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My stereo isn't doing it for me. Need advice

I have been trying to get a great sounding room for a while now and it still doesn't sound great or even good. I have a Prinaluna Dialogue 5 power amp and a Primaluna Prologue preamp. All with stock tubes so far. A Marantz c6005 CD player. Morrow mc3 interconnects and Kimber 8tc speaker cable. My speakers are Dynaudio x12's which sound the best in my room. I also have Dynaudio x32 speakers and a pair of KEF LS50 speakers. Also a REL T-5 subwoofer. My room is my office and is 9 x 11 with 8 Foot ceilings. Some acoustic stuff sounds great but the louder stuff not so much. I find I listen to music that sounds good rather than music I want to hear. Any suggestions on what I can change. I also bought a Class D Audio 200 watt per channel amplifier that makes everything sound even worse.
128x128dylanfan
lowrider57's avatar
lowrider57
5,417 posts
 
Yeah, so you don't have the best CDP, but that doesn't enter into this sound problem.
I agree that you should try listening in a near-field setup before buying new gear.

Set your listening position about 6 to 7 ft. from speakers. Start by positioning each speaker close to the side walls, then move them incrementally closer toward the center of the room. You'll eventually reach the sweet spot for soundstaging. Then try with and w/o subwoofer. This setup will help remove the effect the room has on the sound.

You may not want to live with a near-field setup, but by doing this first, you'll get a closer representation of the synergy of your system. You might find that your amp and speakers are a good match.
coli
291 posts
 
You have power issues.
audiotroy's avatar
audiotroy
3,787 posts
 
1:Dyaudio's are generally low in sensitivity and may need a more powerful amp when playing louder.

2: CD player is not up to snuff

3: Cables not up to snuff either. Kimber 8TC is a good starter cable without the resolution of some of the better cables out there, I would also suspect the Morrow. The ew series 7 Wireworld cables are fantastic.

4: Power conditioning can make a huge difference also power cords.

The last thing I would change is the speakers the Dynaudio's are very good so are the Kef LS 50.

If you get a good power amplifier not class D with the Prima preamp you would get a nice improvement.
ps
747 posts
 
A confounding thread, to say the least. As others have said, unless you can articulate/identify the desired destination other than "fuller sound", which is rather ambiguous, you cannot get there from here.

OP- you've got terrific components in a somewhat challenging room. Someone else suggested nearfield listening which removes much of the room from the equation.

Sometimes it pays to simply listen to the music rather than to the gear. Cable this, CDP that, etc....

Good luck.
dylanfan's avatar
dylanfan OP
139 posts
 
Well wonder of wonders. A friend of mine who deals in vintage audio got in a pair of Sound Anchor speaker stands 24 inches high. I picked those up this afternoon and then moved my speakers out closer to me for a more near field listening. Sounds much better. Still given my tiny room not much else can be done but This sure helps. My Primaluna sounds great like this. I can live with the cd player for now. Thanks Lindisfarne for the Sound Anchor recommendation.
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