In pursuit of sweet sound

[Rajeshh]

One way is to increase the treble as you have stated. But I think a better way would be to try and reduce the bass. Sometimes, bass can mask a few of the upper frequencies making it appear as if the speaker has less clarity especially in a floorstander kept that close to the wall.

I second @ssf
Bass overhang is an issue for those of us who don't have dedicated listening rooms, or can venture into room treatment. (for fear of being thrown out by wife )

Separately , I think no one should change their setup until they know what their setup is capable of, with placements, cables & system synergy etc.,

A few pointers to try
1. Speaker cables - a lot of FMs have found Mogami cables great, try them.
2. Hardwire ethernet to your amp.
3. Pull up the speakers as much as you practically can from the back wall, and give it a spin.
4. Try removing the spike shoes and spike the speakers to the floor. (this should lean out bass)

And finally trust your ears, good things happen when you trust your ears

 

[Deleted member 15865]

Can you try streaming this file and see if it sounds to your liking (clarity wise ) ?

I found this version too bright/strident and less musical as compared to the version I heard on Tidal. Also the clip is only 480p, so probably sound is compressed too.

 

[Bloom@83]

I found this version too bright/strident and less musical as compared to the version I heard on Tidal. Also the clip is only 480p, so probably sound is compressed too.

Hi Sachin

Of course Tidal hidef version would sound more musical than a downsized compressed YT clip. No comparison whatsoever.

If you liked the song - having the original Chris Jones Moonstruck CD makes sense. Somehow the CD version sounds the best to me.

 

[Bloom@83]

Was out all evening. Now started listening without YPAO. Will check the you tube link tomm and revert. Thank you so much for your support.

Did you get a chance to check it out ?

 

[smot2228]

I second @ssf
Bass overhang is an issue for those of us who don't have dedicated listening rooms, or can venture into room treatment. (for fear of being thrown out by wife )

Separately , I think no one should change their setup until they know what their setup is capable of, with placements, cables & system synergy etc.,

A few pointers to try
1. Speaker cables - a lot of FMs have found Mogami cables great, try them.
2. Hardwire ethernet to your amp.
3. Pull up the speakers as much as you practically can from the back wall, and give it a spin.
4. Try removing the spike shoes and spike the speakers to the floor. (this should lean out bass)

And finally trust your ears, good things happen when you trust your ears

Bass over hang. Yes that's what was probably happening. I had a tough time bringing in the set up home. But I must compliment the veneer finish of the CK that saved me from being thrown out by the wife. These CK speakers enhance the beauty of a living room. Regarding the pointers..

1. Mogami Cables... will try
2. Hardwired. Yes it is.
3. Tried this. Yes No difference doing this but pulling them apart by few inches made a substantial difference.
4. This is an interesting suggestion. But since the spikes are saving the speaker from the swabbing marks & spike shoes are saving the floor, will let them be.

Thank you Rajeshh

Regards,
Sandeep

Disable all the dsp settings on the amp if you have done any auto calibration with the mic using the Yamaha room correction tool or bypass it with the Pure Direct button usually found on all receivers. Compare and see what improves.
Room response plays a big role so you will have to take account of that aswell. First take a simple clap test to hear if the room is echoing. If reasonably dead then leave atleast 12/18 inches to the rear and 3 feet on the sides or vice versa. Avoid equi distance to rear and the sides.
Try both near field and far field listening. Your listening point should roughly be the the apex of an equilateral triangle, so adjust space between speakers accordingly. Avoid sitting against or close to the back wall. Ideally leave 2/3 feet.
I am not getting into room treatment as it is a major area and many don't have liberty to treat. Moot basic use a carpet in front upto your listening location or you can carpet the entire floor also. Try thick curtains on windows or leave them open

Thanks Kannan, disabling YPAO has done a good difference.

What you are searching for is micro details, balanced freq response, dynamics and nuances in music at a low volume level. This is only possible if you approach your system building in a very different way. The path you have taken will give you macro details. You need to retract your steps and redo it at least partially with a different goal in mind. Surely all new cables and a dac. Other things...you will need to explore and come to a conclusion.

Yes maybe a DAC better than the one that exists in the Yamaha RN 803 which is the ESS SABRE 9006AS
Maybe a streamer with Wolfson DAC or streamer with a Dual DAC or a better ESS DAC like ESS SABRE ES9018, ESS SABRE ES9016

 

[Deleted member 15865]

Yes No difference doing this but pulling them apart by few inches made a substantial difference.

My hypothesis is this happens due to the alcove (recess in the wall, where your TV sits, which acts like a mini cave for the sound). That’s affecting the clarity of the image. When you move the speakers apart, they also go away from the alcove, thus helping.

If possible, just to try out, move the entire rig to another wall (which should be flat) either in this or another room. Keep everything else same. If you get substantial improvement, then it’s the alcove causing it.

 

[smot2228]

Dear Audiophiles & my new found Friends in the world of music,

Thank you all so much for you support to my query. Every time a notification email dropped in to notify a new response to my thread, I would fondly recall the beautiful song of MJ "You are not alone"

The whole experience of un biased opinions coming straight from users / listener was great.

From all the suggestions let me quickly share with everyone what worked for me & what didn't.

What Worked.
1. Switching off the YPAO. All these years I loved the YPAO calibration because of the dynamism it created. Dynamism to me is more soundstage, egoistic, more power, more enveloping sound, more fuller sound. But never realized all of this somehow over powered the sweetness of the music. Switching off the YPAO, at first I thought this made the sound meal, but later realized I ended up listening to more music.
I had to rotate the volume dial higher than what I used to keep otherwise & initially this for me was a let down for me. I had my listening level set to a particular reference dB level on the amplifier & now I had to go way beyond that.
As a work around I set the initial volume of the amplifier higher than what I kept earlier which helped me achieve my desired listening level faster while rotating the dial / increasing volume from the Musicast app.
I guess I will get used to the volume bar on the App on 3/4th rather than seeing it on 1/4th


2. The 2.5 sqmm electrical cable. This made me realize how important it was to use good quality audio cables. I marked the polarities on either side to ensure that they go in the correct place on the speaker & amplifier side.
Played a track and it sounded rude & muddy. I didn't have the courage to hear any more that 30 seconds & got back to my DAC 16 AWG. Heard the track again. Yes now it sounds good.

3. Keeping the Speakers additionally 1/2 feet away each from the amplifier. This also made a good change than the existing 7 feet distance. Now keeping a 8 feet distance gives a more spatial sound.

4. Keeping the speakers straight & not toed in. This made an appreciable difference was a great piece of advice by sachinchavhan. Thank you sachin.

Regards,
Sandeep

 

[square_wave]

Yes maybe a DAC better than the one that exists in the Yamaha RN 803 which is the ESS SABRE 9006AS
Maybe a streamer with Wolfson DAC or streamer with a Dual DAC or a better ESS DAC like ESS SABRE ES9018, ESS SABRE ES9016

Yes. A better dac with a well designed digital volume control will help you use only the power amp section of the yamaha. The preamp and dac areas of the yamaha are bottlenecks. The power amp section will do the least damage. There is a reason why good preamps and dacs are not cheap .

If one is using an active preamp in the chain ( as is the case in the all-in-one device), it better be good. Other wise, a passive preamp or no preamp is way better.

 

[prashant80]

Hi just to divert from issue can somebody share best audio out put settings from TV to listen music/song and Movies.
Currently i use PCM as TV audio out and stereo/muit ch in AVR for listening songs while for movies TV audio is set on Auto/pass thru and in AVR is set to direct auto.I observerd PCM gives good clarity and treble as compared to auto/passthu from TV.
FM gurus can throw light on these setting

 

[Ravikiran 33]

Dear Audiophiles & my new found Friends in the world of music,

Thank you all so much for you support to my query. Every time a notification email dropped in to notify a new response to my thread, I would fondly recall the beautiful song of MJ "You are not alone"

The whole experience of un biased opinions coming straight from users / listener was great.

From all the suggestions let me quickly share with everyone what worked for me & what didn't.

What Worked.
1. Switching off the YPAO. All these years I loved the YPAO calibration because of the dynamism it created. Dynamism to me is more soundstage, egoistic, more power, more enveloping sound, more fuller sound. But never realized all of this somehow over powered the sweetness of the music. Switching off the YPAO, at first I thought this made the sound meal, but later realized I ended up listening to more music.
I had to rotate the volume dial higher than what I used to keep otherwise & initially this for me was a let down for me. I had my listening level set to a particular reference dB level on the amplifier & now I had to go way beyond that.
As a work around I set the initial volume of the amplifier higher than what I kept earlier which helped me achieve my desired listening level faster while rotating the dial / increasing volume from the Musicast app.
I guess I will get used to the volume bar on the App on 3/4th rather than seeing it on 1/4th


2. The 2.5 sqmm electrical cable. This made me realize how important it was to use good quality audio cables. I marked the polarities on either side to ensure that they go in the correct place on the speaker & amplifier side.
Played a track and it sounded rude & muddy. I didn't have the courage to hear any more that 30 seconds & got back to my DAC 16 AWG. Heard the track again. Yes now it sounds good.

3. Keeping the Speakers additionally 1/2 feet away each from the amplifier. This also made a good change than the existing 7 feet distance. Now keeping a 8 feet distance gives a more spatial sound.

4. Keeping the speakers straight & not toed in. This made an appreciable difference was a great piece of advice by sachinchavhan. Thank you sachin.

Regards,
Sandeep

Thank you it was helpful