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Hi Fi Systems
By Barry Gardner of SafeandSound Mastering
Audiophiles are people who love to squeeze the last bit of sonic detail from their hi fi systems. Hi fi systems range in price from the same as a car to more much more modest set ups. One thing in common from expensive to modest is that most audiophiles have separate system components. This means it is likely that a cd player, amplifier and speaker set has been purchased as separate components often made by different manufacturers.This allows the hi fi system lover to choose the best component within their budget. In recent times the PC or Mac computer has become a very important factor in many audiophiles hi fi systems, of critical importance are the hard disk drive and the audio card. The hard drive should be backed up regularly because it is a matter of when, not if, it breaks. So ensure you make regular back ups of this hard disk drive. I stumbled upon an excellent product for this recently. It is called the Integral SATA copy station (please ensure you have SATA drives and not PATA drives in your computer before purchasing). You simply have 2 drives in the machine and it copies one disk drive to the other for a secure back up of the drive, very easy. In addition the sound card is a very important component in PC based hi fi systems, the quality of the digital to analog converter and associated electronics will have a significant bearing on the reproduction quality. Sound cards often run on either USB2.0, Fire wire, PCI or PCI-E. (The PCI variants being internal card slot models) The real reason for this text is to provide some real world audiophile tweaks to existing hi fi systems. I am very aware that there are very expensive silver or gold plated cables for many hundreds if not thousands of dollars on the market. Well it is my opinion that you should shelve that approach for a while and instead spend a much more modest sum of money on items that will make a real and significant difference to your hi fi systems fidelity. My background is as a mastering engineer in a mastering studio so I am no stranger to high fidelity audio equipment, my professional career relies on it. I am not suggesting that good quality leads should not be used, on the contrary. I do believe however that there are virtually no differences to be heard from excessively expensive IEC mains cables, speaker cables and phono to phono cables (RCA to RCA). Standard good thickness OFC copper cable will be perfectly adequate. (I suggest 12 AWG for speaker cable) Some of these tweaks may appear to be beyond what you or your spouse may deem appropriate for a domestic living space. Ultimately it depends how important the listening experience is for you as an individual. Many of these audio tweaks can be installed as temporary measures so they are easy to reverse should you choose. 1) Acoustics matter, what you hear from loudspeakers is a combination of the direct sound from the loudspeaker itself and the reflections from the surfaces of the room. This means that the sound you hear quite possibly has a frequency response different from that which the artist intended. Reflections from the side walls and ceiling of the room reach the ear with various time delays relative to the direct sound, this means that some wavelengths of sound (related to time in free space) will cancel and many will sum. This means the frequency response has been altered when the sound reaches your ears and limits the capabilities of hi fi systems. The good news is you can install some remedial treatment in the form of foam tiles to reduce these reflections. If your speakers are firing down the room, the side walls should have some foam treatment of around 5 centimeters to absorb what is known as early reflections. You can see the basic drawing "Side wall absorbers" below. These will stop the reflections to a large degree that come from your side walls, I suggest 1 meter square of acoustic foam per side wall. Another cause of reflections which can have a surprisingly detrimental effect on the accuracy of stereo imaging is the ceiling. Again it is suggested a 1 meter square set of foam tiles be applied to the ceiling. This should be positioned mid way between your monitoring position and your loudspeakers. I have personally found that transparent silicon is a good method of adhering the tiles. (Do not use any other product like bathroom sealant it must only be transparent silicon) I also recommend that you test this before hand to ensure there are no adverse reactions to the wallpaper/paint/surfaces. This material dries like a soft rubber and it is easy to remove without leaving many marks. Always ensure that the foam tiles are mounted away from heat sources/light bulbs etc. and ensure they meet local fire retardant regulations. This in itself will produce a much more focused and stable sound improving the tonal response in the mid and high frequencies and a much better defined and accurate stereo image. It demonstrates that most hi fi systems can be improved dramatically. Continued in part 2 where sound cards, speaker positioning and passive volume controllers are discussed. |
Example of acoustic foam tile
Side wall absorber approximate positioning diagram (speakers are squares)
PLEASE VISIT THE CONTRIBUTOR'S WEBSITE
music mastering
Website for online mastering at low rates
www.masteringmastering.co.uk/musicmastering.html
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