Does your stereo system ever sound bad?

[Sphinx]

@direstraitsfan98, @tuga, @sergeauckland, @MattHooper, @egellings,
On the other hand, I also have days that I just keep switching to different recordings,
not finding anything that pleases me in the moment,
even though some of the chosen music can be good and liked by me under other circumstances.
In the end I will often settle on something though.

 

[Aerith Gainsborough]

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.

My guess: ambient noise interfering with the signal. Especially traffic, if you lived near large roads.

I notice the same thing in summer when it's hot and I have to keep the windows open.
With the amount of noise coming in, I don't even bother putting up the Clear.

 

[Sphinx]

I never lived near a busy road.

 

[holbob]

When the French doors to the kitchen/dining area are left open and the tumble dryer and washing machine are on, and my 2 teenage daughters are rowing and shouting and my 4 year old is playing and my wife is telling me all the many things that is wrong with me then my system sounds positively awful. Admittedly, it might not actually be turned on, but the effect is the same.

 

[MarcT]

I'm very sensitive to caffeine(my doctors have maintained that caffeine is the biggest culprit in my atrial fibrillation episodes) and I've noticed that if I have more than my usual half cup, I get "edgy" and can't enjoy music at all, and I have to immediately turn the volume way down. But if I take just a small amount, it's great!

Also, some early CDs just sound very poor. I was listening to the Star Trek II soundtrack the other day and it was just not so great sounding.

 

[egellings]

My setup sounds pretty consistent. If there is any variation, it's likely in me.

 

[solderdude]

It's a perception thing, not a technical issue (like mains pollution or RFI).

The fact that we hear better at night is because
A: we relax so do muscles in the auditory system and thus our hearing gets more sensitive (you can hear clocks ticking at night, not during the day) so we listen at a lower level with the benefit of less distortion.
B: evolutionary; in the dark hours (it also helps to have a dark room) humans had to rely on hearing to survive.
C: It also is related to your mood, health (BP, stress, amongst them) and average SPL levels.

 

[Rip City Dave]

You must be getting tainted AC on those days. Get an Audioquest power chord and be sure to spend way over your budget. Remember, the higher the cost, the better it is.

 

[RayDunzl]

I've not measured changes from one day to another, so I'll assume it produces the same vibrations on demand and any changes in perceptions are external to what goes on with the boxes.

 

[Aerith Gainsborough]

you can hear clocks ticking at night, not during the day.

Oh I can hear those blasted things at any time of day. Der God nothing drives me as nuts as stupid analog clocks. It starts of quiet but after a few minutes the ticking seems as loud as a hammer hitting an anvil. I even banned the analog clock from our office and told disgruntled coworkers to use the clock in their taskbar.

Same goes with pretty much any noise I have no control over: water droplets, fridge humming, birds chirping. It all starts quietly but gets louder as time passes.
I may be more sensitive to these than the average person though.

 

[Sal1950]

I'll go from system to system, without finding anything that makes me want to just sit and listen

Gee, it must really suck to have that problem.

 

[sq225917]

My hifi never sounds different, but I sometimes hear it differently...

 

[abdo123]

Yes, whenever it sounds perfect and i think 'I can make it better' I make it worse.