This is my first audio system. With more then 30 hours into the speakers and love it. However I think that my Focal can sound better. I am new in the audio business, therefore needed help. As you can see I used the cheap RadioShack speaker wires ($8) to connect my 4K speakers and drove it with a 400 receiver, and I use my MacBook Pro as my source for music. I have to work on a tight budget, therefore I spent more then speaker and will work later. I look forward to hear every suggestion and advice. Thank you for Looking. So far I like the sound and very pleased that when with the Focal rather then the B&W 683.
Re: Placement. I just moved mine into a exact ( measured ) equilateral triangle with a complete toe-in on the normal listening positioning. The soundstage is much wider. Michael Jackson's Thriller opens with a door opening on the right channel then footsteps from the right to the left. You should be able to track this with very good accuracy.
I have the same speakers. I've found that a slight-moderate toe in provides a greater sitting area with proper soundstage, however full toe-in provides the most focused soundstage with limited sitting positions. I chose a point 3-4 feet behind my normal listening are then toe-in them toward that point. You room is small, I would recommend, as others have, to bring the speakers closer together. For example, I sit 11 1/2 feet away from mine and the are 8 ft apart and 2 ft away from the wall.(euro pillows against the wall, behind the speakers, seem work as cheap sound dampening fyi)
Thank you, for everyone here at Audiogon. Now I Don't have to go the dealer to listen to music :). Everyday I look forward to go home to relax and listen to my music. And yes, I have all of my rare and hard to find music albums in my apple. Now I find myself tune into this hobby more then before. Again Thank you everyone..Enjot your Music.
perhaps you should build some acoustical treatments to increase the quality of sound in your room. Fabricate some bass traps and place them in various places in your room especially in corners, if you have room. Check out my system "DIY listening room". If you need some advice on fabrication of acoustical treatment I will be happy to help you out....I am no way an authority of acoustical treatments but I did an excellent job on my room and saved thousands of dollars and made my room sound superb.
You welcome. Just give it some time. Try and play with placement if you can. It's always a never ending trip :). Just enjoy what you have along the way.
You're Welcome! I forgot to mention. If you are looking for outstanding budget cables look up Audio Art Cable here on A-gon. They have exceptional speaker wire and interconnects. Many great reviews as well. I've tried the IC-3's and they are very very good.
Hi. Joe I can't thank you enough for all of the advices you gave, I gained a bit more knowledge now with everyone's suggestions. I will take your suggestions to move the speaker closer together. Thank you ken
Dont worry. I'm sure you can get better sound with speaker placement and better speaker wire and digital interconnects.
Experiment with placement of the Focals. They are sensitive to position. You may want to move them a little closer together to lock in on that center image also experiment with little to moderate toe-in. Even try the speakers without the floor spikes.
As for spreaker wire, try some inexpensive Monster cable XP on a spool from a place like Best Buy. If you want to spend a little more do some forum searches in the cables section and pick up some used cables. Maybe even pick up a better quality digital cable. Also, take a look at AudioAdvisor.com , they have some nice entry level Audioquest spreaker cables and interconnects you can try.
There is a lot of information in the forums. Have Fun!
You might need to give them a bit more time. 30-40 hours really is not a lot of time. Once you hit the 80 and above mark, then you have some time on them. The dealers room was also probably allot different then your room. Placement, room treatments can make a huge difference. Just give it some time. You can't give up hope yet :). And thanks for the nice words. Yea, it sounds pretty good to me. But like I said, I have been in this game for over 10 years. I hope that with a certain amount of break in it becomes better for you.
Mike, You have a really nice system set-up there. I bet they sound amazing.
Hopefully the focal profile sound better when they are broken-in. I purchase an Open-boxed/ Demo pair. I heard that they were not played as much. When I was at the dealer they have it set up to the CA 840 integrated. I thought it sound great, therefore I went with CA gear. When I set up my gear, they sounded OK out of the box. I left my system running when I am at work hopefully they will turn out better. After 30-40 hrs or so they still sound the same. It was better at the dealer. This makes me think that it might be the electronic or the cable/Speaker wire?. Now Im a little confused and a bit worry.
12'x14'x8' is pretty small. Small rooms would benefit greatly with room treatments in reducing modal ringing and flutter echoes. Unless you are not doing any critical listening and just listen to music at low volumes then maybe you can get away with it. However, I find treatments on side and rear walls to be important for small rooms and can improve the potential of one's system tremendously. Just a thought.
Nice setup. I agree that the speakers were a wise choice to work on first. That way, as your system grows, the foundation will be there. Although, I am sure with the Cambridge gear, the profiles sound pretty good. And I know all about limited space. My room is almost like yours size wise. But, as far as electronics go, the higher up you decide to go up, the better those speakers will sound. But, this is a process that does not to be done over night. I have been doing this for years and it has taken me a long time to get where I am. Just take your time, and I can say that you will be happy in the end.
Thank you for the Suggestions and comment Ryder and Chadlesko.
Chadlesko, I will take your advice to rough up more money to upgrade to a good integrated amp. Thank you.
Ryder, I have a 12 x 14 w/ H 8'. Space is limited, I didn't realize that placement and position was a key factor. I wish I discuss this over before made the purchase or research on it more. I will take an overall space to give you a better idea. Right now I have a futon and i folded up to give the speakers more space to breathe when I play music. Thank you.
Congratulations on your first system. That is one great setup for a relatively small budget.
You certainly made the right choice in going for a good pair of speakers first. You can work with the electronics later when budget permits. You would certainly need a good matching amp to do those JM Labs speakers some justice.
It seems to me that the size of your room may be the limiting factor here in getting optimum sound from your system. May I know the dimensions of your room? From the looks of it you don't have much space from the back wall and are listening from your bed?
Welcome to the group...I think you did the right thing by going for speakers to grow with...using a MAC as source is not uncommon and can be made great...I assume your files are lossless and therefore all you would need is a DAC to take the information and translate the digital signal to analog in a quality manor. Look at Benchmark's DAC1 for around $1k. Also, a used integrated of good quality would work...I'd wait to get a little more dough together in order to do your speakers justice.
