fasted2015
New Member
I've had "decent" stereos all my life but finally took the plunge a month ago and bought a full Mac system and some B&W speakers. What a difference The only downside is that money is going to be short for at least another year!
The components are C45 preamp, MC252 amp, and MCD301 CD player, driving a pair of B&W 803D speakers.
The sound is outstanding except for a little brightness on most CDs. I don't know if the brightness is on the CDs or from my system or setup, but it does keep the sound from being "sweet."
Here's what I've tried so far:
Speaker positioning -- Speakers started out with the speakers about 5-1/2 feet apart, 6" from the wall, with a slight toe-in. I tried positioning them straight ahead (no toe-in), 12" from the wall, and as far apart as the room allowed (7 feet). Much improved -- the sound was less "hot" and the boomy bass totally went away.
Speaker wire -- The system started out with an inexpensive 2-conductor cable with #12 oxygen-free copper and polypropylene insulation, one cable to each speaker. I then tried biwiring with IXOS XHS253-W (2-conductor #13 flat line) --- WOW. Immediately the bass got rock solid and the detail sharpened considerably throughout the spectrum. But the sound was still hot.
Interconnects -- Many forum posters on Audiokarma and other sites say that copper is copper and that the cheapest generic interconnect will equal the performance of the most expensive specialty product. Intuitively that makes perfect sense... after all, what more can a wire do except to provide a conductive path for electrons to go from one place to another? Despite my skepticism I decided to see for myself.
Two different high-end dealers loaned me some interconnects to try... MIT AVT1 (RCA type), MIT AVT Pro (balanced), and Wireworld Equinox 5 (balanced). These were put between the CD player and the preamp. By programming the preamp inputs, one cable could be assigned to input CD1 and another could be assigned to CD2 so that a direct A/B comparison could be made between two cables while the CD was playing by switching the preamp inputs with the remote control.
There was a pronounced difference between all of these cables. The AVT1 had great detail and smoothness but the soundstage was a little compressed. The AVT Pro had great detail and smoothness and a very open soundstage. The Equinox 5 had OK detail but was a little rough with a compressed soundstage.
I was prepared to spend ~$600 to buy the AVT Pro when by chance I found another dealer, a Mac dealer, while visiting friends in another city. This dealer suggested I try what they used to wire up their own in-store system, XLO/Pro 125 interconnects. The price was right -- $50 for a pair. To my surprise, this wire equalled the MIT AVT Pro in every respect on my system, and cost 1/10 as much.
So that's where I am now -- the system has great detail, great transient response, killer tight, extended bass, awesome soundstage, but is a little hot.
Anyone have a suggestion of what else I can do to sweeten up the system? I'm out of ideas.
The components are C45 preamp, MC252 amp, and MCD301 CD player, driving a pair of B&W 803D speakers.
The sound is outstanding except for a little brightness on most CDs. I don't know if the brightness is on the CDs or from my system or setup, but it does keep the sound from being "sweet."
Here's what I've tried so far:
Speaker positioning -- Speakers started out with the speakers about 5-1/2 feet apart, 6" from the wall, with a slight toe-in. I tried positioning them straight ahead (no toe-in), 12" from the wall, and as far apart as the room allowed (7 feet). Much improved -- the sound was less "hot" and the boomy bass totally went away.
Speaker wire -- The system started out with an inexpensive 2-conductor cable with #12 oxygen-free copper and polypropylene insulation, one cable to each speaker. I then tried biwiring with IXOS XHS253-W (2-conductor #13 flat line) --- WOW. Immediately the bass got rock solid and the detail sharpened considerably throughout the spectrum. But the sound was still hot.
Interconnects -- Many forum posters on Audiokarma and other sites say that copper is copper and that the cheapest generic interconnect will equal the performance of the most expensive specialty product. Intuitively that makes perfect sense... after all, what more can a wire do except to provide a conductive path for electrons to go from one place to another? Despite my skepticism I decided to see for myself.
Two different high-end dealers loaned me some interconnects to try... MIT AVT1 (RCA type), MIT AVT Pro (balanced), and Wireworld Equinox 5 (balanced). These were put between the CD player and the preamp. By programming the preamp inputs, one cable could be assigned to input CD1 and another could be assigned to CD2 so that a direct A/B comparison could be made between two cables while the CD was playing by switching the preamp inputs with the remote control.
There was a pronounced difference between all of these cables. The AVT1 had great detail and smoothness but the soundstage was a little compressed. The AVT Pro had great detail and smoothness and a very open soundstage. The Equinox 5 had OK detail but was a little rough with a compressed soundstage.
I was prepared to spend ~$600 to buy the AVT Pro when by chance I found another dealer, a Mac dealer, while visiting friends in another city. This dealer suggested I try what they used to wire up their own in-store system, XLO/Pro 125 interconnects. The price was right -- $50 for a pair. To my surprise, this wire equalled the MIT AVT Pro in every respect on my system, and cost 1/10 as much.
So that's where I am now -- the system has great detail, great transient response, killer tight, extended bass, awesome soundstage, but is a little hot.
Anyone have a suggestion of what else I can do to sweeten up the system? I'm out of ideas.
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