I use a Shunyata Denali 6000s v.2 with Shunyata Alpha XC v.2 to the wall and Shunyata Alpha NR v.2 on everything else. Also use all Audience FrontRow for Speaker cables with FrontRow Jumpers, USB cable, and Balanced interconnect.
Power cords or power conditioner
I’m at a cross roads and I’m looking for some advice from those have have gone down this road. I recently added a 2 channel integrated amplifier to improve my 2 channel performance. I had been using my Datasat LS-10 for music and while it sounded really nice, it was missing the depth and clarity that I know my speakers are capable of. My speakers are KEF Reference 3s, rest of my 2 channel set is is as follows:
Luxman L 509x
Luxman D-03x
Roon Nucleus Plus
Lumin U2 Mini
Transparent Audio Super speaker cables
Nordorst Red Dawn XLR, Blue Heaven USB
Wire World Platinum USB
All power cables are DYI using Oyaide Tsunami V2 cable
So what I feel I am missing is that 3D holographic sound stage. It was there with the Luxman 509 when I demo’d it, but I am unable to get that experience at my house. I feel that majority of equipment is up to the task but I am curious if I should ad a top shelf power condtioner like a Shunyata Triton or Torus AVR20 into the system or replace my Intergrated’s power cord with a Shunyata Alpha NC? I’m getting tapped out, so for now it can only be one or the other.
Or should I skip the above and focus on room treatments?
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When the Mrs. is not busy, I’ll ask her if you’re right.😘 |
@wheelndeal1099 keep us posted and let us know how the new cables sound! |
Cables have arrived- So the Acoustic Zen Silver Reference II XLR and Acoustic Zen Hologram II bi-wired speaker cables. I bought these out of the used inventory of cables.com so these should be broken in. I was told to let them "warm up" for a few hours before critical listening. That said, here are my initial impressions. The first song I played was Dire Straits Iron Hand. I immediately noticed the decay was better. These cables are also brighter, but in a very good way. Next I played Norah Jones, Don’t know why. This is my goto song to test brightness. With the Boulder 866 this song was painful to listen to as Norah’s voice went from soothing to shrill. The Transparent cables her voice was great, with the Hologram/silver reference combo, it became just that much better. Her voice was more textured and the highs were more detailed. The Transparent’s were just a bit to rolled off for this set up. Honestly the Transparent’s would have problably made the Boulder 866 more enjoyable. Vavaldi's Four Seasons Spring 3 (Max Richter) This is now the best I have heard this song from my room. Violin clearly placed in front of the orchestra. Now I've heard better (clearer separation) in dedicated music rooms but this is largely an untreated family room. For what it is, it really sounds great. The soundstage may have improved slightly over the transparent/ Nordost Red Dawn XLR combo. My speakers have always disappeared into the room. Now there may be just a touch more layering and separation between instruments. I still don’t have that 3-D layered effect but I’m getting closer. I have sound absorbing curtains on the way for the windows that are in the back of the room. I have six large windows, and I think that is the first thing that must be tackled. I already have bass traps in the corners. Next will be dealing with first reflection point issues. With all that said, my stereo certainly sounds better than it ever has at this point. Nothing has been night and day, but I can tell you the sound is a lot better than it was 2 weeks ago when I started this post! Thanks for all the tips and advise so far! |
- 122 posts total