Hey folks,
I have been working on a system for a while now, and recently moved. After the move I had to completely put my system back together from scratch. I dropped In a few upgrades for my system including new speaker stands, electrical outlets, and cable risers. Ive found out through research, and personal trial and error that most if not all those upgrade paths of a system that a lot of folks refer to as snake oil, really do make some degree of difference, its really just a question if your willing to pay the money for the difference that you get, and willing to disregard social norms and opinions of others.
Before I moved, I recently bought some high end power cords and speaker cables from GR research. These are teflon cords/cables. I had to really seem to work to get decent placement of these cables for them to open up. IE using cable risers, and placing them far away from walls and other power cords.
I have found that just altering the positioning a little bit or away from other cables seems to make a noticeable improvement every time I did it. So over the course of a couple weeks I sort of developed a “tinkering addiction”. I have never let these cables both power and speaker cables, and tube connector plugs and speaker positioning just be, for more than maybe 30 hours. Every time I notice they start to break in sound better I seem to think of some way in which i can or rather need to squeeze more performance out of the setup. This urge is usually precipitated by me noticing a flaw in performance at some point in the bass or midrange of the left or right channel. Perhaps the treble starts to develop really nicely but only on one side. During use after hearing these deficits I fear I have not done a good job tightening them or spacing the wires away from boundaries or whatever, and start all over again. My concern, or rather question is, should I expect the system to fluctuate between good and bad more than once during the break in time, and should the variations in frequencies and tone normalize and flatten out in both channels over time? I have noticed this phenomenon in capacitor break in before. But my speakers have been modified for some time now, including the caps in the networks. I’m going stir crazy trying to see if there is some problem that is causing a change in the tone between the left and right speakers as the start to settle in, in the first few hours after setup. I have really-good hearing, and some might even say I have really high standards. But once you hear a truly impressive system, well, its hard to go back or accept less. This standard is especially important if you have invested in a really good (true to source, neutral) sounding setup.
My system is, to a cost no object listener, on the high end of “Mid-Fi” to the low end of “Hi-Fi” at best, but very intentionally well put together to meet my demands of not just audio but AV; from good power cords, interconnects, admittedly budget minded front end gear, and speakers. All of it thought out from individual materials and the total sum of the parts, to meet a good quality for the money, and relatively good quality.
These speaker cables and my power cable both to my amplifier are my concern, as these are teflon coated cables.
Maybe I could be a little more patient if I understood the difference in performance I could expect after total burn-in. This system has its moments, but I’m not blown away or anything yet. As far as I know I’ve never used teflon in my systems, so perhaps my unsure assessment of the final sound is premature.
I just get the sense that this system sounds a little fatiguing in the the higher registry. I did use non hardening modeling clay on both the horn and mid bass driver basket to help with ringing or resonances.
I know one thing for sure, I am tiring of waiting for the result for them to open up burn in and sound decent, after I adjust them, but i just can’t seem to at some point between hours to a day or two afterwards, as they sound so different every time I mess with them. Psychologically, I think maybe I am trying to get the “lucky” positioning and best performance I can out of them.
I think it myself maybe this speaker cable is too close to my tv, or I should adjust the tightness of the speaker cables at the receiver last if I moved my speaker cables. Always something. Maybe I am just just not accepting the limitations of my gear, and what it can do. But I have heard this thing sound really good at one thing or another in the past just not all at the same time, and not since i introduced these new power cables and speaker cables, which drives me nuts. For instance the upper midrange and deep bass of my right channel is a little short of the left right now. But I recently adjusted the speaker cables at the speaker compared to the left.
I’ve owned a pretty much cost no object stereo before, and have that sonic memory of what a wonderful performance can be realized, and I think Ive searched and worked really hard to make this its best, but its falling short in some categories compared to my former system. But I’m using speakers that retail for $600 vs $3000. I hoped my DIY modifications to my speakers and high quality parts across the entire chain would do more than it has. I really hope I can get some advice from anyone who’s in my shoes or has been. When trying to really squeeze all you can out of budget gear.
My logic for my upgrade path is that if mid priced gear can benefit from better power cords, interconnects, cables, and electrical outlets, that when I drop in a better pair of speakers or amplifier, that link in the chain will be covered and make them sound even better. But with budget stuff there now, it can use all the help it can get in the number of places that upgrades are made. If you have say 10 pieces is it better to have 6 medium quality ones and 3 or 4 nice ones. Or 2 really nice ones 2 medium ones, and 6 budget ones. My thinking is that you want to get quality in as many areas as possible before getting to really high end quality that costs thousands in just one category.
Well this turned out way longer than I had anticipated. I look forward to your thoughts.
System:
Denon X4700h receiver
Fire Tv 4k-Max streamer
Modified Klipsch rp-600m speakers
Pangea DS-400 mass loaded speakers stands, with strategic “dynamating”
Svs SB2000-pro subwoofer modified with no-rez and isolation feet.
Audioquest boxer interconnect for subwoofer
Pangea ac-9 mk 2 SE power-cord for Subwoofer.
GR research 24 strand speaker cables.
GR research B-24 power cable for receiver.
Wireworld Starlight 8 usb cable for streamer power.
gallium nitrate usb wall plug for streamer
Pangea BE-CU audiophile grade electrical outlets- 2
TV- 55” Hisense H9G- 4k HDR tv
Tv power-cord -Audioquest NRG-Z2
4k ultra hd player Panasonic DP-UB820-K
Audioquest Carbon 48 hdmi cables for TV and from 4k player to receiver.
Audioquest NRG-Z2 power cord for Panasonic 4k player.
Jordan