| Question |
Answer (My humble opinion) |
|
| - I am going to buy my first hi-fi system. How much money should I spend to get a good sounding system? |
My opinion is that you can get a well sounding hi-fi system for about
1250 us dollars. For that kind of money you can buy a pair of speakers,
a CD player, a amplifier, interconnections and speaker cables. i.e. approx.
350 for the CD player, 280 for a amplifier, 600 for a pair of speakers
and for the last hundred dollars you buy some speaker cables and interconnections.
This is of cause just a recommendation, it is you and your ear that shall
make the choice.
|
|
| - I have a hi-fi system and I want to upgrade it. Where shall I begin? | The upgrade question is very difficult
to answer. A god rule is to upgrade the cheapest part of the system. The
speakers are probably the easiest thing to upgrade in order to hear a different,
but don´t let this fool you!! Does it sounds better or just different?
If your CD player are old (2-3 year or older) then it is a good start to
listen if some newer player sounds better. Cd players are very dependent
on new technology in the field of electronics and are therefore can last
years player already be out of date. Amplifiers are very basic constructions
so if you have a good amplifier it will probably work for a while longer.
But the main key in upgrading is to listen and listen and listen. |
|
|
- Interconnections and speakercable? |
They do a lot greater difference
than you believe. The interconnections that are delivered with the CD player
is the absolute worst kind of interconnections - throw them away!!! You
can find a pair of interconnections for about 40 us dollars. The difference
is most heareble. The same goes for speakercables, you get fair cables for
about 5 us dollars per meter. The keyword is listen!! |
|
| - Should I use spikes or soft feet under my speakers? | My experience is to go for the soft
feet instead of the spikes. You get a better more controllable bass and
the music will be more easy to follow. Try yourself maybe you find the spikes
more suitable for your system. |
|
| - Hi-fi stands Vs ordinary furniture | I believe that it is a matter of
taste more than a impact of the sound. A well built stand is of cause better
than a bookshelf, but the important issue is that the hi-fi system stand
on something that are solid built and does not vibrate when you walk pas
it. |
|
| What to think about when buying speakers? | A speaker shall be solid, that means that it shall have a thick cabinet and the sound shall only origin from the speaker elements. A god example on poorly built speakers are Cervin Vega (not all of them of cause), sure they sounds great when playing disco music and other bass heavy music, but that's probably the only use you will have of a pair of CV. | |
| Tweaks | Does it work and why? | |
| Paint the edges on the CDs |
I find that it works. The treble become controlled and not so "metallic".
It also make the bass more punchy. IMPORTANT only use markers that are
made for CDs. |
|
| Put the CD on a granite rock | This is probably the single most important thing
to improve your CDs performance. You just cant believe the difference between
a CD standing on a ordinary table and one standing in this piece of rock.
The sound gets clearer, the soundstage becomes wider and bass will become
punchier. I have found that this works best on midpriced CDs, on high-end
players the reading mechanism already is so well built that the rock doesn´t
make such a big different. In order to get a correct reading from the CD it is important that the laser mechanism is absolute still. The rock make it almost impossible for micro-vibrations to reach the laser mechanism. This results in a better and more correct reading from the CD. The rock must be really solid. The best choice is a type of granite, in Sweden, called "diabas". My piece of "diabas" weights about 40 Kg. |
|
| Other tweaks |
If you believe in them try them!!! |
|