First timers questions.. Stands and cables
Discussion
Ever since I forayed into decent headphones, I've been wanting to upgrade my front rooms home cinema system. It's mainly used for something like 75% TV/Films, 20% Xbox games, 5% music.
Little bit of background; This is the first setup I've attempted that's not been a Curry's/Logitech all in one. about a year ago I upgraded was the receiver, which is a Marantz NR1506, and at the same time I got an active sub to replace the passive one. (Yamaha YST-50w).
Last weekend I was in RicherSounds contemplating what to buy with the wife and after hearing some different sets, ended up buying some Monitor Audio silver speakers as they sounded so much better then the setup I had at home just playing a simple music CD, and were 60+% off.
I therefore now also have;
2x MA Silver 2's on Atacama Moseco 6 stands as rears,
2x MA Silver 6 floor standers as front L/R,
and a MA Silver Center.
My questions have come through the setting up of these, firstly the stands;
On the instructions they mention Atacamas own special filler beads to put in the stands if you want an "audio upgrade", which opened the rabbit hole of stand filling and materials. RicherSounds said that they use these stands and never fill them as its not needed (However how much of that is so they can resell them as open box later on), where as googled internet opinion varies from how much to fill them (people argue about 1/2 vs 3/5 vs full..) and what you fill them with.
As far as I understand it, and this is where it is all best guess for me, it depends a lot on the speakers and how much bass you expect to pump through them? As they're mainly movie surround speakers I wouldn't expect them to have a lot? Would the MA's need a specific amount of deadening (is there somewhere which says that)? Is there even a measurement of deadening?
And secondly, cabling;
Current cabling is cheap cabling that came with the old LG system, I know as its an analogue signal that unlike HDMI/USB cables interference and signal loss is a possibility and as such it should probably need upgrading.
This opened a whole rabbit hole of different options, from different gauges, to twisted / shotgun, braided, sleeved, shielded, copper percentages and strand length/size's.
From a logical IT background, as the shielding is only within the wire and not terminated at either end I expect it to do diddly squat due to no grounding/phase adjustment.
How do I know what gauge I need? Is it simply the thicker the better?
And then does being a twisted pair really matter? Part of me was curious about using a couple of the pairs in a cat 6 cable for the wiring but that sounded wrong so I discarded that idea.
Even looking at cables that range in price from £1 to £20 a meter, there cant be 20x improvement? Is there a sweet spot just before diminishing returns really start to hit?
And yes I know this is all personal preference, which means picking and choosing harder, but I don't understand how much difference can two "premium" cables can have over each other?
Little bit of background; This is the first setup I've attempted that's not been a Curry's/Logitech all in one. about a year ago I upgraded was the receiver, which is a Marantz NR1506, and at the same time I got an active sub to replace the passive one. (Yamaha YST-50w).
Last weekend I was in RicherSounds contemplating what to buy with the wife and after hearing some different sets, ended up buying some Monitor Audio silver speakers as they sounded so much better then the setup I had at home just playing a simple music CD, and were 60+% off.
I therefore now also have;
2x MA Silver 2's on Atacama Moseco 6 stands as rears,
2x MA Silver 6 floor standers as front L/R,
and a MA Silver Center.
My questions have come through the setting up of these, firstly the stands;
On the instructions they mention Atacamas own special filler beads to put in the stands if you want an "audio upgrade", which opened the rabbit hole of stand filling and materials. RicherSounds said that they use these stands and never fill them as its not needed (However how much of that is so they can resell them as open box later on), where as googled internet opinion varies from how much to fill them (people argue about 1/2 vs 3/5 vs full..) and what you fill them with.
As far as I understand it, and this is where it is all best guess for me, it depends a lot on the speakers and how much bass you expect to pump through them? As they're mainly movie surround speakers I wouldn't expect them to have a lot? Would the MA's need a specific amount of deadening (is there somewhere which says that)? Is there even a measurement of deadening?
And secondly, cabling;
Current cabling is cheap cabling that came with the old LG system, I know as its an analogue signal that unlike HDMI/USB cables interference and signal loss is a possibility and as such it should probably need upgrading.
This opened a whole rabbit hole of different options, from different gauges, to twisted / shotgun, braided, sleeved, shielded, copper percentages and strand length/size's.
From a logical IT background, as the shielding is only within the wire and not terminated at either end I expect it to do diddly squat due to no grounding/phase adjustment.
How do I know what gauge I need? Is it simply the thicker the better?
And then does being a twisted pair really matter? Part of me was curious about using a couple of the pairs in a cat 6 cable for the wiring but that sounded wrong so I discarded that idea.
Even looking at cables that range in price from £1 to £20 a meter, there cant be 20x improvement? Is there a sweet spot just before diminishing returns really start to hit?
And yes I know this is all personal preference, which means picking and choosing harder, but I don't understand how much difference can two "premium" cables can have over each other?
Sorry no advice RE the stands.
However for speaker cable, look for 79 strand. £2.50 per metre seems an acceptable rate to pay. Don't bother with the really expensive stuff.
https://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Products/CASPEAK79.ht... << should even do the job.
If you want to a bit more quality, look around on eBay, I managed to get 100m of QED 79 Strand for £90.
However for speaker cable, look for 79 strand. £2.50 per metre seems an acceptable rate to pay. Don't bother with the really expensive stuff.
https://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Products/CASPEAK79.ht... << should even do the job.
If you want to a bit more quality, look around on eBay, I managed to get 100m of QED 79 Strand for £90.
Your set up probably does not justify great expense and the questions you ask risk provoking a massive debate between the "I can hear the difference with these cables assembled under moonlight in a leap year by Cuban virgins' and the "electrons is electrons' camps of hi-fi enthusiasts.
Re stand filling, it generally helps tighten the bass up a bit. No need for expensive proprietary stuff. Find some very dry fine sand or media blasting beads from a builder's merchant. My advice is to bag and seal it before dropping it in the stand as it can be a b*gger if it seeps or if you want to decant it. Use Blu-Tak to couple the speakers to the stands. If you have a decent floor, either buy some spike cups to save it or rest the stands on some penny pieces into which you have drilled a small indent for the spike (much less stable).
Re speaker cable, I'd start with simple twin electrical flex (+ and -). Cheap and easy to terminate. If you have a soldering iron, tin the ends and terminate them with with appropriate plug. To maintain them, simply extract the plugs every few months and reinsert them which should remove any build up on the surface.
HTH
Peter
Re stand filling, it generally helps tighten the bass up a bit. No need for expensive proprietary stuff. Find some very dry fine sand or media blasting beads from a builder's merchant. My advice is to bag and seal it before dropping it in the stand as it can be a b*gger if it seeps or if you want to decant it. Use Blu-Tak to couple the speakers to the stands. If you have a decent floor, either buy some spike cups to save it or rest the stands on some penny pieces into which you have drilled a small indent for the spike (much less stable).
Re speaker cable, I'd start with simple twin electrical flex (+ and -). Cheap and easy to terminate. If you have a soldering iron, tin the ends and terminate them with with appropriate plug. To maintain them, simply extract the plugs every few months and reinsert them which should remove any build up on the surface.
HTH
Peter
psi310398 said:
Your set up probably does not justify great expense and the questions you ask risk provoking a massive debate between the "I can hear the difference with these cables assembled under moonlight in a leap year by Cuban virgins' and the "electrons is electrons' camps of hi-fi enthusiasts.
Re stand filling, it generally helps tighten the bass up a bit. No need for expensive proprietary stuff. Find some very dry fine sand or media blasting beads from a builder's merchant. My advice is to bag and seal it before dropping it in the stand as it can be a b*gger if it seeps or if you want to decant it. Use Blu-Tak to couple the speakers to the stands. If you have a decent floor, either buy some spike cups to save it or rest the stands on some penny pieces into which you have drilled a small indent for the spike (much less stable).
Re speaker cable, I'd start with simple twin electrical flex (+ and -). Cheap and easy to terminate. If you have a soldering iron, tin the ends and terminate them with with appropriate plug. To maintain them, simply extract the plugs every few months and reinsert them which should remove any build up on the surface.
HTH
Peter
Good advice there. /\Re stand filling, it generally helps tighten the bass up a bit. No need for expensive proprietary stuff. Find some very dry fine sand or media blasting beads from a builder's merchant. My advice is to bag and seal it before dropping it in the stand as it can be a b*gger if it seeps or if you want to decant it. Use Blu-Tak to couple the speakers to the stands. If you have a decent floor, either buy some spike cups to save it or rest the stands on some penny pieces into which you have drilled a small indent for the spike (much less stable).
Re speaker cable, I'd start with simple twin electrical flex (+ and -). Cheap and easy to terminate. If you have a soldering iron, tin the ends and terminate them with with appropriate plug. To maintain them, simply extract the plugs every few months and reinsert them which should remove any build up on the surface.
HTH
Peter
Speaker cable makes negligible difference ( unless its very thin gauge used on a long run ). Stands contribute little too, so long as they are rigid and the spikes are levelled very carefully.
Speakers' and listener relative positioning in the room have a far bigger effect on overall perceived sound than either cables or stands. Big benefits can be had by optimising speakers toe in and position relative to the room's boundaries. Good luck.
https://thevinylfactory.com/features/speaker-place...
https://www.crutchfield.com/S-epqXWcX8TQj/learn/le...
Thanks for the input all.
I'll have a play with the location of the speakers as that seems to be a very key aspect to the quality of the sound.
Found some Chord Clearway cable for quite cheap of a friend who's moving house therefore wants to re measure and re run. Seems to get great reviews so couldn't say no.
Will leave the speaker stands as they are for now then, They are on spikes but its into carpet so they aren't moving.
I'll have a play with the location of the speakers as that seems to be a very key aspect to the quality of the sound.
Found some Chord Clearway cable for quite cheap of a friend who's moving house therefore wants to re measure and re run. Seems to get great reviews so couldn't say no.
Will leave the speaker stands as they are for now then, They are on spikes but its into carpet so they aren't moving.
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