A bliss

Where is this audio passion taking me? As far as I can tell, the road ahead is very unlikely predestined. Going with the flow, I never find myself on the driver seat. The external influences largely dictate my undertakings. A flaw my CD playback, a perceived dynamic compression, the slightest inarticulation could spur a dire correction or an idea that lightens my bulb that maybe I could further improve my room acoustics, we all inspired by things around us, don't we? I hate these happen on a weekend or public holidays. Material, material, material, I need material for experimentation. I'm not the most patient person. I'm a go-getter, I hate waiting, I like to get things done and move forward. My sonic bar has risen considerably for every quarter though this may sound like blowing my own trumpet.

Anyway, nothing standstill, one thing leads to another, you know the story goes. 

In my opinion, all hardware except few are well designed, some are better designed and executed than the others, some strike better synergy with some. When a concern audiophile mix-matched his system, he should get the blame. Match it right, he gets the credit even if it's a one-track wonder. As diverse as our taste are, we somehow reach a unanimous consensus on sound. That's why judgement on tonal quality makes perfect sense, not tonal colour. Come on, the man likes a specific colour of sound, why not? You got to allow individual's tonal colour preference because he lives with his system, either pastel watercolour or thick oil paint, soft or bold line edge delineation, you get what I mean. In short, your preference has little weight, you are invited to listen but he's living with the system, that's all. End of the day, what have you taken out (knowledge) walking out from the room? Or you still entangled in tonal colour issue? Drop it. 

Audio hypotheses, there are plenty on the net I don't usually bother about them. In my view, the field result is all that matters, I'm not taking the easiest way out. As much as I can, I refused to soak in common beliefs but rely on my listening impression. If the sound isn't moving my emotion, that's too bad.

For many of us who don't have a shoebox room or even symmetrical walls to start with, you got to find ways to make the sound good. There are many audiophiles think that equipment alone can weather the storm, they're so wrong and some even naive, they get a funny idea that high-end equipment can reign over bad acoustics. How on earth they undermine the influence of room acoustics?

Six walls introduce so much problem. It's in your room that you place your system, not the measurement from an anechoic chamber that make-belief good sound. To be precise, it's how you deal with the reflected sound to get the most out of your system, the rest is secondary. Perhaps the below image can offer food for thought. 

Predict what will happen to the direct and reflected sound if you move the speakers around. See the changes of the spot the reflected sound bounces off the wall. If that isn't enough, move the seating toward or further away from the system. This image worths a million dollar if you could make use of it. And certainly, audiophiles who place the speakers where they fit visually, hmmm..., you know they are many of them, don't bother to ask me how's the sound. You know that they've compromised the sound quality.

 

I don't imagine things. Every tweak I do complies with the laws of physics, my result is very much predictable and repeatable. In the engineering term, predictable and repeatable are two elements of formidable consequences, some principles are at work, not snake oil. These tweaks are rigorously tested. You see, none of my tweaks stamps audiophile approved and commercially available. Some even bizarre, I don't quite grasp the working principle. But it works admirably. 

Even though Belles are single driver speaker, bass is never her strength. This applies unanimously to all single driver speakers. I'm proud of my bass quality especially the spreading and layering. Now, there's a thing, I've adapted to the perfect coherency of single driver speakers, any 3-way multiple driver speakers sound incoherence to me. I didn't get there by chance. The last piece of the puzzle is upgrading to a new carpet from a cheap Ikea's, not over the top to say it's a shift in paradigm. I've risen my sonic bar year to date, to be continued...