Speaker problem fixed - hope my experience will help others

[NJB]

I had almost given up with my new speakers. I had heard them in a shop demo several years ago, then bought a pair last spring on a whim. I unpacked them, set them up, and then got totally disappointed with the sound. I persisted, let them run in, but these well regarded little boxes continued to spit out weak bass and a harsh treble. So, they went back in a box, for weeks, then months and by Christmas they were ready for selling on. I was pretty peeved.

One last chance, they deserved that, so out they came again. I started from scratch. Placement - they needed to be a bit closer, toed in. The stands were fine, but I checked the feet, spikes were adjusted as a result. The sound I expected remained stubbornly out of reach. Then I had that breakthrough moment, look at the amplifier, the volume control was really low and it was hardly out of idle. I had a pair of Rothwell 10dB attenuators from years ago, so I whacked them in and, just like that, everything clicked. In 5 minutes I had completely changed the story, these speakers are every bit as good as I expected. Full and controlled bass, beautiful treble and huge presence.

So I have learnt an old lesson, amplifiers need a bit of power through them to get all their electronics sorted out. So it is an Arcam CD73T to Beresford Bushmaster II into Naim NAC62 and NAP 150X through to a pair of Dynaudio Excite X12s, which have escaped the hangman's noose.

 

[Thompsonuxb]

Why was the amp turned down so low.

Did you adjust the volume without the attenuaters?

 

[NJB]

Why was the amp turned down so low.

Did you adjust the volume without the attenuaters?

Well, that is a good question. The line levels from the DAC are high enough that for normal listening levels, the amplifier needs little power. I have explored this issue on this forum before, the opinion was that the NAC62 can take a significant range of input levels (on the aux and tuner inputs) and that nothing untoward is happening. However, the result is that the system elements are not working in an optimal way. The 10dB attenuators with its 8 and a bit reduction in input level helps.