Speaker and Electronics

[krprasoon]

Hi Members

This is in reference to the help I need from experienced members exposed to various combinations in component based 2 channel stereo systems.

At present I have Cambridge Audio 851W power Amp which I am using in conjunction with Cambridge Network Player (V2). The speakers are tower ones (Wharfedale Diamond 11.4).

While this combination works very well (actually, superlative) for Indian devotional and other music, for rock blues jazz etc it is not at all good.

I am getting Bower & Wilkins 606 (stand mounters) shortly which I intend to run from my Nad C368 for turntable and airplay based playing as second system.

My curiosity is this: What can I do to improve the situation. While I like my devotional in the morning, English (all genres) is a must.

Would be grateful to have an opportunity to pick up minds of accomplished audiophiles in the forum.

Thanks for your time.

 

[krprasoon]

Hi

Can anybody please take time out for a response. I need to improve the listening result, like, many times over.

Thanks

 

[Deleted member 15865]

If you don’t get enough responses here I suggest tou try the Wharfedale and Cambridge user groups on Facebook. They are very active and you might find someone with same combination as yours responding.

 

[jenson]

You seem to have made some good choices... Not sure how much can you better with what u have except maybe introduce a dac (schitt audio has one for 10k), ensure you have good source material and if a turntable is introduced, then a decent phono (Cambridge has some good ones).

All other recommendations would be around change ur amplifier etc, and that's a rabbit hole you may not want to get into unless you have set aside some serious budget aside.

All said, your system looks to be well balanced.

Disclaimer: I'm not qualified to be called an accomplished audiophile.

 

[Prodigy]

Try and add a tube buffer just before the power amp.. That really enhances the over all listening experience. The Korg Nutube is something that you can look at. https://diyaudiostore.com/collections/b1-buffer-w-korg-triode-pre-amplifier/products/korg-nutube-b1

 

[krprasoon]

You seem to have made some good choices... Not sure how much can you better with what u have except maybe introduce a dac (schitt audio has one for 10k), ensure you have good source material and if a turntable is introduced, then a decent phono (Cambridge has some good ones).

All other recommendations would be around change ur amplifier etc, and that's a rabbit hole you may not want to get into unless you have set aside some serious budget aside.

All said, your system looks to be well balanced.

Disclaimer: I'm not qualified to be called an accomplished audiophile.

Thanks. Regarding your disclaimer, the simplicity of your observations say otherwise

Anyways, the problem might be svs sb1000 woofer also which could be playing havoc with the puritan musical experience I am expecting on account of (now experiencing) vibration it is introducing. Second reason could be that I have recently shifted and now my room has lesser furniture and rugs etc. Also, I notice dramatic worsening of the soundstage at higher volumes.

 

[krprasoon]

Try and add a tube buffer just before the power amp.. That really enhances the over all listening experience. The Korg Nutube is something that you can look at. https://diyaudiostore.com/collections/b1-buffer-w-korg-triode-pre-amplifier/products/korg-nutube-b1

Thanks @Prodigy. DIY is a yet unexplored area for me, but I don't mind going that route. Would it be available in India? Would it be easy enough to assemble by oneself.

 

[jenson]

Thanks. Regarding your disclaimer, the simplicity of your observations say otherwise

Anyways, the problem might be svs sb1000 woofer also which could be playing havoc with the puritan musical experience I am expecting on account of (now experiencing) vibration it is introducing. Second reason could be that I have recently shifted and now my room has lesser furniture and rugs etc. Also, I notice dramatic worsening of the soundstage at higher volumes.

i might have missed subwoofer in your earlier post...you are in a location where some of our resident experts can perhaps come over and fine tune your setup a bit. we often leave it to one (eq) setting for years altogether...whereas what I have observed (read: accepted) in recent years is, eq and its combinations need to be fiddled with depending on the genre you are listening. you will arrive at 3-5 settings which suits the range of your collection. i personally prefer wet sound. More treble with bass rounding it off...when you increase the volume in such settings, eq needs to be dialed back just a tinge to compensate for higher db..

and you are lucky to have a sub woofer, once perfectly dialed in, it's a joy to have in any system. don't let any puritan/charlatan mislead you otherwise

 

[Prodigy]

Thanks @Prodigy. DIY is a yet unexplored area for me, but I don't mind going that route. Would it be available in India? Would it be easy enough to assemble by oneself.

This i think is available for pre booking and the shipping might start in Jan. you can either get it as a complete kit with the cabinet but then that may turn out to be expensive. You can get all the parts and skip the cabinet and get one made locally in Mumbai. You may want to reach out to some of the FM’s in Mumbai who are into DIY and take their help but i think if you are able to manage soldering of parts then it’s the way to go. Trust me! You will definitely like the output.

 

[krprasoon]

This i think is available for pre booking and the shipping might start in Jan. you can either get it as a complete kit with the cabinet but then that may turn out to be expensive. You can get all the parts and skip the cabinet and get one made locally in Mumbai. You may want to reach out to some of the FM’s in Mumbai who are into DIY and take their help but i think if you are able to manage soldering of parts then it’s the way to go. Trust me! You will definitely like the output.

I have shifted from Mumbai to Delhi a couple months back. As yet not changed the info on profile partly bcoz could not find how to do it. Anyways, your suggestion is well appreciated. Let me explore the DIY pre-Amp. It appears a daunting task given paucity of time and perhaps to some extent lack of experience / expertise, but let's give it a go.

 

[krprasoon]

i might have missed subwoofer in your earlier post...you are in a location where some of our resident experts can perhaps come over and fine tune your setup a bit. we often leave it to one (eq) setting for years altogether...whereas what I have observed (read: accepted) in recent years is, eq and its combinations need to be fiddled with depending on the genre you are listening. you will arrive at 3-5 settings which suits the range of your collection. i personally prefer wet sound. More treble with bass rounding it off...when you increase the volume in such settings, eq needs to be dialed back just a tinge to compensate for higher db..

and you are lucky to have a sub woofer, once perfectly dialed in, it's a joy to have in any system. don't let any puritan/charlatan mislead you otherwise

The origin of this whole issue has been me turning positive and being restricted in home during HQ. I am somehow convinced it is bcoz of housing the system in a little bigger and emptier room (compared to the living room in Mumbai which was filled with furniture and accouterments). Also the woofer set up also is not replicating the earlier experience. In Mumbai I used to feel the positive contribution of the woofer even with Eric Clapton, Van Morrison etc. Even country. But here the situation has changed. Tried to change the location of the woofer too, but to no avail. Problem is I am looking for the soundstage and imaging I had in Mumbai which is simply not there.

 

[krprasoon]

So much so that I have started making up my mind to change my speakers to Dali or something in the long run.