Qed Siver Anniversary. More like a funeral

[claude]

Firstly I'd like to say that I just bought some minitor audio RS1's and so far I quite dissappointed. They lack punch in the midrange. I know they lack bass and I'm fine with that as I have an RSW12 sub but they just don't excite!

Now, about speaker cables; I had some old copper cables called gale 1. There at least 20 years and as there not long enough I thought I'd pay out for some swanky silver cables. I chose the QED silver anniversary.

They arrived this morning and I can tell you that compared with the copper cables there pants. They completely lack punch. The bass and midrange are now gone.

Before spending out I did the usal googling to see what review where out there. What Hifi (who I don't really trust and always wonder what handouts they get for bigging certain products up!) and AVrewiew center both rated this cable so I thought it ought to be O.K.

Interestingly both these sites reviewed a speaker cable called Supra 3.4s. The former slagged it off and the latter sung it praises.

Anyway my point and my question is that whilst I appreciate that cables are inportant it seems to me that where paying more and more for rubbish. The mark-up on cables is enormous which is hard enough to swallow never mind reviews that you can;t trust.

Does anybody out there have any opinions on the cable I bought? Am I unfairly critical, if so what's up with my setup?

Ps. my setup is as follows:

1 sonos ZP90 feeds
1 musical fidelity output buffer which feeds
2 Audiolab 8000S monoblocks which feed
2 Monitor Audio RS1's

Many thanks for taking the time to read this thread.

 

[Phlog]

" ... I just bought some minitor audio RS1's and so far I quite disappointed... " Didn't you listen to them before you bought them?

Anyway, speakers need to "run in" - the suspensions etc need to be flexed. So run them for a few days. If necessary, put them face to face (touching) and connect one speaker out of phase. They should sound better after a few days.

 

[Joe Fernand]

Hello claude

You don't say what Loudspeakers you replaced with the MA RS1 - and why?

You may find the RS1 require a different position in your room compared with whatever they replaced.

As Phlog says its often best to run a new set of speakers for a few hours before you start to give them a serious listen too.

Are you using the ZP90 in Fixed or Variable Output mode - fixed is better if your after High Fidelity rather than background music.

What MF unit are you using and does it have enough gain for the monoblocks?

Joe

 

[stainless-steel]

I might tread on dangerous ground and suggest that as the (limited) interaction of cables between speakers and amp is dependant on the resistance/capacitance and inductance of each component and how they relate to each other in an electrical circuit it is difficult to give a generic good/bad rating for any particular type of cable.
Unless what hi-fi tested the cables with your equipment and with your taste in musical presentation in mind I'm not sure how they can provide a rating on anything other than the cables individual technical parameters.

Now I'm not a cable heretic, but to my mind the only way to asses any particluar cable is to try it in your system - as you have.
if it makes a difference that you like, then great. But don't fall into the 'more expensive = better' trap.
A piece of 50p bell wire may suit your Krell\Wilson combo better than a length of £2000 per meter wonder-wire - but don't bet on it.

If you want to get into cable alchemy then by all means go for it!

 

[claude]

Phlog -- My Rs1's replaced some es22's driven by a krell kav 500i amp. Why you might be thinking. Well the money I got for that equipment paid for music all around the house with sonos. Admittedly I didn;t try the RS1's before I bought them but on the limited budget I had there seemed like little competition.

I'm a new dad and have little time to sit in the listening chair and lose myself in music. It's kind dance around while doing house work and stuff!

Interesting about the face to face idea. Must admit the treble has really calmed down but it's the punchy midrange, powerful vocals I miss.

Joe - The Musical Fidelity unit I'm using is an output buffer; a thermonic valve unit that sits between the source and the amp.

The ZP90 is in variable but that's because I need to control the volume through the sonos as the monoblocs have no volume controls.

As for gain, I truly have no idea! How to I check that. I'm not really a tecnical man.

Stainless steel - I have no doubt what your saying about cables is true. Problem is I'm just not tecnical enough to calculate the optimal qualities of a cable in a system like mine. Also cable aren;t something you can try out first.

 

[claude]

One more thing! About speaker psoitioning.

I have them mounted on wall brackets and frankly there staying there, but out of interest would having a rear ported speaker to close to the wall afect anything other than the quality of the bass?

 

[stainless-steel]

Stainless steel - I have no doubt what your saying about cables is true. Problem is I'm just not tecnical enough to calculate the optimal qualities of a cable in a system like mine. Also cable aren;t something you can try out first.

No worries Claude, that's exactly the point I'm trying to make. I don't think anyone (esp. not the hi-fi rags) can seriously say they could. That's why in my opinion it's not possible to recommend a cable to someone else simply by looking at their kit list.
But like I said, they will have some influence on the performance of your system, happy shopping & I hope you find one you like.

 

[John7]

As stated earlier, you speakers probably need running in if new, to allow the acoustic suspension to loosen up. Also, make sure you have the wire phasing correct to each speaker.

There is nothing wrong with the QED cable - in fact I've just replaced the cheapo Gale cable on my rear surrounds with QED Silver Anniversary XT and the improvement in punch and detail is amazing.

What source files are you playing with your Sonos? If they are compressed/lossy such as MP3 this could be a source of your problems. You should try playing back a high quality uncompressed source component (CD) through your amps and see what that sounds like

 

[Joe Fernand]

Keep in mind the Sonos volume control drops bits at the lower end of the volume range - for a HiFi application you really want to set it to fixed Output or ensure your not having to keep in the low end of its output range.

I'd recommend you try a Pre amp in your system.

Have you tried removing the Tube buffer?

Have you tried adjusting the Sonos EQ settings?

And as others have said give the new speakers a bit of time to break in.

The only way to know if your current speaker positioning is a problem or not is to try them elsewhere in the room and find out how different they sound.

Joe