Dear All,
I am a newbie in good audio listening world and would really appreciate if someone here can guide me. I had put up a simple audio setup sometime back taking inputs from places including this nice forum.
My setup includes flac (600-1000 kbps)/ wav (1000+ kbps)/ mp3 (128-320 kbps) files being played on my HP windows 7 laptop using Jriver. The laptop is connected using a USB cable to Audioquest Dragonfly DAC (1.0) which in turn is connected to Topping TP20 amplifier. The TP20 eventually drives my Cambridge Audio S30 speakers.
The speakers and the TP20 are currently placed atop my wooden computer table, with perhaps 0.5 ft distance from the back and 1 ft in b/w the speakers. The left speaker has arnd 2 ft from the left wall and the right one has a door arnd 5-6 ft to its right. Listening position is around 6-7 ft from both speakers approx midway.
The sound from my setup is at best ok - why I say so is because a friends's Philips 2.1 setup which costs much lesser sounded better to me than mine. Perhaps even the odd iball, creative computer speakers sometimes I feel sound better than my setup, while costing a 10th.
In this scenario, request if someone could clarify:
1) I read in the forum that the speaker placement should be 6 ft apart. Space constraints don't allow me this at the moment. But I did try keeping the right speaker 5-6 ft away on the floor/ wooden chair for a bit - not sure if I heard real improvement.
Would getting speaker stands make sense for me? As in the Nexus from SF, which was recommended to me. Given my speakers cost around 8.5k and the whole setup till date around 20k (know that is not much in hi-fi sound world but still
. Does it make sense to invest the odd 8-9k on stands and would it give me real improvement in sound quality? (assuming I can manage 6 ft distance).
2) Does my setup need a subwoofer or the TP20 - S30 ok without the same. I mostly listen to soft rock (Dire Straits, Eagles etc) or Hindi music (ghazals, old / new songs). Occasionally loud music but mostly not very high sound. In case it makes sense to buy a subwoofer, which one would you recommend. Which one is more critical - stands or subwoofer to start with?
3) Any other suggestions for optimising the sound of my setup - it really shouldnt sound like a Creative computer speaker
I know its been a long post.. Sorry about that, but appreciate any thoughts that can help me.
Best Regards
Alex
