need amp recommendations for more separation of instruments
I've noticed that if I play music that only has a few instruments playing at the same time it generally sounds great, but, if it's got a lot of instruments playing different parts at the same time it all mushes together and you can't hear the individual instruments clearly. My current rig is a NAD M10 and Focal Aria 948s. At a store, I heard 948s paired with a front end costing about $100,000 and that system did not have this problem, at least it not to my ears. That tells me that with really good electronics this problem can be greatly reduced and that the problem is more with my electronics than it is with my speakers. But $100k is out of my budget. My questions are:
1. Are there some classes or types of amplification that are notably better at getting separation between instruments in complex music?
2. Are there some brands that are notably better at getting separation between instruments in complex music?
3. How much would I need to spend to get something that solves this specific problem notably better than my NAD M10?
4. How much would I need to spend to get something that's a really good solution, where I probably wouldn't notice the problem unless I went out of my way to listen for it? (I know, this differs between people, but I'm still interested in your opinion).
Thanks,
agree with @arcticdeth on speaker and listening position significance. also; imaging has much to do with first reflections to the sides, behind, below and above the speakers. those first reflections will reach your ears close enough in time to the direct sound from the speaker drivers that it will smear and confuse the musical cohesion of the stereo image. yet, if you treat those reflective surfaces too much it will deaden the sound and remove energy. so it’s a balance type of thing. consider some sort of diffusion and not just absorption. finally when you sit closer, you get more direct sound from the speakers, and the reflections have relatively less effect. so that’s a factor too. don’t blame the amps for the room and set-up issues. once you’ve done what you can with the room, then there are amplifier upgrades that will advance the realism of your listening.....but judging the amps properly does require some degree of system tuning first. very modest gear can image very very finely. it’s more a recording thing and set-up thing and room thing than cost of gear thing. it is true that higher investment in gear will many times be found where more attention has been given to the room and set-up. but cost of gear does not = set-up excellence. at audio shows many times you walk into a room with the cheapest gear and it's imaging in an amazing way compared to other rooms with much more expensive gear because the smaller more modest room has a better set-up. the actual detail and tonality and accuracy of the images can be (but is not always) more cost of gear related. but before you buy different gear, put some effort into playing around and see where it can take you. good luck. |
