Have your say & ask the experts

[quote user="bloney"]

Thats good to know Damien,  I'm having a similar trauma at the  moment (I have another '740A Satisfaction' post out there).  Some CD's just don't sound right and enjoyable.

I have MA RS6 speakers with a CA 740A amp CA 640C cd player - I seem to remember you have RS6's too?

Can I ask what interconnects and speaker cable you have changed too?  I have budget cables at the moment (Richer sounds is just too convenient!).  Was the difference very noticable and does it let you enjoy the music once again?

Cheers

bloney

[/quote]

Hi bloney, you can check out my full system here. To answer your questions though, I do indeed have RS6's and switching to decent speaker cable made a mammoth difference although I would point out it was quite a jump and I would have been seriously dischuffed if it hadn't.

I went from a single run of no-brand stranded cable to bi-amped Van Den Hul Tea Track. It was absolutely worth it and I'm glad I paid the extra for 'The Thunderline' interconnect too - the bass is sublime. I'm certain you'll see an improvement from upgrading your cables.

Prior to upgrading CD player and cables I was really starting to worry that I'd made the wrong choice with either my amp or speakers. The mid range was very poor and some CD's just sounded tosh but now it sounds outstanding so stick with it for now and certainly dont do anything rash until you've given the system a chance with decent cables.

Some will argue endlessly about whether cables make any difference but heres a simple analogy - you wouldnt expect to get a raging torrent of water through a 6mm pipe - why do people think cable is any different? At the end of the day, cables carry electrons and the better their ability to transmit the better sound you're going to get.

Sorry to hear you're having a few issues - I have to say I'm really impressed with both the RS6's and the 740C.

I would start with a cable upgrade and if you're still not happy perhaps audition and try to wangle an upgrade to the 740C.

Anton's spot on here though there are plenty of good recordings out there. I think we've perhaps just got to be a touch more fussy what we buy -maybe we should have a forum where we can rate CD's for quality? or maybe just report back in the 'What we've been listening to forum'.

Personally I'm yet to be convinced that digital has got us far forward at all, particularly with tv/video. I'm no fan at all of flat screen tv's and although the newer HD formats do offer some stunning images, once they start moving, it all seems to go a bit pete tong.

I digress but IMO the technology has a long way to go and people need to remember that Plasma was never intended for tv in the first place - rather they were designed as multimedia monitors, hence the technology was fundamentally flawed in the first place. If you disagree, ask yourself what your reaction would have been to wandering into Curry's in the 80's and being told that you needed a separate tuner for the tv you just bought?

I know they're integrated now but how long has it taken?

I think the fad for hang on the wall tv exceeded everyone's requirement for a decent picture, built in tuner etc etc - much as Anton discusses in regards to MP3 etc.

Thats why the dedicated must keep the industry alive and on track for quality - if we dont, we'll all be stuck with substandard music and players - it was only yesterday I heard that apparently over 30% of all music sold in the US is available for download ONLY - nightmare. Much as I like my iPod, I only use it for when I have people over and dont want to have to change discs or when I'm out and about. It couldnt possibly replace a decent CD player.

Perhaps its a sign of this realisation that so many are flocking back to vinyl - who'd have thought it?

[quote user="the_record_spot"]Also check out any discs you have which are mastered by Nimbus. You can see this by checking the very innermost ring of a CD closest to the centre hole. They've a long and well respected pedigree in disc mastering and you probably already own some. Seriously worth a listen. They even make Oasis sound good![/quote] Im sorry, but Oasis always sound good... They are legends, and you can't deny it

[quote user="Loczki"][quote user="the_record_spot"]Also check out any discs you have which are mastered by Nimbus. You can see this by checking the very innermost ring of a CD closest to the centre hole. They've a long and well respected pedigree in disc mastering and you probably already own some. Seriously worth a listen. They even make Oasis sound good![/quote] Im sorry, but Oasis always sound good... They are legends, and you can't deny it[/quote] I think he meant the cd production quality, not Oasis' songs.Their cd's sound tinny and compressed and are borderline unlistenable on my hi fi. As for legends, oh yes i can deny it. 2 good albums in 14 years is not the stuff legends are made of.

Lets not forget that live sound at rock gigs isn't always that great these days either. I saw Bob Dylan last year in Sheffield and the sound was appalling (as was Dylan actually but thats another story). Time and time again I go to gigs where the sound engineer just doesn't seem to have a clue. The only gigs I've been to in recent times where the sound was spot on was Jethro Tull at the Blackpool Winter Gardens and Richard Thompson at the Bridgewater Hall.

Classical concerts are another story. My local venue is the Bridgewater Hall and everything sounds wonderful in there. I saw Brendel play there a few years ago and it was amazing how intimate the sound was for such a large hall. At the same time, the Halle sounds incredible there in full flight. Seeing and hearing Skrowacewski conducting Shostakovich with that orchestra in that acoustic was an absolute privilege.

I completely agree with the live gigs sometimes being terrible...Kings of Leon gig a couple of months ago was the only gig I've been to where the sound quality was any good at all. Manic Street Preachers a few years back at Wembley Arena was absolutely dire!

 CD-wise The Klaxons - Myths of the Near Future is so bad I simply cannot listen to it through the hifi

I actually think GOOD hi-fi should make the majority of discs sound at least listenable. There are always going to be some discs that don't sound as good as others, but what is the point in an expensive hi-fi system that only sounds decent when you feed it with hyper-engineered audiophile quality discs? I'm making the most of having some time off work and listening to my music. At the present moment I'm listening to 'AQualung' (Jethro Tull) which has always sounded awful in the past. With the NAD and Wharfedales it is thoroughly enjoyable - still by no means 'perfect' but it makes you forget the problems with the recording and just enjoy the brilliant music. Isn't that what hi-fi is all about?

[quote user="matthewpiano"]still by no means 'perfect' but it makes you forget the problems with the recording and just enjoy the brilliant music. Isn't that what hi-fi is all about?[/quote] Yes it's got to be. As you say, one would hope a "good" hi-fi would render most recordings listenable but as we know that just isn't the case. Recording, engineering, mastering, and all the other bits before, after and inbetween play such a significant part in the sounds we hear at home. Only last night I was enjoying tracks from Neil Young's Chrome Dreams and marvelling at how good it all sounded. Then I put on the latest album by The Magnetic Fields and was underwhelmed by the poor, flattened sound quality. It got in the way of the music.

At the SECC in glasgow the sound is always awful as its basically like a scaled down metal aircraft hangar.They even hang curtains to try and stop the reflections off the metal. It doesnt work and the sound is usually dire. The barrowland in glasgow is a complete contrast and the sound is usually very good. Its a normal plaster and wood building which helps. I would say that about half of my cd collection sounds ropey.I dont think you need a cd to be a super audiophile production to sound good either. i think some producers go out of their way make them sound tinny and bright as thats what people often hear on the radio. I read an article once , cant remeber where, and some bloke said that people dont like it when they play a cd and it does not sound like it did on the radio.Probably a record executive to come out with that bull.Ridiculous or what? Another problem is that loads of cd's prior to about 1995 were not recorded and mixed in digital.Those old anlaogue recordings on cd can sound woeful, as i am sure you have all noticed. Transparent systems dont help either.

Have been experiencing revelations all day. First the Tull, then 'Liege & Lief' (Fairport Convention) and now 'Script for a Jester's Tear' (Marillion)- all CDs that have always sounded really dodgy, suddenly bought to life by the Diamonds. You can still tell a big difference when you put on a beautifully recorded album, but all these other albums are suddenly enjoyable again. I'm finally getting 3 dimensions instead of flat, insipid sound.

Still, it would be nice if they had all been recorded/mastered as well as Damien Rice's 'O' and John Martyn's 'Solid Air'. Played both earlier and it was like having the performers in the room. The new remastering of Alan Parson's 'Tales of Mystery...' sounded stunning too.

Watching a documentary about the wonderful Irish tenor, John McCormack, reminds me of something which is pertinent to this discussion. If you put, for example, McCormack's recording of 'Il Mio Tesoro', 'Kathleen Mavourneen', 'I Hear You Calling' or 'Una Furtiva Lagrima' (or in fact most of his prime recordings!) on you are confronted with what most people would deem to be poor sound quality. Its mono and with plenty of surface noise. Yet listening to these recordings is one of the greatest musical experiences anyone could have and MCCormack's astonishingly beautiful voice completely transcends any deficiencies in the recording process. The music and performances overtake the importance of the hi-fi, and that is as it should be.

I Have to agree some cds sound great others rubbish. But i must say sometimes we all get a bit carried away with the sound quality my self included. I think at the end of the Day we tend to forget its the music we are intersted in and perhaps we should sit back and just enjoy....