chowkwan@aerospace.aero.org (08/06/90)
About a week I ago I posted about my experiences listening to
my CD with Stax headphones. The gist of the article was
that clean power to the CD improves the sound.
Someone, (sorry, I forget who) pointed out that what
I was hearing might have been the breaking in of the Stax.
Well, they were right. A lot of the hashiness I heard was
due to lack of break in. But even after break in,
there's still a difference that I'd like to report here.
Setup: Sony C7ESD wired with 1metre of Audioquest Lapis (old style)
to Stax. Used the fixed output of the Sony. Power by
Tripplite.
Method: I just kicked back and relaxed and waited to see if any impressions
would pop into my mind. I figure if I don't hear any problems
in normal listening mode, I won't worry about it.
Source: Last two tracks of Sinead O'Connor's I Do not want what I
I don't (cannot ?) have.
I listened once with the CD and Stax plugged into different banks
of the Tripplite. Then again with them plugged into the same bank.
Then once more, plugged into different banks.
When both were plugged into the same bank, the soundstage narrowed.
The first track starts with Sinead singing solo and then the rest
of the band joins in. The instruments imaged much closer together.
There were timbral differences too. Sinead's voice sounded pinched
and, well, narrow. Plugging into different banks causes her
voice to appear wider. The tone is less harsh and more natural.
There was also a more effortless quality to the sound.
Not that the sound was totally shabby even with the two plugged
into the same bank. It even had a punchier quality to it which
I attribute to greater distortion. Similar to what I get
listening on my D5 portable. But I preferred the wider soundstage
and purer tones that obtained by keeping the power lines separated.
Listening to them plugged into the same bank produced a definite
feeling of dual mono.
-- ray