I normally listen to music at low-moderate levels, but a couple of weeks ago while Mrs R was out I turned the wick up for several hours (beer may have been involved).
Ever since then, back at my normal low-moderate levels, I feel that the music just sounds all round ‘better’. I won’t attempt to define ‘better’, it just sounds better to me.
Could it be that a couple of hours working harder than usual has ‘refreshed’ the speakers in some way? They are 10+ years old so are already fully run-in.
Is an occasional workout beneficial to a hi-fi? Interested to hear your thoughts.
Yes, as speakers are mechanical devices, an occasional run at higher levels will keep them at their best. You won’t need to increase the volume much, just until it’s approaching the “that’s loud” comments level for 10 - 15 minutes, then back to normal, will avoid the moving parts bedding in to a comfortable position, and will sound at their best. That’s what I’m doing with my new speakers, and perhaps should have done with my old ones, then perhaps might not have needed to change them.
It includes a series of frequency sweeps which, the makers claim, ‘ultrasonically clean the cartridge stylus and degauss the entire system’. My hifi sounds better after I play the sweep tracks.
Tellurium make a ‘System Enhancement CD’, the blurb for which seems to agree with your theory:
“Most music follows a form that can be calculated with a fourier transform analysis and time frequency analysis indicating it is not random, which simply means that your system can get into a “rut”. Like going to a gym and training only a few specific muscles for years and then wondering why your body is out of balance. This recording takes your system through a full workout of frequencies and tonal changes that is specifically designed to stretch your system’s components and bring new life into your music.
We place equal importance on all frequencies and even go into deep bass in a way that sub woofers will benefit from while working up through mids into the upper high frequency ranges in a non-sequential, non- Fourier way. There are also no pure ratio intervals to allow your system to slouch while it is having its work out. This is also one of the prime reasons that music played normally is slow to burn in components compared to this tool. Music does not cover your system’s range in a way that exercises the components sufficiently in a mechanical, electronic and magnetic sense to burn in your various components as efficiently.”
Hi Martin, I know many on here prefer physical explanations, but I wonder if during your high-volume listening session you heard a rather different sound world. And when you went back to normal volume your brain was, in part, reconstructing/superimposing that earlier listening experience on what you were hearing. There’s very clever stuff our heads!
My first two SuperNaits were respectively brand new sealed box and rather used from I believe Holland.
The new one had sounded mannered and somehow constrained for long, and never became fully mature - I never listen LOUD. The used one - also looking rather experienced - sounded open and strong immediately. I think electronics are just like engines, even more so than speakers…
