your percieved sound .......

zanash

zanash

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the question is a simple one .

Does the sound of your system change ?...[for example through the course of the 24hr period ]

Which leads to the next question

can you alter the sound ....? [for example altering the temperature or changing the support or material on which it sits]


To nail my colours to the mast ...in both case yes ...

in the first since I got my mains conditioner the effect has been dramatically reduced ...so from sounding verygood to dire ...it remains pretty good the whole time ......

in the second case when I had a turntable I need a table lamp near the cartridge to keep it warm during the winter months otherwise it used to sound cold and hard..

these are just observations ......what other vagaries effect your listening pleasure?
 
yep - mine does change...not sure if it's mains related, or if it's me... :)

even sitting at different places on the sofa seems to alter the sound (tho, I have just got a new set of speaker cables...)

I'm going to buy a cheap 3d spirit level from fleabay now...
 
It's all about physics...

(In my view) changes in sound can be the result of a particular physiological state of perception (we've all had those days when our system, or any other, sounds like a wounded dog) and they can be due to external influences on our system (ex. the quality of the electricity supplied to your city on a given day).

Some examples:

Electrical components have an optimum operating temperature at which they sound best (usually attained less than an hour after being turn on, depending on room temperature).

The sound of mechanical components like loudspeaker drivers or cartridges change with use/time (the famous break in).

Turntables and CD player mechanisms are affected by (mostly low frequency) vibrations and these disturbances can be minimized by using dedicated equipment support like racks, shelves and feet.

And so on...

The problem is that many manufacturers are taking advantage of the consumers' "innocence" to sell products that were design without any scientific grounds and most of these will most surely bring more harm than good.
Unfortunately for us (the consumer), manufacturers, magazine reviewers and the internet have created a huge panoply of myths and legends around audio accessories and people are now spending as much in this "fæces" as they do in equipment.

And this leads to a very important question: how to evaluate/compare changes?

P.S.: I forgot to mention than with time you gradually become "used to" the sound of a replacement or change in the system...
 
Last edited by a moderator:
tuga said:
The problem is that many manufacturers are taking advantage of the consumers' "innocence" to sell products that were design without any scientific grounds and most of these will most surely bring more harm than good.
Unfortunately for us (the consumer), manufacturers, magazine reviewers and the internet have created a huge panoply of myths and legends around audio accessories and people are now spending as much in this "fæces" as they do in equipment.

And this leads to a very important question: how to evaluate/compare changes?
Click to expand...

Science will only support something if it can be technically measured. If it can't then it simply ridicules it.​
 
Haselsh1 said:
Science will only support something if it can be technically measured. If it can't then it simply ridicules it.​
Click to expand...

You are right: this limitation is keeping us from reaching higher faster... But being inventive is all about cooking a sumptuous meal with whatever is available.
 
I find my system sounds better at night, presumably due to less ambient noise & possibly cleaner mains.
Also, being quite busy nowadays i often don't have much time to listen to music properly and i've noticed my ears need to 're-adapt' to my speakers after a few days non use, which usually takes a few hours listening time.
Anyone else experince this?
 
good thread

Largest difference for me is with warming up the valve amps, which I leave powered down. 20-30 minutes gets it 98% of the way there.

I also notice similar warm up with my TT - I presume it is the cart, but it could be anything in the replay chain (but probably not the phono stage which is solid state and left on).

I know some people find their CD player needs to be left powered on and in a state of perfect stasis for half an aeon, but no such findings here.

I used to find mains quality very variable and that would have a very significant impact (always better late at night (except when the army base I used to live near was playing war games at night)). This was ameliorated with Kemp mains filters (one of which, by happenstance, is currently offered for sale here at a crazy bargain price :cool:) and eliminated by battery power.

I also find that my psychological state (and/or current level of inebriation) has an important role to play - stressed and pissed off is not good, happy and pissed is :D.

And of course, my long term satisfaction is directly proportional to the level of peer acceptance enjoyed through online fora... :argue:
 
Andy said:
I find my system sounds better at night, presumably due to less ambient noise & possibly cleaner mains.
Also, being quite busy nowadays i often don't have much time to listen to music properly and i've noticed my ears need to 're-adapt' to my speakers after a few days non use, which usually takes a few hours listening time.
Anyone else experince this?
Click to expand...

yep...same as... :)

tho, with the spirit level hopefully I can get it so it sounds spot on from my usual sitting (well, lying!) position...as it seems to be a bit lower than I normally am...
 
It grew old along with your listening capabilities, that's why. Actually I was talking about performance, not problems. It's a slow process as performance degrades slowly and you don't even notice.

Try comparing it with a new one...
 
my system is never switched off, sounds better at night and listening with the listening room door closed and curtains drawn, big improvement was giving it its own mains spur
 
tuga said:
It grew old along with your listening capabilities, that's why. Actually I was talking about performance, not problems. It's a slow process as performance degrades slowly and you don't even notice.

Try comparing it with a new one...
Click to expand...

The useful life of most components should be long enough to make this a non-issue (not degradation of components over time, but the difference between rates of decay in an item left on and one regularly switched on and off).
 
yes

with warm up of valves.

Also, at night I shut the curtains (some big curtains), and this helps things quite a lot.

The dimmer switch at night is a negative, especially with one bulb more than the other!

Alcohol helps thiings along quite nicely too...!
 
when warmed up ......... there's 3 different systems in the one room, say... light /mid and heavy, the light and mid are pretty much just right for my ears, in that they don't tire me, i know what i should be hearing and that level doesn't drop, noticeably..to where i would have to start troubling and changing things around. The only real change in the heavy is of the amount of window rattle etc. Early mornings are my fav for listening.

all fine when feeling nice and unblocked :)
 

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