Help me find it again


I need your collective advice.

I have reached a critical point. If I don't start enjoying my system again, I will give up and sell!

I listen to mostly rock and pop with some blues and jazz. A little large orchestra stuff. I grew up listening to the best jazz and rock and roll live at my father's bootleg clubs. I've sat at the piano and poured drinks for the count, twisted with Chubby and lived in "Salt Pork West Virginia". I played piano and hammond organ professionally for several years working everything from rock to jazz to blues to gospel. I know how music sounds. I know how it can move you.

I have been living with my current system for about 6 months. "Maybe I'm doing it wrong, but it just don't thrill me the way that it should."

The sound is very clean but lacks emotion. It has a thin low end. Sometimes sounds harsh in the high end. The mids are good. It sounds like crap on lots of recordings that were OK on less revealing systems.

Components: Audiomeca transport and DAC, Aloia pre-amp, Goldmund 28M amps, Piega C-40 speakers, Goldmund line treatment, Piega speaker cables, Audio Techne interconnects.

I already have dedicated lines.

I'm done with vinyl. Just too much work... My turntable and record cleaner will be on the gon soon.

Room is large (32 X 20 with vaulted ceilings that rise from 10 to 18 feet). The system is on the longer wall with the shorter height. I have thick rug and window treatments. The speakers are spaced 3.5 feet from the wall and 11 feet apart. Seating is 10 feet back from the speakers and 6 feet from the back wall.

I'm thinking I need to change the preamp (perhaps tubes), but I'm willing to consider almost any changes. My current economic situation might limit my options. Also, since I live in central NC, it is almost impossible to audition anything...
spudco
Lots of great advice. Speaker cable, as mentioned by Sean, can make a huge differnce -- especially for the thin high end. Try MIT as well (Joe Abrams is a good person with whom to work) -- free trial. Subs are a good idea with a room that big. I went the big ass speaker route myself and that works too, but subs are lower costing alternatives that can work quite well. As usual, Newbee raises some good points as well. By the way, I've found that outboard DACs (I use Perpetual Tech) can also make a very significant difference. The latest Bound for Sound has some good advice in that arena. Good luck. By the way, if you are ever in the Charlotte area, look me up.
Try differrent cables,MIT and transparent,Audioquest,
probably copper instead of silver,tuning a system it
takes time, very frustrating at times,but the reward
is worth it,I almost gave up on my system, a year ago,
because of the same reason you have.I realise the source
is the problem,So I went to tube cdp.Problem solve.
I think we all experience it. For the last spell of it, I found that my music had lost its flow. It took two source changes and a balanced power unit to restore a lively flow of music that has coherence. Now if I can find the right amp, I will be all set. I chose my DAC and transport because they were musical, not analytical. Perhaps, a change like this would get you on your way.
Just a couple of ideas. 1) Move your speakers closer to the wall to reinforce the bass/fundamentals. 2) Try a tube preamp. 3) Audition different speaker cables and interconnects. I would recommend Acoustic Zen and Cardas but there are many others. Call fatwyre.com to setup the audition. 4) Consider different speakers. 5) Maybe something with your front-end, while Audiomeca is very nice a lot of people say that it is rather polite and soft. That may not be the right digital gear for a rocker and bluesman.

More feedback from you on how you pieced together your system would be useful. I am curious to know the order in which you purchased your components.