top ten albums how about ur hifi?

[legendario]

Originally posted by oldlester


Ban Him. He said DVDA!!!

Speaking of that

me,you,trems and throd on kitty later?

 

[Tom]

Originally posted by nath
I have a fairly shitty hifi system (I mean, it's proper hifi none of this midi system bollocks but it's low end) and I get that warm sound from cd's. I haven't heard decent vinyl so I guess I'm not in the most objective position to comment, but there is that fluffy warm atmostphere from playing cd's. Some more than others.. the new coldplay album has it in bucketloads.

If you think your CDs sound warm, a nice turntable will soon force you to reevaluate that opinion! A Rega Planar would suit your budget, but if you ever get the chance, don't buy modern vinyl, get good quality 2nd hand stuff from the 70's (if you like that kind of music). You can pick up some top notch 60's vinyl for not much money, just look on ebay theres loads of it.

BTW, your hifi is a good one, be glad you got separates, they allow you an upgrade path if you choose. Those modern flashy whizzbang hifis may look good, but inside they are as cheap as chips.

And no, I'm not made of wood.

 

[nath]

You're joking right? Those whizbang micro/midi systems look fucking naff. Proper seperates make me ooz sex wee out of my special place.


Ahem.

Anyway, it's unlikely I'll be doing any vinyl purchasing. I think you'd really need to spend some time getting some decent records, and I just can't be arsed. Plus, I'm not really an audiophile.. I just like good sounding music and despise those shitty currys type hifis.

 

[Tom]

Originally posted by Tom[SHOTTEH]
'Dither' is also used to reduce noise caused by the non-linearity of the resolution. Low level signals on CDs are grossly distorted.

Oops, thats wrong - I meant to say that Dither is noise added to the signal, to reduce low level distortion.

/slap

 

[Daffeh]

wtf is a 'warm' sound

 

[Scooba Da Bass]

It's a subjective thing that you can't really describe unless you compare it to something else. Suffice to say that Vinyl sounds 'warm' compared to a CD.

The groovy thing is that a good vinyl rip to mp3 will maintain that warmness.

 

[Daffeh]

oh ok.....


/me backs away slowly

 

[Wij]

Scooba, I can't help but admire your warm valve.

 

[bodhi]

I'd rather listen to crackle free music tbh. I'm not a huge fan of warm sounding hi-fi's, I much prefer hi-fi's which play the music without imparting any character on it, like my KI-Sig kit and the old Audiolab products.

 

[Scooba Da Bass]

I'm afraid to say that your setup does impart character to the music.

 

[bodhi]

I'm afraid to say it doesn't. Every component has been chosen to impart no character whatsoever down to the 300 quid i spent on wires. Only the Linn speaker cable has an effect, adding softness to take the edge off the detail the CD player is producing.

 

[wolfeeh]

mother of fuck

you spent £300 on CABLES?

money++ sense--

 

[(Shovel)]

Wolfeh, if you have that much money going spare and HiFi kit to match it then it is worth it.
I'm no HiFi junky though so I don't know whether his kit is "up to it". He's no dumbarse though so I figure it probably is.

 

[Tom]

Originally posted by bodhi
I'm afraid to say it doesn't. Every component has been chosen to impart no character whatsoever down to the 300 quid i spent on wires. Only the Linn speaker cable has an effect, adding softness to take the edge off the detail the CD player is producing.

Cables are a thing of contention - impedance matched cables and equipment, with the manufacturer recommended capacitance, should do the job fine. I don't think that really expensive cables do a better job than £50 jobs, but that's not an opinion I extend to hifi components in general.

BTW Bodhi what system you got?

 

[Scooba Da Bass]

Originally posted by bodhi
I'm afraid to say it doesn't. Every component has been chosen to impart no character whatsoever down to the 300 quid i spent on wires. Only the Linn speaker cable has an effect, adding softness to take the edge off the detail the CD player is producing.

Only studio monitors offer flat response on sound playback, your speakers aren't studio monitors, hence character is added.

As for spending 300 quid on cabling, that definitely goes into the 'I read What Hifi' category of good sense, studios don't use expensive cabling, why would you using it at home make a difference?

 

[old.TUG]

Mine cost next to fuck all really, sounds quite good though...

Marantz PM4000 amp
Sony CDPX330 or some shit CD player
Eltax Monitor III's
Gale XL315 speaker cable
shite interconnects
Sony MHC RX 90 mini system for tuner and tape (for now)
2xSoundlab DLP3R decks (old skool!) and Gemini PS540i mixer

All linked to PC which has a Videologic Sonic Fury sound card and Creative CSW100 speakers (sub and 2 sats) and winamp 2.81 plays teh mp3's :|

 

[bodhi]

Originally posted by Scooba Da Bass


Only studio monitors offer flat response on sound playback, your speakers aren't studio monitors, hence character is added.

As for spending 300 quid on cabling, that definitely goes into the 'I read What Hifi' category of good sense, studios don't use expensive cabling, why would you using it at home make a difference?

Same reason I bought a TAG Heuer watch. Because I could.

 

[Scooba Da Bass]

Fair enough, don't suggest it offers you better sound however, as that's just wrong.

 

[bodhi]

Well I can hear shitloads more detail with the wires in my system than I can with bellwire and the interconnects out of the box :/

 

[Tom]

Bellwire and shite interconnects aren't really a valid comparison. Most expensive cables have varying levels of capacitance, and carry their own impedance, which may or may not match your equipment - hence the difference in sound quality.

What's most important is what you prefer. If you're happy, it really doesn't matter how much you spent.

BTW I agree with what Scooba says, nobody in the studio world workds with Gold plated jackfields, or silver plated mic cables!

hehe most of the studios I've been into are coffee cup doughnut infested dives! Mind you, I'm one of the lucky ones, I work outdoors most days!

 

[nath]

While we're on the subject:

I've just moved my standmount aegis ones on to a shelf. The problem is, it's against the wall (well, where else :] ) and as a result, the tone is very thumpy. Feels like they're playing underwater. Well, not quite so bad, but they've lost the airyness. Is there any way to get this back short of putting them back in the open as that's a bit of a pain.

Tar.

 

[Scooba Da Bass]

Moving them is the only real solution short of drastic rebuilding of the wall they are against.

 

[Sar]

I have a shoebox with a Pixie band in it.















They take requests.

 

[bodhi]

Originally posted by nath
While we're on the subject:

I've just moved my standmount aegis ones on to a shelf. The problem is, it's against the wall (well, where else :] ) and as a result, the tone is very thumpy. Feels like they're playing underwater. Well, not quite so bad, but they've lost the airyness. Is there any way to get this back short of putting them back in the open as that's a bit of a pain.

Tar.

If they have a rear firing bass port (that bit you can feel gusts of air coming out of in time with the music) try blocking it with a sock or summat similar. Should reduce the thumpiness and get the airy sound back.

 

[Tom]

Originally posted by nath
While we're on the subject:

I've just moved my standmount aegis ones on to a shelf. The problem is, it's against the wall (well, where else :] ) and as a result, the tone is very thumpy. Feels like they're playing underwater. Well, not quite so bad, but they've lost the airyness. Is there any way to get this back short of putting them back in the open as that's a bit of a pain.

Tar.

How small is the gap between the speaker and the wall? And what are you resting the speakers on? Bluetack? Spikes?

Are the speakers 'pointing' down the long dimension of the room? That can create standing waves, which will have the effect you describe.

 

[stu]

Vinyl sounds warmer and more "fluid" than CD - agree

Vinyl sounds "better" than CD - don't agree

Hi-fi is totally a subjective matter of taste. Some people prefer the sound of vinyl, some cds, others tape (yes, tape - I've heard some pretty amazing tape setups). Personally I prefer CD because it seems to fit the breadth of music I listen to better. Having said that tracks with a very wide range of instruments can sound 'tight' on CD, whereas they're much more 'open' on vinyl. Saying a £250 turntable stacks up against a £1000 CD player is rather fanciful (and is that just for the turntable? or the block and the arm as well?), but if it sounds good to you then go with it.

 

[granny]

I hesitate to say I understand all the detail you guys have given on the relative pros and cons of different audio set-ups and media, but I do understand your desire to acheive the "best" sound that you can.

But what I've come to realise is that sound quality isn't really that important to me. It's the music. It's the memories and connotations associated with a particular piece of music or album. When I hear "Sympathy for the devil" it brings back a thousand memories from a thousand different listenings and the words are the same whether I hear it on the car cd player or my crappy mini-system or my mum's desperately shite portable tape player she keeps up at the allottment. Whatever I hear it on I can still see that 40 foot tall skeleton in top hat & tails rising up over the burning model of the houses of parliament with the bloke with the flamethrower standing in the "mouth" of big ben.

 

[nath]

Just bought a load of shitz for my home cinema fun :/

Marantz SR5300 (bought by my dad for chrimbo) £333 (not bad, from richer sounds)

Speaker set up bought by me

Fronts: Monitor Audio Bronze 2's
Rears: Monitor Audio Bronze 1's
Centre: Monitor Audio Bronze Centre
Sub: Rel Quake

£1k ://

(OK so not that great a deal of cash but i'm skint so it is.. gunna be paying it off for months)

Sounds fucking fantastic though.

 

[Tom]

Rule no. 1 of hifi (or most things for that matter)

The most important component in the chain is the source, not the speakers.

 

[nath]

ja I know, but that marantz is a goodun... so I hear.

I'm putting it all together on chrimbo eve. I'll let you know how it sounds