What alters sound more?

[RealMarkDeneen]

23 hours ago, Zen Traveler said:

What do you think about room treatment in a dedicated HT or music room?

 

Absolutely if that can be done. I'm usually not wanting to have a living room look like a sound studio, and I never had the resources to buy a house big enough to have a room just dedicated to audio system. So, in my case - it's always a compromise. But hey, if I had the scratch for a big house with a large dedicated room, I'd go the whole mile.

[CWelsh]

On 7/31/2023 at 1:04 PM, the real Duke Spinner said:

I find Beer helps the enjoyment process

My friend makes some great brownies that seem to improve much of the source material I listen to. I have no idea how chocolate and eggs can do that, but it works better than new cables. 😉

 

[JJkizak]

DAC, room, distortion of cymbals mixed with chorus voices at medium/high power levels

JJK

[billybob]

2 hours ago, CWelsh said:

My friend makes some great brownies that seem to improve much of the source material I listen to. I have no idea how chocolate and eggs can do that, but it works better than new cables. 😉

 

It's the flaveonoids man...

[babadono]

3 hours ago, CWelsh said:

My friend makes some great brownies that seem to improve much of the source material I listen to. I have no idea how chocolate and eggs can do that, but it works better than new cables. 😉

 

In Iowa no less..what's the world coming to..

 

[Zen Traveler]

8 hours ago, RealMarkDeneen said:

 

Absolutely if that can be done. I'm usually not wanting to have a living room look like a sound studio, and I never had the resources to buy a house big enough to have a room just dedicated to audio system.

Neither have I. Otoh, we converted our den to a library, and then into a Home Theater, which has bookcases and shelves pretty much all over it and found they work great as "room treatment--Win/Win and the wife likes it as well to get that bonus Win. 😁 

[KT88]

41 minutes ago, Zen Traveler said:

Neither have I. Otoh, we converted our den to a library, and then into a Home Theater, which has bookcases and shelves pretty much all over it and found they work great as "room treatment--Win/Win and the wife likes it as well to get that bonus Win. 😁 

That's the same with us. The book wall is not only a positive sound treatment in terms of diffusion. The wall itself resonates less at bass frequencies than without bookshelves. It drones less and it's a drier and more defined bass. You notice that in the next room, too.

[RealMarkDeneen]

14 hours ago, Zen Traveler said:

Neither have I. Otoh, we converted our den to a library, and then into a Home Theater, which has bookcases and shelves pretty much all over it and found they work great as "room treatment--Win/Win and the wife likes it as well to get that bonus Win. 😁 

 

Sounds good. Happy wife, happy life! 👌

[the real Duke Spinner]

No Wife even more happy. 🙂

[KT88]

20 minutes ago, the real Duke Spinner said:

No Wife even more happy. 🙂

Well, a question as old as mankind. With a woman it can be bad, but without also. With woman it can be good, but without also. With Klipsch speakers it is always good.

[Shakeydeal]

22 hours ago, RealMarkDeneen said:

 

Absolutely if that can be done. I'm usually not wanting to have a living room look like a sound studio, and I never had the resources to buy a house big enough to have a room just dedicated to audio system. So, in my case - it's always a compromise. But hey, if I had the scratch for a big house with a large dedicated room, I'd go the whole mile.

 

While I don't have a big house, I have a dedicated two channel room (don't give two s&*ts  about home theater). When my wife and I were first married and were house shopping, it was at the very top of the list of "must haves". We passed up what I considered better homes because they didn't have "the room". When we finally found it, I knew it was going to be a good space and it is. So I feel fortunate not to have to set up an audio system in our living room, which would have been a nightmare sonically. I would probably just buy a good headphone rig if I had to do that.

 

 

[Scott Grammer]

On 7/29/2023 at 6:39 PM, Idontknow said:

In your guys opinion, what has more impact on differences in sound in most cases. I'm not necessarily saying for the better or for worse. If you had to choose what alters it the most. Of course there's other components, but let's just stick to these. I'm curious what the average one turns out to be.

 

DAC?

Room?

Preamp?

Amplifier?

Speakers?

Recording quality?

 

Thanks,

---daniel

In order, I'd say:

1. Room

2. Speakers.

3. Recording quality

4. Amplifier (although, unless it's a really sorry specimen or the speaker exhibit an unusual load, the amp should not have a major influence)

5. Preamp

6. DAC (unless it too is a really sorry specimen).

[Shakeydeal]

Quote

Amplifier (although, unless it's a really sorry specimen or the speaker exhibit an unusual load, the amp should not have a major influence)

 

I disagree with this. I have had some amps come through here that if they were the only thing available, I would have walked away from horns completely. And these were tube amps, so no finger pointing at SS. And I have had other amps that bring out the absolute best in any speaker. So even though I've never believed that amp = amp, it's even more crucial with high sensitivity horn designs to get this part right.

[Zen Traveler]

5 hours ago, Shakeydeal said:

 

I disagree with this. I have had some amps come through here that if they were the only thing available, I would have walked away from horns completely. And these were tube amps, so no finger pointing at SS. And I have had other amps that bring out the absolute best in any speaker. So even though I've never believed that amp = amp, it's even more crucial with high sensitivity horn designs to get this part right.

When I saw the original question I thought differentiating between SS & Tubes would be important for the 2-channel aficionado. I understand the latter could affect the sound, but the former would be at the bottom of the list as long as it had enough power to drive the speakers efficiently at the level you wanted. 

[Shakeydeal]

13 minutes ago, Zen Traveler said:

When I saw the original question I thought differentiating between SS & Tubes would be important for the 2-channel aficionado. I understand the former could affect the sound, but the latter would be at the bottom of the list as long as it had enough power to drive the speakers efficiently at the level you wanted. 

 

Just to make sure I understand. You are saying that if the tube amp has enough power, there is little effect on the sound?

[Zen Traveler]

1 hour ago, Shakeydeal said:

 

Just to make sure I understand. You are saying that if the tube amp has enough power, there is little effect on the sound?

First off, I've never owned a tube amp but have always heard/read they can color the sound(i.e. make it warmer, for the most part) but have enough current to drive speakers to cover impedance dips. If you have a smaller room or don't listen incredibly loud it only takes a few watts.

 

Otoh, most SS amps sound essentially the same to each other as long as you have enough current to address possible wide swings in speaker impedance, espessialy when it goes under 4 Ohms at loud volume or in a large room...

 

If you start hearing distortion then the chances are in either situation you don't have enough current to drive the speakers at that volume. That is my understanding. 

[Marvel]

18 hours ago, KT88 said:

That's the same with us. The book wall is not only a positive sound treatment in terms of diffusion. The wall itself resonates less at bass frequencies than without bookshelves. It drones less and it's a drier and more defined bass. You notice that in the next room, too.

If the books are not on the shelves with the spines lined up, the bookshelves will work like a randomized QRD. It's not just having a librarian that makes libraries quiet, but the rows of uneven books.

[KT88]

Please forgive me how terribly untidy it is with us at the moment of the photo from just now. The third photo is the most interesting. For the reason that everything sounds better since books are on the other side of the wall.  They actually cause the wall is no longer audible. I didn't know before that the wall is audible without books. But since the books are on the opposite side, it's much less resonant. The second photo is the back of the listening room.

 

 

[Scott Grammer]

4 hours ago, Zen Traveler said:

When I saw the original question I thought differentiating between SS & Tubes would be important for the 2-channel aficionado. I understand the former could affect the sound, but the latter would be at the bottom of the list as long as it had enough power to drive the speakers efficiently at the level you wanted. 

It has been my recent experience that the interaction between the amplifier (in this case, three amplifiers, one of which has been tried with two different types of output tubes) and the speakers can have a serious effect on the sound of a speaker which presents an unusual load. My '68 Cornwalls do just that. They swing from a low of four ohms at very low frequencies and at the trough between the two bass resonances, to a high of nearly 70 ohms in the midrange. My SE tube amps don't care much for that, but my SS amp cares not one whit. Still, changing from EL34's to 6L6GC's in my "CCAR" tube amp makes for a pretty decent sounding system. The 6L6's have a lower plate impedance, which makes for more current output. There is still some shrillness in the mids at certain frequencies, but that has been noticed on all the amps, and so I expect it is either the response curve of the midrange drivers, or it is due to the interaction between the speakers and the room. I'm not sure which it is.

 

Edited August 2, 2023 by Scott Grammer
left out a phrase

[Scott Grammer]

4 minutes ago, KT88 said:

Please forgive me how terribly untidy it is with us at the moment of the photo from just now. The third photo is the most interesting. For the reason that everything sounds better since books are on the other side of the wall.  They actually cause the wall is no longer audible. I didn't know before that the wall is audible without books. But since the books are on the opposite side, it's much less resonant. The second photo is the back of the listening room.

 

 

My lord, those things are HUGE. A Mac 275 is not a small amp, but those speakers make it look tiny!