Really, really stupid questions...

You lot seem friendly and since I don't have anybody else to ask these little niggles have been floating around in my head for a while:

1- If i forget to lift the arm at the end of the record will it damage the stylus (dynavector 10x5)? I left it going approx 16hrs the other day before I noticed

2- Have recently moved my system and I swear it sounds not as good. I have buried the speaker cables under the carpet (orders!) could this harm the sound (i feel really stupid asking this one).

3- Due to room constraints my meridian cdp sits on the amp - problems? (she does not want an ugly rack.

Thankyou for your kind words - most of my friends are ignorant of fine music.

 

1 - almost certainly no - it's just like playing a record for 16 hours, well not identical but fine.

2 - moving the system could well have resulted in poorer sound but not cos the cable is now under the carpet.

3 - not ideal situation - could be a problem depends how the amp is ventilated, does the CD player now cover slots, or vents, in the top of the amp. Why not get a nice/cool looking Hi-Fi rack (or shelving) - Ikea perhaps.

 

...sounds like a Philip Glass album. Only joking I actually like some of his stuff very much!

On point 2. it could be a bobbins mains supply where you are, mains filtering and some decent power cords may help. If you listen later in the evening and it sounds better thats a clue.

Point 3. "Holy Interference Batman!" vibration or electronic, or even as YNMOAN says just the damned heat.

Tell the lady of the house there are some real purdy racks out there, actually you'd better rephrase that!

 

ask away!

As above (though I don't know for sure!)

IME speaker cable siting can make a difference..

not every one will agree with me there though!

I fyou have moved the system there will be many othe factors at play too....

hmmmmm.....

...wonder why I'm still single.....





This is perhpts not very tactful but careful equipment set up can (IMHO) make a difference.


"Tell the lady of the house there are some real purdy racks out there, actually you'd better rephrase that! "


...exactly.

 

I'm an idiot of the highest order!
Have just returned to a very loud scraping noise which frightened the life out of me as I opened the front door!!!!!

In my rush getting out the door for an opportunistic windsurf (blue sky, trees bending in the wind, excitement!!!) I left the turntable playing my fav copland album, however, instead of the needle sitting in the groove at the end of the side it alsways skips to the middle and makes a godawful sound on the round info bit in the middle (technical term??)- hence the 'orrible noise.

Needle seems to have survived though - phew - that'll learn me, I thought the kitchen was on fire!

 

Well doing that certainly won't be doing your stylus any favours :-(

 

[/QUOTE]
Tell the lady of the house there are some real purdy racks out there, actually you'd better rephrase that![/QUOTE]
Nice one SMEogol

If the location of your speakers is different than it was before, that might have something to do with it. How do you have them set up now as compared to before?

Take the opportunity to thoroughly clean all jacks/connectors that are currently being used in the signal chain. this can be accomplished satisfactorily by a cheap non-abrasive clear jewelry cleaner liquid or by a massively over-priced 'purpose-designed' cleaner such as deoxit. If your speaker cables have no terminations i.e are exposed bare wire, then make sure to clean these exposed wire surfaces also. Double check that everything was hooked back with correct polarity ie red to red, black to black etc.

If this doesn't improve the sound, then you might try a crazy tweak I just read on another thread - you disassemble each component completely, then hang all the different parts from the ceiling using elastic bands and finally hook up with wire. It should work wonders. You can still please She Who Must Be Obeyed by running the speaker wire under the carpet. :SWMBO:

 

I bollocksed up the needle of my $895.00 Dynavector Karat 17D2. Vinyl sounds brilliant, but it is a pain in the tookus. I have resolved to be more careful in future, although I'm still pissed off for being careless in the first place.

 

I nearly took the business end off an ortofon MC, removing its somewhat questionably termed "stylus guard"

 

Why not suggest to the lady, you pay the rent/mortgage as well, and the living room belongs to the both of you.

 

Actually I pay all the mortgage - however, she's better at changing nappies and that's a compromise worth making.

 

Amen to that! :baby:

 

Nah.....


NO compromise is worth making as far as hifi is concerned






:band:

 

Have you been divorced long?



You can't cuddle a hifi

 

Some well known no nos that you probably already know about include not putting your hi fi in a corner and not putting it in front of a speaker and both of those would have bad results. Also, as has been suggested, speaker positioning is an issue with most designs and finding a realistic compromise in dual purpose rooms is always a tricky balance in my exp. so the art of the possible always wins over the art of the exemplary in my world

I'm not a good one to talk - my gear's still all piled up in a heap or three ... but with said experience under belt, a possibly solution here would be to at least find a way to put an inch or two between them - either improvising a brick and wood shelf over the amp or say stacking a couple of sets of Sorbothane feet so that they have some air between them (and can look ok too).

I, on the other hand, can claim to be ignorant on loads more than just music...

 

No.

I decided to short-cut the process.

I just haven't married in the first instance.

 

Now that's what I call good planning

By the way one of my speakers is in a corner....can someone explain the pros and cons of this?

Also David F, are you still supplying those wooden ball bearing supports I read about on an old thread? I reckon they would be just the thing to raise my cdp up a little.

 

I thought so.....

Get it out and into some free space if you can.

I did a bit of a room re-shuffle a year or so ago for the same reason........and they ain't going back.

I can't promise anything in the short term, unfortunately.

 

It's a hard one to answer in a 'this, not that' sort of way. Some speakers are designed to be a set distance from rear and side walls, some are designed to go into corners - they use the walls to reinforce particular waves. Having said that' the thing that stands out (to me) in your question is that one of your speakers is in a corner - which I take to mean that the other isn't. Getting them the same is generally helpful and the closer to that you get, the better it will tend to be.

As ever, your listening tests are always the best way to judge what works best in your particular circumstance, so experimentation will work wonders. In my room, moving one or other speaker an inch, or toe-ing one in just a little more (possibly just one degree), makes a surprising difference to what I perceive as the 'reality' of the music coming out of the system. Height is often overlooked too - and if you have a way to experiment with that, you can get quite rewarding results for next to no outlay.

Great aren't they! I'd love to get hold of a set or three to see what impact they have on my system...