Simple Tips For Better Sound

Totally agree. Some of the adjectives used by some members to describe the sound of the music, particularly after some sort of upgrade, suggests that point has been passed.

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Geez, I find this sanctimonious, condescending, holier than thou preaching most irritating.

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Nigel,

I really don’t see where I am preaching or having a holier than thou attitude. Not at all - certainly not intentionally. All I was really trying to say in a slightly light-hearted way is that IMO it’s very easy to forget why we bought our systems in the first place, ie.to enjoy music (I assume anyway) and to get sidetracked with the finer points of the sound whereby we in effect lose sight of what it’s really all about.

Just a gentle muse - no offence or any great parable intended and I am as guilty as the next man in worrying if I’m getting the best results possible.

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Fair enough, but your post came across as a bit ‘preachy’.

When I first bought a Naim system it was because the music sounded great. Eventually I wanted better SQ and upgraded. Guess what, this increased my appreciation of my music.

If this becomes an iterative process, so what, as long as upgrades are affordable and they bring greater enjoyment.

The listening is just the result, the noodling and the system journey you choose and can afford to take individually is the essence of the hobby.
To a greater or lesser extent everyone takes enjoyment from their journey, it forms an important part in achieving a higher level of enjoyment through experimentation and learning as you go.
There is often a tendency for criticism or dismisal to materialise in these discussions, “that’s not scientifically proven” or “that’s just silly money for that component” usually concluding with a split of opinion with one side agreeing and the others either excessively questioning others views or decending in to trolling a thread in an attempt to monopolise the oxygen and starve others from making their own contribution.
Everyone has something to gain and learn from others journeys and hopefully to be able to constructively share their own such that others may in turn benefit along the way.

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I absolutely agree and I’ve done exactly the same.

For me, and I’m not saying it should be the same for you or anybody else, I feel I’ve reached the point at which further upgrading to improve this or that, whilst it may give me better sound, will not actually increase my enjoyment of the music any more than I have now. Not enough to justify the expense anyway - the law of diminishing returns and all that. So my attitude now is just enjoy listening to the music and if I happen to notice that the bass is maybe a bit bloated here or the treble could be a bit smoother there so what? Maybe I could fix it but not for less than several grand - and I’m not about to do that.

Now I’m not able to offer any experience, but it’s said that more than one set of speakers in the room will have a deleterious effect on the SQ from the unused speakers vibrating in sympathy.

I’ve seen a few pictures on here with users having two pairs on the go.

Might be a good idea to decide which ones you like best and shuffle the others off?

Indeed. But the old discussions also exclude tv speakers, mobiles, iPads and other devices with speakers which at least for me makes this an obsession too far. Then I have two acoustic guitars in the room too. My system should sound really bad but by some small miracle….

Well yeah, but I suspect those devices (except maybe the TV) don’t make enough of a difference to get anywhere near a human awareness threshold.

Eay way to find out, of course.

I guess the TV will just have to be the point of compromise. Can’t see anybody being happy lugging the screen out and in every time you want to listen to music.

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This was originally proclaimed by Linn Products in the 1980’s. At the time it was a big thing. Any other speakers in the room, even a digital watch with an alarm, would make the music more difficult to follow. A TV was a real no-no.

As time has gone by the concept seems to have been rather forgotten, particularly in view of the proliferation of home cinema surround systems integrated with 2- channel systems.

In truth I think anything else in the room at all changes the sound in some way. Even when another person comes in. But that’s just the way it is. Perhaps the ideal room would have nothing but the hi-fi in it - not even a listener! The question then would be if the sound was changed or not. Rather like does a tree falling in a forest when there’s nobody there make any sound?

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Schrodinger’s hifi. :joy:

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Oh, I remember the salesperson using a disconnected phone (the old desktop type) in the 80’s to demo this for me and my friend.

If I remember it correctly (which I may not) it was a tunedem thing. Not so much hifi or sound thing.

Yes that’s right. The concept was that any other speaker in the room, however small, would make the music more difficult to follow in terms of pitches of notes and tunes. As I said, the whole thing seems to have been quietly swept under the carpet in the fullness of time.

I do remember vaguely that my dealer, who was a Linn dealer, officially supported the concept, as presumably he was required to do in order to sell Linn equipment. Off the record though I seem to remember him being rather dismissive of it. He certainly didn’t think there was any problem with me having a TV in the same room as my LP12/42/110/Kans. At no point did anyone ever say to me ‘of course you do realise that you are completely messing up the music by having your TV in the same room’.

I just can’t get the hang of this upgrading process. My NDX2 feeds into my SN3 which feeds my Kudos Titan 606 speakers, without any additional boxes. All mains cables and distribution board are by Titan.

Obviously I desperately need to increase the box count and empty my bank account but each time I listen to music (usually Quobuz via Roon), I find that I get distracted and just concentrate on the music.

Before I know where I am, a few hours of listening has passed and I realise I have not found anything that I want to upgrade.

Dam :thinking:

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Fear not, you aren’t alone. I’ve got an NDX2 + SN3 and despite all the whistles and bells you can add to it, it’s stayed like that since new, I even sold a HiCap DR as funds towards the NDX2 and don’t feel any regrets even now.
Nice speakers the Titans btw.

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……and what a wonderful place to be bjm. No reason for defensiveness just a few people sharing and contributing with suggestions on this thread :+1:t3: Enjoy Peter

Not something I’ve understood at all - music is so much more than “following a tune”.

But, referring back to other posts, yes, everything in the room affects the sound to some extent, whether another person, a pet, a new piece of furniture …or the you yourself. IF trying to truly optimise, the thing to do is do that with everything in the room, it position - and if that is variable do it multiple times, incorporating all the variables, to find tge mean that sound closest to best for all. Or don’t bother and just live with how it sounds when you plonk things down randomly. Or something in between - it is your system and listening after all!

Linn’s Ivor Tiefenbrun was a strong advocate of the “no other transducers in the room” approach. In 1984 he agreed to participate to a blind test and was unable to reliably detect the presence of an undriven speaker.

http://www.bostonaudiosociety.org/bas_speaker/abx_testing2.htm

I’m not a fan of AB / ABX testing for audio generally, but if someone is making strongly-stated claims of that nature, they ought to be able to discern some difference.

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to be fair to ivor the article doesn’t say how long after his arrival the tests were conducted. i suspect that it would take several days to fully recover from the effects of the flight and be able to make fine distinctions on sound quality

There are many valid reasons for why someone might not do well with a test such as this one, but I’d expect Mr. T to recognise them before sitting down and putting his reputation on the line (“I’m tired”, “it’s late”, “the system’s not properly set up”, “these speakers are no good”, etc.).