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New setup v5

Newhifiguy

New Member
Joined
Dec 5, 2022
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3
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4
Hello everyone,

Been lurking for a few weeks and learning what I can. Here’s my story;

Went over to a friends new place and he had a brand new kef audio 3.1 system with some Sonos rears which kind of blew my mind. We played some old school 2D video games on his brand new amazing setup with a 4K projector.

Going back home, I sigh at my sound bar that is under the couch (because my ex didn’t like the look) and realize this isn’t cutting it. So I start watching cheapaudioman on YouTube and order some Sony sscs5’s with a Yamaha rs202 amp I found of fb marketplace for 100$cad. Slap them on dining chairs and my mind is blown.

I Keep looking at classifieds and see some 400$ monitor audio Radius 270’s. I don’t know these speakers and there are no reviews. Whatever, I buy them.

First impressions, the Sony sound way better and I get buyers remorse. The soundstage and bass was just so much better with the Sonys, and they also played louder being 8 ohm and the MA being 6 ohm.

After 20 minutes, I start hearing details I never heard before in songs I’ve listened to 1000’s of times. My mind is blown. The Sonys now sound muddy and the top end is lacking definition. I’m talking like an audiophile to myself now. Gotta fix that bass.

The Monitor audio radius 270 are slim floor standing speakers that retail for 1800$ : they have 2x 4inch drivers with a gold tweeter. One of the mid woofers is blown, but I’m ordering new ones… They look stunning, but the dark mahogany was way too 2004... And the bass was wrong. But the mids and highs, we’ll wow. So I sanded one of them down until the laminate was exposed and used some mineral oil. Looks modern now.

I then add 2 mono price 8 inch subwoofers and I’m just amazed once again at how I can tell where the musicians are standing when listening to green street by rant green. My mind is blown.

With an 8$ thrift shop cd player and CD’s, iPad with the usb-3.5 “DAC” + tidal masters trial and right now, really happy to share!
 

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caught gesture

Senior Member
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Feb 19, 2021
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443
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936
Location
Italia
Like your style. Get a usb mic, measure your room, then add some acoustic treatment/eq. Your mind will be blown some more!
 
OP
N

Newhifiguy

New Member
Joined
Dec 5, 2022
Messages
3
Likes
4
Like your style. Get a usb mic, measure your room, then add some acoustic treatment/eq. Your mind will be blown some more!
What app or software can you use ? Anything with my iPhone or something I already own ?
 
OP
N

Newhifiguy

New Member
Joined
Dec 5, 2022
Messages
3
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4
Updated the system over the holidays - Looking for suggestions as well! Thanks @caught gesture for the idea for acoustic treatment.

- added an Ikea Besta without the back paneling (simple = less vibration) and some legs, stuck the front ported and firing woofers in it.
- added an old Stanton DJ turntable I already had, had to get a 30$ preamp at the electronics store.
- connected my FireTV 4K that I use like an HD streamer (24bit 96k). Projector being at the back, had to improvise a bit: Fire 4k / HDMI optical extractor /25 ft optical wire/ 30$ Optical to Analog DAC / Yamaha Amp / speakers. Now I have sound for Blockbuster movies YESSSS. Although I mostly watch animal documentaries and bla bla repertoire films like Noah Baumbach, I did crank them up to test them.
- Gary the plant found a new home and now rocks out in front of the Right sub. His favourite song is Icky thump - White stripes, he goes apeshit when it starts
- Cut a circle piece out of an Ikea SUSIG desk pad to act as a turntable mat ( Read somewhere Felt created static) - not sure I see a difference TBH but oh well…

4C0D43F6-2CB2-4792-9D4C-92E925D209BB.jpeg



Thanks for the support!
 

NiagaraPete

Major Contributor
Forum Donor
Joined
Jun 23, 2021
Messages
2,185
Likes
1,953
Location
Canada
Hello everyone,

Been lurking for a few weeks and learning what I can. Here’s my story;

Went over to a friends new place and he had a brand new kef audio 3.1 system with some Sonos rears which kind of blew my mind. We played some old school 2D video games on his brand new amazing setup with a 4K projector.

Going back home, I sigh at my sound bar that is under the couch (because my ex didn’t like the look) and realize this isn’t cutting it. So I start watching cheapaudioman on YouTube and order some Sony sscs5’s with a Yamaha rs202 amp I found of fb marketplace for 100$cad. Slap them on dining chairs and my mind is blown.

I Keep looking at classifieds and see some 400$ monitor audio Radius 270’s. I don’t know these speakers and there are no reviews. Whatever, I buy them.

First impressions, the Sony sound way better and I get buyers remorse. The soundstage and bass was just so much better with the Sonys, and they also played louder being 8 ohm and the MA being 6 ohm.

After 20 minutes, I start hearing details I never heard before in songs I’ve listened to 1000’s of times. My mind is blown. The Sonys now sound muddy and the top end is lacking definition. I’m talking like an audiophile to myself now. Gotta fix that bass.

The Monitor audio radius 270 are slim floor standing speakers that retail for 1800$ : they have 2x 4inch drivers with a gold tweeter. One of the mid woofers is blown, but I’m ordering new ones… They look stunning, but the dark mahogany was way too 2004... And the bass was wrong. But the mids and highs, we’ll wow. So I sanded one of them down until the laminate was exposed and used some mineral oil. Looks modern now.

I then add 2 mono price 8 inch subwoofers and I’m just amazed once again at how I can tell where the musicians are standing when listening to green street by rant green. My mind is blown.

With an 8$ thrift shop cd player and CD’s, iPad with the usb-3.5 “DAC” + tidal masters trial and right now, really happy to share!
Welcome to ASR.
 

TheBatsEar

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Jun 16, 2020
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Germany
My dude, to level up without grinding you need a microphone (MiniDSP Umik1, maybe used?) and some software (REW) and measure what your speakers actually sound like in your room.

Imagine your room adds an unwanted boost to frequencies at 110Hz by 6dB. You measure that with REW and then configure a dip of 6dB at 110Hz in CamillaDSP. Your tunes now sound as intended.

Room correction is what makes a good selection of hardware sound great. Also it's fun to laugh at the poor sods that have bought speakers for $20k, yet have not corrected for their room. May Buddha punish them with Europop and ground loops.

It may be worth it to rip your CDs to flac too. Then use a RaspberryPi, Moode (Opensource streaming software) and CamillaDSP (which comes with Moode) to correct for your room at playback time.
 
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