Hi from new member, and help needed :)

forgot to say what setup on speakers,
toed in slightly and on dreadnaught stands (sand filled)

the room would make an obvious option for the problem as like you said it is one thing that is always different from the demo.

Im working on a mains filter and some better mains cableing at the moment so hopefully that will have some effect.

Im thinking of asking the shop (Audio Excellence) if i can take home a power amp and some cables to try out for a few days, hopefully they will be favourable to this idea

 

well i spoke to the shop and they seem to think cable and amp,
they have offered a home dem on qed silver (only stuff they have ready for home demo) and a rotel1070 pa
any opinions on those 2 items?

 

QED Qudos Silver won't reduce sibilance. Then again it shouldn't make it any worse either.

Chris

 

what about nordost fltaling gold?
also do you really think a power amp will help to cure this?

 

Personally, I think flatline gold and silver cable is the wrong direction for you.

IF you want a more mellow cable - a solid copper core like DNM would be to my mind a safer bet.

Id ask someone like Lilolee more about DNM - hes had more experience of it.

IF it were my sytem and my house - Id be exploring the possiblilty of a warmer sounding amp - perhaps a world audio valve kit, or a Class A integrated, or basically any product with a warmer sound.. - something that doesnt sound sibilant, more more tuneful and earthy. The sheer wattage will I think be less of an issue if the amp is less transistory and shouty.

Why not consider trying some second hand amplifiers out?

We could help direct you on that, if you would like us to.

Cheers
Chris

 

If you liked the sound of the Naim cable (NACA5) in the shop, why not try it at home? Ask them if they'll lend you the actual cable they used in the dem (NACA5 can pretty harsh straight of the roll), that way you can control at least one of the factors that have changed since the dem.

 

Lots of ideas to play with
Im also considering kimber 8TC or VS

Bottleneck, i would appreciate any help in that area, new or second hand
I do like what im hearing now apart from the sibilence in the one area, it does seem to be around the frequency of symbols and higher vocals (if that makes sense) but higher up is not so bad

 

I have split the thread at this junture, as it was unfair to penance who was getting good advice in a previously constructive thread for his needs.

As the remainder of the old thread was predominantly concerned with FFRC i have renamed the new thread thus with the posts which were previously attached to this.

cheers

 

Penance

Just a cheap tryout would be to go to you local DIY store and get some 30amp mains cable. Very inflexible, but this solid core may be just for you and cheap at about 30p/metre.

If you like it look for some 2nd hand DNM Reson. I used this for about 5 years until some Isolda came along.

 

lee,
sounds like you just described naca 5 to me
and i use it
cheers


julian

 

To second Lilo

30 Amp mains cable is surprisingly good, far better then you'd expect (the 30Amp solid core ring main stuff that is). It's cheap too, but a bit hard to hide being inflexible as lee says.

Personally, I prefer it to DNM Reson, but that's probably just me

Cheers

 

Are you certain the "sibilance" is coming from the speakers? Perhaps it's something (glass, vase, lamp....) resonating in the room? I used to have a small glass window above my door which at certain frequencies would bounce all over the place and give a sort of sibilance effect. Good ol' blu tack save the day there though

 

Ju

Maybe when I said inflexible I meant Tone opinions on cables

I some lengths of Exposure stuff if you want to try that. Looks similar to Niam but a but more bendy:banana:

 

Thanks mate

Lee, thanks for the idea, ill see if i can get hold of some tonight

MO! you may be right although it does sound more in the music than outside, if you know what i mean

 

Penance,

I second the ideas about the speaker cables, but IMO you should deal with things in order, starting with the mains. You may find that if you get a dull sounding speaker cable first, you might end up over compensating for the faults in the rest of the system, which will then cause you trouble down the line with future upgrades.

Try to get some mains cables on SOR, or borrow from a friend. Also dont pay too much heed to what the dealer says, in all likelihood he just wants to sell you another box!

Cheers, Robbo

 

LoL, all my friends think im mad for paying out on hifi, so no borrowing from them

Ive got some sheilded cable on order and a wattgate 320 to try a diy screened cable.
If it makes an improvement ill probably buy premade for the rest of the system. TBH it wasnt cheap enuff on the diy route to make it worth while

Robo, what mains cable would you recomend to start with, and do i need to be looking at a filter/conditioner aswell?

 

lee,
cal vs wadial at dawn then.
is the exposure cable ok with naim amps? i wouldn't mind trying it.

penance,
loads of good suggestions there but i'd still hold off trying anything for a while. not that you're going to listen cos i can tell that the bug's bitten and bitten hard . good luck with it though.
cheers


julian

 

As Ju says, there is no rush, let the speakers settle down first.

you could try the £50 Eupen, or RA Yello for starters, one on the CDP and one on the amp.

Robbo

 

Do eupen do a 30 day money back thing? cant remember...
RA certainly do... if theyre still doing that buy one get one free if you quote 'blah blah' might be a good bet for a trial.

Mad hippy posted the code you have to quote .. anyone remember it?


Ive been trying to look for bargain amps, but cant see anything really really special. I'll let you know if I see anything exceptional.


Cheers
Chris

NB Sold my DAC ALREADY!!!!!!!! YEEEEEHAAAAAAA california here I come... ....

ta da dee dee
ta da dee dee
ta da dum dum
ta da dum dum
I wish they all could be california Dacs

 

I want to answer this, but have to declare I am very closely associated with people who market cables commercially, so with that in mind here goes:

This isn't helped by several factors. Not least that you as a private individual have to buy all the ingredients at retail price.

Then there's the will it / won't it work , or be better than my existing cable the much revered / derided "Super XYZ"? And when you've finished some bright spark lends you another cable for 20 / 40 / 200 quid that, while probably actually no better in absolute terms, does actually fit into your system so well that you've just got to have it because "look at the improvement for the money..... etc. etc".

Then you go and recommend it to your mates, they try it and it's awful. They tell you this and if you get to listen to it in their system you might even have to agree with them so what gives?

My point is, the magic cable for you and your system probably doesn't exist, because you haven't bought (or more likely made) it yet. It's the same for mine. Some are better than others, but the "magic" cable hasn't yet been discovered as there is always one that does something I want better, but none of them do all I want better then anything else. Then it's down to which compromise fits, and price is as important as anything in that equation.

Going down the DIY route you probably can find that "magic cable". I wouldn't like to have to put a projected timescale or cost on that but I'm certain that it can be done. Commercial cables seem to be more broadly compatible generally, they can be optimised in areas by all sorts of (sometimes bizarre and not particularly obvious) means, but they tend to aim for the accepted performance that is likey to be precieved as "better" in Hi-Fi terms and then go on to deliver that performance reliably in the majority of systems. In this respect I tend to find that they don't tend to be very adventurous, certainly in the sub 500 quid bracket for interconnects for instance (IMO).

Hi-fi terms don't for it for everyone though either, for instance there is a whole raft of people who tend to shy away from anything obviously hi-fi sounding, and we tend to know then as the flat-earthers. This is a bit of an over simplification by all accounts, but nothing will ever appeal to everyone IMO.

The trick is then, if you have a DIY inclination, then keep going and don't be put off. You'll get there or surprisingly close sometimes. It's more difficult for me to sound objective over cabling as I do now have a vested interest which I am more than happy to declare. To be fair, one of the reasons I have a vested interest is to try to shift the status quo I've outlined above, but the fact remains I do so please treat what I say with that in mind.

If DIY is your bag, then the best of luck and the results will probably be pleasantly surprising, with the added satisfaction of having done it yourself. For everyone else, we're just trying to add to the pool of commercial things to try.

Cheers