Breaking up with Hi Fi

[Vivek Batra]

Vivek even I (is this a common Vivek problem) have been through these fits.

After disbanding my bedroom system earlier and selling all the components for a song, now partially due to COVID and a sudden dissatisfaction with my living room as a listening space (and this after buying a Norma IPA140 integrated after audition) I bought a pair of Spendor speakers for my bedroom and used my old equipment . It has not even been audiophile carefully set up.

And I have been listening to hours and hours of music (all my album posts in All that jazz are from my bedroom ). That bedroom is not just an acoustically better room - it is a room where I don’t fuss! No sitting on sweet spot blah blah. I haven’t played my living room system in ages.

So don’t throw all your things out now please. This from a guy who has done this and only lost money now and then (which is okay ).

Perhaps it is one component that is not fitting with your sonic priorities and you need to change that. This time around do it slowly

A good system gives great emotional connect with music - it’s not all about transparency and hearing the bus that passed next to the studio. That is unbeatable.

And if you want to get away, that’s also fine but you may find it difficult to get away permanently if you lurk. This hobby is a bit of a drug. The audio reviews are equivalent of pushers for drugs. We want to get sold something and they oblige. We always want to hear and feel what the other person is writing about eloquently (and yes soon in Mk II the blacks will be blacker).

And I can imagine sitting in Chandigarh things are difficult - it is difficult enough in Bombay.

if you can do what Firearm 12 says without spending (beg some dealer for an audition?), that is still better than throwing the toys out.

Been there, done that. The wheel turns round and round (ok I like Steely Dan a lot )

Hi Vivek

Thanks for sharing your experience. Chances are bleak that I will do away with my stuff. It's just some days that I feel so. I will try my best to hold on to this.

Regards
Vivek

 

[firearm12]

Perhaps it is one component that is not fitting with your sonic priorities and you need to change that.

That one component in many cases can be the dac. An r2r dac can make a world of difference as it did in my case. Without it i cant listen to audio never matter how much good the amps or speakers are. As you said detail is not everything.

 

[yugaaa]

Even I am not allowed to raise my volume at home, leave alone the speakers

Now , I know why you want to sell the speakers . Why would someone spend so much of money to hear whispers .

 

[Vivek Batra]

Now , I know why you want to sell the speakers . Why would someone spend so much of money to hear whispers .

That was the main reason to have a system, that is crisp, clear and detailed at low volume level.

 

[firearm12]

That was the main reason to have a system, that is crisp, clear and detailed at low volume level.

This is a delimma most listeners have. Low volume level listening is something that is not very easily obtainable, especially with large sized speakers. This has something to do with our hearing senses also. As volume goes low, treble and bass are not perceived properly by our ears. Luxman amps have loudness feature to compensate for same. But generally speaking i have found low level audiophile listening on big speakers is not enjoyable. Please try small bookshelves, they may suit your style of listening more

 

[prem]

I have never had issues with low level listening with any of my big speakers.

 

[Gerry_the_Merry]

If your amplifier has a loudness compensation button, that may help. It is not meant to rectify the output of the system, but to compensate for human hearing deficiencies at frequency extremes at low loudness levels. If you use it you should hear better overall sound than you would otherwise do, while playing at low volumes.

 

[Vivek Batra]

If your amplifier has a loudness compensation button, that may help. It is not meant to rectify the output of the system, but to compensate for human hearing deficiencies at frequency extremes at low loudness levels. If you use it you should hear better overall sound than you would otherwise do, while playing at low volumes.

I always keep the loudness on. I never go beyond 9'o clock.

 

[Deleted member 15865]

What exactly does the ‘loudness compensation’ do? My amp doesn’t have the feature, and I’ve never tried it on any other amp. Is it something different than a filter which attenuates some bass frequencies? If not, then isn’t the music itself getting modified?

 

[Vivek Batra]

What exactly does the ‘loudness compensation’ do? My amp doesn’t have the feature. Is it any more than a filter which attenuates some bass frequencies? In that case, isn’t the music itself getting modified too? Does it remain as musical as before?

Well what it does is, it's linked to volume control and when volume is lower than a certain level, the loudness control raises the frequency curve for both treble and bass. When volume is increased, the compensation is removed. Basically it just tries to present the sound at low volume the way it should sound at higher volume levels.

For more technical details, Google fletcher and munson curve

Regards
Vivek

 

[arj]

What exactly does the ‘loudness compensation’ do? My amp doesn’t have the feature, and I’ve never tried it on any other amp. Is it something different than a filter which attenuates some bass frequencies? If not, then isn’t the music itself getting modified?

Most probably it boosts bass/treble by 3-6db and attenuates mids . jus a form of equalisation which compresses dynamics.

 

[firearm12]

Also vacuum tube amps may be better for low level listening than their ss counterparts. I have heard vacuum tubes measure and sound good at low levels. SS amps measure and sound good when volume is turned on and not so much comparatively at low levels. I have read it somewhere but dont have any experiemce with tube amps.

 

[prem]

Not really. Both kind of amps are fine for low level listening with big speakers. For nearly two decades I have only had big SS amps and big speakers. It’s only in the last decade I moved to higher sensitivity speakers and lower powered tube amps.

 

[Deleted member 15865]

the loudness control raises the frequency curve for both treble and bass

Most probably it boosts bass/treble by 3-6db and attenuates mids

Then it changes the balance of the music. That’s a trade off between (low volume) listenability and musicality.

 

[Analogous]

Hi Vivek

Thanks for sharing your experience. Chances are bleak that I will do away with my stuff. It's just some days that I feel so. I will try my best to hold on to this.

Regards
Vivek

... you got the blues.
But there is hope...

 

[arj]

I always keep the loudness on. I never go beyond 9'o clock.

If thats the case, I suspect you are not listening to the real sound of your speakers/Amps. music is not soft and if you want it as background music then you really need not invest in a stereo..actually Bose and other lifestyle system is the best for with its small and physically disappearing speakers and multi room capability since you can listen to it across the house as a background

Speakers like Klipsch are meant to be enjoyed full range and ideally as an active listening where you can feel the full dynamics of music...Personally I actually prefer headphones when I go for passive listening

 

[raghupb]

@Vivek Batra
Use loudness compensation for "let's not disturb the household" kinda situations.
Use tone controls to tweak "poor" recordings (+/- 3dB in most cases).
In general, if content is from good source or streaming service, let the Luxmans and Fortes have their fun.

Cheers,
Raghu

 

[Vivek Batra]

@Vivek Batra
Use loudness compensation for "let's not disturb the household" kinda situations.
Use tone controls to tweak "poor" recordings (+/- 3dB in most cases).
In general, if content is from good source or streaming service, let the Luxmans and Fortes have their fun.

Cheers,
Raghu

Somehow I am now used to loudness control and miss the dynamics without it.

 

[raghupb]

Somehow I am now used to loudness control and miss the dynamics without it.

Hmmm ....
Loudness, tone controls usually alter the dynamic range of the original content.
But, if that's how you like it, it's fine.
Keep an open mind and explore all the options in your rig.

Cheers,
Raghu

 

[Vivek Batra]

Hmmm ....
Loudness, tone controls usually alter the dynamic range of the original content.
But, if that's how you like it, it's fine.
Keep an open mind and explore all the options in your rig.

Cheers,
Raghu

You wont be believe my lazyness, I hardly touch any knobs on the amp The only thing that I tried while playing FM (old hindi) is that the Mono is better than stereo. That too from remote control.