The real "miracle" was the first time it happened, 30 years ago. I was just fooling around as everyone does, tweaking and trying various things to make it a little better, this way and that. No expectations, I was used to, completely comfortable with the normal standard of hifi - that was fine by me. Then ... Bloody Hell!! What's going on??! ... I was getting a major jump in quality, and there seemed no obvious reason for this happening, I was scratching my head in amazement, wondering what I had done ... to make this "miracle" happen ...
A lot of people have experienced various versions of this at times ... the difference, for me, was that I said, Right, this is what it's all about! All bets are off, I'm going to keep chasing this, until I've got it completely under control, and I understand it fully ... and that's been a loooong process ...
So, that's the "expectation bias" - the belief that I can extract that quality of sound if I put the effort in - if I don't put the effort in, then I just get normal hifi sound, just like everyone else.
All the things I talk about are just parts of my technique for making it happen - and it either gets the results, or it doesn't - there's no sorta hoping that maybe it's a bit better than before - there's a very clear division between conventional hifi sound ... and convincing reproduction ...
Dynamic range of various London Calling releases:
Album list - Dynamic Range Database
Not much in it when it comes to the 1st cd releases.
Getting rid of the acoustic sound of the cartridge means, that the cartdridge can transform the energy of movement into electric energie almost.
So there will be minimum loss of transmission.
It can be done mainly in cartridge with proper damping of the styluscarrier assembly, ( the rubber in the MC is dominating )also a little bit with decoupling cartridge /tonearm.
To much damping gives dull and lifeless sound, less damping is bright.
Some makers offer 2different type tonearms, new heavy damping type for modern ringing MCs with strong HF resonance or moderate damping one for old style MC/MM with proper internal damping.
SME 3009/II is moderate for example and has detachable headshell with damping rubber for decoupling, SME V is the other extreme with integrated headshell, extrem stiff and damping to deaden any thing.
If done well, the cartridge is acoustical almost deadquiet when playing.
Any plastic cover over the TT does just shield acoustic output of the system a little bit, but helps nothing for better sound. In fact, some plastic covers tend to pick up airborne vibrations from the loudspeakers and produce some rumble and feedback due shaking of the TT Basement.
So my EMT 930 is not audiophile, since there is no cover. 
But my MC is really quiet, i can hear nothing therefrom when the amp volume is zero.😀
But my MC is really quiet, i can hear nothing therefrom when the amp volume is zero.😀
Glad to know i am immortal, like the 930. 🙂
But this toy can do LF feedback at very high SPL with tones below 35z, altough it is apx. 100kg witout any cover. Problem is placement direct next the corner subs, but no other choice.
My other TT with Spring Suspension (also 100kG) was immune there.
But this toy can do LF feedback at very high SPL with tones below 35z, altough it is apx. 100kg witout any cover. Problem is placement direct next the corner subs, but no other choice.
My other TT with Spring Suspension (also 100kG) was immune there.
That defines it exactly -- effort demands results, so you hear them. Afterall, if you did NOT hear them you'd be wasting you time.
Just how do you verify that you are not hallucinating? Do you do any controlled and blind testing at all? What's your protocol for determining if a change worked?
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I use inner tube plus sandbox under my wimpy audiophile TT and it works well, although I have little bass until my sub controller is finished. I cannot afford a minus-k or proper optical bench with air bladders, but would love something easier to level and tune that doesn't cost arm and leg. any sources for $50 air units?
Because I'm not listening for something being "better", I'm listening for the absence of a fault, or flaw. A car analogy would be, most people are looking for the acceleration to be more "exciting"; I'm looking for the car momentarily hesitating, and a cylinder not firing cleanly when I put my foot down. IOW, I'm pinpointing precisely where the sound is incorrect, and only worrying whether that symptom improves or not - I have zero interest in whether it sounds 'better', because that comes automatically when the defects are eliminated.
Does a mechanic swap a good part with a bad, back and forth, to make sure he's fixed the car? No, he knows how the car should work, and that is his sole criterion - to make it work more "correctly".
One needs to build up a test box of recordings, that highlight system weaknesses - a car manufacturer creates a test track, of nasty variations of flawed road surfaces; that's how he knows that his designer's suspension is working as well as it is able to.
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If the supposed 'hallucination' brings listening satisfaction - which after all is the title of the thread - then why would it matter if its a hallucination? All we hear from a stereo system is an auditory illusion after all.
Are you kidding? 😀
More listening satisfaction, more enjoyment, more excitement.
It is known. I am sure most with a car less than 10 years old have had the case of a fault that the dealers cannot fix and they randomly change things to try and fix the problem. If you are lucky you can persuade them to put your old bits back on once they have found the fault. But a modern car is way more complex than a stereo.
Also of course with the labour charges these days making a car work more correctly is secondary to getting chargable hours, esp as you have to charge by the book.
Also, a key side effect of "correct" sound is that the speakers disappear - it becomes impossible to locate them, acoustically - you can't hear the driver "working", no matter how close you are to the boxes ...
Yes, complexity can be a killer! Fair enough to use swapping to locate the problem, but once that's done no-one will dispute that there is a problem there - the swapping is a diagnostic method.
fas42
I can locate my speakers, when I stick my ear close to them. What should I do to fix the problem, do you think ?
I can locate my speakers, when I stick my ear close to them. What should I do to fix the problem, do you think ?
I prefer to say 'you can't hear the electronics adding non-spatial elements'. I speculate that our brain can't decode (meaning place into recorded space) the noise contributions of the upstream electronics and its these noise contributions which give rise to listening fatigue. Rather like eating food that can't be digested, cognitive indigestion means turning the damn thing off before too long.
@snup - do you mean you can hear sound coming from the surface of the drivers?
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