New system - not sounding as good as it should?

[admin_exported]

Hi guys,

At the weekend I went down to my local richer sounds and purchased an all new hifi setup.

This consisted of the Award winning Mission MX1's, Cambridge Audio 350A amp and Cambridge audio Symphony 400 cabling.

http://www.richersounds.com/product/bookshelf-speakers/mission/mx1/miss-mx1-blk
http://www.richersounds.com/product/amplifiers-receivers/cambridge-audio/350a/camb-350a-blk
http://www.richersounds.com/product/speaker-cables/cambridge-audio/symphony-400/gale-symphony-400

Anyway - the sound doesnt seem to be as good as I was expecting. If this makes sense - it seems to lack attack and lacks any real life to it - I thought I'd really 'feel' the music, but it sounds kind of flat.

From my Mac in particular it sounds particularly bad, and is much better from my pc (I have all my files saved as FLACs).

Im wondering if it might be the speaker cabling? Should I bi-wire with the cables I have or get some new stuff?

I definitely think a budget DAC is in order to boost the sound from my mac too, any suggestions?

Cheers,

Tom

 

[the record spot]

Not so sure that biwiring is the issue here Tom, have you tried repositioning your speakers? Shifting the position around a little - if you can of course - is one of the easiest and cheapest ways to change the sound of your stereo. I have my floorstanders pointing straight down the room, or sometimes even slightly toed-out. If I want to focus the sound on to me, I'll very rarely toe them in. Give it a whirl. The Mac DAC should be fine - you can buy better I'm sure, but Apple use a very decent one and you'd need to think about upping the budget to achieve a significantly better performance I'd imagine.

EDIT: Just noticed you only bought it last weekend. Give the speakers more time - they need time to loosen up a bit. I'm assuming you've been listening for just a few hours a day, if that, so it's likely, at least in part, down to that.

 

[Lee H]

It just needs some time to burn in. Patience, young Jedi

 

[Ravey Gravey Davy]

Lee H: Patience, young Jedi

Young Padawan.

(anorak is on)

 

[The_Lhc]

the record spot:The Mac DAC should be fine - you can buy better I'm sure, but Apple use a very decent one and you'd need to think about upping the budget to achieve a significantly better performance I'd imagine.

You missed the bit where he said it sounds better from his PC. I'm a bit puzzled as to how he's playing FLAC files on a MAC though.

 

[Lee H]

Ravey Gravey Davy:
Lee H: Patience, young Jedi

Young Padawan.

(anorak is on)

I stand corrected

 

[brendonw]

Did you audition before puchasing, if not how were you supposed to know how it would sound ?

Apologies for the obvious question.

 

[datay]

Difficult to audition as he bought from RS, but you are right - OP says "not as good as I was expecting", but what were you basing your expectations on? A system you'd heard? Your...imagination..?

 

[Anonymous]

My speakers are positioned against the wall, approximately 2m apart and mounted on rubber feet to try and stop vibrations travelling through my desk.

with regards to running flacs - i have them as flacs in winamp on my pc and then on my mac iTunes converts them to alac.

My brother has a mission/cambridge audio setup which cost considerable less, yet, to me, sounds a lot better (at the moment).

Any more suggestions as to what it might be? how long before they're worn in? I've been leaving them on playing music quietly when Im out and about to try and speed the process up.

 

[ID.]

My initial thoughts were the speakers need at least 15-30 hours on them before you can begin to make a judgment, but having them up against the wall might deaden the sound (bass bloat, squashed soundstage) and rubber feet on the desk probably isn't doing the sound any favours either.

 

[datay]

So the speakers are 2m apart, on the desk? How deep is the desk? What I mean is, what is your seating position relative to the speakers? I think we're beginning to get an idea of what's going on here - the sound is being fired across the flat surface of the desk (rubber feet notwithstanding). Perhaps a different system more suitable to the room arrangement might have been in order.

 

[Anonymous]

I recently auditioned the Missions with that exact amp, plus the cheaper Topaz Am10 amp and the Mordaunt Short Aviano 1xrs.

I went with the Mordaunt Shorts and the cheaper amp (after 2 hours of switching stuff in and out + budget wouldn't stretch to the Azur) - I found that while the Missions were very precise, almost analytical in their sound, they lacked the warmth, attack and body of the Mordaunt Shorts. Now that may be down to not being run in for as long, so I would wait a while if you can. However, as Richer have a 14 day switch-out option, why don't you ask them if you could try a different set of speakers?

Maybe the Mordaunt Shorts (might be too big for your set up with limited space), or perhaps the Cambridge Audio SL30s.

Positioning your speakers so close to the wall won't help matters though...if you have the room, give them some space, and isolate them from your desk is possible. If you can't then, maybe consider a front ported speaker.

As to your Mac/Pc issues, I don't know there I'm afraid!

 

[Anonymous]

I think Cambridge sound is a bit to the lean side. I used to have Cambridge 840A for over a year and tried to match it with PS Audio DAC and my ProAc speakers.

The sound has a lot of hi fi feel but a bit lacking on the emotion, rhythm and sounded a bit dry.

What kind of music are you listening to? Cambridge can be good for some people who prefer its leaner but seemingly good resolution. It was just not my kind of music.

 

[Anonymous]

I understood that speakers with rear ports sounded best up against a wall? When I say up against, there is a couple of inches behind the speaker...

Also, how would you suggest mounting them on my desk? Obviously if I plonk them straight on my desk I will get bad reverberations.

I listen to quite a bit of techno/dance music, as well as indy rock music.

 

[Anonymous]

datay:So the speakers are 2m apart, on the desk? How deep is the desk? What I mean is, what is your seating position relative to the speakers? I think we're beginning to get an idea of what's going on here - the sound is being fired across the flat surface of the desk (rubber feet notwithstanding). Perhaps a different system more suitable to the room arrangement might have been in order.

The desk is perhaps a metre deep? I wasn't aware that would have negative effects? Seating wise I'd guess im about a ft above the speakers. would pictures help at all?

 

[datay]

Either the manual will tell you, or maybe Mission's website or contact them. Usually rear-ported speakers need to be a distance from the wall - if speakers have a rear "slot" (e.g. PMC DB1i, for the transmission line, another story), they benefit from wall reinforcement.

The "ideal" listening position is generally considered to be at the apex of an equilateral triangle where the distance between the speakers forms the base (hope that makes sense). Clearly many people's rooms can't accommodate that, but you can see how you are seated well within the triangle. Also, typical advice is to have the tweeters at ear height - again, a rough guide, but you can see how you are well wide of this too. How far all this is affecting what you're hearing I can't say.

The performance you're hearing will also almost certainly be due to it being a new system - either leave it playing - a dance mix on repeat will be fine - or wait several days of normal use. Even if it's just your ears getting used to it (and let's not get into a burn-in debate please, the sound of my various systems over the years has always changed over time, whatever the cause), it will sound better. Perhaps you need to get speakers you can wall mount higher up - maybe you can even do this with the Missions, I know they're quite small. Best of luck.