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Frustrated with the sound of my system

Here is my system:
Rotel RCD-965BX CD Player as transport
MSB Link 2 DAC
Sonic Frontiers SFL-1 Signature preamp
Classe 10 amplifier
North Creek Audio Borealis speakers (Custom built kit speaker...something close to a Proac Response 2.5 design)
M&K V-75 sub
Kimber and Cardas interconnects
Kimber 4TC/8TC bi-wire speaker cables.

Here is my frustration:
The sound, regardless of music, sounds stringent, hard, really lacks air, and is anything but relaxed. It is fatigueing. I can listen to my Grado 60 headphones on an iPod and the sound is frustratingly more relaxed and has what I would call air.

I don't think that my system is that outstanding, but it really seems like I should be more pleased with what I am hearing.

I would be interested in your thoughts on where the most likely opportunity is. I really like the individual components of the system (OK the Rotel/MSB set up is old and just OK), but all together they seem to be underwhelming. I am thinking it is either in improving the digital front end (new player or DAC) or moving to a planar speaker to get the sound I desire. I have thought about new player like an OPPO 93 or 95, perhaps a tube based player or DAC, or else looking at something like a used pair of Maggie 12's or 1.6's. I have always enjoyed the Maggie sound.

In either case I am thinking that $2k is the absolute max I would want to spend on any solution. Thanks in advance. If there are other questions I would be glad to supply details.
stuartbmw3
rrog
1,958 posts
 
You guys are crackin' me up. There are times when room treatment is obviously needed like when the listening position is backed up to a wall. Treating the wall behind you is a must to eliminate reflections off that wall. However, lately it seems whenever someone is not satisfied with the sound of their system room treatment becomes the hot topic. Honestly, looking at the OP's system I would rather have a CJ preamp than Sonic Frontiers with Classe any day and maybe that would be a good place to start.
grannyring's avatar
grannyring
4,637 posts
 
Rrog is spot on. Come on folks. I tore down all those ugly room treatments that I messed with for 2 years only to find my music came back to life again. Place your speakers properly and use drapes, carpet, common sense, a little reading on proper speaker set-up and furniture and be done with it.

I think a couple of well placed panels are fine, but let's not go overboard with this room stuff. Goodness I have spent a good amount of money and time on treatments only to find my 3 panel treated room sounds best.
tpreaves's avatar
tpreaves
2,515 posts
 
The last few posts reminded me of something I read on the Polk forum the other day. Check this out............

I plan to soundproof and treat for acoustics before I bring anything in. The room shares a wall with the bedroom so I need to get this right or I'll be shopping for headphones in no time! I need to do it on the cheap, though. I'm leaning towards a case of 12 heavy moving blankets so I can cover the ceiling as well.
-Is this overkill?
-Is it possible to overdampen a room this small given the distance from ear-to-driver (3' for each)?
I was thinking I would also put cheap pillows in the tricorners and hope I don't need further bass reducers in the corners.
-Would those round pool toy foam noodles work for this?


gcdm01
9 posts
 
Original Poster,
I wasn't planning on another post because I still stand by what I originally said in my first post. After reading through some of the above recommendations, well meaning as they may be, I want to make just a couple of quick points that may help you out. Of all the posts on this thread, not one person, myself included, knows what is wrong with your system. That should be apparent. From what I can see, the only fix that wasn't mentioned yet, is to just bulldoze your house down and start over using audiophile building materials and room dimensions. Don't worry though; if you decide to go this route, I'm sure that we can all give you some construction advice. Aside from that, you should also realize that this is a problem that you are going to have to fix yourself. I don't deny that it may take some time and patience but if you use you head and make some careful decisions, you will get it right. (You'll also gain a lot of knowledge and experience that you can share with others just like we are all doing on this post. Another opinion is always needed.)
mtrot
642 posts
 
Over the years, I have posted several questions about possible things I might be able to do to improve my sound quality. Some questions were about speakers, some about amps, and so on. On almost every thread, advice was strongly given to treat the room. Well, the other day, I put about a 4' by 4' section of insulation on the right wall in my bedroom system, at the first reflection point. This fairly well sucked the life out of the sound. This is not to advocate against room treatments, and I think a smaller panel might be the ticket. But, apparently, it is very easy to do too much treatment.

Now, I would also recommend trying different speaker cables. The biggest recent improvement I have made in the aforementioned bedroom system(Monitor Audio Silver 9i speakers) was going to a set of Goertz MI-2 speaker cables(I had tried them years before in a different system and were in storage). Before that, I had been using some Morrow SP2 cables which I thought were pretty good on the highs, but I wasn't getting much bass out of the speakers. With the MI-2, however, I now have much more and better bass, great attack on transients, and really clear dialog on movies and vocals. YRMV, of course.
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