Want to try new IC's

McLoki

Why does it seem you all are making this much harder than it has to be.

Put the AVR, and CDP ONLY between your front speakers.
Hook everything together with the interconnect and speaker cable you currently use
Listen to a song you like and have listened to a number of times
Now switch both the speaker cable and interconnect to a higher quality one (like from the MIT test listed above)
Listen to the same song again
See if you hear a difference

If you want to replicate what Trey does at his place, get a much smaller room, shorter (and higher quality wire) and about $8,000 worth of audio gear - then start comparing. Until then - worry about your system.

Serendipity

I'll do that. The only thing difficult is removing the cables run behind the crawl space, and in the meter room/wiring closet.

McLoki

appadv wrote: »

So how do the setups like what you see in Home Theater Magazine do it? They must have 100+ feet of speaker wire since the equipment rack is ALWAYS in another room, closet, or mounted somewhere out of sight.

I would guess that if you are going to have a theater featured in Home Theater magazine - you are spending well over $100,000 on it. I don't think it is exactly in the same class (typically) of what you or I are running.

i.e. I doubt they are running generic 16-2 cable from home depot, $500 speakers and MP3'S from a HTPC. (then again - we may be surprised at what we find behind those walls)

Michael

Serendipity

First of all, it's a lot of work to pull the speaker wire I had already nailed to the wood in the crawl space.

I could just do a comparison with NEW cables then - AVR in the old place connected with the old cables, then move the AVR to the front to use new, short cables.

Second, I listen to mostly CDs because they DEFINITELY sound better than MP3s. Face - you will never see me using MP3s on a "critical listening" session.

McLoki

appadv wrote: »

I could just do a comparison with NEW cables then - AVR in the old place connected with the old cables, then move the AVR to the front to use new, short cables.

ok then - do that....

(BTW - the making things difficult comment was not only directed at you....)

F1nut

Too many(not all) in the science world under estimate the human mind/body. Many think they have all the answers, and as history has shown over and over again they do a fine job of proving themselves wrong.

Amen!

Serendipity

I think everyone's making this too difficult, myself included.

1. I just *mentioned* testing a cable on an oscilloscope, not trying to argue here. I mean what's wrong with testing two cables to see if they are electrically different?

2. I'm still going to listen to the cables, just leave my old cables hooked up thru the crawl space and move the AVR between the front of the room and the equipment rack to switch cables.

That's all.

Serendipity

Last, the MP3s are not for critical listening sessions. They are good for background music though, when you are doing something else in the house and not sitting in front of the system.

McLoki

appadv wrote: »

Last, the MP3s are not for critical listening sessions. They are good for background music though, when you are doing something else in the house and not sitting in front of the system.

So why did it need to be moved to the front of the room with the rest of the equipment and a long HDMi cable found so you could hook your projector to it?

Quick news flash - as you increase resolution of your system (through better cables, source, processing or speakers) a good recording will sound even better. A bad recording (like MP3's) will do nothing but sound even worse.

Before you start spending money to get more out of your system, make sure the results you are going to get are actually what you want.

Serendipity

Why? The HTPC is also my DVD-Audio player.

Face

You should throw that HTPC in front of a bus, that would fix half of your problems.

danger boy

get a better and beefier amp.. don't worry about cables or wires.. amps are where it's at

ben62670

appadv wrote: »

I find it interesting that Ben thinks engineers only use science - I said I was going to test the cables out on an oscilloscope AND put them in my system to see if they make a difference.

The vast majority of engineers (especially non audio) think that we can measure everything. I do think that everything can be measured, and someday maybe we will be able to measure what we are hearing. Till then trust your ears, and forget about the measurements.

Serendipity

Face wrote: »

You should throw that HTPC in front of a bus, that would fix half of your problems.

All this from a guy who uses a HTPC...

Face

appadv wrote: »

All this from a guy who uses a HTPC...

I prefer Lossless Music Server.

Yes, it's hooked up to my TV, but I don't use it for movies, etc... It's too expensive and until recently, lacking in the newest technologies. I'm considering a new video card with HDMI out, one of ASUS's new sound cards that decodes the new HD formats, and a HD DVD/Blu Ray drive, but it really doesn't make sense price wise.

You won't find any MP3's here and I use a external DAC.

Serendipity

Do you not understand that the MP3s on my HTPC are for non-critical listening?