Meeting a High Priest of the world of hi-fi BS.

[Profpointy]

One thing that has not been mentioned in the thread, but makes a big difference, is room acoustics.

I live in a Victorian terrace which has a large bow-fronted lounge, and most unfortunately, a high ceiling.

It's an echo chamber for hi-fi components, nothing sounds good in there.

Lots of hard surface is part of the problem, but I suspect the only effective cure would be to lower the ceiling.

Maybe excellent for something like a Bach cantata or some hildergard of bignen

 

[Profpointy]

Related to the room acoustics points above, I had some home made speakers, which were quite good to be fair, but had read in the magazines that having speakers on speaker stands really made a big difference. Had the money, so took too pairs of stands from the shop to try out, intending to buy the ones I preferred. First tried the £50 pair, and there really was a big difference from the beer crates I was using. Fair enough, the magazines aren't BS'ing for once, speakers stands are important. Then I tried the £150 stands - a fair wodge a the time - and they were different again. Damn, didn't really want to spend that much but the sound improvement is striking. Then out of curiosity I reverted my beer crates - mmm, maybe I prefer these to the expensive stands. I eventually concluded that each set up made significant differences to the sound, but other than the novelty of what you'd listened to last, I was hard pushed to decide which was better. I kept the beer crates, and returned both sets to the disappointed shop. Just to be clear the differences were not imaginary golden-ears subtle nuances but real major differences in sound that a cloth-ears could hear.

My current monster Kefs are floor standing, so that's one less thing to worry about at least. Not fired them up in our new house yet

 

[PapaZita]

I eventually concluded that each set up made significant differences to the sound, but other than the novelty of what you'd listened to last, I was hard pushed to decide which was better.

This is a really important point. Different is not necessarily better. The goal of hi-fi ought to be correctness (i.e. fidelity), but there is generally no available reference, or even agreement as to what the reference should be. So, we pursue what sounds "good", and are left vulnerable to various expensive versions of different.

 

[Fab Foodie]

Some people in my situation go for tapestry wall hangings to deaden the sound.

A clap test is instructive.

If the clap is dull and can only be heard once, all is well.

If the clap reverberates around the room, as in my case, an uphill battle with hi-fi awaits.

No problem where I am, @Hill Wimp has sooo much yarn, crochet blankets and soft furnishings around the place the room is deader than May's Brexit deal....

 

[Fab Foodie]

This is a really important point. Different is not necessarily better. The goal of hi-fi ought to be correctness (i.e. fidelity), but there is generally no available reference, or even agreement as to what the reference should be. So, we pursue what sounds "good", and are left vulnerable to various expensive versions of different.

Indeed, most of us are working towards something that's 'ideal' for us and our listening space, there's no such thing as a universal 'perfect'.

 

[Fab Foodie]

Related to the room acoustics points above, I had some home made speakers, which were quite good to be fair, but had read in the magazines that having speakers on speaker stands really made a big difference. Had the money, so took too pairs of stands from the shop to try out, intending to buy the ones I preferred. First tried the £50 pair, and there really was a big difference from the beer crates I was using. Fair enough, the magazines aren't BS'ing for once, speakers stands are important. Then I tried the £150 stands - a fair wodge a the time - and they were different again. Damn, didn't really want to spend that much but the sound improvement is striking. Then out of curiosity I reverted my beer crates - mmm, maybe I prefer these to the expensive stands. I eventually concluded that each set up made significant differences to the sound, but other than the novelty of what you'd listened to last, I was hard pushed to decide which was better. I kept the beer crates, and returned both sets to the disappointed shop. Just to be clear the differences were not imaginary golden-ears subtle nuances but real major differences in sound that a cloth-ears could hear.

My current monster Kefs are floor standing, so that's one less thing to worry about at least. Not fired them up in our new house yet

Anna Notherthing, regarding low frequencies, the room dimensions impact upon the lowest audible frequencies that can be heard in a given space. Your speakers may go as low as 20Hz, but unless the room is sufficiently large you'll never hear/feel that...unless you leave the door open, walk down the corridor into the kitchen and listen there ;-)

 

[Drago]

Not as bad as youd think. Half a wavelength at 20hz is approximately 28 feet. That's bigger than my living room, but I've been in plenty that are large enough to accommodate that with some ease.

 

[ColinJ]

The answer to poor room acoustics (and annoying other people with your choice of music and how loud you play it) is ... a decent pair of headphones!

 

[Grant Fondo]

I start from the assumption that geeksville means a target-rich environment, secondhand-wise. People are always upgrading - very often after very little use.

When I was after a cartridge I spent a fair bit of time on ebay, thoroughly researching any likely-looking candidates, getting out-bid, pressing on dauntless. It took awhile, but boy did I come up trumps in the end! And no, I'm not saying what I ended up with, because I have a permanent search set up to alert me to any new ones that come up (I like it that much I want to get a spare) - and I want as little competitive bidding as possible, thanks all the same.

So: ebay, online research, patience. You'll be listening to it for some time - it's worth investing some time to make sure you get it right.

But how would you know if the cartridge was bricked or not buying s/h? Is it just pot luck?
Seems a bit risky to me

 

[Globalti]

There's no mystery to acoustics; many rooms are too lively acoustically and high frequencies bounce around making it difficult to hear clearly, especially for older listeners whose ears are less able to filter out noise. There's a popular cafe near me, which has sloped ceilings so the noise was terrible, you had to shout to make yourself heard. However the last time I went there I noticed that they had installed sound-absorbing panels on the ceiling and the transformation was remarkable; large family groups were sitting at long tables conversing at reasonable volumes and the cafe was a much more pleasant place to be. We experienced the same when we bought an ex-MOD Land Rover 90, which was just a bare metal shell. The noise was terrible until I glued felt inside the roof, which soaked up all the nasty high-frequency clatter and made the engine a more bearable bass sound. For Manchester residents the Home cinema on Bridgwater Street has sound panels in the ceilings of the cafe and restaurant, making them pleasant places to sit quietly chatting. Just hanging curtains and fitting carpet in your room will make a massive difference, then sitting so that your ears are level with the speakers will make another difference.

 

[swee'pea99]

But how would you know if the cartridge was bricked or not buying s/h? Is it just pot luck?
Seems a bit risky to me

I always swap a message or two, get a feel for the seller. Just last week I walked away from something because the seller ignored a query. If he's the kind of person who ignores a polite enquiry, he's not a person I want to do business with. It's usually pretty easy to get a fair idea of the cut of the seller's jib. Plus you have the reassurance of ebay/paypal refunds if it does go sour - for good or ill, they pretty much always side with the buyer. Put it this way - I've done well over 1000 deals on ebay, and the only time I've got burned was when a 'cashmere' jumper turned up bearing a label proudly proclaiming '100% acrylic'...but I'd got it for 99p, so I had a laugh and put it in the charity shop pile.

 

[keithmac]

We have Sonos speakers all over the house, sounds good enough to me (FLAC files from our server and Deezer Premium account).

Some have voice control, ideal in the kitchen if you want some music on after you've started washing up (no dishwasher for us)..

I've heard they get lambasted by the audiophiles but imho they are a very capable speaker, the Sonos One is a little gem.

Never had the Sub over 1/4 volume so a bit of a waste really!.

 

[Proto]

One thing that has not been mentioned in the thread, but makes a big difference, is room acoustics.

I live in a Victorian terrace which has a large bow-fronted lounge, and most unfortunately, a high ceiling. but I suspect the only effective cure would be to lower the ceiling.

You could always raise the floor ....

 

[MontyVeda]

With regards to speaker stands... I noticed that my (floor standing) speakers sounded better when i was sat on the floor than when sat on the sofa, and figured that it was the height of the bass ports relative to the height of my ears, so made a couple of stands about 10" high. That made a difference.

Regarding other stands... a young lad i used to work with showed me a TV corner unit he was planning on buying. It cost about £120 and had glass shelves and I wasn't impressed. I suggested he could get something much cheaper, and nicer. "Read the review" he said. So I did... now I might be naive on this one, but how the hell can a TV corner unit improve the picture quality of the telly on top of it???

 

[Smudge]

With regards to speaker stands... I noticed that my (floor standing) speakers sounded better when i was sat on the floor than when sat on the sofa, and figured that it was the height of the bass ports relative to the height of my ears, so made a couple of stands about 10" high. That made a difference.

Regarding other stands... a young lad i used to work with showed me a TV corner unit he was planning on buying. It cost about £120 and had glass shelves and I wasn't impressed. I suggested he could get something much cheaper, and nicer. "Read the review" he said. So I did... now I might be naive on this one, but how the hell can a TV corner unit improve the picture quality of the telly on top of it???

It doesn't of course.... although those glass shelf units do immeasurably improve dust magnetism.
Truly hideous items of furniture.