OscarH wrote: ↑2020-02-23 08:59
markiteight wrote: ↑2020-02-22 05:10
This is a phenomenon I've encountered more and more as I dial in my own system. I find myself enjoying music I would have otherwise rejected because apparently it didn't make sense to me. This is
precisely what I was missing, and seeking, when I discovered and adopted the Tune Method.
This is spot on! I find exactly the same thing - I simply appreciate more music the more musical the Hi-Fi system becomes. (As opposed to the conventional audiophile cop out that ‘this system really shows the flaws in bad recordings’)
No clue what ThomasOK has changed between the first two clips (Vlado may well be onto something with the plant haha) - suspect you’re just showing off. That’s one magnificent sounding system!
Like others, I also found myself listening to the entire Pat Benatar clip...
OK, time to spill the beans as nobody guessed right (so no free record), though it certainly has split opinions. First off, thanks for all the positive comments, and I suppose I was showing off a bit with the Pat Benatar clip. The reason for this is that I pulled it out a couple of months ago and couldn't get involved in it, which surprised me as I had liked it a lot quite a few years ago on my Isobariks. I tried it again and some improvements to the system, likely removal of the subwoofer being the biggest one, brought it back to life as a few have noticed. It gives me a new direction: maybe I should pull out every old, overplayed piece of music I can find to see if any can defeat my system's ability to bring music to life? Hotel California, anybody?
Vlado's guess was the most amusing but I'm glad he's not right. That plant does best when watered once every two weeks. If it sounded better when freshly watered I'd end up killing it in no time watering it before every play! ;-)
I like markiteight's guess too but that would be too simple.
There is a third Harmoni rack that is behind the left Quad with all Tor shelves. It currently houses a CD12 on top, HAKAI and DAC in the middle and Kremlin on the bottom. The CD12 was plugged into the same outlet strip as the rest of the system (two Singularity, two SM, two TM and the KRadikal plus the CD12 into the 8 outlets). The HAKAI was plugged directly into the second outlet in the wall that is wired for 230 Volts and the Kremlin was not plugged in. The CD12 and HAKAI were powered on but not connected to the system as that would bridge the L and R grounds and hurt the musicality.
Clip 1 was the system as just described, Clip 2 was the same exact active part of the system but with the power cable removed from the CD12! Yes, it does make that much difference. No, I didn't expect it (it was Simon's idea) nor can I really explain it.
In room there is no question that unplugging the CD12 improves things with more impact to the drums and bass, more tonality to the bess and more natural blend of the two voices when Eric joins in. I think this may be a trap but only in the sense that the increased clarity makes you think it is more Hi-Fi and less music. In room there is no question that this is not true.
I also tried unplugging the HAKAI and noticed an improvement of similar quality but much less pronounced than unplugging the CD12. I will have to experiment with plugging those units into a 120 Volt outlet to see whether I can keep them warmed up or not.