2. amps-preamps
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Am I imagining things?

Not long ago I have bought replacement amp for my Musical Fidelity A300, honestly I can say that sound is much more liquid, music scene in now more square then trapezoid, everything is more in focus. I can listen much longer. Dynamics, bass does not changed a bit, at least I cannot hear it, maybe microdynamic because noisefloor is much lower. (I still using part of MF A300 as pre). But something is wrong, picture imbued by MF A300 was not so focused, clean but more live (maybe only brighter), picture imbued by Clayton M100 is like very sharp watercolor (pale colors).
I wanted something closer to lively tube presentation I went opposite way :(.
I have done interesting experiment yesterday, I have change direction of interconnect between pre and amp.
What is interesting I have impression that when direction is wrong (current flows not according but against arrow on the interconnect) sound is more live. Am I imagining things?
Rest of the equipment is Thiel 3.6 and old cdp Arcam Alpha 6.
sorlowski
timo's avatar
timo
610 posts
 
My belief is that cable directionality is pretty much a hoax and makes little/no difference because the audio signal passing through a conductor is AC and changes direction half of the time so electrons are flowing in both directions. Something to consider.
geoffkait's avatar
geoffkait
23,365 posts
 
I tend to disagree that directionality is a hoax, but I do think that the arrows might sometimes be incorrect -- maybe the cables you have were made on a Monday :-)
clueless
763 posts
 
You're a contrarian. Some folks listen to a different drummer.

I dislike trapezoid music too although when things come into focus they tend to scare me.

Sincerely
I remain,
newbee
4,767 posts
 
Sound's like you want some good old fashion lower-mid range warmth that many, but not all, tube amps bring (along with those airy highs. Dumb question - why not just buy a tube amp. If there really was such a thing as a SS amp which sounded like a tube amp, everybody would own one. Yeh I know, maintenance can be a nuisance and the bass is soft. Well I'd agree with the former, but suggest that with a high power PP tube amp you won't be giving up much with tubes. I've also heard that those 3.6's can sound pretty good with high power tube amps. :-) PS I doubt that the directionality is the limiting factor in your set up for what you are looking for.
nudaddy
13 posts
 
Try reversing polarities on each speaker, and turn your interconnects back to the originally "correct" arrows. Try inverting the plug into the wall outlet on preamp. Leave whichever sounds best.
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