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Isolation is Essential
Place speakers (or their stands) on spikes and adjust them so that they
don't rock. Do the same for equipment stands. Even a power
amplifier benefits from a spiked stand rather than being placed on the
floor. A bicycle inner tube is excellent between two shelves to form a
very effective isolation platform. Aurios Media Isolation Bearings are
much better, but costly. |
| Get That CD Player and Turntable Level
Levelling source components is important, especially if using with Aurios
MIB or similar isolation bearings. Use a spirit level and balance
everything up in both planes, adjusting the floor spikes as necessary.
If there are no adjustable spikes, use slivers of wood until everything is
level. This not only improves the sound, but ensures that motor
bearings will last a lot longer. |
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Mains Matters
If you power your system from switched mains sockets, swap them out for
good quality MK unswitched types. A basic Kimber Yello mains cable
makes a dramatic upgrade from the basic moulded types supplied with
equipment. Power the source/preamp components from a different socket
set to the power amp/subwoofer. Going further, mains filtering (e.g.
Isotek) or synthesis (e.g. PS Audio) can transform your system. |
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Warm it Up Thoroughly
I remain astonished at how long equipment needs to be left on to achieve its
best performance. In fact, I don't switch my system off at all.
I wouldn't advocate that with valve equipment, but if you can afford the
idle consumption, this is a good way to get your system singing sweetly. |
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Running-in
I have had lively discussions in the CIX hi-fi conference about running-in
and warming-up of equipment. My system was definitely run-in, but it
had been in storage for three months. When I set it up and listened
after a quick warm-up, it was so 'hot' it could cut glass. It took a
week for things to settle down and sound good (without making any
changes). This repeat lesson makes me more than ever aware that you
can't just listen to equipment from cold, nor evaluate it at home for just a
day. You stand no chance of getting to know what it really sounds
like. I'm also convinced that you must at least leave things on
standby if you want it to sound good for a listening session. |
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Speaker Positioning and Toe-in
If at first it doesn't sound clean or image well, try fine tuning the
speaker placement. Toe-in can also change the way your system sounds,
depending on how directional your speakers are. A good tip is to
listen to one speaker only (disconnect the other channel) and get it
sounding right in mono. When you have everything just so, stereo will
sound wonderful. |
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Keep Those Contacts Clean
Re-seat connectors once a year. If you have bare wire speaker
terminals, cut 1" off and reconnect using a fresh copper section.
Use a contact cleaner for even better resistance to oxidation. |
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Get Rid of the TV
I made the mistake of having my (32" widescreen CRT) TV centrally
located between the speakers in order to optimise my system for viewing
films as well as listening to music. Removing it gave me the single
best improvement in imaging, especially depth of soundstage. I was
surprised because I thought that a 'ghost' image could not be affected by
something physically in the way, but it did. |
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Room Layout
My speakers now throw down the length of the room, as opposed to across its
width. Despite their proximity to the rear and side walls, they sound
smoother and image better than before. The biggest impact has been to
the bass. The subwoofer is now closer to the r/h speaker and a room
corner and its bass output is both deeper and more powerful. Its pitch
definition is much better and the power of low frequency output is really
exhilarating on church organ and similar music. |
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Drapes & Room Dampening
My room started out quite live, but not dramatically so. The system
sounded too 'hot' for my liking. I waited until all our curtains and
blinds were up and things warmed up considerably. It may sound
obvious, but how many times do we really experiment with big changes to the
room acoustics and take note of them? |
