Test CD

"I'm going to spend less than $500 for a pair of bookshelf speakers. I know the kind of sound that I desire in a speaker and have narrowed my choices down to around 5 models that possess these traits based upon both professional reviews and user reviews."

"A guy that also owns the Jamo C601 bookshelf speakers said he was able to measure the bass response on this speaker down to near 40hz. But it is rated by Jamo for 62hz. I've read other reviews that claim the bass is better than advertised. I tend to believe this since it creates a lot of bass in the smaller room where they presently sit.

In light of this, I am wondering if I buy another pair of C601's, use a Test CD to properly break in the speakers and then use my heavy duty speaker stands (3 large legs of steel) in the larger room where they will probably be used, if I can get just a little stronger bass? And is it possible to buy a new pair of IC's that will retain the high end and midrange of this speaker but add a little low end?"

The problem of doing it this way is that you're trying to fix problems that you don't have yet. Who's to say that you will even need to buy a pair of IC's in an attempt to retain your highs, while adding low end? I would try to avoid putting myself in that position in the first place. If you need to start buying cables to fix your mistakes, you've already failed and are just making the problem worse.

Also, I don't think its necessary to keep focusing on break in. The speakers are going to break in regardless of what kind of CD you use. Its an issue that takes care of itself as long as you use the speaker.

ZD542. Makes sense. Did a test yesterday and have found the heavy duty steel speaker stands when positioned a certain way and with the front of the speakers elevated a quarter inch at the front are giving deeper bass. I am going to try this in the large room later this week to see if this will give me just a bit more bass in that room. If so, I won't need to get another pair of speakers. Midrange and highs are superb and comparable to the Castle Conway 3 towers which cost 2 grand that I had. Gave them to my brother. Just a smaller sound stage with the C601's but even that can be improved upon with some kinds of IC cables and positioning of the stands.

Zd542. Regarding the break in of speakers. Seems to me that a speaker will break in better if music containing a wide variety of frequencies is used. Thus not all music is suited for breaking in a speaker properly.

I noted a dramatic difference in the quality of the sound when I eliminated the cheap IC's that came with my CD and replaced them with Golden Gate's by AQ. More neutral sounding the bass tightened up a bit. And then when I upgraded to the IC3 by Audio Art I noted an improvement in the sound stage and also more depth to the instruments.

I suppose if I had spent a grand or more on speakers I may not have needed to upgrade the IC's. But for the $100 I spent on the IC 3 pair and then $180 for the speakers (originally sold for nearly $500) I would have to say I have speakers that sound like they cost far more than I paid. :-)

Akg ca. After reading about this CD I will likely purchase it. Has a great frequency range without having to spend a lot of money for the CD. Will definitely tell me how low my current speakers can go and should work well to break in a new pair if I buy another pair of speakers.

"12-21-14: Will62
Zd542. Regarding the break in of speakers. Seems to me that a speaker will break in better if music containing a wide variety of frequencies is used. Thus not all music is suited for breaking in a speaker properly."

A speaker is either broken in, or its not. Using a special CD may help speakers break in faster, but that's all. The end result is the same. With regards to the IC's, going from whatever they give you in the box to the level of improvement that you got with the AQ and Art, is not going to happen again. The improvements, if any, will be much smaller if you upgrade from your current cables. The only exception will be is if you bought a whole new system with much more costly and revealing components. Then there may be room for a big change in SQ from cables in a situation like that.

"I suppose if I had spent a grand or more on speakers I may not have needed to upgrade the IC's. But for the $100 I spent on the IC 3 pair and then $180 for the speakers (originally sold for nearly $500) I would have to say I have speakers that sound like they cost far more than I paid. :-)"

I understand, but you can't always expect the same results every time. Do the same thing again with different components, and you may have a completely different outcome. I won't tell you what to do, but for me personally, I don't want to put together a system where I expect, or even need, the cables to make a really big difference. If that's the case, I messed up on my component selection. I'd fix that first and get my system sounding good, and only then would I buy cables.