To stack or not to stack?

Note that word "supposedly". Moreover, measure their best, fine, but sound their best? How can you tell that? And I wouldn't call 40°C that high - good heavens, that's a hottish Melbourne January day! In other words, they sound their best at basically a highish ambient temperature. Big deal.

In short, as to the matter of whether temperature of components has any effect on sound (especially considering the mass of other variables in there, as Warren mentions), the only possible verdict is that of Scottish jurisprudence; not proven.

 

Tones the point I was trying to make is that temperature does have an effect on electron flow.
I apologise for using the word "supposedly", I put it in because they were someone else's claims that 40 degrees was optimal.
However Ionic conduction is known to be temperature dependant.

IMHO this is a bold claim.
Just because you can't hear a difference does not mean that one does not exist.

I have no problem with you stating that you cannot hear a difference.
I do however disagree with you stating that a difference does not exist because you cannot hear one.

 

i agree with that Tones, just because it may measure electronicaly at its best doesnt mean that it will sound the best

 

It may not sound the best but it may sound different.

 

Ok, here's a song for yer
Over a six month period I analyised some where in the region of 150+ cables for a/c mains transmission, set up a test rig, with 8 differnent sensor points between the a/c wall socket and input to final desitantion shall we say, tried cables from off the shelf newie and Eyre standard sparky wire you house stuff, to serious exoctia (not fancy us mains cables, but wire for non mentiable stuff, what did this prove/give evidence of?, well as I spent the time money and effort I'm not going to go to much in to detail, surfice to say, an awful lot of cables, gave near identical readings, did they sound the same though , some top notch stuff, give rise to some very odd readings, did it sound good? can't say, depends purely on what your after.
But one things for certain, the theroy and reality don't always cross by a long a shot.
I've also measured 15 different mains outlets in the gloucestershire area, at different times during the day again over a 6 month period, recorded voltage variants between 217 & 253 volts once we even got 120+ volts when a phase dropped out at a substation.
Stick to using your ears, if you can't hear a different, crack a can, crank up the vibes and chill, if not then call us on .................
Wm

 

Agreed 1000%

I don't think I ever stated that, Warren, in fact, I've always been happy to acknowledge that my not hearing these alleged differences may be part of my perception (or lack thereof). The point is, the difference does not exist for me, so it's wrong for people to insist that there is one. It only exists for those who hear a difference, for whatever reason, and that can be a result of anything from real golden ears to applied wishful thinking.

 

Perhaps, Tone, but the critical question you missed out on is - whose reality? I think we have established that everyone in this business makes his or her own, n'est-ce pas? Our hearing and perception are as individual as we are, and your reality (the validity of which I accept completely) may not coincide with mine.

 

I'm with Tones, mostly. Valve gear does have a warm-up period (although it can be as short as a few minutes IME with the EAR preamp and phono stage I was using), but I don't think my CDP or amps do. In fact, Sonneteer don't bother with a stand-by option, just a power switch at the front, and suggest turning their gear off when not in use, for the simple reason that it saves electricity. An admirable attitude. I leave my preamp on standby simply because the power switch isn't easily reached, but everything else (including the active speakers) gets turned off when not in use. It sounds pretty damned fine from cold to me. The Naim forum fantasies about gear taking weeks to warm up optimally are just silly, IMO.

-- Ian

 

It's a honest point Tones, I do have a vested interest, however some things DO work, others a complete B/S.
I did have some intersting results, even repeated them a few times, just to make sure the data was accurate given the curcumstances.
This debate will bo doubt for ever enter, the space time continum, never to be fully resolved un til the annals of time.
Me, I'm on planet 236, always been 'odd me' Wm

 

I'm totally with you on that one Ian.

Michael.

 

Having considered the advice received, in between the heated debate, I plan to stack the FM Tuner on top of the CDP, making sure that the tuner is switched off when the CDP is in use, to be on the safe side.

The DVD player will stay on the shelf under the TV with a 7 meter co-axial lead (made from 75 ohm low loss satllite cable) feeding the digital input of the DAC.

The amp, DAC, etc will stay on separate shelves.

Any comments?

 

YES
do you hear any difference? (I don't mean the wind that blows outside )

 

Good question indeed.

 

Differerce between what?
Apart from the wind!

 

stacked or not stacked

 

As I said in my post, "I PLAN to stack the FM Tuner on top of the CDP, making sure that the tuner is switched off when the CDP is in use, to be on the safe side."

That is why the question, "Any comments?

 

ah, misread your post:shame:

 

YES, BM keep focused on your thread, not on the wind

 

To stack or not to stack? That is the question!
May be a bit of both?
Any comments?

 

Haven't got much choice - space restricts the layout, so I've got two stacks:

Stack one:

+ Pioneer DV-350 DVD Player
+ Sony MDS-JE480 MD Deck
+ NAD C521BEE CD player
+ Adding a VCR soon

Stack two:

+ Pro-Ject Debut II Turntable
+ Yamaha HTR-5540RDS AV receiver

Regarding leaving kit on/warming up - I used to be a believer that this did make a difference. However, I'm not so sure now - my system hasn't been powered up since Thursday evening, but whilst currently listening to a CD now, I can't really notice a difference between my system being left on for an hour or so before, from playing cold from power on.