2. amps-preamps
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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,

ahuvia
russ69's avatar
russ69
3,518 posts
 

Mono amps>stereo amp>intgrated amp

verdantaudio's avatar
verdantaudio
1,500 posts
 

Is it an M10 or M10v2.  The Original M10 was maybe not the best and most resolving amp NAD has produced.  The V2 came out explicitly to address some of these issues.  The V2 on the other hand should sound pretty good.  

With focal speakers, further spread is good.  You can also consider over-toeing so that the speakers are crossing 1.5 to 3’ in front of your head.

 

ghdprentice
7,027 posts
 

Speaker placement is critical for great performance as brought up above. If you have not done a lot of this… then think of placement taking hours of work over weeks. Not just move a few inches… listen, move, listen… done.

 

You might look up speaker placement you will find more than you want.

In short… you need space behind speakers, and away from walls, in equilateral triangle with listening position. Starting with them pointing behind your head. Move in and out left and right to open soundstage but not loose central image. Then optimize toe in. Less toe in opens the soundstage and separates images. Then get everything out of in between speakers and dampen the wall. This will unconfuse the images. If speakers too close to side wall, then dampening needed there… this goes on.

 

Anyway, I would recommend doing moves over very long sessions, over many sessionsm. Get to know the sound really well… then move… get to know the sound really well.

 

If all this fails. Then it will unlikely be tha amp as such… it will be the combination of source / preamp in your NAD. They all make a difference… but the amp would be the last place I would look. If you need improvements. I would consider trading in for separates. Too many functions in a single box make enormous compromises in sound quality.

arcticdeth's avatar
arcticdeth
1,572 posts
 

My,speakers are about 9 ft apart, ….15” from the,wall, my sitting position is 9 feet from the speakers,slightly toed in. 
 

experiment, took me weeks to find the “spot”

once you find it, you will know.

also, I went from K-mart rcas to audioquest and Groneberg power cords , and still use my BJ rcas in main system, they cancel out the radio tower tweeter gibberish, broadcast.

 

experiment, move them, sit for 15 min,move,again, keep,a,written note of position or distance from wall, from listening position, all the goodie.  
 

take your time, as my wife said I was a crazed metalhead moron, moving, listening, moving, swapping,cables, different,cd,players, every day,for,about,a,week and a half.  You,will find your “spot” keep messing,w your system. 
 

I like moving stuff,around,as I,clean dust, etc from back of rack, also,when the stereo is,clean, t does sound better.

ahuvia OP
17 posts
 

Thank you all. This is great advice. I'm looking forward to the adventure of tweaking the setup and I'm sure that will make things sound better.

But I want to double-check if I explained the problem properly. When I think of imaging, I think of the way different instruments seem to be "placed" on a stage between the speakers. That's not exactly what I'm worried about. My concern is that when, say, I'm listening to a symphony and the main theme is being played by the strings, but there is a flute in the background doing something a little bit different, the flute gets lost. I can hear that it is there, but I can't hear it clearly, it gets washed out by the louder string section. It is mostly a matter of the detail in the music getting lost when a lot of things are happening at the same time.  Is placement going to help with that?

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