Small changes over the past few months, compared to the major changes one has been making to the system over the past couple of year. The biggest financial change was the move from hybrid amp to a full blown valve amp. The system has always been vinyl based, and valve orientated.
I have made small valve changes recently to good effect. During the past few weeks, the 'tweak front' has been quiet. Summers coming, so other things have taken my thoughts.
Actions might be down but the music and listening has been in full swing.
Thats what this is about, no cost changes that have lifted the sound of my system. Recently reading a thread where the question was 'how to widen the stereo image sweet spot' . . . set me thinking, my system has a very narrow 'sweet spot' . . . the speakers toe in to cross just in front of the listening position?
First turn them flat, no toe in, OK but a bit vague, so we started moving them about, I discovered a tiny amount of toe in was optimum, widening the sound stage as well as the sweet spot and the perceived sound became louder, there was a noticeable improvement in digital reply.
Sitting, thinking over these results, I thought, screws . . . the speakers are 25 years old, there are 6 cap head screws holding the base unit, 3 securing the tweeter and three more fixing the tweeter magnet . . . 25 years, never beet touched . . . dug out the 3/32" alan key, imperial, that shows how old the speakers are. All screws took a quarter turn, with little effort, taking care, screws into wood can easily strip.
Results of these little 'no cost' tweaks, is cleaner crisper, more dynamic sound, wider image and sweet spot, which was the original idea.
Yep I'm a tweaker, but at no cost, with a positive result, that got to be worth it?
CJSF
I have made small valve changes recently to good effect. During the past few weeks, the 'tweak front' has been quiet. Summers coming, so other things have taken my thoughts.
Actions might be down but the music and listening has been in full swing.
Thats what this is about, no cost changes that have lifted the sound of my system. Recently reading a thread where the question was 'how to widen the stereo image sweet spot' . . . set me thinking, my system has a very narrow 'sweet spot' . . . the speakers toe in to cross just in front of the listening position?
First turn them flat, no toe in, OK but a bit vague, so we started moving them about, I discovered a tiny amount of toe in was optimum, widening the sound stage as well as the sweet spot and the perceived sound became louder, there was a noticeable improvement in digital reply.
Sitting, thinking over these results, I thought, screws . . . the speakers are 25 years old, there are 6 cap head screws holding the base unit, 3 securing the tweeter and three more fixing the tweeter magnet . . . 25 years, never beet touched . . . dug out the 3/32" alan key, imperial, that shows how old the speakers are. All screws took a quarter turn, with little effort, taking care, screws into wood can easily strip.
Results of these little 'no cost' tweaks, is cleaner crisper, more dynamic sound, wider image and sweet spot, which was the original idea.
Yep I'm a tweaker, but at no cost, with a positive result, that got to be worth it?
CJSF
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