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Since I have had way to much time on my hands lately due to work being slow and finding myself at home more than I would like I decieded to do some tweaking and testing of my current system.
In that past few years I have bought and tried numerous high end cables,power conditioners,power filter outlets and added 20 amp dedicated lines.Here are some of my personal findings and remember this is not science and your results and opinions may not be the same.I will not mention cable brands as I know and respect the policy.
First thing I decieded to try was to remove sources from my ACP H15 power conditioner to improve cd playback as evrything is plugged into the H15.I have 2 Mit Super Z outlets installed on 2 dedicated circuits so I have 4 outlets to use and only one is in use with the Power conditioner.I first removed the amp and noticed a improvment in detail but a slight loss of soundstage and a small loss of warmth but the amp seemed to work less hard and the music seemd faster.Next I removed my preamp and noticed a improvemnt in more air and spaceousness of each individual instrument being played.At this point I was not thrilled with the results as even with the improvement I was not happy with the loss of warmth and soundstage the power conditioner was providing.The power conditioner was coloring the sound,mudding it up a bit and I had grown use to that.
Next I removed the cd/sacd player a Sony SCD-CE595 I picked up refurbished from sony for 59 bucks .Dont laugh as this is a amazing player especially for the price.I use to have the Rotel 1072 and in my opinion..well we wont go there as I love Rotel.So with the cd player removed and plugged into the Mit Super Z I was now experiencing more warmth added back to music.It was still no where near the warmth and soundstage that the apc power condition was providing though and even with the gains in clarity,airiness, and being able to pick out instuments better I was still liking what I heard with everyting plugged in to the power conditioner.
I have other ac outlets within reach of my system so I decieded to use a 15amp circuit and remove all conditioning and filtering that the MIt Super Z was giving me.First was the amp.I was now getting more warmth and more bottom end slam and more mid range bass and a better soundstage.I liked this.Then I removed the preamp and the above stayed the same except now the midrange also seemed to open more. And last I removed the cd player and wow wee.It was a whole new system.Bottom end slam was there in abundance and clarity was awesome and voices where silky smooth and soundstage was wider and more open.I liked this alot.I liked it so much I removed the Mit Super Z outlets from the dedicated 20 amp circuits and replaced them with regualar 20 amp outlets.I then plugged the cd player,amp and preamp into the new non filter outlets and there seemed to be all of the above results but with more authority.All of the above testing was done with multiple cd's over a 2 day period.
So I had to make a decision.Do I want surge protection and piece of mind or do I want the best my system can give me.I have choosen for now the best my system can give me.I will note that not all power conditioners are the same.I have heard that some do no coloration or limiting but in my opinion the APC does limit and color the sound.It does give you piece of mind though.As for the MIT Super Z ,though it does not seem to color my system it does seem to limit it and not by a little but a lot.
So was I done at this point?No way.I have a couple of big boxes with numerous power cords and interconnects so I was onto to furthering my research.I tried numerous power cords on both the amp and preamp and none where high dollar ones.(the cd player power cord is non removeable)The ones I currently have are the stock cords so can not compare them to high dollar ones.I did try the big thick power cord from the Apc power conditioner to the amp and although there was a slight difference it is so subtle I am not sure if it was for good or bad and I do prefere the stock power cords.
Next was Interconnects.I will not mention brand.All my interconnects are around 700.00 a pair.Not expensive high end but sort of pricey.I did not give any of the interconnects time to burn in and am or was a firm believer of burnin.I tried some stock interconnets for cdp to pre and pre to amp.Did not like this at all.It wasnt bad it just wasnt real good.I then tried some store bought mass marketed interconnects.This sounded pretty darned good.I mixed and matched highend with mass market and got different results.Some where good and others where different.In the end the high end cables are now sitting in a box.
What I ended up with that gave me the most out of my system to my liking was the mass produced cables by different manufacuters.I have a set of interconnects(which are digital and the same brand and model)from the cd player to preamp.I have another brand (5 cables ) going from the preamp to amp as my amp is 5 channel.And another brand from pre to subs.I was really surprised with this as I thought that in no way could any of these other interconnects compete or give anything near the the 700.00 interconnects.
So my conclusion here is yes interconnects do make a difference and not always will a higher end cable do a better job than a good mass produced one.I have tried a lot of different high end cables and each brings strengths and weekness to the table.What may work for you may not work for me.What I have connected in my system really works for me.I was able to keep the airiness,detail,warmth and soudstage with this new interconnect configueration but with a little more added overall.
So if I was gaining all this from just the cd player I wondered what would be gained from my PS3 for bluray movies and my directv satellite receiver.I added both these units to the non filtered non surge protected circuits.I did not change out any of the hdmi cables or interconnects or digital cables on these units as they are already mass marketed cables.I really like to listen to smooth jazz on the directv music channels but it has never been a real enjoyable experience.Once plugged into the new outlets it brought back a more enjoyable experience.There was a vast improvement. When plugged into the apc power conditioner the music was brittle ,overly bright,fatiging and just awefull.It is now smoother and still has the clarity I like and bass is more exteneded.It is no where near audiophille quailty but tons better than it was.
Next to the ps3.I have always loved my ps3 for bluray.Yes there are better but for me it has always worked and worked flawlessly.My only concern with the ps3 was I always thought that the main dialog was a little low when my system was configuered properly.I was always boosting the center channel up a db or two.I had contributed this though to my center channel speaker being a piss poor center speaker.Once plugged into the new outlets and off of any filtering this all changed.I configured the speakers with a avia disk then poped in my favorite bluray(Transformers-Revenge of the fallen).From the start of the disk I knew things where different.Before the movie gets going there is the Dream Works thing with the stars going around and it blew my socks off as the sounds of the stars circiling around the room.There was more clarity and punch and my subs where really kicking in.Voices no longer had to be boosted on the center speaker and there where things in the movie I had not heard before.So this all made a tremendous difference in my movie experience. :B
The whole point of my post is to show that different thing can improve your system.If it does not sound right to you then change something.If that does not make a difference change something else.There are so may things we can do to bring what we have to a pleasurable experence and sometimes at no cost.Do not be affraid to experement.I have also done room corrections and expermented with speaker placement which I will not go into as your room will be differnt than mine.
I hope this has helped someone who sits there and says that they are not happy with what they have.And as stated above...Your results may not be the same.
Since I have had way to much time on my hands lately due to work being slow and finding myself at home more than I would like I decieded to do some tweaking and testing of my current system.
In that past few years I have bought and tried numerous high end cables,power conditioners,power filter outlets and added 20 amp dedicated lines.Here are some of my personal findings and remember this is not science and your results and opinions may not be the same.I will not mention cable brands as I know and respect the policy.
First thing I decieded to try was to remove sources from my ACP H15 power conditioner to improve cd playback as evrything is plugged into the H15.I have 2 Mit Super Z outlets installed on 2 dedicated circuits so I have 4 outlets to use and only one is in use with the Power conditioner.I first removed the amp and noticed a improvment in detail but a slight loss of soundstage and a small loss of warmth but the amp seemed to work less hard and the music seemd faster.Next I removed my preamp and noticed a improvemnt in more air and spaceousness of each individual instrument being played.At this point I was not thrilled with the results as even with the improvement I was not happy with the loss of warmth and soundstage the power conditioner was providing.The power conditioner was coloring the sound,mudding it up a bit and I had grown use to that.
Next I removed the cd/sacd player a Sony SCD-CE595 I picked up refurbished from sony for 59 bucks .Dont laugh as this is a amazing player especially for the price.I use to have the Rotel 1072 and in my opinion..well we wont go there as I love Rotel.So with the cd player removed and plugged into the Mit Super Z I was now experiencing more warmth added back to music.It was still no where near the warmth and soundstage that the apc power condition was providing though and even with the gains in clarity,airiness, and being able to pick out instuments better I was still liking what I heard with everyting plugged in to the power conditioner.
I have other ac outlets within reach of my system so I decieded to use a 15amp circuit and remove all conditioning and filtering that the MIt Super Z was giving me.First was the amp.I was now getting more warmth and more bottom end slam and more mid range bass and a better soundstage.I liked this.Then I removed the preamp and the above stayed the same except now the midrange also seemed to open more. And last I removed the cd player and wow wee.It was a whole new system.Bottom end slam was there in abundance and clarity was awesome and voices where silky smooth and soundstage was wider and more open.I liked this alot.I liked it so much I removed the Mit Super Z outlets from the dedicated 20 amp circuits and replaced them with regualar 20 amp outlets.I then plugged the cd player,amp and preamp into the new non filter outlets and there seemed to be all of the above results but with more authority.All of the above testing was done with multiple cd's over a 2 day period.
So I had to make a decision.Do I want surge protection and piece of mind or do I want the best my system can give me.I have choosen for now the best my system can give me.I will note that not all power conditioners are the same.I have heard that some do no coloration or limiting but in my opinion the APC does limit and color the sound.It does give you piece of mind though.As for the MIT Super Z ,though it does not seem to color my system it does seem to limit it and not by a little but a lot.
So was I done at this point?No way.I have a couple of big boxes with numerous power cords and interconnects so I was onto to furthering my research.I tried numerous power cords on both the amp and preamp and none where high dollar ones.(the cd player power cord is non removeable)The ones I currently have are the stock cords so can not compare them to high dollar ones.I did try the big thick power cord from the Apc power conditioner to the amp and although there was a slight difference it is so subtle I am not sure if it was for good or bad and I do prefere the stock power cords.
Next was Interconnects.I will not mention brand.All my interconnects are around 700.00 a pair.Not expensive high end but sort of pricey.I did not give any of the interconnects time to burn in and am or was a firm believer of burnin.I tried some stock interconnets for cdp to pre and pre to amp.Did not like this at all.It wasnt bad it just wasnt real good.I then tried some store bought mass marketed interconnects.This sounded pretty darned good.I mixed and matched highend with mass market and got different results.Some where good and others where different.In the end the high end cables are now sitting in a box.
What I ended up with that gave me the most out of my system to my liking was the mass produced cables by different manufacuters.I have a set of interconnects(which are digital and the same brand and model)from the cd player to preamp.I have another brand (5 cables ) going from the preamp to amp as my amp is 5 channel.And another brand from pre to subs.I was really surprised with this as I thought that in no way could any of these other interconnects compete or give anything near the the 700.00 interconnects.
So my conclusion here is yes interconnects do make a difference and not always will a higher end cable do a better job than a good mass produced one.I have tried a lot of different high end cables and each brings strengths and weekness to the table.What may work for you may not work for me.What I have connected in my system really works for me.I was able to keep the airiness,detail,warmth and soudstage with this new interconnect configueration but with a little more added overall.
So if I was gaining all this from just the cd player I wondered what would be gained from my PS3 for bluray movies and my directv satellite receiver.I added both these units to the non filtered non surge protected circuits.I did not change out any of the hdmi cables or interconnects or digital cables on these units as they are already mass marketed cables.I really like to listen to smooth jazz on the directv music channels but it has never been a real enjoyable experience.Once plugged into the new outlets it brought back a more enjoyable experience.There was a vast improvement. When plugged into the apc power conditioner the music was brittle ,overly bright,fatiging and just awefull.It is now smoother and still has the clarity I like and bass is more exteneded.It is no where near audiophille quailty but tons better than it was.
Next to the ps3.I have always loved my ps3 for bluray.Yes there are better but for me it has always worked and worked flawlessly.My only concern with the ps3 was I always thought that the main dialog was a little low when my system was configuered properly.I was always boosting the center channel up a db or two.I had contributed this though to my center channel speaker being a piss poor center speaker.Once plugged into the new outlets and off of any filtering this all changed.I configured the speakers with a avia disk then poped in my favorite bluray(Transformers-Revenge of the fallen).From the start of the disk I knew things where different.Before the movie gets going there is the Dream Works thing with the stars going around and it blew my socks off as the sounds of the stars circiling around the room.There was more clarity and punch and my subs where really kicking in.Voices no longer had to be boosted on the center speaker and there where things in the movie I had not heard before.So this all made a tremendous difference in my movie experience. :B
The whole point of my post is to show that different thing can improve your system.If it does not sound right to you then change something.If that does not make a difference change something else.There are so may things we can do to bring what we have to a pleasurable experence and sometimes at no cost.Do not be affraid to experement.I have also done room corrections and expermented with speaker placement which I will not go into as your room will be differnt than mine.
I hope this has helped someone who sits there and says that they are not happy with what they have.And as stated above...Your results may not be the same.
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