Tips on making Rock music Sound better?

[ClayTune]

Hi all,

First of all, this has nothing to do with my previous post, nor the turntable discussed on it.

I have been having a fairly consistent issue with Rock music sounding a bit harsher and more muddy than Jazz and Classical, heck even hip hop, on my OTHER turntable set up.

Everything is as follows.

Nagaoka cart mp110

Technics SL-Q2 Direct drive turntable. Acrylic mat instead of rubber one.

used protractor, balanced all fours using bubble level as well as on the platter, used test record and blank record to perfect anti-skate. Properly set up tone arm balance (not exactly in this order).

Other gear:

Receiver is Yamaha Natural sound RX-496 using "Pure direct".

And Finally, vintage KLH 7101 speaker set, which are supposed to be some of the better Made in the USA ones.

The cartridge is straight, I always brush it gentle with a needle brush prior to daily usage. I also use a spindle weight to make sure I keep records flat.

A thought I have had is that perhaps it is the OHM setting on my speakers? Difficult to tell, since my speakers do not have an OHM directive on them. Just frequency range and peak wattage listed.

Could I damage the speakers playing with the OHM settings?

Like I said Jazz and classical seem to sound great on this set up. But rock? Gah. I seem to be listening to that more on my computer, not sure what's going on with it.

Again, this has nothing to do with my other turntable or cart which is a linear tracking with P-mount, completely different set up.

Thanks

 

[Thunderbox]

Speakers would probably make the biggest difference to your set up. The other thing is the cartridge. Don't make more than one change at a time.

 

[Bander]

Look at different amount of eq and scoop on classical versus studio mixed and layered rock. If you are heavily scooped for classical, you may be creating some mud with rock and pop recordings already scooped in the studio. Also, impedance and capacitance matching can impact eq and commonly create a muddy signal in one direction, and a brittle squeekiness in the other direction. I can't tell, but is the variable isolated to the turntable and cartridge?

 

[MRL_Audio]

How many hours on that cartridge? Second would be to try an outbound phono pre. Not sure how strong it is on that Yamaha.

 

[YY1]

I find most rock to sound (subjectively) "better" with decreased midrange tone, or at least moderately boosted highs and lows.

On a graphic EQ, it's been called "the smile".

 

[Beobloke]

Try putting the rubber mat back onto the turntable. The acrylic one will open up the midrange which will emphasise any harshness. The rubber should smooth it out better.

 

[loudnoises]

Speakers would probably make the biggest difference to your set up. The other thing is the cartridge. Don't make more than one change at a time.

Gonna second this. You will very likely enjoy more speaker. They might sound excellent on lots of stuff. but bookshelfs rarely provide the rock experience. A sub would help, but may not fill it out as you wish. I find that for myself, anything under 8" won't cut the mustard. Engineering has improved the response from smaller drivers, but I'm still unconvinced that you can get adequate, room filing low end from 6.5" drivers. Ymmv.

Speaker positioning cannot be understated either. Even the best system will respond differently, be it moving it a across the room or just pulling them away from walls a few inches. If you cannot fit towers in your space, you can still very likely improve the experience by shuffling things around.

 

[Quadman2]

I'll go extraneous on this one in order to make the Rock tunes better.

Favourite beverages intake while enjoying "Rock Music" on a continual/sufficient basis!

Q

 

[Ilikevinyl]

Flip the Technics platter mat over, sounds better!

 

[ripblade]

You don't say what type of classical you listen to, but since rock typically has a higher RMS level than either classical or jazz, it's possible something in your system doesn't play well with the higher energy. Better TT isolation might help, as would speaker isolation through spikes, for example. Also room treatments to damp slap echoes as these often add harsh to the sound at loud volumes.

Edit: Might want to glue that mat down to the platter as well as this will improve energy transfer away from the vinyl and into the platter. Use Mono acoustic sealant. This stuff is non hardening and can be 100% reversed using varsol to remove the adhesive. Only a very thin layer should be applied evenly over the entire surface using a notched trowel of some kind.

 

[Redd House]

One word:

Subwoofer.

 

[Lavane]

I'm using a MP-110 cartridge and it does fine with the various music I listen to. But I will say I really liked how the M91ED sounded for Rock music on the Lab 400 I bought for my son. I almost didn't give it to him.

 

[twiiii]

People who record rock are looking for a particular style of sound to separate that album or group from other groups. So there is nothing natural about the sound captured on the disc. In addition they overly compress the sound to get the average levels as high as possible. So there fore you need a turn table tone arm and cartridge that can handle the compressed signal, with out miss tracking while being able to produce the spectrum of sound without being compromised. A tall order for sure. And what applies to the cartridge also applies to the speakers. A lot of general consumer electronics just cant handle the levels and the complexity of the signal either. Sounds like you will need a big thorough upgrade before you are happy. Start with the phono cartridge and then your speaker systems. And be sure not to forgrt the pre-amp- amp combo as either separates or as am integrated unit.

 

[eyewanders]

Speakers.
I never cared for KLH personally and what you're describing doesn't surprise me. Find a more modern budget set.
Many can recommend many different sets, but in keeping with price and accessibility I'll just make two suggestions which should be easy to find used...
Pioneer SP-BS22-LR for a more energetic and accurate lively sound.
Wharfedale Diamond 10.1 for a warmer and more laid back softly detailed sound.

Both are far more speaker than you've currently got there. My 2 cents.

 

[Nashou66]

Tips on Making Rock music sound better? Really? It F%$#ing rock and roll man!!! It always sounds good!!!



Nash

 

[Aerobat]

If digital sounds better it could be your LPs. Or, you've realized how well-recorded jazz&classical albums are compared to a lot of rock.

 

[eyewanders]

...Or, you've realized how well-recorded jazz&classical albums are compared to a lot of rock.

This really can't be understated.

I'd be interested if the OP has a copy of Dire Straights first ST album or Jeff Buckley's "Grace".... or the like, and how do those sound on the system.

 

[JoeESP9]

One word:

Subwoofer.

Although a subwoofer will definitely improve the sound of Jazz and classical. IME a great deal of classic rock doesn't have much "real" bass. And then you have to acknowledge that a lot of rock and pop was poorly recorded. There are some rock recordings that sound very good. Unfortunately they are far from being part of the majority

 

[BilboBaggins]

I second the Dire Straits test! Start with an album you know is well recorded with lots of dynamics.

For what it’s worth, it took me a while to find it, but big 4 Ohm speakers and big power amps seem to do most everything well for me. Especially the speakers! Once you get up there, you will hear subtle differences when using different speakers to play different genres.

 

[mkane]

IMO it only sounds good if your in your 20's.