A Question from a newbie....

[admin_exported]

A newbie to WhatHi and HiFi in general so apologies if question is a daft one, but here goes.

A thought it was about time that I got myself a decent amp, CD player and Speakers to play all the cd's that I own and generally only play on my ipod. I am just dipping my toe in the water of Hi Fi seperates so went with a few recommended options from what Hi Fi to get me started. I went to richer sounds and purchased the following:

Amp - Cambridge Audio azur 340A SE

Cd Player - Cambridge Audio 340C

Speakers - Wharfedale Diamond 9.1

They all got 5 stars so I thought I was on to a winner. I have connected everything up and it just sounds OK but not like it did in the shop so I think I must be doing something wrong. It almost seems as though there is not enough Bass and also one speaker is definately not as loud as the other, although I can only tell this when I switch the balance on the amp all the way to the left and then the right. The louder I turn up the volume the more inperfections I can here. One thing that I am slightly confused by is that there is 4 connectors on the back of the wharfedale speakers but the speaker cables that I got at richer sounds only have two. Hmmm. Any pointers to what I may be doing wrong or think to look out for would be most appreciated.

Cheers

Tom

 

[PJPro]

tommy_gun:[snip]... One thing that I am slightly confused by is that there is 4 connectors on the back of the wharfedale speakers but the speaker cables that I got at richer sounds only have two.....[snip]

Cheers

Tom

The four connectors on the speakers allow the speakers to be bi-wired. This allows you to have a separate run of speaker cables for the tweater and woofer. You don't have to do this. But you do need to ensure that the "jumper" is present across the connectors when using a single run of cable or you'll only be driving the tweater or woofer.

Seems to me like the jumper is absent from the quiet speaker...so you're only driving the tweater.

Also check that you have the cables connected correctly eg postive on the amp to positive on the speaker. Depending on the cable neither the negative or positive wire will be identified as a black line or with symbols running along its length.

Check the above and tell us how you get on.

 

[batonwielder]

Yeah, I would check to see if all the jumpers are in their places.

The 9.1's are remarkable speakers and the Cambridge Audio electronics will run them just fine. However, there is a well-known problem of the entry level Cambridge Audio gears having balance issues in low volume. It engages the left channel first and then the other as you go louder. It's the nature of the volume pot they use and there's nothing you can do about it. It's actually a prominent symptom of many other entry level amplifiers, but I think it's quite pronounced on Cambridge Audio. If it bothers you, and it should, because that is just not good engineering, take it back to the dealer and demand an exchange. They are well aware of this problem, I believe.

Try listening to some Rotel amplifiers. Hope this helps.ÿ

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the quick response.

I have checked both speakers and there is two jumpers present on each speaker and i have the speaker cable connected to the bottom two ports. do they both need to be on? The instructions appears to say that they do.

Not sure if I am expecting two much from the system but it sounds good with high notes but poor with deeper bass notes. If I put a dance track on with plenty of bass on then it doesnt sound great.

I am a complete novice in this area so I may have forgotten something obvious.

I have checked that the speakers are fair distance away from wall tv etc and that there is nothing too close to the front. Does the size of the room greatly effect the sound produced? How about the type of cables and connectors? I have the speakers on stands pointing slightly inwards so that when I sit in the middle they are pointing directly at me.

the sound isnt bad just but just sounds no different than a £50 stereo from argos.

 

[batonwielder]

The jumpers need to be on since you unless you are biwiring. For now, you needn't worry about that.

You have the wrong speakers for the kind of you listen to. I always recommend the Wharfedales for classical music although such generalization is frowned upon. They excel in midrange and tonality, which is warm and clear.

You need to tell us the size of the room, your musical taste, and everything else including cables, listening height, what you've filled the stands with, and etc.ÿ

 

[coolaboola]

first of all as a newbie you have made a very savvy purchase.There is an inherit problem with budget ca volume issues that have been mentioned on this site before howeveryou have bought from a very reputable dealer who will address your issue.Send it back, see if it is the same again with the replacement, if it is get a marantz 6002.customer is king particularly in a credit crunch

 

[Anonymous]

thanks for all the reponses, my first time on what Hi Fi and very impressed.

My Musical Tastes are Rock/Indie. Nothing Heavy but Razorlight, strokes, chilli Peppers etc. I also listen to some Dance which I would probably describe as the Trance genre.

I live in a modern flat in London so the room is not huge. an estimate of dimentions of the room would be 8m x 4m. The system is setup on one of the 8m walls.

The cables, I am not sure about, they were just supplied to me when i got the system. Could these be an issue?

 

[JoelSim]

It's a shame it doesn't seem to be working well

ÿ

 

[coolaboola]

ok first of all nice music taste.bass can be oversold in this genre.Bass acompanies music as opposed to writing it.For long listening sessions bass should be crisp and precise not in yoru face dominating and flabby.The bass will give you the first impression but its the detail,soundstage and clarity that will make you demand more.

 

[batonwielder]

OK, now we are getting somewhere. A couple of things.

1. Positioning - It seems that you've studiously avoided wall boundaries. Try putting them closer to the rear wall. Start with the speakers right up against the rear wall. That will give you more bass than you would ever want. Then move them further out little by little until you have exactly the amount of bass you want. The Wharfedale's are front ported which means they can be and should be placed closer to the wall to optimize bass. Also, try sitting closer to the wall behind you, probably equal to the distance between the speakers and their back wall.

2. Channel imbalance - Make sure that the speakers are equal in distance from your listening seat. Your amplifier is not defective. Implementing such a volume control was a conscious decision on their part. You need to get a different amplifier altogether. The above mentioned Marantz is a good start and my personal favorite in that price range is Rotel.

Play with positioning and see if it make any difference. Report back your findings, and let's continue, then.

Hope this helps.ÿ

 

[Anonymous]

It's already been said but check the speaker wiring. It's possible you have them "out of phase" Basically red connector (or +) on back of amp to red (or +) on speaker and black (or -) to black ( or -) for left channel and same for the right.

Also make sure the jumpers are secure on the speakers.

Also give the speakers an hour or two to loosen up.

Then set the balance etc on your Amp.

 

[batonwielder]

welshboy:
It's already been said but check the speaker wiring. It's possible you have them "out of phase" Basically red connector (or +) on back of amp to red (or +) on speaker and black (or -) to black ( or -) for left channel and same for the right.

Oh yes, that's a very good possibility.ÿ

 

[Anonymous]

After all the pointers I am now happy with the sound.

The main issues I initially had was that the Jumpers were not on and the sound was pretty bad. School Boy error I know but live and learn.

I have put the speakers closer to the wall and the bass sounds a lot better.

The sound seemed to get a lot richer after a few hours playing so maybe I had to wear the speakers in a bit. Is this common?

Finally and please dont laugh but the 'Mrs' put on her Leona Lewis Album (honestly not mine) and was listening to the Bleeding Love track. When it gets going the bass line kicks in and its was really scratchy and i was thinking that something was up. I played the CD in my laptop and the scratchy bass line is there so its either a dodgy CD or it was meant to be like that. I think that having been used to playing my music on inferior systems and that I am not used to hearing the full sound recored on the CD. I have played lots of other proper CD's Since and they all sound great.

Probably a little impatenince initially on my part but now a happy Camper. Cheers for all the useful advice.

 

[Dave_]

doh,but at least you've found/sorted the problem now.

yeah your speakers need time to run in, you should find they start sounding better and better as thet do, also wouldn't crank them too high initially

 

[batonwielder]

I'm glad it's coming along well. Play around with positioning until you are completely satisfied with the sound.

It's normal as to what you are experiencing with certain recordings. I would imagine your system is revealing enough that you will be surprised at what you are hearing. I'm sure you will now start paying attention to the quality of recordings.

What happened to the channel imbalance issue? Is it still quite noticeable?

It's easy to get a buyer's remorse after your big purchase no matter how entry level it is. As far as I can see your system is perfectly capable of producing good sound. Just optimize the system to its full potential and enjoy.ÿ

 

[Anonymous]

the channel inbalance is still definatley there and is more noticable when listening a lower volumes. It doesnt seem to effect the quality of the sounds but i just sounds stronger from oen side. Would you recommended countering this using the balance dial or is this just something that I should get used to. It is not really noticable at higher volumes but as I live in a block of flats I wont be blaring it out every day.

 

[batonwielder]

No, you won't get used to it. You will have to readjust the balance everytime you change the volume. Besides, I'm not even sure if it can be corrected with the balance knob. I seriously think you should consider changing it while you can.

Finding an amplifier is a simple process. Once you know exactly what you NEED, it naturally narrows down to only a handful that actually meets your criteria.ÿ

As you said, you'd rather not disturb your neighbors, so it is very important for you to have a system that sounds good at low volume with great clarity and good channel balance. It's actually hard to achieve at any price, but I think it's worth it.ÿ

 

[fatboyslimfast]

tommy_gun:the channel inbalance is still definatley there and is more noticable when listening a lower volumes

This seems to be a "Cambridge" thing - my A5 did it, and I've heard of quite a few others that also do it. Give Richer a ring and see what they suggest, as adjusting the balance is a task that will have to be done every time you change volume - the problem is that a low volumes, the volume control does not increase both channels at the same time.