How to audition HiFi?

[TB303]

Hello People,

I'm in the market for a new HiFI set up at around £4k.

I heard a couple of set ups (Music fidelity and Cyrus Network player/Amp combinations) along with some decent speakers around the £2k mark (Kef & B&W CM9) - but I have to say I wasn't very impressed with the sound - I played lots of music I know very well but to be honest it sounds better in my AKG550 headphones (around £150)...

Maybe it was an awkward test room acoustically...

Any tips are welcome, these systems should have sounded better - perhaps its pshychology?

Thanks!

 

[Tear Drop]

I wouldn't look to blame anything except the equipment you listened to as being crap. Keep trying different stuff though, there is a lot out there, and don't be put off by those small, albeit negative, experiences. You obviously have a standard, so don't compromise.

 

[Native_bon]

There is lot of popular stuff out there.. dnt selltle for them.. Try & get a trusted HIFI sales specialist who would piont you in the right direction & the kind of sound you looking for. Also dnt let price be too important in matching items.. System matching is key.

Trust your ears & your ears only.

 

[Womaz]

I think if you have listened to music through headphones for years then it is a very different sound you will get from a hifi system and speakers.

I am presuming you are mainly a headphone listener as that is what you are comparing it with.

 

[Frank Harvey]

The room will play a big part in things - some dealers treat their demo rooms, some just make the best of it - there are pros and cons for both approaches.

There's plenty of high quality equipment out there in your price bracket that will impress, it's just a case of getting to hear the right ones.

If you're comparing equivalent products from different manufacturers, compare two at a time, decide which one goes, then move on to another two - then compare the winners in two. Trying multiple products at the same time just gets confusing.

 

[Al ears]

You say you heard but not where. Assume you were at a dealers.

If you listen predominantly through headphones then it is going to sound 'different' as the room effects come into play and speakers actually 'move some air' unlike headphones (in a sense).

Although awkward the only way of auditioning is in your own home. I know you can draw up a shortlist at the dealers but unless you have a lot of dealers in your area it is usually a very short list as they either don't stock the items you are interested in or don't have them available for audition.

At the end of the day you have to be happy with a system in your own home. Do whatever you can to dealers to allow that to happen.

 

[hg]

I heard a couple of set ups (Music fidelity and Cyrus Network player/Amp combinations) along with some decent speakers around the £2k mark (Kef & B&W CM9) - but I have to say I wasn't very impressed with the sound - I played lots of music I know very well but to be honest it sounds better in my AKG550 headphones (around £150)...

To add to Womaz's point, stereo on headphones is quite different to stereo on speakers. Stereo on headphones has no indirect soundfield and the sources are inside the head. This tends to sound clear but quite unnatural to the extent of being mildly uncomfortable for those that have not adapted to it. Stereo on loudspeakers will tend to be less clear but a lot more natural.

Room acoustics is important in that some rooms sound good and some poor. However we do seem to have a reasonable ability to hear through the room acoustics to the source. The ranking of speakers does change with rooms but not to the extent of making in-store demonstrations irrelevant. If you sit close to speakers this will tend to reduce the relative size of the indirect soundfield to the direct and move towards headphone sound.

 

[Phileas]

Hello People,

I'm in the market for a new HiFI set up at around £4k.

I heard a couple of set ups (Music fidelity and Cyrus Network player/Amp combinations) along with some decent speakers around the £2k mark (Kef & B&W CM9) - but I have to say I wasn't very impressed with the sound - I played lots of music I know very well but to be honest it sounds better in my AKG550 headphones (around £150)...

Maybe it was an awkward test room acoustically...

Any tips are welcome, these systems should have sounded better - perhaps its pshychology?

Thanks!

You may be interested to know there's a company called AVI who pride themselves on the headphone-like qualities of their active speakers.

 

[Thompsonuxb]

Do not compare headphone listening to speaker listening. To get the same 'sound' that can be achieved through a quality pair of phones you are looking at some serious money and some serious power. The sense of scale, weight and presents through phones can feel huge but it comes without the physical air shifting presents of what a speaker can deliver.

My suggestion is to approach your auditioning with a different mindset. Go for a clean clear undistorted sound (if the dealer cranks up the amp request he/she turn it down to a normal listening level) and judge the quality of the sound then. You'll appreciate and understand the differences between hearphones and hifi then and it'll be more about getting use to sound filling a room and not your head.

you don't have to spend a fortune on hifi - just find something you can live with happily..... best of luck with you search.

 

[Frank Harvey]

The KEF LS50 reminds me more of headphone listening due to their speed and ability to stop/start, and also the Sonus Faber Toy due to their detail level. Used with something like a Pioneer A50, Rotel RA12, or the upcoming Quad Vena, I'm sure headphone users will be more than happy, and not at extortionate prices either.

 

[Rethep]

I agree with the things mentioned here about headphonesound compared to speakersound.

Do also demo some valve-amplification! It might give you the "clear sound" you experienced with headphones. The big difference will be: a real spacious sound!