Main System 03 – January 2022

14 Comments

1. Could you please explain, why a listening room shouldn’t have an “overly damped sound”? Shouldn’t the listening room add no (!) additional room acoustic effects to the room acoustics of the concert hall captured by a professional recording without any artificial reverb or other sound effects from the mixing console?

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   1. This is a much bigger can of worms than I can fully address in this comment section but in short, there is a delicate balance between damping and liveliness. It’s not only about reducing or removing reverb, which isn’t the culprit in my system. What you can’t see in my photos is the other end of the room that is quite heavily treated, especially the right corner, which has 8 bass traps. The other end of the room is open-ended, and as a result, there are no left and right reflection issues whatsoever.

      My issues are only in the bass range up to about 200hz where my room has multiple modes that create peaks and nulls and so far, all efforts at taming the modes come with some unwanted side effects. The CD racks on the left wall had an enormously good effect at reducing the wall resonance and the vertical stacks in the left and right corners were also hugely beneficial in taming some of my room’s worst modes, but the extra layer of CD racks up to the ceiling actually did no good whatsoever.

      It’s not without reason that we have both damping and diffusion product categories. You can actually over dampen a room just like a room can be too lively. It’s a mistake to think that a room needs to be entirely dead and experts actually also don’t recommend this for music listening. (music recording is another matter) Please look up RT60 for facts and figures. What you want is a certain ideal amount of decay, so not too much but also not too little. Ideally, the room’s influence is spread very evenly over the frequency range as well as in the time domain. Also, there is not a 100% linear or neutral manner of treating a room, too much of one kind is often too much. You will start to hear an excess of the material’s properties, such as a pillowy/plush bass, dark treble, or overly warm midrange. This goes for bass traps and most other acoustic panels, but as I found, also for Ikea CD racks:-). Finally, speakers are actually designed with an average room response in mind. Taka away the walls (or place the speakers in the garden and they won’t sound very good. You really do need some influence of the room, just not too much of it, which is often the case and is considered much worse than too little.

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2. Many thanks, Christiaan, for these detailed and helpful explanations. But how does the manufacturer of loudspeakers know the characteristics of my listening room? Thus I prefer nearfield listening (as often found in mixing studios) and honest straightforward neutral loudspeaker designs. And wouldn’t active loudspeakers with internal DSP avoiding the huge losses of highly complex passive crossovers be a better concept?

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   1. Hi Michael, manufacturers usually use an average model. Nearfield listening is one way to tackle the problem (I did with my old media room and the Genelec 8050’s) and that can work really well indeed. Like you, I want speakers to be as linear and neutral as possible, and while the Genelecs were amazing, certainly at the cost, the Magicos absolutely outperform them, but only if the room is done right. Yes, there are definite advantages to an active crossover, but like all matters audio, it’s a relative matter, for instance, because having your electronics inside a speaker cabinet is not ideal from a microphonics point of view. Same for DSP, it’s a blessing in a bad room but it can do more harm than good if not used correctly. Then there are studies that show that DSP adds delays which can also be unwanted. In the end, it’s a matter of weighing pros and cons. If I have learned one thing, it’s that there is no single way to Rome when it concerns audio. No one solution is ever truly ideal for everyone and all situations, it’s about finding the right balance in a given set of circumstances.

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3. So true, indeed, Christiaan. And to make things even more complex there are no minimum quality standards for recording techniques as there are standards for studio room acoustics. Thus all kind of artificial effects activated by plug-ins build into the mixing console get us even farther from the goal of high-fidelity.

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4. Hi Christiaan,
   As per your latest update you supposedly changed your Gigawatt G-16A MCB to a Siemens Sitor fuse cartridge. Would you mind sharing your thoughts behind this change as well as the sonic impacts? Would you mind sharing which Sistor model you are using?
   Best wishes,
   Markus

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   1. Hi Markus, I suspect you’ve already read it but if not, do read my Gigawatt review. It explains how I arrived at my current power installation.

      Meanwhile, I have indeed changed the Gigawatt switch for the Siemens Sitor with standard fuse. (Link to article in the Kemp Elektroniks webshop). This change followed a series of subtle and less subtle changes to my room and system in order to further enhance the system’s neutrality, linearity, transient behavior, dynamics, and expression.

      In short, when I first added the Gigawatt, I needed and wanted the warmth and fullness that it provided, especially its fuller bass, as my room was eating a lot of the bass due to cancellations. See also the Latest installment of the HFA history where this is further explained).

      When those issues were addressed acoustically and the bass had become much fuller, I found myself wanting a leaner, tighter, and faster sound. When a good friend and colleague reviewer mentioned that he used Siemens Sitor which he felt was the most neutral switch he had used, I followed up and got myself one which I had installed in parallel to the Gigawatt. Over a couple of months, I switched back and forth and decided that the Siemens was the better one for my new situation. BTW, I use the standard fuse as the friend indicated that the more upscale models add warmth which I do not need.

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5. Thanks a lot for the comprehensive answer, Christiaan!

   So this cartridge configuration seems to be a perfect starting point and if some more warmth is desired one could start experimenting with different fuses.

   Do you need to clean the silver plated fuse sockets and if so in which cycles?

   I have indeed read your review on the Gigawatt products. In fact the Evo 3×4 in wall cable is still on my short list, as well as the Hifi Tuning Ultimate 3 solid core which is 3×2.5mm2 cryo treated and phase and neutral are shielded singularly. I have gotten some really good feedback on them. Any chance you know them? Of course there is the option of going with a standard unshielded 3×2.5mm2 as you did.

   Best wishes,
   Markus

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   1. The Siemens cartridge’s utter neutrality does Indeed provide lots of room for tweaking. Yes, you need to clean the silver contacts but I’m told it’s only once or twice a year. I have heard so many overly polished, warm, ultra-refined, too rich, or even thick-sounding power cables, connectors, and accessories that I have become a little allergic to anything that deviates from neutrality. I know there’s a big market for them and overly clean-sounding systems can certainly benefit from them, but they are just no longer for me. Gigawatt in general is very neutral but their in-wall power cable does verge to the full and smooth side. Based on what I have tested so far, I also position Synergistic Research (fuses, see the Aries Cerat review) and HiFi-Tuning (everything that I have heard from the brand) on the smooth-sounding side. However, I have not heard the HT solid core wire and it could indeed deviate from the usual smooth and relaxed HT sound.

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6. Thanks again Christiaan!
   Very detailed and insightful answer. Please keep up the good work!

   Best wishes,
   Markus

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7. Just one more question. Are you still using the Doepke Audio RCCB? How does this fit the bill?

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   1. Hi Markus, Great follow-up question! Well, I also removed the Doepke unit as I felt it made the sound too warm. I am now using the apartment’s stock Hager SB240 which might not be “audiophile” but it is very neutral and it gives me the kind of immediate transient behavior that I like.

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8. Hello Christiaan, I have a question regarding the Magico S1 Mk2’s: I am considering upgrading from my A1 monitors to the S1 Mk2 floorstanders but I doubt whether the bass isn’t too lean for my taste – I have a preference for low level detail information. I am using two Kef KC62 subs at the moment but I have some integration challenges. I am not sure the S1’s provide sufficient bass for getting rid of the subs. Do the S1s provide a so called ‘full range’ experience (I know it a two way speaker) or can it be considered as a more mature A1 version with more or less the same characteristics? Thanks for your answer

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   1. Hi Vincent, I’ve not heard the A1’s. That said, S1 Mk2’s have stronger bass than one might assume based on their slim profiles. Of course, they do not have subwoofer-like bass but they are considerably fuller and more solid than typical monitor speakers. With the exception of the odd extremely deep synth note or R&B drum that can lack weight below 40Hz, I do feel that I am getting a full-range experience. Anything down to 40Hz is full-fledged solid.

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