How do you get Happy as an Audiophile?

bjesien

My room measures 12.2' x 18'.  I have hardwood floors with a 9 x 12 Persian rug. Systems consists of ARCAM AVR550, Paradigm Prestige 85F towers, two Rell S2 SHO subwoofers, BlueSound Node 2i and OPPO 105 blue ray player.  I just spent about $4,000 on Synergistic speaker wires, Synergistic power cable, power cable for BlueSound and digital cable between the BlueSound and my ARCAM.  I am sitting about 15 feet from my speakers.  My Harman Kardon sound system in my cars sounds way better.  Maybe I should add the rear left and right surround systems and listen in surround sound.

@larry5729 i’m not familiar with your speakers but just based on the dimensions of your room, is it possible that you’re sitting too far away from your speakers? Normally the best listening position is somewhere in the region of an equilateral triangle or a bit closer. That would definitely widen soundstage and perhaps give you that enveloping feeling that you are missing.

@jjss49 

i like mike

be like mike

😁

(since i'm the only Mike on this thread so far) thank you for the kind words. hifi/music/audiophilia is only fun for me. i refuse to allow darkness to intrude.

@larry5729 Somethins not right.  I've heard some really good car stereos and they have never been close to a proper home system.

When nobody's home you should experiment with speaker and listening position placement.  Move your speakers out at least 3 to 6ft  from the back wall about 8 ft apart.  Turn off the subs.  Start by sitting in the middle about 3 ft from the front of the speakers. Does this sound better than your car? (If it doesn't then you may have an amplifier or speaker issue.)  Move back 3ft.  Did the sound get better?  if so move back another 3 ft.  If it didn't get better move your speakers further apart. and try again.   When you get to a spot that it sounds good you can then toe the speakers in to increase the focus.  Now you should have a sound stage and a full detailed sound.  Now turn on one of your subs and adjust the volume to add some depth and then turn on the other sub and adjust it.  If it's boomy move them out at least a foot from the wall.

So before everybody gets home you can readjust the speakers and the listening position to a compensate for life for everyone who doesn't have a dedicated sound room.  

That's how us robots do it.

@larry5729   Hi Larry.  I found your comments very interesting.  Music has always been a huge part of my life.  My wife, not so much. (music that is).  A few years back, my wife asked if I minded if she sat and played word on her tablet while I listed to music.  Of course I didn't mind.  What started as her just wanting to be more involved with my passion, has morphed into a music date for two hours most every evening.  While she still doesn't share my attachment to my entire music collection, her taste in music has expanded greatly.  She doesn't care to understand the specifics of my system, but loves the esthetics of the room.  I can honestly say that music has improved our relationship even though it's for different reasons.  The only downside is she fully supports me spending money on new equipment.  Not sure that others members on this site can learn anything from my experience but you just never know where our music adventure will lead us?