It is just about one month since I have posted here, but some interesting things have been going on. I did finally get around to sorting my rack out. My main rack is a modular design, it is not the best rack in the world, but at least it is reconfigurable to suit changes to the system. I actually have two of them, a legacy of a time when I had a very complex hifi plus AV system. The second rack was living upstairs and held some legacy 80's / 90's kit.
Anyway, the problematic tall rack in the corner of my room has gone, replaced with three very low-level racks that are far less intrusive in terms of influencing the sound. With the rack gone, I spent some time experimenting with fine-tuning of the speaker positioning and checking with REW. With the rack gone from the corner of the room behind the right-hand speaker, I know have more options for speaker location. It was interesting that when checking with REW, moving the speaker rearwards towards the wall appeared to do nothing to the frequency curve other than fill in the room induced null that I have at 120Hz. I even tried moving the speakers to 275mm from the rear wall, which is the minimum according to the KEF Blade manual. In this position, REW showed that the null was gone. I did try running the speakers in this position for a while, and whilst the REW frequency curve shows that this position is optimum, actual listening indicated that this position was poor, some things sounded very odd indeed. The Blades are good in that they have very little (if any) "cabinet sound", but I think with the speakers this close to the wall, with some of the bass I was actually listening to the wall. I am sure that it will come as no surprise to many that having speakers this close to the wall will sound poor, but I thought it was at least worth trying. What was surprising was how little I had to move the speakers to move the speakers to remove the negatives relating to the "wall" effect. I now have a speaker position a little revised from the previous, and with the corner rack gone, things have never sounded better. Imaging is improved, bass is more realistic and some of that HF harshness I have been complaining about has gone. So a decent upgrade, which has cost be nothing other than some time. Although reconfiguring the racks, cleaning them up, and reconnecting all the kit did take a lot of time. The reconfigured racks look a little odd, but not too bad. If I find this layout works OK over time, I will consider getting something a little better, but it is absolutely fine for now, just to see how it goes.
One interesting thing happened recently, I was playing a copy of Kraftwerk's 3D Blueray. The Blueray player was running via the REF10 clocked Mutec MC3+USB, and it sounded absolutely incredible, quite superb. This got me thinking, and at a later occasion, I tried playing a CD which is burnt with some of my demo tracks, again Blueray player to MC3+USB. In some respects, this sounded great, maybe totally a touch better than the SOtM kit, but is other respects it was a bit messy. Just out of curiosity, I then tried the same disc via my old CD player, again feeding the REF10 clocked Mutec MC3+USB. The CD player is a Musical Fidelity A3 CD, and must be about 19 years old now. I think it cost me about a £900, which back then was a LOT of money for me. I was not expecting much from my trusty old workhorse of a CD, but no, it sounded sensational! For a while, I was a little gobsmacked, my goodness this was good. After a while, I started to suspect that there were some slight negatives, but maybe the overall tonality was a touch better than the SOtM kit. This morning for a bit of fun I played the same music simultaneously via the SOtM kit and the CD player. It was then possible to instantly switch between the two using the input selector on the MC3+USB. Hearing the two directly compared, the SOtM kit was clearer, more coherent and realistic sounding, although the margins were perhaps smaller than you might expect. Within this though, there was something I liked when listening to the CD, I am sure some sections of music sounded better via CD, a slightly richer presentation that was very listenable. As things stand, I am not sure if there is some benefit from eliminating USB, but it could be that the CD player ends up with a slightly messier bass or something, which just happens to be euphonic.
As an aside to this, a while back I was considering trying the dCS Network Bridge. Later, there was much talk elsewhere of low-cost NUC's running AudioLinux beating all-comers. Seeing new developments like the AL NUC causes me to adopt a "wait and see" approach, sit back and watch developments, meanwhile enjoy what you have. There is no point trying stuff like the NB if there could be something new and wonderful emerging in a year or two. (I don't know enough about Linux to try a NUC myself, so I would be waiting for one or two "turnkey" options to emerge) However, the CD player episode has got me wondering if a streamer running AES/EBU into the MC3+USB might be just what I need to nail the system synergy I am seeking, I might just try this sometime when I am not as busy as I am now.
Meanwhile, the system has never sounded better, so the desire to tweak is minimised. I am definitely looking forward to spending more time just enjoying the system and listening to music, which I can do now. A while ago I was listening to music with niggling thoughts that "something is not quite right".
Oh, and I am still waiting for the little SR4's to arrive (they were ordered two months ago), but I understand that there have been some delays and issues on Paul Hynes island, so for now I will play a few tunes whenever I get time, and I am sure one day the SR4's will surprise me by actually tuning up!
As a final note, I know some who read this think I am a hopeless tinkerer. In part this is true, but after the year I have had and with endless frustrations, I am absolutely sick of it! I am just happy I can listen and enjoy now. (for a while)
Anyway, the problematic tall rack in the corner of my room has gone, replaced with three very low-level racks that are far less intrusive in terms of influencing the sound. With the rack gone, I spent some time experimenting with fine-tuning of the speaker positioning and checking with REW. With the rack gone from the corner of the room behind the right-hand speaker, I know have more options for speaker location. It was interesting that when checking with REW, moving the speaker rearwards towards the wall appeared to do nothing to the frequency curve other than fill in the room induced null that I have at 120Hz. I even tried moving the speakers to 275mm from the rear wall, which is the minimum according to the KEF Blade manual. In this position, REW showed that the null was gone. I did try running the speakers in this position for a while, and whilst the REW frequency curve shows that this position is optimum, actual listening indicated that this position was poor, some things sounded very odd indeed. The Blades are good in that they have very little (if any) "cabinet sound", but I think with the speakers this close to the wall, with some of the bass I was actually listening to the wall. I am sure that it will come as no surprise to many that having speakers this close to the wall will sound poor, but I thought it was at least worth trying. What was surprising was how little I had to move the speakers to move the speakers to remove the negatives relating to the "wall" effect. I now have a speaker position a little revised from the previous, and with the corner rack gone, things have never sounded better. Imaging is improved, bass is more realistic and some of that HF harshness I have been complaining about has gone. So a decent upgrade, which has cost be nothing other than some time. Although reconfiguring the racks, cleaning them up, and reconnecting all the kit did take a lot of time. The reconfigured racks look a little odd, but not too bad. If I find this layout works OK over time, I will consider getting something a little better, but it is absolutely fine for now, just to see how it goes.
One interesting thing happened recently, I was playing a copy of Kraftwerk's 3D Blueray. The Blueray player was running via the REF10 clocked Mutec MC3+USB, and it sounded absolutely incredible, quite superb. This got me thinking, and at a later occasion, I tried playing a CD which is burnt with some of my demo tracks, again Blueray player to MC3+USB. In some respects, this sounded great, maybe totally a touch better than the SOtM kit, but is other respects it was a bit messy. Just out of curiosity, I then tried the same disc via my old CD player, again feeding the REF10 clocked Mutec MC3+USB. The CD player is a Musical Fidelity A3 CD, and must be about 19 years old now. I think it cost me about a £900, which back then was a LOT of money for me. I was not expecting much from my trusty old workhorse of a CD, but no, it sounded sensational! For a while, I was a little gobsmacked, my goodness this was good. After a while, I started to suspect that there were some slight negatives, but maybe the overall tonality was a touch better than the SOtM kit. This morning for a bit of fun I played the same music simultaneously via the SOtM kit and the CD player. It was then possible to instantly switch between the two using the input selector on the MC3+USB. Hearing the two directly compared, the SOtM kit was clearer, more coherent and realistic sounding, although the margins were perhaps smaller than you might expect. Within this though, there was something I liked when listening to the CD, I am sure some sections of music sounded better via CD, a slightly richer presentation that was very listenable. As things stand, I am not sure if there is some benefit from eliminating USB, but it could be that the CD player ends up with a slightly messier bass or something, which just happens to be euphonic.
As an aside to this, a while back I was considering trying the dCS Network Bridge. Later, there was much talk elsewhere of low-cost NUC's running AudioLinux beating all-comers. Seeing new developments like the AL NUC causes me to adopt a "wait and see" approach, sit back and watch developments, meanwhile enjoy what you have. There is no point trying stuff like the NB if there could be something new and wonderful emerging in a year or two. (I don't know enough about Linux to try a NUC myself, so I would be waiting for one or two "turnkey" options to emerge) However, the CD player episode has got me wondering if a streamer running AES/EBU into the MC3+USB might be just what I need to nail the system synergy I am seeking, I might just try this sometime when I am not as busy as I am now.
Meanwhile, the system has never sounded better, so the desire to tweak is minimised. I am definitely looking forward to spending more time just enjoying the system and listening to music, which I can do now. A while ago I was listening to music with niggling thoughts that "something is not quite right".
Oh, and I am still waiting for the little SR4's to arrive (they were ordered two months ago), but I understand that there have been some delays and issues on Paul Hynes island, so for now I will play a few tunes whenever I get time, and I am sure one day the SR4's will surprise me by actually tuning up!
As a final note, I know some who read this think I am a hopeless tinkerer. In part this is true, but after the year I have had and with endless frustrations, I am absolutely sick of it! I am just happy I can listen and enjoy now. (for a while)
1000 Pro - KEF Blade - iFi Zen Stream - Mutec REF10 - MC3+USB - Pro-Ject Signature 12
