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Good amp & speakers for bad recordings.

datay said:
That's what I was thinking too, unless the OP has a stack of 60s pub jukebox records, I don't see any Rolling Stones as being "bad recordings". Just stick em on, buying poor gear to play a certain few records is a fool's errand
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I play original LPs, or 70s reissues, I can't be arsed with streaming.
 
Marc O'Brien said:
Front end at the mo is a Garrard 401, will that 'rip up the music'?
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I don't know, I've never owned one. What did you have before? Did you play more diverse music on the predecessor or the 401? Same for the arm and cartridge?

I had a Linn Ittok, gorgeous arm, but I realized that, while it sounded great with good recordings, it made a lot of my records sound nasty. Swapping it for an RB300 lost a little on the best records but I got music out of records that I couldn't listen to with the Ittok.

I've had a few Naim CD players and I liked them but they made me assume that a lot of CDs were so badly produced they were unusable. Then I got a Rega Saturn-R and those terrible recording were magically fixed!

What is good Hi-Fi? Is it more detail, more dynamics etc or is it more music out of more of your collection?
 
Maybe a leftfield suggestion, but: I have as of lately been very impressed with my Sonos Play:1 for hassle-free musical enjoyment without second guessing every last little detail. I'm even contemplating getting a second one for a stereo setup, but hesitating as that seems to be the entrance to the rabbit hole...
 
mandryka said:
Just ignore this if it's not what you wanted this thread to be about. What you wrote is a really interesting post to me because of this comment in particular



I like very early and very modern music, and in both those things there's a high level of dissonance -- either because of the way the instruments are tuned, or because the music just rejects the whole system which defines some sounds as consonant and some as not.

So I want to ask you a question, though it has nothing to do with amps etc. Why is Helter Skelter a bad recording? Is it that there's something bad about the production? Or were the Beatles exploring dissonance and you don't like the results -- if the latter it would be wrong headed to try and make it more consonant.
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If we are talking about Beatles production. It always surprised me that George Martin(if it was down to him) didn't seem to grasp the concept of proper stereo recording until almost the end of the Beatles recording sessions.

Their albums were always very "ping pong" with the vocals in one channel and instruments in the other, very unrealistic, they would need very long arms to play like that haha. I think they recorded with mono in mind, and only released stereo versions as an after thought.

Even on some Sgt Pepper tracks (1967) you can remove the vocals with the balance control.

The first issue CDs were terrible, I bought the "USB APPLE" 24 bit flac of their albums much later, which was a lot better. But a friend brought round a vinyl recording on a usb stick (I don't have a T/T) to compare, of the White Album, and that was better (imo) than the 24 bit. So it makes you wonder whether the vinyl versus digital discussions are more down to studio mastering than the playback medium, as I was listening to a recording of a vinyl release through a digital playback device (streamer).

I have some Readers Digest (I know) CDs of stuff from the same era like The Hollies, Bee Gees, Gerry&the Pacemakers to name just a few, and they are really very good (recordings).
 
I would concur with Jez re a graphic equaliser.
There have also been some other excellent posts re direction of upgrades and potential loss of satisfaction.
What i would also add is that many of the newer hifi offerings lean towards both frequency extremes.
Many modern speakers are very analytical.
You may well want to look at some vintage full range speakers and sources/amplification that focus on musical enjoyment rather than detail.
 
I'd recommend warm sounding speakers, or those that emphasize dynamics and musical togetherness and flow at the expense of the veriest details. My little Diamond 2s are good at this. A Rega 3 may be beneficial if it you're playing vinyl.
 
For some time I thought that the better a setup was the worse bad recordings would sound.
I must say that I no longer think that that is true.
The stereo setup I now have is the best I've ever had and it allows for some bad recordings to sound quite listenable (unless you crank up the volume too much).
 
radamel said:
For some time I thought that the better a setup was the worse bad recordings would sound.
I must say that I no longer think that that is true.
The stereo setup I now have is the best I've ever had and it allows for some bad recordings to sound quite listenable (unless you crank up the volume too much).
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For the benefit of the group, would you mind telling us what your stereo set up is made of ?
 
Sure.

Cambridge CXC (modded)+ Fanless Netbook +Bluesound Node 2i feeding a Mytek Brooklyn DAC with an external LPSU; GamuT Di150LE integrated driving a pair of Monitor Audio PL100II; a pair of REL R528SE subwoofers.
 
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Just get a system that is awfully bad for both good and bad recordings, that way you won't be able to tell the difference.

Personally, I prefer to be able to tell the difference, but YMMV.
 
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