Whats my weak link?


Classe ssp-25 pre amp, classr ca-150, musical fidelity a3.2cd, parasound z dac, mostly stock power cords.

I picked up some new speakers today (kef qx5's) and they sounded a good 15% better at his house than mine. He was running a modded rotel pre amp, bryston 3b-st, arcam transport, older parasound dac, upgraded power cords.

I have a feeling that it was his pre-amp mostly. His set-up had that certain sound that I'm looking for, hard to explain but it sounded sooo good. Any suggestions?
128x128b_limo
Power cords? Power conditioner?
A quick look at your system page leads me to suggest some room treatments. If the rest of your walls are as bare as the wall behind the speakers, an absolute for decent sound.
B, I'll add a fourth item to my previous comments:

4)If the connection between CDP and DAC is via coax, try experimenting with different cable lengths. In particular, if the length of the cable is in the vicinity of 1 meter or 3 feet, change it to either be very short, say 8 inches or less, or make it approximately 5 or 6 feet. See this paper.

Regards,
-- Al

B_Limo,

What, i believe, John (Jmcgrogan) and I (and a lot of others) are trying to tell you is this: "Stop what you're doing and start thinking about the big picture!".

Forget about your room, as important as it is, for right now and think about your components. You like the KEFs in Steve's system, so you bought them. You've heard what the KEFs were showing you in Steve's home, and you hear what the KEFs are showing you in your home.

Besides the sound's interacting with the room's acoustics, the speakers are giving you the music that they're receiving from your components. They can't give you gold from iron.

You said that your components are not as good as Steve's, and that Steve has taken them even further with his mods. Turn on the light bulb, the KEFs are showing you that your components aren't up to making music like Steve's components.

Now quit buying speakers and start comparing Steve's components to yours and spend your money upgrading those pieces that can't handle their share of the load.

You need to sit down and be honest, and come up with what you can spend and take the time and spend wisely. By components I mean every piece of your system from the wall to the speakers.

Chuck
Take a break. Read Jim Smith's "Get Better Sound."
Tackle one issue at a time. You will have a new appreciation
for how things fit together.

Be patient... the most satisfying sound is not assembled
quickly, or easily. It is a journey that takes many twists and turns,
over (literally) a lifetime. Make it fun...keep it fun.

Start with the book!!!