Playground for practical listening exercises

[Eli7]

I clearly prefer the "Before" clip.
Is also much more moving for me emotionally.

[beck]

I clearly prefer the "Before" clip.
Is also much more moving for me emotionally.

Hi Eli7. Thank you for listening!

I agree with you and ThomasOK and Charlie1. Back to the drawing board. :-)

[markiteight]

Ha, to begin with I just thought that you had been playing around with the colours! :-)

Hah! If it were less of a pfaff to change the color of a member's username I could have some fuuuuun with that!

[markiteight]

I bought an unserviced 32.5 to try and decide once and for all if I prefer serviced or unserviced preamps.

I've had no choice but to service power amps cos they've not sounded quite right or had already been serviced but there are definitely things I like about unserviced equipment.

1.) Serviced 32.5 with serviced phono cards: https://www.dropbox.com/s/2mn1ir69ww1ut ... 3.MOV?dl=0
2.) Serviced 32.5 with unserviced phono cards: https://www.dropbox.com/s/589xna3nbqv78 ... 4.MOV?dl=0
3.) Unserviced 32.5 with unserviced phono cards: https://www.dropbox.com/s/2v5thurbx45cm ... 5.MOV?dl=0
4.) Unserviced 32.5 with serviced phono boards: https://www.dropbox.com/s/t0n6rf57iklm9 ... 6.MOV?dl=0

Totally understand if folks have better things to do as I know 4 clips is a right pain. Comparing just 1 and 3 would still be useful though.

EDIT: All units/cards were cold. Sorry, just realised the volumes are different between the first and second pair of clips. Maybe just balance out using dropbox volume. I set them the same on the dial and didn't notice a difference in the room :(

Just took a quick listen through one time and I preferred unserviced/unserviced the most and serviced/serviced the least.

[beck]

Ha, for the first time (I think) I prefer the serviced/serviced the best! This is not an easy one Charlie1!

[Spannko]

I think I prefer serviced/serviced too.

[Charlie1]

Thanks folks.

The unserviced has a slight disadvantage in that I have to use a BNC-to-RCA adaptor on the phono input so I guess it's seeing a fractionally poorer source signal.

I think I need to listen to 3 for a few days and then switch back before I can be sure.

[V.A.MKD]

Before: https://www.dropbox.com/s/6nn8xprdpp6qi ... 2.mov?dl=0

Now: https://www.dropbox.com/s/n0fzzn3pfv2jo ... 9.mov?dl=0

I'm for before.

[V.A.MKD]

Ha, for the first time (I think) I prefer the serviced/serviced the best! This is not an easy one Charlie1!

I share beck opinion here ... serviced / serviced ...

[Charlie1]

Thanks Vlado. I think my test was flawed.

I'm gonna just use the serviced 32.5 with serviced and unserviced cards to avoid the issue with the phono inputs. Gonna get them both warmed up too. That should be a fairer test.

[tokenbrit]

Thanks Vlado. I think my test was flawed.

I'm gonna just use the serviced 32.5 with serviced and unserviced cards to avoid the issue with the phono inputs. Gonna get them both warmed up too. That should be a fairer test.

Should make it easier to volume-match too: the unserviced sounded a little louder, which, seemed better initially but, ultimately, I felt like I got more out of the serviced... Will be interested to listen to round 2(032.5 ;)

[Charlie1]

Round 2 - both sets of cards powered on overnight. Same 32.5 unit.

Unserviced 1: https://www.dropbox.com/s/8gikpc0r6j8zd ... 4.MOV?dl=0
Serviced 1: https://www.dropbox.com/s/1syxug8paeuxr ... 8.MOV?dl=0

Unserviced 2: https://www.dropbox.com/s/2r6noyvy8mqrq ... 5.MOV?dl=0
Serviced 2: https://www.dropbox.com/s/j707d10zodhmc ... 9.MOV?dl=0

[beck]

I choose serviced.

I hear unserviced as the natural decay over years of play of the serviced sound. I hear them as the same just years apart! I can easily be wrong.

Question: Does the physical impact on your body feel somewhat the same when listening to serviced/unserviced charlie1?

If no, then I might go with unserviced.

[Charlie1]

Unserviced have a bit more punch - is that what you mean?

I've been listening to the clips as well cos I can't make up my mind in the room. I think you're probably right., although there is some 'quality' in unserviced that I still like but I doubt it's helping make more sense of the music. It's probably just a sound thing. Tricky though.

[beck]

To me listening to music I like getting a hug! So needed these days. I feel as much as I hear music. I get restless if the music cannot give me that feel. Like a brain without a body!

The musical “body” has a calming effect like crawling under a duvet........ :-)

If serviced feels too lightweight I would go with unserviced. I cannot do without a kind of dense quality to the music.


All this only because I am having a hard time hearing any meaningful difference in the way the tune is played from either.

[tokenbrit]

If serviced feels too lightweight I would go with unserviced. I cannot do without a kind of dense quality to the music.


All this only because I am having a hard time hearing any meaningful difference in the way the tune is played from either.

I hear unserviced as a little thinner, maybe more edgy as a result, in a way that may make individual elements easier to hear, but not the tune... serviced for me please

[Charlie1]

Thanks gents! Great to get feedback on this forum!

[Spannko]

Charlie1,

I’m struggling to make a confident decision! I don’t know if the difference I think I hear is the difference which actually exists. It feels like the sound differences are greater than the musical differences, making them harder to hear. The problem for me is that I can’t hear a sufficient musical difference which will push my biases to one side. When this happens at home, I play lots of different types of music until the cream rises to the top 😁

[El Mero Mero]

Round 2 - both sets of cards powered on overnight. Same 32.5 unit.

Unserviced 1: https://www.dropbox.com/s/8gikpc0r6j8zd ... 4.MOV?dl=0
Serviced 1: https://www.dropbox.com/s/1syxug8paeuxr ... 8.MOV?dl=0

Unserviced 2: https://www.dropbox.com/s/2r6noyvy8mqrq ... 5.MOV?dl=0
Serviced 2: https://www.dropbox.com/s/j707d10zodhmc ... 9.MOV?dl=0

I prefer the serviced units. Those lovely chrome bumpers..

Now we want to hear a comparison between serviced Naim and Linn.

[Charlie1]

Thanks Spannko and El Mero Mero.

Spannko, I can never hear much of the sound difference when listening to my own clips. However, it's very obvious when I listen to other peoples. Maybe it's cos I know how it really sounds in the room.

EMM, There might be an opportunity to compare Linn to Naim amps again in a couple of weeks - I did do that a few days ago but the clips might have gone now - I can only store a dozen or so on dropbox without paying for a subscription.

[beck]

Trying different headphones and listening some more I now change horse and choose unserviced. I think musically it tops the serviced by making it all come together more naturally. It is very close but now I hear a meaningful difference.

[Charlie1]

Thanks beck. That makes sense now you mention it and is probably what I'm picking up on in the room. To my mind. this doesn't take away the benefits of serviced that everyone is also picking up on.

[OscarH]

Charlie1,

I am fully onboard with the indecision consensus here ;)

Unserviced does seem to have a thinner presentation in the clips, but I'm not convinced that is better.

Wonder how their relative performance will hold up over time?

[Spannko]

Just this week, I’ve had a bit of an itch that needed a good scratch. About 12 months ago I had a single 6mm radial installed for the HiFi, but I can’t help but wondering if I did the right thing. In my old house I got great results from a 4mm cable and a friend’s system also sounded very good with a 4mm feed. So, just to make sure, I’ve redone the 4mm V 6mm comparison.

Here’s two vids using both cables, marked A & B.

Enjoy 😊

https://www.icloud.com/sharedalbum/#B125qXGF1HNqUx6

[tokenbrit]

,. I’ve redone the 4mm V 6mm comparison.

Here’s two vids using both cables, marked A & B.

Enjoy 😊

A comes across as having more swing; B as having a bit more authority but a bit ponderous. Overall I'd say A is more musical, but there's not quite enough weight to the clip to make it a knockout.