Never happy with my Audio setup. So what now?

FatRakoon

FatRakoon

FatRakoon

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I think I am an extremely miserable sod at times.

I have spent what can only be described as an extortionate sum of money on amps, speakers sound devices etc to get my PCs to sound as good as they can be.

I have tried various devices and the chances are, that I have not yet sold, thrown, or simply smashed some of it up.

Weirdly, my current setup, I have gone back to cheap and tatty and yet the sound is better than my Schiit DAC, and this is a 15 year old ( I got it 15 years ago off a mate, so its even older than that ) Altect Lansing ADA995 setup, that is now sporting a pair of Mission speakers for the main, and the BASS is switched and its going out to a Sonos BASS speakers instead of the ones in the unit.

This is all me fettering over the years to get the best possible sound, and frankly, nothing even comes close to the quality that this setup is currently giving me, but I still want better.

Im only using stereo cos Im sick to death of trying to get a nice unprocessed 5.1 from Digital.

So, I am asking if anyone is willing, to give me something to go for.

I need the entire line.

Sound Card / Device.
AMP
Speakers.

I want to say money is no object, but it will be of course, and so lets have 2 targets to keep to... How about a £2000 and under, and a £5000 and under.

Thanks.
 
Hello there James.

I have to be honest with myself, but yes, It surely is all down to preference... Its also knowing that deep down, the fact that I have a vast range of styles of music that I love, and listen to every day, dont help one bit either.
I have also written a number of tracks that are somewhat lethal to so many stock amps and HiFis that I usually end up killing something in my quest of ... I dont know, but its a quest of something.

I like to utterly hammer my music and I fully demand, that I expect to hear every single tiny tip of a ride, each little nudge of the wind chimes, all while every strum of the heaviest bass guitar is thrown out and I expect to hear every finger on every fret slide down the guitar, and I still expect that while all of this, is pounding out at full blast on my best amp, I fully expect that there is not one single tiny bit of that, that is not absolutely 100% crystal lear, not matter how loud it is, and when people hear my setup hammering home some Slayer, Napalm Death, or Enya, I expect everyone to not jusyt hear the stupid mental thud of some ****** cheap hifi rubbish, but I expect them to hear with great claity, each individual sound, as it is supposed to be played and not just a wall of cruddy noise.

I know what I like and so yeah, personal preference is surely my biggest wall to get over, but the fact still remains that I have spent thousands over the years on some seriously top end gear and some seriously low end tat too, and I am just never satisfied with what I have.

OK... 5.1 LPCM from HDMI.
Yes, absolutely... I do have a couple of devices... one is 5.1 and the other a stereo. This is a delicious sound I agree, and I would even go so far as to say that its superior to dolby but then, that does not say much.
If I go down the Stereo route, then Im still in need of a good amp / Speaker setup.

Now, as to Altec Lansing. What Altec gear have you tried?
I have a number of their hardware ,and anythign under £1000 is a load of cack, but their higher end stuff is great. The one exception to this rule that I have, is their ADA995 gear.
Their lower end stuff is utter crud I will grant you.

Understanding the setup I have.
Its a problem that I have tried to fathom for years. I love the Altec Amp ( The only part thats still Altec these days ), and I know that I get it to a place where I am 100% happy with it, and then it never takes long, but I m saying to myself... Is it though?... Is it the best it can be? And then I go on some mental quest to get it bettered and after spending more money, I then keep going back to the Altec?

Why do I like it?
The honest issue that I know I do have, is that I often jusge things based on their costs. For example, I have a pair of Sony headphons that I like using cos they sound nice and only cost m a tenner. I also have a set of Monsters that cost me £340 and they are clearly vastly superior to the sony ones, but they dont get used anywhere near as much because they are not worth £330 more than the Sonys cost me. They are easily worth £100 more, but thats it and so for that, they are judged harshly... Its the same across the board. Those Altecs cost me NOTHING. They were given to me and so the use I have had out of them, and the love I have for them are certainly reflecting that price.
So, of course, when it comes to other setups, I paid hundrds for this or that, and so they need to be hundreds of times better, and thats simply never going to happen, and so sure, I have a huge bias, unfair or otherwise, its somehting I have that wont go away.
 
Yes, I do think I need a warmer sound.

Its so difficult to know what I want and I have no doubt, that all this effort that I have put into getting it to where I want it to be, has simply been in vain much of the time, and certainly placebo is also playing a huge part, if only in trying to justify the costs, both financial, and mental.

I also need to stop saying that what the setup is giving me is better quality, because I know its not. Its a nicer sound, but of course its not the greatest thing ever, its just that I have it at a place, where I can definitely hear more in the music, more clarity and deeper basses and higher trebles, as well as keeping the mid range crisp and clear, and the speaker setup that I am using at the moment, are definitely complimenting the rest of the setup in a way that feels good to my ears.ing

I think I simply want to go back to a simpler 2 speaker setup.
 
Ah its not an entirely useless idea to try various setups in-store, at least you can compare them to each other I suppose.

Today, I went to 2 local Music shops, one is a smaller shop and the other is more of a gig / band audio provider, and as such, they both seemed to be only able to provide me with Disco/PA gear and thats not what I am after at all.

I dont know... Im just going to stop whining like a baby and just see what I can find further out and just bite the bullet and go out and have a listen in-store wherever they do demo their gear?

There is nothing that I know of even remotely close to me, so I might need to organise a day out I think.
 
Eh? Why are you appologising? You aint never dun nuffin rong doe!

Yes, I am of limited capabilities these days, and the DVLA are not making things any easier in me trying to get some normality back in my life with having my driving licence back, so yeah, I am struggling to get from A to B not just with my body, but also my cars and bikes have had just as little action as my bedoom has in the last few years!

But anyway, there is no need to appologise. Yes, going out would be a harder thing than it would be for a more able bodied person, but my mate loves any excuse to use my Ferarri to drive me around, so we get out and about well enough. ( And by ferarri, I mean Peugeot )

Erm, what Music shops are there near me?

Well, I have justmoved to Llandudno Junction and I know that there was one in Rhyl many moons ago and so I will have to find out if thats still going???
There is also Bangor but again, is there anything there? I have zero clues, and so it means Chester direction for me and so yeah,thats 60 miles for me too!

But its ok... Its a day out away from the prison of my house.
 
I got one of my best mates who lives in Wrexham. I have been there for a number of excuses so I am peachy going there for another excuse.
I am about to get my driving licence back ( Well, I hope I am anyway ) and one of the plans I have, is to go and see him anyway, either on my BMW Trike, or in my Mercedez.
Wrexham is not THAT far to be fair... Its a very easy route, so its fine.
I will ask my mate about it and see what he says. Make it an excuse to go there and see if anything takes my fancy?
 
Heck, not cheap are they!

I have made a pre-order setup...

Leema Tucana Aniversary Amp with a pair of DALI Speakers.

This is purely a nonsense order as I will go down and have a chat sometime in the next few weeks, and they will either make a sale or they wont.
 
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