disembodied floating heads, mmm-K
Posted by: Joe Petrik on 03 September 2000
I just moved from Canada to the U.S., looking forward to the improvement in performance I might get at my new digs. Unlike my previous room, which had a springy wooden floor, my listening room here has carpet on cement. The floor is as solid as any I've seen. In fact, it's so solid you can jump up and down on a pogo stick while juggling bowling balls right beside the turntable without it skipping a groove.
I've spent several hours setting up my system, doing all the usual stuff -- levelling the stands, levelling the shelves, carefully routing the wires so that signal and power cables don't touch -- but try as I might, I now have an image and soundstage. I've also got groove, slam and detail galore, but not without the distracting floating heads along the scale of Mr. Makkey's (sp?) from Southpark after his LSD trip.
If I had kept my 32.5 I could have switched it into mono, but I have a 102, so there's no provision for extra flat earth.
Any ideas?
Joe
My apartment also has a cement floor with carpet, so maybe that's why my system does the same thing. (Who said that Royd Sorcerers couldn't image well?)Do you find that the sounds are often inappropriate, or do they seem to fit the scenario? For example, I find that classical records are usually quite realistic, although the soundstage tends to be back in the region of the speakers. Occasionally I'll hear an "object" coming closer to my listening position or unusually exaggerated in size, but this normally tends to be a trick of the recording and is rather rare. Most of the time I have a nice, sensible soundstage.
I suppose if you really can't learn to appreciate this realistic presentation 
you could always set your speakers right beside each other. Without the physical separation, you're not going to get much of a soundstage (although you'll still get some). That's the closest to mono that you're going to get with your 102.
Have fun in the 3-D world. Catch you later!
-=> Mike Hanson <=-
P.S. Have you considered that maybe it's the geography of your locale that's affecting the sound. The London (Ontario) area is rather flat, and Manitoba is even flatter. In contrast, Kentucky is positively mountainous. Makes you wonder, huh?
Smilies do not a forum make.
[This message was edited by Mike Hanson on SUNDAY 03 September 2000 at 15:27.]
Does that make you a sonic philistine? Have you never heard a live symphonic performance and experienced a real soundstage? That's the kind of imaging that pushes my buttons. Embrace the reality which is 3-D! You'll be a happier man for it. Catch you later!
-=> Mike Hanson <=-
Smilies do not a forum make.
So do you listen to your Beatles LP's twice - once to hear the drums/guitars, once to hear the vocals (after switching over left/right speaker cable)? No wonder you get through plenty of cartridges!
Steve
