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When speakers almost sound like the instruments

My speakers,(Mirage OMD28) have been a struggle for the pass couple years, with small not very dense images, less sonic weight/bass than expected, lacking transparency, not the requisite extension top to bottom. But, the addition of a few other pieces finally brought image density, size and sonic weight to the presentation, much closer to reality. For me, this is when your system has arrived. The speakers bring Jazz to life. It took a conditioner,(SR Powercell mkII), and an excellent preamp,(Joule Electra LA150 mkll) to get my system there. Amazing how the same speakers you've had for a while, and struggled with (2 years) can be transformed from underwhelming and disappointing to very good.

Have you had speakers that you struggled with for a while and almost gave up on, almost sold, that you transformed from disappointing to all you expected?
foster_9
mapman's avatar
mapman
21,887 posts
 
Identifying the current bottleneck and addressing it is always the way to go to wean performance out of any system, audio or otherwise. Often, easier said than done though. It takes time usually and lots of trial and error along the way.

The speaker/amp/room domain is always the place to start though in order to tackle the biggest potential bottlenecks first. Then it becomes more fine tuning from there.

I had 80's vintage Maggies for many years that I feel I had pushed to their limits but could no longer reach my newer more lofty goals. A near full system rehab (save turntable) followed, starting with the speakers, then amp, then the rest. Now, 4-5 years later, I am at a good place again that I have felt no need to muck with much for about two years now. How long can it last?????
foster_9 OP
1,638 posts
 
Yes Bondmanp, thanks, the Mirage OMD 28's do not respond to just any obvious choice in electronics. I found that out. I had to go through 3 amps to get there, but the right quality preamp seem to do the trick.
nonoise's avatar
nonoise
10,587 posts
 
We all take different paths to that goal of dialing in our speakers. What drew me to my present set was the fact that they sounded so much like instruments from the very beginning. A change of amps, CDP and wires along the way just helped to heighten the effect.

I guess (after writing the above) that some speakers are almost there to begin with while others need a little more help or it was just serendipity or dumb luck that I happened upon mine.

As long as you're there, enjoy.

All the best,
Nonoise
mrmitch
359 posts
 
Have to agree here with Chayro. I too, like Foster 9, bought a Joule Electra LA 150 Mk2, and it transformed my system (had a CJ PV-5 previously).Deeper and wider soundstage, much better bass,and just enjoyed my system much more after inserting the Joule into the chain.
tubeking
65 posts
 
In my experence the larger speakers sound most like real instruments. The body/dynamics of many instruments just are not large enough on small speakers. The laws physics of make most speakers sound like miniture recreations of the event. This is fine but real life instruments have resonances and tonal charteristics much better served by larger transducers. I have just added Tannoy Westminsters Royals to my system and they sound the most true to life I have experenced. They may not be your cup of tea but try to audition some horn type speakers preferably with tube electronics. It is at least a learning experence worth a few minutes of your time. Hope this is of help if I understood your posted question.

Mark
Tubeking
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