D
Deleted member 910934
Guest
Hi everyone,
So, I have an ongoing issue that has began to cause me a little concern. The issue is that when I listen to CDs on my main system downstairs in the lounge, I cannot do so for more than about 15 minutes without the sense that "I've had enough...I just want to turn it off now". This doesn't happen on a small system I have upstairs, nor when I listen to vinyl. It was also worse when I had the Dali Oberon 5 speakers, but better with the Wharfedale 12.3s. Having recently bought the Silver 200s, which sound amazing, it has sadly returned to its previous level.
My downstairs system includes a Rotel A11 Tribute, CD11 Tribute, Monitor Silver 200s and a Project Xpression Carbon turntable and Goldring E3 Cartridge. The room is about 6mx3.5m. It is about 50% bare walls, carpet, sofa, lots of furniture, and a modicum of room treatment. I listen in an 2m equilateral triangle with the speakers only slightly toed in, maybe 5 degrees. Speakers are about 1.5ft away from the front wall. I have the system set up along the long wall, as my wife wouldn't allow me to take over the entire room for the sake of HiFi
Upstairs I have a NAD D3020 v2 with Q Acoustics Concept 20 speakers (which are out of this world, by the way), connected to a laptop via a Topping D10s DAC via coaxial to the D3020s DAC (using the D10s as a bridge). I listen in a 1.1m equilateral triangle with the speakers toed in about 5 degrees and only 10cm from the back wall. This room has lots of bare wall, but carpet and a bed and a few furniture items. It is 2.5mx4m. I use Amazon Music HD or ripped FLAC files in CD quality or above.
I use Audioquest Rocket 11 cables and Van Damme interconnects downstairs, and QED XT25 cables and Van Damme interconnects upstairs...not convinced cables make a massive difference, only a little.
I have a bit of sensitivity to loudness and brightness, so I listen at moderate levels only. I don't feel my equipment is especially bright...I personally use the sound of the Grado Sr80e headphones as a marker of brightness, as these are about the brightest item I ever owned. None of my gear sounds like that. Yet, if I listen to music on the upstairs system, I still get a nice soundstage and good imaging, but no fatigue. If I listen to vinyl downstairs, also no fatigue. Its only when playing CDs. And not just badly recorded ones, even great recordings.
I am tempted to bring the A11 and CD11 upstairs and plug them into the Concept 20s and see if this still happens. Or take the Concept 20s downstairs and see if it continues. But before I start lugging all this stuff around, I thought I'd ask for some opinions...what do you think is going on?
So, I have an ongoing issue that has began to cause me a little concern. The issue is that when I listen to CDs on my main system downstairs in the lounge, I cannot do so for more than about 15 minutes without the sense that "I've had enough...I just want to turn it off now". This doesn't happen on a small system I have upstairs, nor when I listen to vinyl. It was also worse when I had the Dali Oberon 5 speakers, but better with the Wharfedale 12.3s. Having recently bought the Silver 200s, which sound amazing, it has sadly returned to its previous level.
My downstairs system includes a Rotel A11 Tribute, CD11 Tribute, Monitor Silver 200s and a Project Xpression Carbon turntable and Goldring E3 Cartridge. The room is about 6mx3.5m. It is about 50% bare walls, carpet, sofa, lots of furniture, and a modicum of room treatment. I listen in an 2m equilateral triangle with the speakers only slightly toed in, maybe 5 degrees. Speakers are about 1.5ft away from the front wall. I have the system set up along the long wall, as my wife wouldn't allow me to take over the entire room for the sake of HiFi
Upstairs I have a NAD D3020 v2 with Q Acoustics Concept 20 speakers (which are out of this world, by the way), connected to a laptop via a Topping D10s DAC via coaxial to the D3020s DAC (using the D10s as a bridge). I listen in a 1.1m equilateral triangle with the speakers toed in about 5 degrees and only 10cm from the back wall. This room has lots of bare wall, but carpet and a bed and a few furniture items. It is 2.5mx4m. I use Amazon Music HD or ripped FLAC files in CD quality or above.
I use Audioquest Rocket 11 cables and Van Damme interconnects downstairs, and QED XT25 cables and Van Damme interconnects upstairs...not convinced cables make a massive difference, only a little.
I have a bit of sensitivity to loudness and brightness, so I listen at moderate levels only. I don't feel my equipment is especially bright...I personally use the sound of the Grado Sr80e headphones as a marker of brightness, as these are about the brightest item I ever owned. None of my gear sounds like that. Yet, if I listen to music on the upstairs system, I still get a nice soundstage and good imaging, but no fatigue. If I listen to vinyl downstairs, also no fatigue. Its only when playing CDs. And not just badly recorded ones, even great recordings.
I am tempted to bring the A11 and CD11 upstairs and plug them into the Concept 20s and see if this still happens. Or take the Concept 20s downstairs and see if it continues. But before I start lugging all this stuff around, I thought I'd ask for some opinions...what do you think is going on?
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