[Mass. Wine Guy]

Bass traps in the corner and traps at first reflection point - would give you the biggest bang for the buck ... see if someone is selling used one - I sold mine at loss due to w.a.f.  There is a acoustic forum here as well

The WAF is also at play here.

[Mike Nomad]

Hi

Why don't you move away from cd and start looking at playing files into your dac? Might need an adaptor to interface the dac but you can play files right off your computer or laptop. It will improve your transport imo and cd transports can be brutal and make the rest of your gear suffer. It may be pretty easy for you at this point if your dac has a usb in but there are plenty of options if it doesnt. I would look at that transport first before any integrateds.

+1. I would definitely look into 'alternate transportation.' You can easily get a great universal player for a lot less money than you'd spend on grunt.

[Mass. Wine Guy]

Are there any opinions on the Cambridge Audio 840A V2 or the others I asked about?

[Rocket_Ronny]

"It's the room not the equipment.

No kidding. That has been my mantra here on the Circle for a long time. Not saying the gear isn't important but the room and placement play a huge role. I see so many ultra $$$ systems poorly set up. Far better to have a great room, lot's of it - size, and mid level gear, than to have a poor, small, room with ultra gear. And get the towering glass equipment rack out from in between the speakers.

Rocket_Ronny

[Mass. Wine Guy]

No! Not the towering glass rack! That gets buried with me, I say.

I'm going to think of how I can improve the room. Limited options, though. I can't go hanging screens all over the walls, nor place them in the middle of the room or anything.

[JLM]

Factors for good sound reproduction (in my order of importance, but all are significant): speakers, environment, source, the rest.

I've heard the new Arte Forma and it sounded great, but it is an unknown newcomer.  Proper room treatments and speaker/listener layout is rarely spouse acceptable, but a cheap/effective vendor is GIK (here at AC).  Note that large panels aren't easy to ship or resell.

I'm not clear what the problem is here.  If I were you, I'd slow down and really figure out what you want from your system.  Attend audiofests or local club meetings.  Gasp, visit audio retailers.  Keep reading.  Otherwise you could end up chasing your tail, get fustrated, and waste lots of money.

[werd]

Are there any opinions on the Cambridge Audio 840A V2 or the others I asked about?

Hi

Not a big fan of cambridge but it might be a better transport.  I was just trying to get you to look at file based playback.

[werd]

Not to undermine the room suggestions. But unless you are willing to dedicate a room and not include waf and general room sharing considerations you will just end up with a tighter room. Its not going to be a soundstage saviour. It will be a worthy improvement however, but by in large these posts about room reatments being the big saviour is over blown. You can still get a tighter  room and still maintain waf and still share the room. But its no where near the improvements had by system synergy considerations. Not even close. 

[Mass. Wine Guy]

I think I may just sell everything, get an iPod, sit in my office and listen to music that way.

[Mike Nomad]

Factors for good sound reproduction (in my order of importance, but all are significant): speakers, environment, source, the rest.

I'm with you and Rocket on the importance of environment. I like your list, except that I would put environment at the top. Typically, that is the one that ends up on the bottom of most people's To Do list. WAF plays a huge role. In my particular case, it is actually second to the architecture: I have a 1911 Craftsman-style bungalow. There is simply no place to put room treatments where they wouldn't look like ass.

My recommendation that Wine Guy look at another transport is along the same lines as Werd: Not being locked into CD only will get the sound quality up. To me, the player looked like the only weak link in the chain. But, as it's been said, kit will only take you so far in a bad room.

I didn't get things sorted out until I lived in the house for 3+ years. Being rear ported speakers, they didn't do well only a foot off the back wall, and a 16' vaulted ceiling doesn't help. There were a couple of equipment upgrades I was going to make anyway, because I could hear their shortcomings. After that, it was real obvious that the speakers were the weak link.

So, with the right mixture of Navy rum and Miles Davis, I had an idea: Introduce about 15 degrees of tilt-back for the speakers. All the problems went away. More, cleaner bass response, better soundstage in both width and depth, more detail. Changing out the junk stock tube in my pre with a vintage GE was icing on the cake. Long winded way of agreeing that environment and placement are indeed critical.

Wine Guy: For a set of cans, I recommend Beyerdynamic DT150. Only a couple hundred dollars, and iProducts will drive them just fine...

[werd]

I'm with you and Rocket on the importance of environment. I like your list, except that I would put environment at the top. Typically, that is the one that ends up on the bottom of most people's To Do list. WAF plays a huge role. In my particular case, it is actually second to the architecture: I have a 1911 Craftsman-style bungalow. There is simply no place to put room treatments where they wouldn't look like ass.

I was actually just in a treated room with a Cambridge 840 cd player. It was the cd source hooked up to the same setup that also was using an Avid tt. The day a room can make that cambridge sound like that tt i will eat Sh@@

[Mike Nomad]

I was actually just in a treated room with a Cambridge 840 cd player. It was the cd source hooked up to the same setup that also was using an Avid tt. The day a room can make that cambridge sound like that tt i will eat Sh@@

 

[DARTH AUDIO]

I think I may just sell everything, get an iPod, sit in my office and listen to music that way.

What ever happened to HAF!!! Don't sell your equipment!! Sell your WAF!!  I gave my wife the boot 22 years ago!! I still have women in my life, but they don't dictate how and when I spend my money!! Or where I put my stereo!! And if they do, that's the last time I see them. Single life rocks!! Well, I'm off to play golf!!

I do agree with getting your room in order. If you can't hang stuff on the walls, invest in a Rives PARC. I did. And it is awesome. I think they are around $4k these days.

Good Luck,

Gary

[JLM]

MWG,

If your serious about an iPod (at this point I don't what you're serious about  ) look into one of those docks that bypass the iPod's DAC/amp.

One option would be a $1,000 MSRP iDecco (many available on Agon, have read bits about poor reliability, so beware).  But the unit's design seems ideal for serious iPod/casual open room listening.  It connects the iPod directly into a good (not great) DAC, has a very good tubed pre-amp/headphone amp, and OK power amp for your speakers.  A single (kinda cool looking) box that you can run the TV through.

Flip your Arte Forma for the iDecco plus headphones (check the reviews of the iDecco for headphone recommendations).  You'd have good tunes via headphones that you can enjoy what, when, and how loud you want plus decent tunes in the room without obsessing about WAF, room treatments, equipment synergy, cost, etc.

Frankly this approach makes a world of sense to those without a dedicated/well designed listening room and deep pockets.  Plus you can simply pull the iPod and travel with earbuds.

[Mike Nomad]

MWG,

If your serious about an iPod (at this point I don't what you're serious about  ) look into one of those docks that bypass the iPod's DAC/amp.

One option would be a $1,000 MSRP iDecco (many available on Agon, have read bits about poor reliability, so beware).  But the unit's design seems ideal for serious iPod/casual open room listening.  It connects the iPod directly into a good (not great) DAC, has a very good tubed pre-amp/headphone amp, and OK power amp for your speakers.  A single (kinda cool looking) box that you can run the TV through.

Flip your Arte Forma for the iDecco plus headphones (check the reviews of the iDecco for headphone recommendations).  You'd have good tunes via headphones that you can enjoy what, when, and how loud you want plus decent tunes in the room without obsessing about WAF, room treatments, equipment synergy, cost, etc.

Frankly this approach makes a world of sense to those without a dedicated/well designed listening room and deep pockets.  Plus you can simply pull the iPod and travel with earbuds.

I have the Nova (bigger model) and am very happy with it. You definitely want to change out the stock tube. Very easy to do, and you can get good stuff for $20-$30.

If you go with the iDecco, call Signal Path International (the parent company) and ask if they have modded the digital inputs. On my Nova, there are two S/PDIF & two coax digital inputs. The second one of each type has a noticeable drop in sound quality, because the inputs are tweaked to handle high-jitter devices. When I talked to them about it, they said I could send the unit back to have it undone, and if I ordered another one in the future, I could get one that didn't have the downgrade mod done to it.

[werd]

 

The system sounded broke with the Cambridge after listening to that Avid.

[werd]

I think I may just sell everything, get an iPod, sit in my office and listen to music that way.

Don't do that. Just enjoy what you got and enjoy finding stuff. You are under zero pressure, at the end of the day its not a big deal. Your system is a lot better than you are giving credit to. A lot of fun looking for gear and it would be real shame if we spoiled it for you. Just have fun.

[eclein]

I think I may just sell everything, get an iPod, sit in my office and listen to music that way.

Or....you could just sit and enjoy the music and let the rest of it go for 6 months...

[Mass. Wine Guy]

Or....you could just sit and enjoy the music and let the rest of it go for 6 months...

I think that may be the best course to take right now.

I really appreciate everyone's comments and suggestions.

[timind]

Or....you could just sit and enjoy the music and let the rest of it go for 6 months...

Sound advice.
I'm with those who believe it is darn near impossible to achieve top quality sound without a properly set up room. For critical listening I'd bet $2k worth of gear would sound better in a properly treated room than $20k worth of gear in a poorly treated room.
As you stated you're not all that handy here's an excellent source of reasonably priced room treatments. http://atsacoustics.com/
I've ordered from them. The products are exactly as described.
Now if that is out of the question in you home then eclien's advice is definitely for you. A new transport or even amp ain't gonna get you there. Don't sweat it, just sit back, relax and enjoy the music.