What did I do wrong on my first Hi-Fi?

zilli

New member
May 5, 2014
3
0
0
Visit site
Hi guys,

I'm new here. I really hope someone can give me some light here. I'm very depressed now.

After decades, I finally bought my first Hi-Fi system. I was very proud of that. My set up is:

- Roksan Kandy 2

- Mission MX-5

- Rega RP-6

- QED Silver Anniversary XT

I know there are a lot better choices out, but those were what I could afford.

So, I finally had all the pieces yesterday and I spent the night mounting them. I was quite excited to hear the MX-5. All the reviews I read stated that they can kick very well. And after hours of work, I finally turned on my Rega and brought the volume up. However, what I heard wasn't what I was expecting. The speakers didn't perform at all. The speakers sound likes if there are pillows in front of them. Stuffy??? Sorry, I cannot find the adjective here. You cannot have an idea how disappointed I'm. :(

I'm trying to find reasons for my setup low performance:

- It's all new. They need time to break-in

- My room is rather small.

- I screwed up with the cabling.

- Roksan and Mission don't pair well.

The Mission manual is quite weak and confuses in explaining how to connect the speaker cable. I 'hope' I did something wrong. I'll post some pic later. Once I get home.

Any comments about my set and/or previous similar experience are welcome.

Thanks
 

relocated

New member
Jan 20, 2012
74
0
0
Visit site
I suspect, as you do, that you have wired your speakers up incorrectly so they are cancelling each other out. It's an easy enough thing to do, I guess we have all done it one time or another.
 

AlbaBrown

New member
Jun 29, 2012
14
0
0
Visit site
Why did you not audition it before buying!!!!????

From my own experience (and mistakes!) just buying 5 star premoted products is NEVER a guaranteed path to getting the sound that you'll truely be happy with.

From my own experience, I would say it's a compound problem:

The RP6 is a good deck (although it is simply a tarted up RP3), nothing more.

The Roksan is nice, but ultimatley bland in it's portrayal music.

and the more guily suspects...

The QED cable is just plain poor - steely and agressive, balanced so to give the impression of more detail.

The Missions are heavy footed, bloated speaker that (even with acres of space) has no sense of timing or control.

Running the system in will improve thing but it will not get away from the fundamental problem that none of the products (bar maybe the Rega if it was cheaper) really are wonderful.

If you don't fancy ditching the lot and starting over, the Mission's and QED have to go!

Try listening to a pair of Focal Aria 906s (cheaper in Walnut finish), and see if the dealer will let you trial them over a weekend.

If you love them, great!

If not, get the dealer to demonstrate something they feel would be better suited (based on your feedback).

You may find it enlightening how mediocre many 5 Star products are compared to more "dark horse" alternatives!
 
AlbaBrown said:
Why did you not audition it before buying!!!!????

From my own experience (and mistakes!) just buying 5 star premoted products is NEVER a guaranteed path to getting the sound that you'll truely be happy with.

From my own experience, I would say it's a compound problem:

The RP6 is a good deck (although it is simply a tarted up RP3), nothing more.

The Roksan is nice, but ultimatley bland in it's portrayal music.

So, all things considered, not a lot wrong with his system then? :)

You are wrong about the Rega as noted by David and as for :-

The Roksan is nice, but ultimatley bland in it's portrayal music. - This probably accounts for the reason they sold so many.
 

Marsbardark

Well-known member
Oct 5, 2011
35
0
18,540
Visit site
Al ears said:
AlbaBrown said:
Why did you not audition it before buying!!!!????

From my own experience (and mistakes!) just buying 5 star premoted products is NEVER a guaranteed path to getting the sound that you'll truely be happy with.

From my own experience, I would say it's a compound problem:

The RP6 is a good deck (although it is simply a tarted up RP3), nothing more.

The Roksan is nice, but ultimatley bland in it's portrayal music.

So, all things considered, not a lot wrong with his system then? :)

You are wrong about the Rega as noted by David and as for :-

The Roksan is nice, but ultimatley bland in it's portrayal music. - This probably accounts for the reason they sold so many.

Alba didn't hold back did he!?
 

ellisdj

New member
Dec 11, 2008
377
1
0
Visit site
Before writing things off - spend some time making sure you have the system best as you can. This is an area people neglext and just plink speakers down where they think they look best.

Speaker distances apart from where you sit - Ideally the same distance apart as they are away from you

And the angle they are at - you might find toeing in the the speakers helps to give you a better focused presentation.

Big speakers dont generally image that well so toeing in might help.

You can try this by moving forward or further back - if you get better focus then the angle needs to change.

They are also going to need much more time that an evening - they will need couple weeks at least, they can change quite a lot in this time

Personally I would also invest in a Tacima CS929 to plug your equipment into. For the £30 ish pounds they can be had for they are worth while using and may help a bit with the clarity depending on your mains quality.
 

TrevC

Well-known member
zilli said:
Hi guys,

I'm new here. I really hope someone can give me some light here. I'm very depressed now.

After decades, I finally bought my first Hi-Fi system. I was very proud of that. My set up is:

- Roksan Kandy 2

- Mission MX-5

- Rega RP-6

- QED Silver Anniversary XT

I know there are a lot better choices out, but those were what I could afford.

So, I finally had all the pieces yesterday and I spent the night mounting them. I was quite excited to hear the MX-5. All the reviews I read stated that they can kick very well. And after hours of work, I finally turned on my Rega and brought the volume up. However, what I heard wasn't what I was expecting. The speakers didn't perform at all. The speakers sound likes if there are pillows in front of them. Stuffy??? Sorry, I cannot find the adjective here. You cannot have an idea how disappointed I'm. :(

I'm trying to find reasons for my setup low performance:

- It's all new. They need time to break-in

- My room is rather small.

- I screwed up with the cabling.

- Roksan and Mission don't pair well.

The Mission manual is quite weak and confuses in explaining how to connect the speaker cable. I 'hope' I did something wrong. I'll post some pic later. Once I get home.

Any comments about my set and/or previous similar experience are welcome.

Thanks

It's the speakers that are probably the problem. Definitely not the amp or cable. Do you have a line source, eg CD player you could try, because that would eliminate the cartridge.
 

TrevC

Well-known member
Covenanter said:
I've heard the Kandy and I also thought it was rather dull. It didn't reach my final audition list.

Chris

A review here. It was probably the speakers in your case too.

http://www.stereophile.com/integratedamps/roksan_kandy_k2_integrated_amplifier/

Edit, It has a far lower than normal cartridge input impedance, so could be the cause of the problem in a vinyl only system. :oops:
 
The big, budget missions can be a pain to position right. Room size and acoustics will make a big difference. Put the foam bungs in the ports and give the speakers a long run in.

If you have a small room I would keep the bungs in all the time.

I think what you have bought should sound pretty good,
 

Covenanter

Well-known member
Jul 20, 2012
85
29
18,570
Visit site
TrevC said:
Covenanter said:
I've heard the Kandy and I also thought it was rather dull. It didn't reach my final audition list.

Chris

A review here. It was probably the speakers in your case too.

http://www.stereophile.com/integratedamps/roksan_kandy_k2_integrated_amplifier/

Edit, It has a far lower than normal cartridge input impedance, so could be the cause of the problem in a vinyl only system. :oops:

You may well be correct.

Chris
 

cleggton

New member
Feb 27, 2014
3
0
0
Visit site
Let's be serious here for a second. This guy has bought some decent kit for a first hifi and none of it should really sound terible.

The Roksan and the Missionsshould both be of a decent quality, certainly not sounding muffled.

Let me give you some guesses.

* Wrong polarity wiring of speakers - or have they been incorrectly bi-wired etc?

* Is the Rega plugged into the Phono input? Not sure how the roksan works but i have to switch my Arcam from line to phone levels.

* Is it worth borrowing a cd or dvd player to check that it isn't the deck that is set up correct, they can be sensitive to position.

Mat
 

davedotco

New member
Apr 24, 2013
20
1
0
Visit site
It is very dificult from a distance determining whether you have a fault in equipment or setup or whether you have bought decent (ish) equipment that goes together very poorly and does not suit your room.

Did you buy from a dealer? If so go back to him and go through the setup in the shop so that it is working as it should and then go home and check that your own setup is correct.

Did the dealer set up the player for you? Again if not get him to check it for you.

It is imperative that we know that the system is working properly if we are to advise.
 

iemslie

New member
Jan 11, 2010
11
0
0
Visit site
cleggton said:
Let's be serious here for a second. This guy has bought some decent kit for a first hifi and none of it should really sound terible.

The Roksan and the Missionsshould both be of a decent quality, certainly not sounding muffled.

Let me give you some guesses.

* Wrong polarity wiring of speakers - or have they been incorrectly bi-wired etc?

* Is the Rega plugged into the Phono input? Not sure how the roksan works but i have to switch my Arcam from line to phone levels.

* Is it worth borrowing a cd or dvd player to check that it isn't the deck that is set up correct, they can be sensitive to position.

Mat

What cleggton said, plus perhaps try some headphones instead of the speakers (once you've checked cable polarity).

Also, think about position of the speakers, sometimes that can have a negative impact (not sure whether this would be as bad as you descibe though).

It's a process of elimination really, making sure everything is plugged in and working correctly. Worst case is that someting is faulty?

But all things being right, your system should sound pretty good so don't worry about what you've bought.
 

zilli

New member
May 5, 2014
3
0
0
Visit site
Thanks for all comments.

The quality improved a bit today. The louder the volume the better the speakers work.

I know that my room is not suitable for those speakers, I plan to move them to a bigger room later.

Anywya, here you can see how I connected both speakers. Is that correct?

http://tinypic.com/view.php?pic=21l69zd&s=8#.U2os_a2SzCI

Thanks,
 

chebby

Well-known member
Jun 2, 2008
1,253
26
19,220
Visit site
You described the treble as sounding like pillows were in front of each tweeter. It is not impossible that both tweeters were DOA.

Listen to each one close up with your ear just a few inches away. (Not too loud obviously.) Any sound?

You can make this easier by holding a piece of thick card or a large book over the bass/mid driver at the same time.
 

TRENDING THREADS

Latest posts