I can well believe it, I guess there’s not a lot we can do about this.
Tried a mains conditioner some time ago and it made everything seem more constricted and boxed in, almost underpowered.
How very strange.
Perhaps sounding a bit better again this afternoon.
I guess there are things I know need attention:
NAXO needs a service or replacement.
Cable dressing/equipment racks not optimal.
LP12 needs servicing and potentially a new cartridge.
SBLs probably not optimally supported.
All these things unless the NAXO or something else has taken a dive have been constant for some time though - again I think it might be me.
I spend thousand and neglected the room itself and started treating I just got monster bass traps for behind the speakers and I put 242 for first reflection point and some trí trap in corners the room sound warmer not harsh now, I found the monster traps better right behind the speakers.
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I think it’s both - listener’s moods and the actual state of the system, including electrical supply, wifi noise, cable dressing, racks and shelf isolation, switches and cables, and whether the system is as focussed and tuned as it can be.
I recently added an Etherregen switch to my system, and got a full loom of BJC 6a, and dressed all the cables, and took out 3 Ciscos, and rebuilt a rack, and added Xanthe’s shelf isolation system, and spaced out my 3 Naim boxes, and got a pair of SL2s…and it sounds lovely 
.
I had to sell my CDP and TT and first editions and vinyl to fund upgrades.
So, yes, it may be worth flogging most or all of it to fund a new system.
Interesting - did you just try them in different sites and see what sounded best or were some formal measurements involved?
Nice room.
No i was onto gik they suggested this panel behind the speaker its the monster with flex range so doesn’t over damp the room the speaker sound more powerful and solid more detail.
They are for SBIR. Speaker boundary interference response.
Cheers - something to certainly consider down the line when the system is in the proper room.
very good advice from @ajk and @nigelb . I suspect the half-in half-out situation over covid is getting us all down - waited so long for a return to ‘normal’ but where we are now is not what we need, and that seems far away.
but i would recommend a holiday from the system and music for a week or so. read, binge watch the huge range of box-sets on iplayer (other services are available). get out for walks (in the country if poss). then follow @ajk’s advice on the system and then choose some easy-cheesy music to relax to. hope it works for you.
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Cheers indexical - the pandemic has had unexpected consequences for us all I think on top of normal day to day strife, and I have several additional stressors I could do without currently, but pretty much out of my control so I should ignore them but don’t!
I’ve spent several hours tidying part of the current listening room moving things that have probably been just left there since the start of lockdown, a lot more to do - lockdown seems to have caused a strange paralysis of normal activities I find. I think it’s the fact that as the kids are barely at school and I’m working from home there is very little time when I’m purely on my own to get on and do things without distraction as I’m normally more productive without anyone else around!
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I sometimes wonder if atmospheric pressure plays a big part in why the systems sometimes sounds off? Just remember if you played your speakers in a vacuum you wouldn’t hear any sound. Therefore, I conclude, that air pressure must affect how the sound travels to our ears. I often find that when my hi-fi sounds good, so does my tv sound and the system in car.
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I suspect it does, and add to that feeling bunged up due to hayfever despite the rain it may be a perfect storm sonically!
I know when things are good for me. It’s when I can’t tell, nor care, what the source is. Vinyl, cd or streaming. Amount of times I’ve physically had to look at the pre amp to check.
Recently I was looking at the qutest to see which filter it was on ( green actually) , but it was the turntable that was playing.
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I would go back to a passive set and swap the SBL’s for a pair of NEAT speakers.
hi @Alley_Cat
so many people i talk to have the same lockdown-paralysis even if they don’t have the same level of day-to-day responsibilities as you. being retired i have a lot of time when things could be done - but somehow it doesn’t happen. i think we all need to accept the strength of the effect the situation is having on us - and take it easy. in your case you have sorted any major issues with the system by getting it serviced. everything else people have mentioned is probably having an effect too so i would take a break and come back to this - maybe several times over
I do have an itch to look at different speakers and have done for some time - what was a decent active setup over 20 years ago may now struggle against some newer passive speakers with better amplification.
I’ve never had the fondness for the SBLs I oddly did with my Epos ES 14s.
Interesting to here others have felt the same. If I look back at threads from early in the lockdown I think I said several times I was actually hoping I might get a lot of things done, and was looking forward to doing so, but it’s really been quite the opposite - again I think a big factor is other people being around more as I’m usually much better focussed spending several hours doing something when others aren’t in the house getting under my feet or vice versa!
That’s been one of several stressors - as I am able to work from home currently, I’ve been unable to support the kids as well as I’d have liked during the ‘school day’ as I’ve been working myself and Mrs AC is at work.
It tooks week to gain some familiarity with the electronic system they use., and frankly the amount of work and parental input required with some projects has simply meant they’ve not been done. The teachers have been setting work but a lot of it has been impractical without parental supervision or assistance. As I’m generally not able to help in the day my son often goes to his elder sister for help, this affects her ability to get things done. It must be even worse with 3 or more! The IT requirements are beyond many families I suspect, we fortunately got our kids laptops last Christmas which I didn’t really want to but it’s been quite a fortuitous decision in the grand scheme of things.
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