Stereo roll call!

[piece-it pete]

Howdy folks.

I know there's a sticky on this but it just ain't the same.

I feel like I've come such a long way since I first reared my ugly head here back in '02. Then, I had a cheapo Sony HT in a box and thought Bose was good lol!

And it's mostly due to the good folks here. My heart (and ear ) felt thanks to you all.

Current system:

Hafler 110 pre
Marchand XM1 active crossover, set at 45hz
Marantz 1152dc, amp section for mains
HK 630, amp section for subs
Dahlquist DQ-10's (mains)(slightly modified)
Hsu SW12's (subs)
Phillips DVD 951 dvd/cd
Sansui TU-217 tuner
Dual 604 TT w/ inexpensive AudioTechnica cart.
And, sacrilege , homemade CAT5 wires (10 ga)

Strengths:

Rocks on rock & classical alike.
Can be airy and open.
Lows, as you can imagine!
Price/value

Weaknesses:

My room rings at 80 hz. I've made some progress but it's still present.
The Phillips dvd/cd, middling at best.
I'm still not entirely happy about the upper mid to highs. It lacks..... something. Maybe the maggies I briefly owned spoiled me!
The HK is barely adequate. I have a feeling the lows will only improve with the amplification.
XM1. It's OK, but somehow the word "brittle" comes to mind, it's not BAD but, you know.
My experience with the Hafler leads me to believe that an even better pre would make a big difference. Of course this applies to EVERY SINGLE COMPONENT! I'd better get cracking!!

In short, in 2 years I've developed a case of this particular disease, a bad case. I've always tinkered with electronics and stuff but jeez, this is insane! The SO absolutely agrees!!!

So, what's your story?

Pete

PS Maybe a change of philosophy is in order. Lowthers with tubes??

[Toady]

about 5 years worth invested here... everything is second generation high-end for me.

Musical Fidelity A3.2 CD Player
NAD C160 Preamp
Adcom GFA-5500 Power Amp
B&W CDM 1NT Loudspeakers w/stands
Nordost Magic Interconnects
Audiolink Red Dragon Bi-wire Speaker Cable
Mapleshade Clearview Power Strip

strengths:

no glaring weaknesses . does a nice job of imaging, soundstage can get nice and deep. bass is well controlled and refined. perfect for small apartment/neighbors.

weaknesses:

the room. the space is a little bare/harsh... more rugs and "stuff" will help quite a bit. i (attribute the occasional smeared detail to the room).

next upgrade:

not sure really. i know it won't be the player. everything else is fair game. (as i type, i'm leaning towards interconnects...)

[Woochifer]

Wow, all this upgraditis and we're not even all the way through spring yet! Rather than ponder component or cable upgrades, to me, by far the best investment anyone can make is to address issues with the room acoustics. IMO, it's the second most important (or tied for first with the speakers) variable to account for, yet it's the most oft neglected part of most audio systems. My home theater system "1.0" is now finished, although I'm still considering tweaks with the room treatments, like going with higher absorption rigid fiberglas panels and buying (or building) bass traps. My system description is linked below.

http://gallery.audioreview.com/showp...cat=500&page=1

Toady -

If you're making notations about weaknesses in the room, then an investment in some bass traps, wall coverings, and/or acoustic panels would seem a higher value addition than interconnect upgrades. Furniture and "stuff" most definitely help, but a lot of time domain problems require some strategically placed absorbing material at the reflection points.

P-i-P -

If the room rings at 80 Hz, you might have a standing wave occurring at that frequency. Might be time to experiment with a parametric EQ (I regard this as a necessity for most systems with a subwoofer), bass traps, or a different speaker positioning. My room had a +14 db peak at 88 Hz, which made the bass very boomy, and the parametric EQ got rid of that and allowed me to set the subwoofer level higher for a fuller sounding bass without any hint of boominess.

[poneal]

Woochifer, how does a parametric equalizer work? Does it figure out what standing waves you have and automatically account for it or do you have to play tones and go around with an SPL meter and then set the equalizer to account for this imbalance? Also, who makes good parametric equalizers? Do you have to have a tape loop on your recevier? I'm not familiar with these equalizers so any information will help and maybe some links as well. Thanks.

[Woochifer]

Woochifer, how does a parametric equalizer work? Does it figure out what standing waves you have and automatically account for it or do you have to play tones and go around with an SPL meter and then set the equalizer to account for this imbalance? Also, who makes good parametric equalizers? Do you have to have a tape loop on your recevier? I'm not familiar with these equalizers so any information will help and maybe some links as well. Thanks.

A parametric EQ is different from the graphic equalizers you might have grown up with because it allows you to set the frequency center point and the bandwidth (# of octaves above and below the frequency you're adjusting), and adjust the levels for whatever frequency/bandwidth combination you specify. Graphic EQs have fixed frequency intervals and bandwidths, and because of this they are not especially effective for taming low frequency problems. For example, if your equalizer has a huge peak occurring at 32 Hz and the center point for a graphic EQ is 35 Hz, then the adjustment will not be optimal. With a parametric EQ, you can zero in on that particular frequency and make a precise adjustment.

In a typical room, standing waves will create peaks and nulls at your listening position. You identify these by doing frequency response measurements, either with RTA software and a mic, or with a SPL meter and a test disc. After measuring, you identify the problem frequencies, set the bandwidth, and make the necessary adjustment. Parametric EQs work great at eliminating large peaks, they're not as effective with nulls. With subwoofers, they can make a world of improvement by eliminating the boominess and allowing the user to enjoy fuller bass by setting the level to the nominal output rather than letting the boomy peaks dictate the settings. Because most AV receivers do not have tape monitors and don't have premain inputs for all channels, parametric EQs are mostly used with subwoofers in home theaters.

The Behringer Feedback Destroyer is the EQ that I use, and it's the most frequently cited model on this board at least because it's cheap ($120), it works, and there are a lot of people out there who use the BFD in their home theaters. It's not the most user friendly unit out there (its intended use is eliminating feedback in live audio rigs), so there are other options from Rane and others that are much simpler to use, but more expensive.

High end processors have included parametric EQs for years, and now Yamaha, Denon, and Pioneer have begun incorporating automatic parametric room calibration features into their newer receivers. Those features work by taking a response measurement and then applying the parametric filtering automatically. This is potentially a very powerful feature because the parametric EQ does not only work in the low frequencies like when you use one with a subwoofer.

[92135011]

about 5 years worth invested here... everything is second generation high-end for me.

Musical Fidelity A3.2 CD Player
NAD C160 Preamp
Adcom GFA-5500 Power Amp
B&W CDM 1NT Loudspeakers w/stands
Nordost Magic Interconnects
Audiolink Red Dragon Bi-wire Speaker Cable
Mapleshade Clearview Power Strip

strengths:

no glaring weaknesses . does a nice job of imaging, soundstage can get nice and deep. bass is well controlled and refined. perfect for small apartment/neighbors.

weaknesses:

the room. the space is a little bare/harsh... more rugs and "stuff" will help quite a bit. i (attribute the occasional smeared detail to the room).

next upgrade:

not sure really. i know it won't be the player. everything else is fair game. (as i type, i'm leaning towards interconnects...)

Yo dude...you just said that rugs and stuff would help quite a bit! Thats your next upgrade!

[Toady]

yeah i know guys

the room upgrades are a given. some of the room "upgrades" would be happening even if there was no music being playing in there (rugs, for instance).

i'm just thinking that component-wise, interconnects could be next. i'm just keeping my eyes out for deals and stuff to test drive.