2. digital
  3. 1148652453

Mixed Results from My Hifi

Hi all, I'm looking to get a more consistent sound from my system. Some CD's sound great. No complaints, others pretty mediocre. Most Jazz and smaller production CD’s sound wonderful, detailed, airy, all that audiophile stuff. But mass produced pop and rock are almost unlistenable. I call it the “wall of sound” syndrome, compressed, digital, bleah. The latest releases from Sheryl Crow, U2 and Coldplay sound awful (not withstanding anyone’s taste in music).

What can I do to improve the overall sound in my system so I can listen to all of my music? Add tubes, a new DAC?

I’m listening.
hammergjh
onhwy61's avatar
onhwy61
5,151 posts
 
Nothing you can really do. Your system is simply telling you how the inidividual CDs sound. Some sound wonerful and some don't. That's the way life is.
nrchy's avatar
nrchy
2,124 posts
 
Onhwy61 is right. Some CDs do not sound good. Your system is revealing the quality of the CD, not the system. A great system might sound less bad with a poor CD, but you're not going to make a bad recording sound good.
seandtaylor99
1,262 posts
 
You say your systems has "Glass like clarity, but with a bit of a cold edge."

It sounds like it could use warming up a little to make it a bit more forgiving. This might not require changing components. First, to relieve congestion in the sound you could try pulling the speakers a couple of feet away from the rear walls.

Second, what's the room like ? Are the floors carpeted ? Any big windows ? Soft furnishings ? Too many hard reflective surfaces will tend to accentuate upper frequencies leading to a rather hard sound.
hammergjh OP
157 posts
 
My speakers are pretty close to the walls, on hardwood floors. There is a rug and upholstered furniture in there. Well, yeah, it's my living room. ;-)

I thought tubes might gloss over the sound a little and soften it. No? Tube Dac or Tubed CDP.
More to discover