Top Ten Records of 2009

In my opinion and in no particular order:

Wilco (The Album)
Phoenix - Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
Owl City - Ocean Eyes
Dangermouse/Sparklehorse - Dark Night of the Soul
David Bazan - Curse Your Branches (although I admit this is more nostalgia for Pedro than anything else)
Where The Wild Things Are Original Motion Picture Soundtrack: Original Songs By Karen O And The Kids
Jeremy Enigk - OK Bear
Jimmy Eat World - Clarity Live
Flaming Lips - Embryonic
Whitest Boy Alive - Rules

Get Better Sound by Jim Smith: A Review

Get Better Sound: A Review

Background

Get Better Sound, by Jim Smith, is a book of 202 tips for both the beginner and long-time audiophile. Smith has been installing and "voicing" (his word) audio systems for 35 years - including work on some live broadcasts and recordings.

Smith claims in his book that of the myriad of systems he has heard over the years, "95% sounded mediocre at best" with 25% sounding better "when the system is off" (pg. 9). How can those of us in the 95% (or even the 25%) described above get better sound? By paying attention to the most important component (but most often overlooked) in the system: the room.

Smith, in his 293 pages, gives us the answers to most, if not all, of our audiophile questions. Do I need a new component? Do I need to move my speakers? Do I need room treatments? How can I do this on a budget?

How I Used It

System As It Was

My system started out like the picture above; speakers against the wall, subwoofer to the side. Audio rack between the speakers. It was definitely not the best situation. However, I share my audio room with my wife and daughter. That is to say, my audio room is my living room. I bet many budget audiophiles are in the same boat as I am. I can't move my speakers five feet into the middle of the room. I can't control what furniture is in the room. That's okay, even if you can't go all the way with Smith's tweaks, increased performance is still more than possible, it is inevitable.

The problems with the above configuration: the speakers were too close to the wall; they were at an odd distance from each other and my listening position; the speakers were too far below my listening position (needed height); the subwoofer's crossover frequency was too low; and the single subwoofer did not afford the smoothness in the low end that was needed.

System It Became

I can't help but think Smith would disapprove of a few things. 1) Speakers on subs. This is generally a bad idea. But I have limited space and Smith states that subs should be in front of speakers, not the other way around and my speakers came up short of my listening position. 2) The stereo cabinet should not be in between the speakers. However, because of my odd-shaped room, I have no choice but to have the cabinet in between - otherwise cables would run across walkways and that would not be safe.

Results?

The biggest difference, once I placed the speakers as close to possible to Smith's design, was how much more focused the sound was. It didn't sound 'okay' all around the room, it sounded great in my chair and 'okay' to 'poor' in the rest of the room. But the two biggest tweaks I used, that go against conventional wisdom, were the crossover frequency and the 'toeing-in' of the speakers. I was crossing over at around 70hz before the change and 150hz after. Most audiophiles in my situation would scoff at such a change, but the difference was astounding. The change wasn't most noticeable in bassy passages, but in vocals and guitars. All of a sudden, those areas came alive! Listening to live albums became such a pleasure with two knob turns. Then, another tip to go against conventional wisdom is toe-in. Smith stated that if a system suffers from a narrow soundstage, toeing in the speakers to about two feet in front of the listening position will widen the soundstage somewhat. That it did. My extremely forward sounding Polk speakers laid back a little bit and allowed the recordings to speak for themselves - for the first time since I bought them!

Conclusions

I firmly believe that if a person were to place their system, listen to it for a week or two, then place the components according to Get Better Sound, the results would speak volumes. The system would sound drastically different and problems that are often solved by equipment purchases and cash would be solved by sweat equity or elbow grease. If you are a beginner audiophile, you MUST own this book. If you are a seasoned audiophile, you can still learn much by its use - or at least have something to argue with. For $45 I can think of no better piece of equipment or tweak.

Get Better Sound

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Best Budget Amp for Grado SR-225?

What is the best budget headphone amp for the Grado SR-225?

Recently I was asked what I thought was the best budget amplifier for the Grado SR-225. As you can see, I have a set (although with modifications). I have never used an amp costing more than $200 with it (with the exception of a Grado RA1). I have used a Little Dot II, a Creek OBH-11 w/ 400ma power supply, a Grado RA1, and several DIY Cmoy (OPA 2134, OPA 2132, OPA 2227).

Here is the order in which I liked them:

1) Little Dot II

2) Grado RA1 + Cmoy with OPA2134 (Tied. They sound quite similar.)

3) Creek OBH-11 w/ 400ma power supply

The little Dot II is a little too powerful - the volume knob seldom moves beyond 20%. However, it sounds warm and has a great synergy with the Grados. Grado RA1's circuitry is very similar to a CMOY amplifier (although with a beautiful case). There is a synergy that is found with that configuration. It is hard to explain. The Creek does its duty, but it is nothing special. It does not link well with the Grados. It makes the usually warm Grados cool down a bit. I guess some would like that.

That is my take.

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Modified Grado SR-60 Headphones - The Ultimate Budget Audiophile Accessory?

Grado SR-60 Modified

I bought my first set of Grado SR-60 in 2004. It was the set you see in the picture on the left. I used them stock for three years and then decided to modify them.

Did I hear an improvement?

First things first: I went on ebay and ordered some Sennheiser HD-414 headphone pads which, quite surprisingly, they fit well on Grado. On top of that, the yellow looks amazing (to me). Then I went to the local Home depot and bought some metal mesh screen. (One of the claims from Grado as to why the SR-225 sounds so good is the more open-air, metal screen.) It was a shame to have to buy that much screen when I had to use only less than 1/2 of a square foot. (Another option is to use modeling clay support screen available at the local art supply store.)

How To Do It:

(Disclaimer: Do this at your own risk. It voids the warranty. It may ruin your headphones. Etc. Etc. Etc.)

1. Remove the original pads.
2. Plug in a hairdryer.
3. Remove the headband (lightly pry with your fingers or a soft, plastic utensil).
4. Heat the sides of the earcups with the hairdryer (careful not to heat the drivers on the front or back - please, just heat the sides of the cups).
5. When it gets hot enough, with a gloved hand, twist and pull the earcup off of the driver housing.
6. While still hot, or reheated, push on the plastic cover to remove.
7. Trace outline of plastic earcup cover onto the mesh.
8. Use shears or tinsnips to cut out the mesh.
9. Install newly-cut mesh onto the earcup.
10. Install earcup onto driver housing.
11. Repeat for other side.
12. Install HD-414 pads.
13. BONUS: take a small, dime-sized dab of Blu-Tack on the driver magnets before reinstalling the earcups.

Does this make a difference?

Short answer: Yes.

Long answer: Yes, but it is not life-changing or earth-shaking. The SR-60 are already one of the best budget headphones on the market. It is hard to beat them. But these modifications take a great headphone and make it better. And because you have 'rebuilt' them, it allows one to feel a solidarity with ones own headphones. The best tweak for SR-60 I ever came across was to install bowl pads from the SR-80 headphones. That was a big difference. They are available here.

Is the modified Grado SR-60 the ultimate budget audiophile accessory?

Yes, but only because the original SR-60 was already the ultimate budget accessory. For many years, the SR-60 has reigned supreme in the under-$100 category. It is just really hard to do what it does for $79 [Link].

If I had $200 for a stereo system that had to be purchased new, I would buy Grado SR-60s ($79), build or buy a CMOY amplifier ($35; see eBay), and a digital audio player - a 1st Generation iPod Nano can be had for $79.

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Budget Tweak #1 - Isolation Cones

A number of years ago, I had the Ariston Q-Deck you see in the image above. I used two Ikea bookshelves stacked on top of one another for a stereo rack (see below). Therefore, it was a bit flimsy and the turntable could use some isolation. I did some research and found that many options, including Black Diamond Racing and others, were more than $100 for a set of four that did not even include the pits. That was when I stumbled across the Parts Express, Dayton Isolation cones for $25 total for a set of four including pits. After installing them, I was able to tap my fingers on the mdf Ikea rack and still not hear any resonance through the cartridge. Not bad for $25! I then installed a set under each of the bookcases to isolate all the equipment from each other. That really allowed the table to be isolated!

I give these my highest recommendation to the budget audiophile.

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