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What gave you that "Oh Yeah!" moment?

1K views 34 replies 27 participants last post by  Patrick Collins 
#1 · (Edited)
I’m hoping we can share some ideas that we can use to help improve our systems. Please share what tweaks or changes you have made to your system that made a substantial improvement. I’m talking anything here, from setup to acoustic treatment or even new equipment.

For me there were two moments that stand out.

The first was elevating and substantial toeing in the mains, this really helped open them up and improved the imaging.

The second was adding delay to the rear (nearfield) subwoofers. This just made them disappear, which in turn helped with the imaging as well. Before this I had basically given up on them, even though I liked the effect, they always seemed noticeable and seemed to collapse the soundstage.

So, what worked for you to give you that “Oh Yeah!” moment?:grin:
 
#5 ·
Every upgrade I've ever done gave me a bit of "WOW" moment, lets see:

Going to DIY subs for the first time and 300w plate amp to a 8kW pro amp.
Going from a AVR to a Oppo 105/XSP-1 and external power amps.
Going from $100 bookshelves to B&W Nautilus 803's.
Going from 1 sub to 16 subs.
Going from bass with no DSP and no calibrated mic to one.
Going from a 21inch LCD PC to a 120" 1080P projector.
Going from 2D to 3D.
Going from no treatments to treatments.
Going from a bedroom in a house to a dedicated theater building.

I could go on...
 
#10 ·
Compression drivers, without a doubt, the biggest "WOW!" I have ever had. Made even bigger splash when I changed the crossover to handle almost the entire voice spectrum on the CDs.
 
#11 ·
The oh yeah moment,

There have been a few, learned the hard way generally on my little trip through home, car and PA systems.

Here are my top 10 things for "Oh yeah!"

1. Read a book how acoustics works, how speakers are made and what all the specifications/measurements mean.
2. Speakers have a much greater effect on sound quality than any decent electronics (amps, DACs, CD players etc.)
3. You can't get a good idea how to get the sound right if your recording sucks (garbage in--garbage out)
4. Watts don't matter, SPL does!
5. Don't trust your ears. They were made to find the predator, not to listen to music so easy to fool. (see #1 )
6. I'd rather go on a blind date with someone named Caitlyn than trust most audio media.
7. Blind testing of audio equipment proves your hearing is not golden.
8. If the girls like your sound--the guys will fall in line.
9. Flashing red lights are BAD
10. Veils are heavy.
 
#12 ·
Lots of little ones, but two big ones:

1. Properly integrating a sub for the first time. For me that meant using an AVR with bass management. (Previously I'd tried to use a sub with the pre-out on an integrated amp. Never sounded right.)

2. Putting up ceiling clouds. Of all the room treatments I've put up, in my space installing these was the most significant. Suddenly stereo sound made sense to me in a whole new way.
 
#14 ·
Mine was the first time I used pro-audio speakers in my theater room. Became immediately obvious to me that "Hi-Fi" speakers have no place in a system used for mostly movie watching.
 
#15 · (Edited)
When I bought my first CD player. A Panasonic -- it came with five free CDs.

I put on Alfred Brendel playing a Schubert piano sonata and listened in astonishment as the piano, with absolutely no disc-warped pitch wavering, emerged from the abyss of dead silence.

Wow.

The caterwauling that followed from Stereophile and TAS about CDs ruining audio turned me off from the audiophiliacs for life.
 
#17 ·
i was suffering for about 6 months with a cheap receiver and wondering why I could never get the sound to sound huge like the theater.

one day, I decided to see if in fact ALL amps sound the same. I set up a stereo amp that i was using to drive my passive subwoofer in bridged mode and played music through it. then I did the same thing with the receiver using pure direct mode, and matched the levels.

the difference was NIGHT AND DAY.

i was so shocked I had my wife do the test, blind. every single time, she picked the amp as sounding better, even when I raised the level of the receiver because louder usually sounds better.

that was my oh yeah moment.
 
#20 ·
The first time I changed songs on a cd, I knew I'd never FF a tape again.


Sent using Tapatalk since the mobile version is still [emoji107]
 
#21 ·
Back in early '71 when in the barracks of the USASA in Berlin , in an 8 man room ,when we hooked up 6 AR2ax speakers and 2 Dynaco 120 amps and relaxed with some freshly minted Pink Floyd . .
my hat off to Micheal E. Maus for understanding the wiring,, and a hellofa guy . . ., and nobody called him "mickey" either

Fast forward to 2 years ago when I fired up my first DIY Sub, a BFM 24" THTLP and BASH 300 , on its side behind my seat in my man cave. Listened to it for about 15 minutes , no EQ or anything, onkyo 818
Turned it off and went to HomeDepot to get plywood for 2 more, 30' wide.

Ivans GTG in april of '14 in Compton, a wonderfully done dedicated space. pretty much the impetus to get the design for Max finalized by LTD02.
Kevings's fine living room setup with the PJ and darbee, smart work, very clean execution

Sanjay visiting my home and taking the time on a hot late June day to have me up and down a ladder figuring out where the ATMOS speakers "should" go . . and giving "Max" an audition

"What a long (and FINE!) trip it still is . . .
 
#23 ·
TODAY!
Finally got my 2 LOWARHORNS connected, no EQ or REW work, in time to catch the last 45 minutes of "Lone Survivor". on HBO.

WOWWOWWOW.
 
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#27 ·
Ahh moments

1) listening to a friends Audio Note system (DAC, tube amp and speakers)
2) listening to various tracks esp War's Low Rider on Energy CF-70 versus other speakers
3) finally learning where to set microphone locations for Audyssey
4) Audyssey in a car
5) Rythmik sub
6) Deciding I prefer the Sabre DACs in my Oppo vs the AKM ones in my Denon (but that kills the Audyssey)

couple of hmm moments
1) listening to the demo room system at a rather high end custom audio place that was great for movies, but not good for music
2) trying to understand why a certain well reviewed set of time aligned speakers did not seem to image well
 
#29 ·
In the early '80s, before any consumer in the US had ever heard digital sound via CDs, I heard and was using dbx encoded vinyl. Music without noise at any typical playback level was a revelation and completely unheard of. Noise effectively was eliminated, not simply "reduced":
 
#30 ·
I've got two moments that really gave me that moment.

1. Over the course of a few months I made some major upgrades to my subwoofer. I went from a little 8 inch, 50 watt sub, to a BIC F-12 and then a little more then a year later to a SVS PC-12 Plus. The first few movies I watched with a real sub in my setup were jaw dropping.

2. The first time I watched a movie on a projection screen. As much as I loved the TV I had, projection just took it to a new level. From the size to the look I loved everything about it.
 
#32 ·
The first movie I hooked up with my new 12" Dual concentric mains was Bourne Legacy. I was so excited I forgot to run a calibration (poor planning). At any rate, the scene where the rocket blows up the cabin...it felt like that rocket went through the screen and whizzed right past my right hand side with such dynamics it made my wife and I jump out of our seats. That's when I truly felt like, "OK, I'm definitely getting close to audio nirvana."
 
#33 ·
What gave you that "Oh Yeah!" moment?

My first Oh Yeah moment was when I fired up my 4-18's and played them over reference. That brought a smile to my face. Then adding 4-12's nearfield to get my body shaking. The last Oh Yeah was when I was standing at the back of the room 28 feet back playing the first 30 second clip of live die repeat and pants and shirt was waving from the bass... That was an oh yeah moment!
 
#34 ·
My "oh yeah" moment came when I was training to work for a retail chain here in New zealand. I was primarily a tech guy for the longest time. A customer was having trouble with his power amp so we tested it in shop (I didn't even know what a power amp was at this point) it was paired up with a pre amp of some sort and some theophany psuche kardia speakers. He chucked in rumours by Fleetwood Mac and my mind was blown. Its one of my favourite albums. I have it on vinyl (thanks dad) and also on CD and I have heard it a million times, but I have never heard it like that. I mean the bass solo at the end of "the chain " it sounded like I was in the same room as the band. I could hear the strings vibrating! I now have a modest HT system but it completely satisfies our needs for music and HT
 
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