Hi Alan,
I thought it would be fun to add my 2 cents.
Describe the perfect sound? --I like to have that feeling that the musician(s)is in the room. It only happens briefly & for certain songs, but it is a rush when it does.
How does your system sound? --Detailed, but not bright (Krell, Theta, Dynaudio). Very dynamic if I turn it up. I think the Dynaudio Contours need some juice to really start to play. Fairly neutral - I can definitely hear changes with changes in components/cables/some tweaks.
Do you strive for realistic sound or unrealistic sound? --I am on the realistic side of things. I am a long time owner (17 years) of various Magnepan's/Acoustat 1+1's - still bummed I ever sold those/Apogee's, along with many, many various conventional speakers that I bought and sold while looking for the right combination of planar detail and realism while also giving realistic dynamics. The dynaudio tweeter sounded closer to the planars then anything else I auditioned.
Please describe what methods you used for speaker placement. --Since I owned planars for so long, I started using a tape measure to help with set-up. This was most important with Apogees, as they had a narrow sweet spot and the degree of forward or backwards tilt could really affect the sound. In my cuurent room, I keep the Dynaudios approximately 3 feet from the rear wall (side wall placement is not an issue), 65 inches apart, with 0.5 inch of toe in. I arrived at this over many many hours of speaker movement until one day it was just SO much better than any other placement. I have a 50Hz problem in my room which actually was solved when I found that placement of my sub could null this. The sound waves must cancel each other because now the room is flat at 50 Hz, and I have 20 Hz extension. Cool!
Cable selections --Audioquest/Apogee digital/DIY silver/DIY Belden. I like the bass of the Audioquest speaker wire, I like the smooth highs, the detail and the bass of my DIY silver interconnects. The Belden are somewhat grainy on the high end, but are incredibly cheap to make if you can find the cable, and do sound a lot better than many entry level cables.
Add-On's --I have tried many cheap tweaks. I tried a industrial computer power line conditioner (because it was used and cheap) which made things significantly worse.
-Hospital grade outlets really helped more than I thought they would.
-Added weight (marble tile slabs) on top of my CD player helped.
-Cut up thick mouse pads and/or sobethane helped my turntable.
-I built the DIY Room Lens and was surprised that they made a positive difference.
-Iron RFI clamps did not do much positive, and too many had a negative effect.
-I changed the non removable power cords on all products out of warrantee. On a couple I just cut the cord and attached a hospital grade plug, and that even helped!
-DIY silver cables worked well for my system.
-DIY Belden 89259 interconnects and speaker wire had a very different sound from other cables. The Belden speaker cables have a Very wide sounstage which is fun for my HT sytem, but the high end is a little grainy.
Jeez, when I actually write these down, I can see why my wife and my friends think I am a nut.
Why did you use these methods...or what did the product offer to your system that you didn't have before? --Some added better bass, some better sounstaging, and some a better high end. They did all vary. Tweaking never ends.
Wow, this was longer than I thought.
Michael