emaidel was right about the Hi-Fi Tuning fuses

[poppachubby]

When you go to a typical big box retailer (Best Buy, Fry's, etc), what kind of sound do you hear? Tipped up bass and treble. Especially the upper bass. Boom. Sizzle. "Like, totally kewl, dood". When you see a "smiley face" profile on an equalizer. That is anything but neutral. That is why some folks tend to favor mid-bass rich speakers like JBLs and the like. Neutral bass never sounds "heavy" or "bloated". It is sensed as much as heard. The same is true of the opposite extreme. Some folks (like one in this thread) perceive more treble to be better treble or "improved clarity". Such is truly not the case. Truly neutral systems sound almost dark until real HF content comes along. Where it emerges from a totally black background and shows its beauty. Speaker manufacturers have been playing against these perceptions for years. The extremely popular JBL L-100 (or pro 4310) exhibited carefully placed peaks around 55 hz and 5 khz as graphed here by JBL. Fun for good 'ol rock n roll? Sure. Neutral? Not!

My forest of bass traps in the main listening room helps to render flat bass response (+/- 1.5 db from 25 hz to 200 hz).

rw

My "rock n roll smile" is extremely subtle and right now, has zero settings for the treble. Personally, I find bass capability a way to dial in a nice warm tone. Nothing excessive, but boosted to add warmth to what I'm hearing. I am also partial to bass as I am a bass guitar player.

That said, I enjoy presence but not boom. Right now, I am doing alot of my listening through my computer's card into my dac. I am using a 2.1 concept by way of an RCA A/V receiver, 2 JBL front sattelites and a KLH sub. I am 50/50 headphones to speakers. This set up serves practical purposes, 1) listening while on the comp and 2) low levels/headphones because kids are asleep.

I am REALLY enjoying this arrangement, so I plugged in my TT as well. I find I am able to dial in a really nice, "natural" sound that's super fun at the same time.

What's the point to all of this blathering? I am curious what you feel the key component is to gaining natural sound. This question is loaded, so how about, do you rely more on your amp, source or speakers to achieve your goal?

[E-Stat]

Nothing excessive, but boosted to add warmth to what I'm hearing. I am also partial to bass as I am a bass guitar player.

Nothing wrong with choosing your favorite tone since there really isn't the notion of "correct" with electric instruments. It would be different, however, with an acoustical string bass. I like the taut, well defined styles of guys like Stanley Clarke (on fretless) and Yes' Chris Squire. Who do you like?

I am curious what you feel the key component is to gaining natural sound. This question is loaded, so how about, do you rely more on your amp, source or speakers to achieve your goal?

First of all, everything matters to an extent. For an overall factor, my answer depends upon the range. For the low end, it is dominated by the speaker and room (hopefully treated). It is only when mid and upper bass peaks are tamed that one hears good bass definition and true first octave extension. For me, there is nothing like the

For me, top end smoothness and true resolution are dominated more by the electronics than by the driver. The upper three octaves contain all the harmonic sins of everything that precedes it. I am especially sensitive to the hard, edgy and thin signature of mediocre electronics and the influence of untrapped RFI. It is fatiguing to the ear and robs the beauty of the delicacy of instruments that live in the uppermost frequencies. The solution begins with power conditioning at the source and continues with using few and simple amplification stages. My vintage system is an example of an eminently smooth, if not super extended system using a double pair of New Advents speakers. Their tweeters have virtually no response above about 15 kHz. It is the source and electronics that make the day. A Pioneer Elite changer is used as transport to a Manley DAC using a tube output stage that drives a Threshold Stasis amp running pure class A into the power levels at which I listen. Here we have a minimal number of stages (no preamp) using low dielectric constant interconnects along with source and DAC running through a power conditioner and amp using a JPS Labs power cord. Low level resolution is superb. Like the main system, it might sound a touch dull on top initially but is devoid of the false brightness found with many systems. True HF content comes through clearly and softly.

rw

[poppachubby]

Nothing wrong with choosing your favorite tone since there really isn't the notion of "correct" with electric instruments. It would be different, however, with an acoustical string bass. I like the taut, well defined styles of guys like Stanley Clarke (on fretless) and Yes' Chris Squire. Who do you like?


First of all, everything matters to an extent. For an overall factor, my answer depends upon the range. For the low end, it is dominated by the speaker and room (hopefully treated). It is only when mid and upper bass peaks are tamed that one hears good bass definition and true first octave extension. For me, there is nothing like the

For me, top end smoothness and true resolution are dominated more by the electronics than by the driver. The upper three octaves contain all the harmonic sins of everything that precedes it. I am especially sensitive to the hard, edgy and thin signature of mediocre electronics and the influence of untrapped RFI. It is fatiguing to the ear and robs the beauty of the delicacy of instruments that live in the uppermost frequencies. The solution begins with power conditioning at the source and continues with using few and simple amplification stages. My vintage system is an example of an eminently smooth, if not super extended system using a double pair of New Advents speakers. Their tweeters have virtually no response above about 15 kHz. It is the source and electronics that make the day. A Pioneer Elite changer is used as transport to a Manley DAC using a tube output stage that drives a Threshold Stasis amp running pure class A into the power levels at which I listen. Here we have a minimal number of stages (no preamp) using low dielectric constant interconnects along with source and DAC running through a power conditioner and amp using a JPS Labs power cord. Low level resolution is superb. Like the main system, it might sound a touch dull on top initially but is devoid of the false brightness found with many systems. True HF content comes through clearly and softly.

rw

The Manley dac, is it everything it seems to be E-Stat? Is there anywhere to go from there?

[E-Stat]

The Manley dac, is it everything it seems to be E-Stat? Is there anywhere to go from there?

Anywhere to go? Absolutely. Mine is the relatively modest Sigma Delta unit from the early 90s. I bought it used for $500. There is a pic of it in the vintage system labeled "Ariston RD-11s/SME 3009". It is the black box on top of an older Toshiba transport in the shelf below the table.

Their current version is far better with balanced outputs, 24/96 capability, far larger and separate power supply, remote, etc.

Wave DAC

rw