Bright, neutral or smooth?

What are your preferences, and does it really matter? More importantly, how does that influence the sound in your listening room? Has that caused you tweak or over tweak?

When I first purchased my amp I didn't really care, all I knew is it worked well with the Arcam CDP and RS6s. Only as time went on, and heard many other amps, I realised it was pretty neutral.

There's no right or wrong answers as it's so subjective.

Personally, I don't mind a little colour to the presentation. The soundstage is wide and deep and quite 3D, hugs you like a sonic duvet.

Over to you guys....
 

Friesiansam

Well-known member
What are your preferences, and does it really matter? More importantly, how does that influence the sound in your listening room? Has that caused you tweak or over tweak?

When I first purchased my amp I didn't really care, all I knew is it worked well with the Arcam CDP and RS6s. Only as time went on, and heard many other amps, I realised it was pretty neutral.

There's no right or wrong answers as it's so subjective.

Personally, I don't mind a little colour to the presentation. The soundstage is wide and deep and quite 3D, hugs you like a sonic duvet.

Over to you guys....
I like sound to be around neutral, which probably means a bit bright to a younger person.
 
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I'm not sure I have a preference, as the terms may mean different things to different people - I like it to sound 'right', which means I am not drawn to anything that sounds unlike it does in the real world. Most noticeable with voices and acoustic instruments, as electronic ones are manipulated in one way or another.

Beyond that, it has to have appropriate 'energy' to engage.

Might be easier to express what I don't like, which is excess sibilance or ill-defined mids and bass.
 

Symples

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Within budget restrictions it should be as close to the original as possible. (Nothing added & nothing taken away)

Bill
Yes and no..
Sure... The sound should be as close to the original as possible, but if I do not like that sound. Then surely a tweak here and there to adjust the sound to my preference is the perfect sound..... for me :)

I used to fiddle around with my bass and treble controls. I even had a graphic equaliser ( ADC SS3) but nowadays I listen to music flat. Besides changing my speakers to a tone I prefer. I am more than happy with my system.

As PP has said, Thereis not right or wrong answer. It's just a prefernce.
 
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Witterings

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Definitely not bright .... some of the music I play, the recordings are quite elevated and it's just horrible if you then take it up a notch with a bright system so lean more towards neutral / warm.

Probably doesn't help that I have tinnitus from too many hours behind a drum kit.
 
I like sound to be around neutral, which probably means a bit bright to a younger person.
Possibly right.

As I've mentioned many times before, I like to mix light with dark. You know the right balance can be struck, regardless of room acoustics. That's the main advantage of mixing 'n' matching different brands as this will give you the ideal whole....eventually. 🙂
 

Friesiansam

Well-known member
Possibly right.

As I've mentioned many times before, I like to mix light with dark. You know the right balance can be struck, regardless of room acoustics. That's the main advantage of mixing 'n' matching different brands as this will give you the ideal whole....eventually. 🙂
The good thing about having to be headphones only, is that once you have found kit that suits you, you are done, no need to worry about the room. Makes life much easier.
 

WayneKerr

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Fair play Doug. I don't care about how mine is categorized, just thought it would make an interesting topic.
Wasn't a slant against you PP, the topic is good (y) I guess I just like what I'm hearing and can't be bothered to explain it, just going with the flow and carried along with the vibes :cool: Natural would be my preference and I think I'm as close to that as I've ever been.
 
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Wasn't a slant against you PP, the topic is good (y) I guess I just like what I'm hearing and can't be bothered to explain it, just going with the flow and carried along with the vibes :cool: Natural would be my preference and I think I'm as close to that as I've ever been.
I know it wasn't aimed at me.

"Natural" sounds about right when I've heard other Marantzes.
 
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matthewpianist

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My favourite sound is what I get from the Audiolab/JBL combination. All I can say is that it's very special in the way that it draws out huge amounts of musical information and ties it all together. I find myself forgetting about the kit because it allows the music to draw me in, and that's the same whether I'm playing vinyl, CD or streaming from Qobuz.
 

Nico69

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I know it wasn't aimed at me.

"Natural" sounds about right when I've heard other Marantzes.

I'd describe my Marantz as "natural" or "neutral". Sometimes I wish it were a little brighter, but then other times I think if it were brighter than this, it would sound harsh and tiresome. It really depends on the artist, the album, the track, the recording and the media.
 
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I'd describe my Marantz as "natural" or "neutral". Sometimes I wish it were a little brighter, but then other times I think if it were brighter than this, it would sound harsh and tiresome. It really depends on the artist, the album, the track, the recording and the media.
That sounds fair.

I've mentioned this before but amp is neutral and gives you the impression it sits back smoking a cigar and just lets the speakers and sources shape the sound I hear.
 
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Horowitz

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Neutral for me, as long as that doesn’t mean sacrificing detailed treble and upper-mids!

I know that when I first started listening seriously to music, I was blown away by the rich, smooth, bass-heavy sound of my mate’s dad’s sleek, teak stereogram (we’re talking early 1970s). But as my audio appreciation matured, I began to see that richness as ‘muddiness’.

Then, when I started working in an audio production studio with an industry legend, I was taught why studio monitors needed to be as neutral as possible. To begin with, what I heard was pretty unexciting until I started to listen out for – and appreciate - detail in the upper end that wasn’t swamped by all-enveloping, muddy bass. Tight, punchy bass was fantastic, though!

With all that in mind, I took advice from my local hi-fi dealer and auditioned a few amp-and-speaker combinations. I discovered that (potentially bright) Monitor Audio Silver RS6 floorstanders played really nicely with a great (neutral) Arcam amp and have steadily tweaked the system around that premise… and my budget!!

I still retain those 18 year-old RS6s, though now powered from a mighty 2017 Arcam Solo Movie 5.1 home cinema amp (set to stereo only). My choice was roundly ridiculed by a hi-fi obsessed colleague (“MA speakers are way too bright and one-box AV-focused systems are usually crap” etc etc)… until he popped round one day and had a listen. Putting it mildly, he was blown away by the overall sound I was getting (for peanuts compared to his £15k set-up). Why? How?

I honestly believe that most listeners are scared to try a few very basic tweaks for fear of having hi-fi scorn heaped upon them by so-called purists. Firstly, I have always paid fanatical attention to speaker positioning; I’ve experimented wildly with different degrees of toe-ing in (regardless of manufacturer’s recommendations). I’ve tried having sound paths intersecting in front of my listening chair, behind my head and even not intersecting at all! I’ve tried moving the speakers closer to and further from the rear wall. And I’ve found – seriously – that 0.5cm can make or break perfect stereo imagery and ideal soundstage (my wife has finally accepted that I can tell even if she’s only moved something a miniscule fraction to hoover).

I’ve also never been afraid to use a balance control (if available) for fine-tuning – anathema to the purists! But the fact is that everyone’s ears are different, and no two listening environments are the same. Few of us are fortunate enough to have an acoustically or positionally ideal listening set-up in a family home – in my case, I have to live with my speakers being way further apart than I am to their mid-point (i.e. a very flat triangle!) and I can’t even achieve a position where I’m bang in the centre. Windows, doors and a fireplace make that a practical impossibility.

So, in hi-fi theory, I shouldn’t be able to get a fantastic sound. But to me, and to other discerning lugholes that have been allowed to listen from my audio throne, I do. It’s lively, punchy, neutral and keeps its body even at very low volumes. And it sings triumphantly when cranked up to the point where the Boss’s fluffy penguins fly off the top of the speakers!

OK I could undoubtedly get an even better sound by having a dedicated room and a massive investment in audio equipment. But that would likely involve moving house plus a trip to the Bankruptcy Court, so for the moment (and foreseeable future) I’m very happy with what I’ve got. Neutral, powerful, lively, punchy, hugely entertaining and well within budget; but I’ve certainly had to be prepared to think out of the box to get it like that.

Oh, and yes – it does really matter PP!
 

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