What influences sound the most
Comments
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ill go with preamp.
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You'd go with anything to increase your post count :rolleyes:Political Correctness'.........defined
"A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."
President of Club Polk -
Like it or not, the room and speakers do.
This is #1...Truth hurts but if they don't mesh it will always sound like crap or not to its best potential, know matter what gear you throw at it2-channel: Modwright KWI-200 Integrated, Dynaudio C1-II Signatures
Desktop rig: LSi7, Polk 110sub, Dayens Ampino amp, W4S DAC/pre, Sonos, JRiver
Gear on standby: Melody 101 tube pre, Unison Research Simply Italy Integrated
Gone to new homes: (Matt Polk's)Threshold Stasis SA12e monoblocks, Pass XA30.5 amp, Usher MD2 speakers, Dynaudio C4 platinum speakers, Modwright LS100 (voltz), Simaudio 780D DAC
erat interfectorem cesar et **** dictatorem dicere a -
room, source, pre, spkrs, amp, cables;)
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I would WoodShed things for a bit.
Enjoy your ride.
RT1 -
The room is the first direct influence that's often overlooked and mentioned previously. It can turn the best speaker into the worse speaker. Tame simple things in regards to resonance, reflection and the liveliness of a room and you'll be amazed at how much the rest falls in line or totally throws you into the next direction of endless tweaking. Really, its not that much science as it is common sense in regards to basic sound principles.
If you clap your hands, and it echo's within the room...you have a big problem. There's also a point where you can overdo it and treat a room so much that you lose the loudspeaker nuance and timbre of the sound altogether. A speaker should sound like an individual and the rest of it is a reproduction of what you play through that speaker. You never do anything more than the basics when it comes to setting up a room and getting the best sound. The small tweaking is for much later, maybe even years later when you've settled on your final speaker....final gear or at least close to what you know just sounds good to you....not so much others. If you try to do everything to fast, buy too much and overthink it, you should stop and get another hobby as you don't really get it.
I know my room and listening area and can setup ANY speaker in a couple hours for a year of enjoyment in that time. The rest is gravy and recordings just let you adjust a tidbit here and there over time. The Golden Triangle and other audio voodoo is just bullshite and someone's idea that made sense in a Powerpoint presentation in front of some stoned audiophiles in the 80's. That's not to say that taping strips on your floor doesn't work and isn't useful but don't get twisted on it. Listening is easy but when you start to get overwhlemed? That's when you should go back to basics.
MarkCTC BBQ Amplifier, Sonic Frontiers Line3 Pre-Amplifier and Wadia 581 SACD player. Speakers? Always changing but for now, Mission Argonauts I picked up for $50 bucks, mint. -
the one that influences the sound the most in that lineup is the least of the three in any given setup. The one that I tend to hear the most, the one that stands out, is one that is dragging the system down. Ther is always a component that I want to replace, and that is the one that influences me the most. :redface:-Kevin
HT: Philips 52PFL7432D 52" LCD 1080p / Onkyo TX-SR 606 / Oppo BDP-83 SE / Comcast cable. (all HDMI)B&W 801 - Front, Polk CS350 LS - Center, Polk LS90 - Rear
2 Channel:
Oppo BDP-83 SE
Squeezebox Touch
Muscial Fidelity M1 DAC
VTL 2.5
McIntosh 2205 (refurbed)
B&W 801's
Transparent IC's -
I have to agree with others that have said it already, everything makes a difference to me. If I had to choose however, it would be the Pre. All things considered, my GFP-750 really made a huge difference but that just my opinion on my system... when I throw my NAD pre in the mix, it is totally different, not bad, just different.
That being said, the advice doro gave above is very is spot on. I am finding that out in my current listening room and need to do some research on treatments for the space. Once you address that issue, then other things like gear can be tweaked and worked out properly. For some this may not be an issue, for me, it really is. -
I disagree with everything said here. the #1 thing that can be cheap that will influence the sound of any system is booze. Enough booze in your system, an 8-track kicked up loud on a set of PA speakers will sound great and depending on the stage of being drunk.
SO my vote on #1 thing that influences sound the most, is booze.
If I had to choose a #2 thing, would be a combo of Sinus and ear cleaning / pressure. I have noticed on myself, one day my system sounds great, the next I find myself turning the subwoofer on the same thing that sounded great the week before. I take a sudafed, or pop my ears because the sinus is clogged up and all of a sudden the bass come back. Making sure your ears are also cleaned out a few times a year also helps.
Speakers and room acoustics / speaker / position would also be a tie for me as #1, 2 and 3. BUT this is providing you have decent speakers, all the above would have a big impact on sound.Klipsch The Nines, Audioquest Thunderbird Interconnect, Innuos Zen MK3 W4S recovery, Revolution Audio Labs USB & Ethernet, Border Patrol SE-I, Audioquest Niagara 5000 & Thunder, Cullen Crossover II PC's. -
I would have to agree with Ernie.....booze really can help! I have a reasonably good sounding rig, and a few drinks always seems to elevate the performance. :cheesygrin:
After that, to me it's taming room interactions with speaker position and treatments. Source material is another big one. -
sometimes, certain spices, which may have been good in youthful days, are just not good with our carefully sorted out systems:)
