Does your stereo system ever sound bad?

[MJR]

I agree with Helicopter that the source material recording quality is the major contributing factor to how the system sounds( when system is known to be high quality and can deliver). I own recordings that I want to sound good because I love the music but production quality just isn't there. Good sound systems reveal the best of the best recordings and worst of the worse.

Definitely this! I especially notice it when I get new unknown recording and it does not live up to my expectations. Usually with live performances, but sometimes studio recordings also disappoint. At first I am like WTH happened to my system and realize it is a poor quality recording that is just being magnified by my system.

 

[Wes]

mine sometimes sounds bad to the bone





---> source material and your mood are more likely to affect perceived SQ than many other things

 

[threni]

I swear some days my system sounds really crummy. I’ll put on song after song I know is amazing and it sounds dull and uninteresting, even bad at times. Then, a day or two later I’ll get that wonderful magic sound and get totally engaged with the music again.

Am I crazy and it’s just me?

I wonder how much correlation there is to how my system sounds and my stress level. Usually I don’t even listen to music if I’m not in a good mood as it is.

It's just you. And you're not crazy. Some days I can't tune my guitar. It's like i'm too sensitive to the lack of intonation; the strings aren't quite all in tune in all chords/positions on the neck. Sometimes if I keep going I can get there. Usually it's fine and I can tune it in seconds, but sometimes I just give up for the day.

Sometimes music takes your mind off things and makes you feel better. Other times you just can't get into it because something is on your mind. I find music useful when I work to block out other sounds and let me focus. But if I'm working on certain specific problems (I'm a programmer) I just can't have any music playing; I WANT to listen to it but it annoys me so I can't. Sound crazy but I've told myself it's normal! My guitar/hifi aren't changing day by day - some times/days you're just not feeling it.

 

[GD Fan]

I've never experienced this problem. But now that I'm aware such a problem exists it will probably start happening to me!...

 

[Daverz]

I do think that perceived sound quality can depend on temperature, pressure and humidity in the room. I haven't tried to prove that, though. It would be interesting to keep a logs of how the system sounds subjectively and a blind log of the room's "weather" to compare.

Of course, lack of sleep, diet, stress, etc. can effect "sound" greatly. But I'm usually aware of when I feel in the mood for listening music and have energy for it (and it does require a certain amount of energy to sit still and listen for me).

 

[MattHooper]

Absolutely!

It's just bizarre. Occasionally I'll listen to my system, even playing tracks I know well, and it just doesn't sound very good. Like something is wrong. But then the next day or the following I'll sit down and it sounds great. I haven't mapped this on to any particular incident of stress or state of mind, so I don't know what the deal is.

In fact I'm actually going through an extended bout of this right now. My system isn't sounding right to me, except it's not an isolated night, it's been continuous. Ever since I had a creeping distortion problem start in my vinyl playback, which was agonizing to diagnose (ultimately it seems something was stuck in my cartridge, combined with a bit of cartridge wear), it's like it made me paranoid about any distortion or grainy quality and now I seem to "hear" that quality in the system too much. A bit of a mind-f*ck.

 

[Ron Texas]

Yeah, if I try to listen to Taylor Swift or rap. It's great the rest of the time.

 

[amper42]

This thread seems alien to me... my sound system always sounds the same. The recordings I treasure sound great each time I listen to them. Rather than searching for different equipment these days, I find myself looking for new music that grabs my soul and brings out the best in my speakers.

The responses in this thread makes me wonder if someone is coming in at night and changing the posters settings or speakers?

https://tenor.com/view/dj-panda-stereo-gif-18175461

 

[jonfitch]

This thread seems alien to me... my sound system always sounds the same. The recordings I treasure sound great each time I listen to them. Rather than searching for different equipment these days, I find myself looking for new music that grabs my soul and brings out the best in my speakers.

The responses in this thread makes me wonder if someone is coming in at night and changing the posters settings or speakers?

https://tenor.com/view/dj-panda-stereo-gif-18175461

Maybe some people are working from home and listening to speakers in the background when they usually aren't used to (while still working and stressed out). My theory is if you have more forward speakers it will draw more mental attention and the added fatigue when you are already stressed and cranky amplifies what may be a small annoyance

 

[Chrispy]

Not particularly, altho I could be in a ****** mood and that can "color" things The gear is what it is, your emotions are all over the frickin' place.

 

[egellings]

I think it's the listener, not the stereo causing the erratic dissatisfaction with the sound. I could swear that mine sounds better at night than during midday. What in the equipment could be changing? I monitored line voltage on a scope using a toroidal stepdown transformer for safety reasons, and could see no consistent difference in wave shape (eyeballing only-no spectrum analysis) or voltage level to account for it. Maybe at night, I'm just in more of a relaxed mood and am enjoying the same sound quality more, I dunno.

 

[Wes]

Yeah, if I try to listen to Taylor Swift or rap. It's great the rest of the time.

Just Wait.

Taylor Swift's next album will be all rap - and you will not be able to avoid it.

 

[Robin L]

I think it's the listener, not the stereo causing the erratic dissatisfaction with the sound. I could swear that mine sounds better at night than during midday. What in the equipment could be changing? I monitored line voltage on a scope using a toroidal stepdown transformer for safety reasons, and could see no consistent difference in wave shape (eyeballing only-no spectrum analysis) or voltage level to account for it. Maybe at night, I'm just in more of a relaxed mood and am enjoying the same sound quality more, I dunno.

Woo-woo types [like me] might note that the psychic vibrations in the æther are reduced in level at night. All those people sleeping at 3:00am contribute to a lower noise floor.

 

[Senior NEET Engineer]

Nope always sounds good. The recliner has a soothing effect on my mental state.

 

[watchnerd]

Yes , iv experienced this . We are the least reliable part of the HIFI chain .

Also what can happen with me is id be listening to something and enjoying it, revelling in the splendour of stereo only to change to another album and notice how ' bad ' it sounds . EQ can help a little with that but it can also make one a bit mad , changing and chasing to fix the unfixable.

I tend not to let myself be lead down this maddening rabbit hole these days . Nothing good comes of it lol

Half of my 80s music sounds bad.

Other day, listened to Sting’s ‘Nothing Like The Sun’.

Ugh,,,,,,why did I ever think this was a good recording?

Oh yeah cause my system in college was crap.

 

[BillG]

No, my systems (I've four in total - two stationary, two mobile) never sound bad to me. However, I'm not always in the mood to listen to any of them. I have listened to them anyway during those times, but I find myself putting on something ambient to soothe me then.

 

[Aerith Gainsborough]

I wonder how much correlation there is to how my system sounds and my stress level.

A pretty significant one.
"Wood ear days" happen to all of us. Sometimes, the mood isn't there, sometimes, body is simply too tired, ears are fried because they have been assaulted by noise all day etc.

Best not to fuss about it.

Personally I love listening to music first thing in the morning (currently doing it @ 05:51 AM) when the ears are fresh.

 

[Inner Space]

Personally I love listening to music first thing in the morning (currently doing it @ 05:51 AM) when the ears are fresh.

What a wonderful idea. I'm going to try it. Never occurred to me before. My listening room is kind of night-timey. But that could change.

 

[Wombat]

Occasionally, when certain current high priced speakers are being drooled-over on the forum, I doubt my DIYs - until I listen to them. Are they as good? I don't know as I haven't heard the icons except for the impressive JBL M2 system, courtesy of a kind ASR member. Mine are not as good as the M2s but they are well suited to my needs and budget.

It doesn't take long to revert back to and enjoy a well liked reasonably performing set-up.

 

[Sphinx]

@direstraitsfan98, @tuga, @sergeauckland, @MattHooper, @egellings,
I have concurring experiences.
I suspect some will frown on the following: when I lived in my previous residence ( in town ),
I would rarely start up my system before midnight.
The reason being that I had figured out that before midnight sound quality was way worse than after midnight.
Doubting my own ears in the beginning, I invited people with lesser trained ears to listen and all confirmed.
during the days there were times that I could hear sound quality fluctuate.
I have and am experiencing the same phenomena in other locations.
Areas with less neighbours usually result in better sound quality.
This I hear with totally different equipment, no matter cheap or expensive.