Hello everyone,
Just registered here and looking forward to learning from everyone. I'm a 44 year old male, first exposure to hifi was Pink Floyd's The Wall on a pair of Cornwalls in my uncle's basement around 1990. I have some entry level equipment now and am looking to level up, but don't want to spend a lot of money. I spend most of my time listening to music on Sennheiser HD650 headphones with a Fiio Q1 amp. I have a 5.1 home theater with stock Klipsch RP-600M for LR and lower end Klipsch for center and surrounds, Yamaha AV receiver, Dayton subwoofer. Not crazy about the RP-600M sound and I'm thinking about trying something completely different rather than doing the crossover upgrade. Micca bookshelves at my desk (with a small digital amp and sub) and Dayton Audio 652 airs in the bathroom (small digital amp and sub).
I have moderate tinnitus from abusing my ears over the years. I'm not sure if I'll ever be able to hear my favorite tracks the way I did when I was a teenager, but I'm happy to get back into hifi audio again.
I've always been skeptical of people who say cables or solid state amps sound different, but maybe I just never had a good enough room/system to reveal the differences. I've been watching a bunch of Danny's videos and I'm excited about the possibility of being able to assemble DIY speakers that are much better than what I have now.
I'm starting with the things I think have the biggest impact (room treatment and speakers) before considering spending a lot of money on electronics. I'm building rockwool panels to control first reflections in my main listening areas now, mainly on the low ceiling in the living room. I put some rockwool in my Klipsch center channel and some Noico (like dynamat) on the backside of the horn, which made it less shouty and resonant, but now it sounds kind of lifeless without revealing any new detail.
I'm curious if I would be able to hear a big difference between the base XLS Encores and the Overnight Sensations from Parts Express (or some other inexpensive kit), and how they compare to the Klipsch speakers I have now. Ideally I'd like to have a system that works well for both music and movies, but I'm open to the possibility of having 2 different systems in the living room if necessary.
I listen to a variety of music including Pink Floyd, Radiohead, Zeppelin, Sade, Sonic Youth, a lot of acoustic instruments and vocals like Emiliana Torrini, Nina Simone, Tori Amos, some jazz including Medeski Martin and Wood, Miles Davis, Coltrane, etc.
I mainly stream music from Spotify premium and Amazon Music HD.
Thanks!
Jacob
