Speaker break-in
July 27, 2004
Wes,
I have a question on the breaking in of my new speakers. I
have left my amp on as well as the CD player playing continuously for over 200 hours at a
very low volume (you almost cannot hear it), so it is not heard unless I am actually
listening to a CD. Is it to my advantage to do this for another 200 hours to further
break-in the speakers or are the benefits to the speakers of this limited because the CD
is being played at such a low level? I will continue doing this if you think it actually
will help in the breaking in of the speakers.
Stephen
You might as well switch it all off -- the benefits from
speaker break in come from playing really low frequency at fairly high SPLs. I made the
same assumption you have and watched John Atkinson turn purple with suppressed laughter
when I told him I had been "breaking in" my speakers with an environmental CD of
running water.
Gasping for breath, John explained that you need to really
work the woofer surround vigorously to make a measurable difference in speaker response
with break-in. I haven't done the measurements myself, but John's word is good enough for
me.
Now this is a problem if you have a small apartment or thin
walls or twitchy neighbors. Thomas J. Norton came up with a clever work around, however.
Simply face the speakers towards one another and wire one out of phase with the other. Put
a bass-heavy CD on repeat, crank up the volume, and throw a blanket over the speakers. Now
leave the room for as long as is practical.
There will be a little bleed-through, but only a little --
and it beats the heck out of listening to Flim and the BBs at extreme volume for eight
hours....Wes Phillips
Cary and X-Can
July 23, 2004
Hi Wes,
Could you please help me with this question. My CD player
(Cary 303/200) is rated as: audio output level, single-ended 3.0V or 6.0V; balanced XLR
6.0V or 12.0V. Can I plug it directly into the Musical
Fidelity X-Can V3?
Nenad
The Cary does output a hefty signal, but the X-Can V3
can take it. Plug your 303/200 straight in without any concern.
Pioneer and Heybrook
July 21, 2004
Hi Wes,
I have just read your review on the
Heybrook HB2 speakers and have just bought a pair of new ex-demo stock for $314. I
intend to use with a Pioneer A400x I have just bought and is being serviced. Is this a
good match for these speakers?
Carl
The HB2s are rated at 90dB sensitivity, so the Pioneer's
solid 60Wpc should do them a treat. Have fun -- but I guess that's almost a foregone
conclusion with new speakers and a new amp.
Sleep mode
July 19, 2004
Hi Wes,
Every time I sit down to enjoy a CD or DVD-A I fall asleep
by the second song. How do you consistently listen to and enjoy music without suffering
from this dilemma?
Steve
I do know what you mean. When I used to work in the
city, I would frequently go to concerts at Carnegie Hall or Avery Fisher in the evening.
Sure enough. After a day of flogging records or high-end audio, as soon as I settled my
fundament down in the soft, cushy seat, the hushed ambience and warmth would lull me into
what I called "an enhanced alpha state" and my wife called a nap.
Some of it was just relaxing after a hard day, some of
it was undoubtedly the warmth, but I also think that some of it had to do with the way
that music itself comforts and relaxes. Yes, I was engaged in what I was hearing -- and
frequently was excited to be listening to great artists making thrilling music -- but
music is its own realm and an extraordinarily pleasant one.
I reckon you don't relax when you're threatened or
worried. But how do I listen critically without leaving this plane of reality for that
comfortable one? Well, listening, thinking, and writing are what I do for a living these
days -- I no longer have to shoe-horn my listening in around a "real" job. I try
to do it when I am alert. And I don't listen critically for long periods of time -- you
just can't keep your concentration elevated for extended intervals. (It's like doing
intervals when speed training -- you alternate intense sessions with "normal"
sessions.)
However, no matter how hard I concentrate -- even if I
am following along with a score (and reading music has never come easily to me) --
sometimes music does transport me. And sometimes, I just drift off. It comes with the
territory, and I never beat myself up over it -- I just listen to the same piece again,
carefully.
Of course, sometimes the reason my attention wanders is
that I'm not engaged. That's when I have to find another piece of music (or
another performance) -- or perhaps I need to find out what it is about that piece of
equipment (or system) that makes it hard for the music to get through to me. But that's
another story.
Bit-rate for iPod?
July 13, 2004
Hi:
I read your ER-4P review and am
considering getting a pair to use with my iPod. In your review you talk about setting the
player to a high-rez bit-rate. What would be the ideal setting to use with such earphones?
What kind of encoding will give the best results and at what bit-rate?
Thanks,
Kevin
Personally, I don't like to use compression at all.
That's the great thing about HDD portable players -- they offer enough storage capacity
that you can carry hours of .AIF or .WAV files in your pocket. Additionally, since the
iPod (and many others) use FireWire, it takes very little time to upload new playlists, so
I keep a bunch of task-specific playlists (fast music for working out, slow jams for
kicking back, audio books for sweating in the sauna, and so on). As I walk out the door, I
upload what I need for the next six hours.
If you do want to jam even more information onto
your iPod, use Apple's new lossless compression scheme, which -- to my ears, at least --
is sonically indistinguishable from the original.
Placing the Xhifi
July 10, 2004
Wes,
Did you listen to the Xhifi with the subwoofer on
the desktop? Doesn’t that wood look better when placed there? With a picture frame on
top of that, even?
Also, have you listened to the JVC EX-A1 all-wood speakers
yet? I’ve heard that the Xhifi were based on a JVC 2.1 set.
Thanks,
Paul
Yes, I did listen to the Xhifi with the sub on my
desktop and it does sound better that way (you get the very best blend with the sub
close to one of the satellites). And I guess it looks better like that -- especially if I
put my little dia de los muertos Elvis sculpture on top, so it looked like a
pedestal. Since my desk is beechwood, the cherry didn't exactly match, but it did offer a
nice contrast.
As for the JVC EX-A1, although I haven't heard it, it's
a fascinating-looking little system. For readers who aren't familiar with it, it's a mini
system that employs speakers with drivers made of wood -- thin sheets of birch are soaked
in sake, of all things, and then impregnated with resin before being formed into drivers.
JVC claims that wood treated this way creates a driver with fewer resonant peaks than
those made of paper.
I'd love to find out if there's anything to it.
And yes, the Xducer 's technology was developed by JVC.
Power-cord strategy
July 5, 2004
Hi Wes,
I stumbled on your virtual home while looking for some
guidance on power supplies and cords. Now I've bookmarked you so I can return often.
Every time I get the urge to upgrade my system, I am
reminded why years often pass between upgrades. There are just so many new products, so
many combinations, so many possible results.
I'd been contemplating where to start replacing all the
manufacturer-supplied power cords with better ones. I borrowed a few and experimented --
swapping and switching and listening. The biggest change to the sound coming from the
speakers was produced when I used a Nordost Vishnu power cord with my Wadia CD player.
"This is good," I thought. And then I had second thoughts. The sound is
brighter, crisper and airier in the top end -- but is this the sound of the Nordost cable per
se, or is it simply a synergistic compensation for the softer warmth of my Spendor
S100s? What if I were to change the speakers?
Would the whole thing then sound too tizzy and shrill? And
then I thought, "Maybe I should start right back at the beginning," first with
the power coming out of the wall and then by optimizing the front end. Well it so happened
that I could get a good deal on a Benz Micro cartridge, so I fitted this to my Oracle
Delphi V/SME Series V. Now I'm thinking about a PS Audio P300 for the turntable, phono
stage, CD player, and preamp. And then what power cord to run between this and the wall?
And what power cords to each of the other pieces? The Cable Company recommended a bunch of
cords, each of which they felt matched really well with each piece of gear. Then elsewhere
I read that it's best if all cords are from the same stable.
I take a step forward and I think I've just gone back a
couple. I want to get closer to the musical truth (well, the lie that most resembles the
truth). I guess that's the never-ending conflict. As you wrote in an article I was
reading, nothing's perfect. I enjoy music on my system, but I know it can be even better.
If new power cords can help me enjoy music, I'll buy them. But which ones to buy and in
what order?
Greg from Sydney
You're asking a really difficult question, but I think
you're on the right track. I'm a big believer in improving things as far up front in the
system as possible, so I agree that the Benz was a really good move.
Improving the quality of the power supplying those
important components up front also makes sense -- and the PS P300 will have an effect on
four components, not just one, so it also seems like a logical move.
I personally get nervous when I start introducing too many
variables in my system, so I don't tend to mix'n'match power cords. But I have to meet
deadlines every two weeks and you don't, so my needs shouldn't limit your options. I know
lots of people who swear by matching the cord to each component.
But that's kind of scary, isn't it? It implies that the AC
cords are just specialized tone controls, which I sort of hope isn't the case.
There's one other area where I think you're in good shape
though -- you're not rushing to make changes just to be making changes. As long as you
keep in mind that increased enjoyment is the goal and proceed slowly, I think you'll be
OK.
BTW, if there's a magic order in which to change AC cords,
I haven't found it -- except that improving the S/N ratio in low-level gear, such as phono
sections and preamps, seems to make the greatest difference. If you discover a
particularly effective Band-Aid, however, please write back and share it.
Bridged amps
July 2, 2004
Hello Mr. Phillips,
My system consists of the following:
Wilson Audio Sophia loudspeakers
Krell KAV-2250 and KAV-280p amps
Sony CDP-XA7ES CD player
Transparent Audio Ultra cabling
At present, my system sounds fantastic. I am planning to
use two bridged power amps in monoblock configuration. Do you have any opinion as to
whether this will improve the sound quality of my system?
Kamran
I guess it depends on what you're trying to achieve.
The Krell ought to have plenty of power for the Sophias, so you're not going to gain much
in the way of control over the loudspeakers, although you might get slightly more
separation between channels using two power amps.
However, I have never been a huge fan of bridging
stereo amps to mono. While you get more power, you also change the sound of the amplifier
and rarely for the better. Since you don't need the extra power, you could just use a
single channel from each amp and obtain the separation benefits of monoblock operation.
Yes, that does seem pretty inefficient, but try it both
ways and see which you think sounds better. That's the mode to go with.
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