice IME.
I agree with trying all the free stuff recommended above - because it’s free. But if your new, more revealing kit is not giving you the joy you seek, you’ve done all those free tweaks and you’re not using string for cabling, I’d suggest it’s likely that tweeter is voiced wrongly for your ears and the upgrade downstream is highlighting it. Focal is renowned for this. Some people love their top end; others loathe. For sure there are more speakers out there which handle the top end in a less ‘bright’ yet still detailed and extended way.
Last couple thoughts. You’re onto a hiding to nothing if you want to make changes without demoing everything first unless you have a shed-load of cash to lose. Associated with this, it’s also worth noting that, when reading forum comments, it pays to remember, above all else, that one man’s ‘detailed and dynamic pleasure’ is another man’s ‘ear-curdling, fatiguing pain’!
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I really liked TQ Black speaker cables in one set up as they added a bit of sparkle I thought was missing from the Nac A5 I’d been using. Sometime down the line I changed amps and the TQ’s made the system bright sounding so I returned the Nac A5 and they turned the brightness down.
Hi brightness is very often related to room reflections where the bass frequencies start to be cancelled say from 200 Hz downwards, and upper mids can resonate…
Often a cure can be changing loudspeaker placement, or if really challenging a bit of room treatment can also be effective.
I would avoid trying to mitigate with different cables and fiddling around with the electronics etc if you have an issue with reflections as they will be subtracting from the audio performance of your equipment and the issues may reappear with small changes elsewhere. Issues with reflections can make your system hypersensitive to changes elsewhere and tweaks, and subtle changes can have disproportionate outcomes.
As often said, speaker/room coupling is probably the most important element in the chain for a quality enjoyable audio experience when using quality electronics.
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I tried one year ago a Farad 3lps linear ps on the Etheregen switch. I found the sound a bit bright to my taste. Changing the ps solved the problem. However the problem was not there with the stock SMPS.
I heard Focal and Naim on some occasions and found the sound sometimes a bit bright.
So the brightness can have different aspects.
Permanent Waves is my go-to Rush album for sound quality in my system (252/300DR/Titan 606). I have an original pressing and the 40th Anniversary edition. Both excellent but original pressing edges it for me.
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I will admit, that is one I do not own, off to the record stores this weekend! Thank you for spending my money, better mine than yours😂.
Scott
I guess my issue is that I was perfectly happy with the Sopra 1s with the original incarnation of my system which had the NDX and non-DR 300. So changing the speakers for an electronics issue seems slightly non-intuitive, even though it may possibly deliver the result I’m looking for.
Great album - love it!
This can also depend on your E.A.R.s 
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Yes absolutely. Some found Naim/ Focal well balanced for their ears, other not.