This section has been written to provide a introductory level of advice in an uncomplicated, unbiased and plain english format. This is the basic level of knowledge that you would expect from any audio enthusiast and is designed to help you select the products that best meet your requirements. For expert advice on our products and services, please call us on 0870 321 2125 or email us at soundadvice@expertaudio.co.uk
System Setup & Placement
System setup is probably the most neglected and yet important part of your system. There are a few simple procedures that you should apply to ensure that you get the best performance from your system.
Cleaning
Ensure that you have cleaned the connections on all of your cables and components with a proper deoxidisation spray, such as Caig Deoxit, and preferably a contact enhancer too. This will guarantee your connection quality and give your cables a chance of performing at their best. You should also consider static removal, such as wiping with a Nordost Eco3 over your speaker drive units, cables and connectors to make sure you not starting off with a large static build up. It is much easier to apply this before you assemble your system.
Placement
The next step is placement of your products. You should find a stable, well ventilated and level surface to put your components onto, preferably use a proper audio equipment support with independent shelves for each item. This is particularly important with source components, such as CD Players and especially Turntables. They will respond well to inert materials and places which are free or vibration and movement. Expert equipment should also be used when leveling and setting up your turntable.
Cables
When connecting your cables, try to ensure as little crossover as possible, this will keep interference levels to a minimum. You should especially try and keep mains cables away from your signal cables, such as interconnects and speaker cable. If you do have to cross the mains and signal cables, try to ensure that they cross over each other at 90 degrees as this will reduce the level of interference caused.
Speakers
Unfortunately speaker placement is not always an exact science, but more of an art. The best placement is normally found through trial and error, moving speakers closer and further away from walls and boundaries, and then listening to familiar music until you get the results you want. Placement makes a huge difference in the sound, specifically in the bass reproduction. A few things you should remember:
- Speakers that are rear ported reflex design will not perform well near a rear wall.
- NO speakers work well in corners, especially if they displace any real amount of air.
- Try to keep your speakers equal distances from their boundaries to keep them at equal volumes.
If you feel that it is required, you can also try using setup discs and frequency sweeps, if you use a pressure metre you can sometimes pick up on flat spots where certain frequencies are quieter than others. However just because you have found them, it is not always possible to change this, as it is often down to the shape and characteristics of your room . The best improvements can be made through room acoustic improvements and deadening.
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Running In & Maintaining
All equipment and cables will suffer in performance during a period of 'running in' as either the electronic components settle down, the drive units in speakers start to give, or the cables burn in. Running in is generally achieved simply through regular use of your system.
Its not unheard of for the initial running in period to be around 100 hours of use. Many manufacturers may quote less, but the truth is that you will notice consistent improvements for the first 6 months. Obviously the more you use your system the shorter this 'running in' period will be.
Running in your electronics can be more effective and efficient if you use a ‘Burn in Disc' which will send frequency patterns through your system instead of just music, this ensures that all frequencies are sent through your system and in equal amounts. The benefit of this is that all of your components have been stressed beyond normal use.
Cables can be ‘Burnt In' to a higher standard still. With the use of a Professional Burn In Device such as the Nordost CB1D cables can be stressed with broader and stronger signal variations and strengths than they will ever be exposed to though general use. The effect of this is a more transparent sound with sweeter detail and more natural depth. This effect can be gained with any cable. Expert Audio offers a cable burning service on any cables, either at point of purchase or at a later date, or even if you have not bought the cables directly from us. See Miscellaneous products for details.
Your system can revert too, in terms of sound quality, by not using it! No movement in drive units means they will become more rigid, no use of cables will almost make them revert back to as they were new. A good way to avoid this is to use a demagnetisation or frequency sweep product before use and to have the products switched on at all times, as this does not allow it to drop away from its stable operating temperature. Also, leaving your electronics turned on will ensure your cables remain charged and in their most effective state.
Over a period of time you will also suffer from deoxidisation on your terminals and connectors, which then prevents a good contact and allows static to build up internally and externally. See the Cleaning and Care section for a solutions to this problem.
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Interconnects & Speaker Cable
We decided to provide advice about interconnects and speaker cable together as we believe that this is exactly how they should be treated and purchased, as one item! Synergy is the most important element to getting successful sonic performance from your cable choice.
First thing to remember is that a cable cannot improve the sound created by your component, a good cable will simply loose less information than a bad one. All cables have capacitance and inductance issues, some more than others. This basically means some will suffer from lack of bass and some from lack or treble. It does not mean there is anything wrong with the cable, it is usually just an attribute of that cable. It is for this reason that if you select an interconnect and speaker cable by the same designer, with the same material properties, you will usually loose less information and improve performance. For example Silver Speaker Cable by QED should only be partnered with a Silver Interconnect from QED, this is how they were designed and this is how they will both perform best. It's the miss match of technologies, designs and materials that normally causes bad results.
We don't believe that there are many bad cables available, it is more a case of personal preference and synergy. In our opinion, most cable reviews are worthless, as the cables have been tested without any consideration for synergy or matching properties between the interconnnects and speaker cables, although there are a select few publications that do conduct long term tests on cables systems that are designed to work together.
When choosing cables, there is no substitute for your own ears. Wherever possible, you should audition different sets of cables before making your purchase. Set your budget for interconnects and speaker cables, and then try a set from each of the major brands. Where possible, a home audition is the preferred choice, as it takes each cable a day or two to settle in on your system, even if they have been professionally burnt in.
You should always spend more on your interconnects as these are the most important and first in the signal path. Never audition a cable that has not been burnt in, as it will not reveal its true performance or characteristics.
Cable length is also important to ensure maximum performance. We recommend that your interconnects are no less than 0.8m and your speaker cables are no less than 2m. The reason for this is Impedance recovery. When a signal passes through a plug, it drops, it then takes a period of time for the cable to recover the signal back to the desired impedance of the cable before passing through the connector into your component. For a wire to perform properly the signal needs to be stable. A short 0.5m cable may save you a little money but will always sound shaper and brighter than a 1m or 1.5m version. Short lengths are only advertised on this site so we do not look over priced and uncompetitive, however we do not recommend them. It is also desirable to have a plug that adds the least amount of its own attributes and resistance to the signal, therefore low mass plugs are preferred on all connections.
Although it is definitely preferable to have speaker cables of equal lengths to ensure delays are not present in your soundstage and signal strengths are even, it is worth pointing out that coiling excess cable into a ring causes far more of a problem. It may seem tidy to coil your excess cable into a ring, but by doing this you are creating a capacitor which is going to damage your amplifier and destroy the signal sent to the speaker. You will also pick up a lot more interference through your excess speaker cable being laid behind your system. It is therefore recommended to tie up your cables away from your system in long strips not coils. Alternatively seek different length cables, as in most cases the delays and signal strength will be less noticeable than the interference caused by coiling excess cables.
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Mains
Mains treatment is generally an over looked but fundamental element to setting up a system of any kind, and ensuring the maximum performance from all electronics. Depending on the design of the devices, they bring different benefits, however any electronic product that has a better supply of power will have its performance enhanced dramatically. Ensuring good quality connections and high grade cables are used, will also benefit any component that you apply it to, whether it is for mains or other types of signal.
Hi-Fi Components will show huge improvements in dynamics, energy and display better depth and clarity. Amplifiers, CD Players and DVD Players will all respond to cleaner faster signals, through higher current cables and better connections, to give the maximum performance from your power supply. With Turntables or Reel-to-Reel players, enhanced mains can improve timing to be more accurate, therefore showing significant sonic improvements. Plasma Screens benefit even more because they have a natural tendency to pick up on all mains interferences and highlight them in a very prominent fashion. A good mains supply can make the display clearer and brighter with better definition, colour and sharpness.
The first theory of mains cleaning is to have a product designed to reduce as much RFI (radio frequency interference) as possible, by filtering. Removing basic interferences and noise from your mains supply gives a cleaner sound and cleaner pictures on visual products. We would strongly recommend this type of mains treatment for use on plasma screens and other visual products. This type of product can be bought in the form of a mains distribution unit or simply as mains cables. The possible negative to filtering is with audio systems, where the filtering constricts the signal and therefore the sound. It is recommended to use a minimum amount of filtering cables, as it is easy to over do it. This does not apply to all filtering designs as some work very well, we would just suggest that caution be taken and where possible, trial the products before committing to large expenditure.
Another design is to stabilise or condition the supply of your mains. This is usually achieved via a distribution block of some kind and can really clean up both images and sound. This can be done with a simple choke and filter or more advanced regeneration techniques to supply cleaner mains. Both are very effective and often benefit multiple components, as they are usually incorporated in distribution units. These units will also benefit from additional mains signal cables, to enhance their performance. Again if you are using one of these devices be very cautious of the accompanying mains cable that you select, so that you do not over filter your mains signal.
Another technique is that of high speed signal transfer. The cables used will often not have any additional filtering, other than being twisted to reduce some RFI, but are primarily designed to add energy to your sound by allowing a faster signal transfer. These cable are best used in audio systems to enhance dynamics and details but can also be used very effectively on visual products as they make perfect partners for mains conditioning units.
We would generally recommend using mains cables that are 1.5-2 meters long. The mains cables are most effective at this length due to impedance recovery. Once the mains signal passes through all the components of a mains plug, the signal impedance is effected, it then takes approx 1.5-2 meters of mains cable to return the signal to its correct impedance, before passing through the mains socket on your electronics. A negative to a longer mains cable is that it can work as a larger aerial to attract interference.
Another way you can improve your mains supply is to put in a dedicated mains spur for your system. The benefit is that your system will not suffer from interference caused by other household appliances on the same main spur. Additionally, improved mains earthing can reduce interference and noise. A simple way of improving mains earthing is to place a copper rod into the earth outside of your house, and run an earth cable back to your mains distribution block.
Notice: You should always seek advice from a qualified electrician before making any adjustments to your household mains.
If you would like further advice on selecting which mains accessories are best suited for you call the sales line on 0870 321 2125.
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Cleaning & Care
The cleaning of your equipment, cables and media should never be underestimated. If your source material is not clean you are not giving you components the chance to perform as they were intended to.
It is of course important with all forms of media but perhaps none as much as vinyl. The cleaning and after care of your records and stylus are essential to the end result. Firstly ensuring that your record is thoroughly cleaned with non abrasive methods and solutions will help by lifting as much from the record grooves as possible, without leaving any form of residue.
My recommendation for this is to find a local dealer who offers a professional cleaning service of vinyl on a fully automatic cleaning machine, as this will give you the best results. This of course will cost, but any user of high end turntables should be doing so to maximise their investment in their products.
If you can't find or don't have a local dealer who is prepared to do this for you then you can consider the purchase of such a machine for yourself or maybe even as a shared investment with others. Alternatives consist of scrubbing baths with an evaporating high alcohol anti-static solution. These are not as effective but are still a very good method of cleaning your records. I would not suggest any other detergents to be used on vinyl.
After your record is clean they should be placed into a proper non abrasive anti-static record sleeve and not left in the original paper ones often supplied with vinyl. These do not help the life of the vinyl as they give surface marks and cause static build up which will all effect the playing of the record. Another treatment you can use, is to coat the record in a preservative solution to stop any early record wear. Records should then be stored in a environment with a stable temperature to prevent warping. You should also keep an anti-static brush to hand in case you need to remove some surface dust. Remember that playing the record will remove the very deep set dust but the friction caused by the build up will all add to your record and stylus wear.
Keeping your Stylus clean is just as important. You should have a carbon based stylus brush to remove all unwanted dust accumulated during playing and, in our opinion, a proper stylus cleaning solution. Again you can get a stylus preservative that will help protect the investment that you have made in your cartridge or stylus.
Another problem often over looked is the cleanliness of your connectors, sockets and cables. All metals will oxidise ( RUST ). Gold is often selected as a plating material for plugs and connectors not only for its contact qualities as most people are aware, but because it oxidises slower than most other metals. Even though it's slower it will like all metals oxidise. Using a good Deoxidisation treatment like the Caig Deox-it every few months will keep your plugs and inputs cleaner than new! Use it in conjunction with Pro-gold contact enhancer for the best results.
As a result of general use, your cables, media and your system will build up with static internally and externally, which will interfere with the signal transfer. We would suggest treating your cable every 3 months with an anti static solution like Nordost Eco 3; this will remove and prevent static build up. We suggest wiping all cables and connectors, speaker drive units and the label side of your CD's & DVD 's. To combat internal magnetism use something like the Isotek system enhancer disc every month or so.
Finally try not to let any real excess of dirt or dust build up on any of your electronics, it does not help with the performance or life span of a unit. Smoking in the same room or open fires will effect units and cause premature ageing of your system. Hi-Fi components are best kept in a clean well ventilated area and dusted regularly.
And remember just because something is new it does not mean it is clean! So clean it! - most plugs and cables have been sitting in storage for months or sometimes even years.
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Cartridge & Styli
There is a wide variety of different styles of cartridges on the market. The easiest place to start, is to decide what you require from your cartridge. All Cartridges work on a similar principle of a magnet and a coil internally and a diamond as the stylus tip. It's the configuration and quality of the independent item used that dictates the quality and intentions of use for each cartridge.
For Music listening there are 2 basic categories of Cartridge (of course with a few exceptions thrown in) which is decided on how the cartridge produces is information. The easiest way to understand this is to put them into their 2 categories which is ‘Moving Magnet' and ‘Moving Coil.'
Moving Magnet Music Cartridges have a Diamond Stylus Tip on one end of a cantilever and a small magnet at the other end. The Stylus then slots into the cartridge body where it sits between coils that pick up on the magnets vibrations as the stylus tip tracks the record. Moving Magnets are a HIGH output cartridges and most internal phono stages will only accept a moving magnet cartridge. Because of the way these are made, generally Moving Magnet Cartridges have removable Stylus and are usually the lower priced products.
Moving Coil Music Cartridges are usually the highest quality type of cartridge. Reversing the technology of the moving magnet cartridge, you have a magnet inside the cartridge body and a very sensitive precisely wired coil attached to the opposite end of the cantilever to the stylus tip. Because of the way the stylus is wired into the cartridge body they are not replaceable but a lot of manufactures will offer an exchange program to reduce the cost when the time comes for replacement. Moving coils are generally very low output and do require a specific type of input to work properly.
All of the above cartridges will be compatible with and sold to play 33/45 RPM records. The stylus tip on these will be too small to play a 78 RPM record regardless of whether your deck will spin the disc at the right speed. Some MM cartridges, because they have interchangeable stylus, can be fitted with a specific 78 RPM compatible stylus which you can then remove again when you wish to go back to 33/45 RPM records
A growing use for the remaining type of cartridges is for DJ's. It is important if you wish to use a cartridge for mixing or scratching that you have chosen a cartridge specific for that task. A DJ Cartridge is made to have very low tracking force so the record and stylus will not be damaged from the repeated use and rough treatment placed upon them. They will also track better when being manually speeded up or back spun during scratching. A quality choice can still be made however based on the quality of the stylus tip. A basic Spherical stylus tip will give a more pronounced bass response and be cheaper where as an elliptical stylus tip will offer much greater clarity. A specific cartridge is recommended for scratching which also has an even less abrasive stylus so to not wear the record more than is necessary as they are harder to replace than any stylus.
It is important with all cartridges to ensure they are clean. A stylus brush is the minimum we would recommend to make sure you are not damaging your records more than you need to and that you get the best sound possible. We would also recommend a proper wet stylus cleaner to remover all the built up dirt that's not so visible and a stylus treatment that slows down stylus and record wear.
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Tonearms
It is almost impossible to advise on tonearm selection as it is such a personal thing and results differ on each deck that you put the tonearm on. There are a few different types of tonearm including fixed arm, parallel tracking and unipivot. We would always suggest trialing a tonearm if you can. Also consider what mounting plate you will require to fit the tonearm onto your deck, they are not all the same! Most tonearms on this website use a Rega cut.
The most common tonearm seen in the market place is the Rega RB250/300. Although these arms represent terrific value for money a few simple upgrades can really transform this tonearm to a different level. Simply apply a good internal wiring kit instead of the average wires that it is supplied with. This makes a huge difference for a minimal amount of money. Another upgrade worth considering is a weight modification, there are a few on the market to choose from but our advice is to make sure you do at least do one of them.
Another note on a similar subject is to be very cautious of all Rega looking arms on inexpensive products. They can be of lower quality and tolerances than the originals. Original equipment manufactured arms on expensive decks are all perfectly good but will still benefit greatly from the upgrades suggested above.
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Phono Stages
A phono stage is a pre-amplifier that increases the output signal of a cartridge so that it matches the output of a digitally controlled component. It can then be plugged into an amplifier using any input. Having a phono stage is an essential requirement if you wish to listen to a Turntable.
Some Amplifiers have this facility built into them but the quality of these are always suspect. A £45 external phono stage will most likely be an upgrade from an internal one. You should spend at least an equivalent amount of money on your phono stage to your cartridge in most cases as only this component is essential to revealing the true performance of your cartridge.
You should be careful when selecting a phono stage to ensure compatibility with the output of the cartridge you are intending to use with it. Moving Coil outputs are the most complicated so if you are unsure then I would suggest contacting your local dealer or call our sales line.
As well as normal phono stages you can also buy MC elevator's which will increase the output of a MC cartridge to that of a MM but without amplifying a lot of other unwanted noise that you often get when you use a preamp with its internal sensitivity turned up very high.
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Isolation & Furniture
Isolation is a key factor in ensuring the best performance from your system, Speaker isolation and component isolation is equally important. Isolation is about decoupling the components and speakers away from interference from room vibrations and low frequency ground bourne interference.
There are many ways which this can be done starting with the primitive but common floor spike! This is usually supplied with equipment racks, speaker stands and floor standing speakers. These are often misused as products are not leveled correctly and are left rocking or in some cases with the spikes have no real contact with the floor at all, thus preventing the spike doing anything at all. The spikes design means it requires firm and stable contact with a solid base to transfer the energy away from the product they are supposed to be isolating.
There are more advanced varieties of energy management that will genuinely bring large sonic performances enhancements to your system. Price is usually the best guide to performance with these devices, as the best way to improve isolation is to use more expensive materials. The use of Carbon Fibre or Brass is the first step as they are the cheapest, but do not manage to displace the energy efficiently. Aluminum and Titanium are far better for the job, titanium is always the most expensive, not because of its raw material cost, but because of its extreme strength it becomes a very expensive manufacturing process and it's the strength that makes it perform so well.
An alternative type of isolation is absorption. This tries to prevent vibration from hitting the component instead of channeling it away. The most commonly used materials for this are sorbothane and air suspension. This is a very different method of isolation and is also very effective, Air suspension is usually utilised in platforms where an air pressure sill will be incorporated so separate the 2 surfaces. Sorbothane is usually used as feet or as cones for use under equipment.
Isolation platforms are extremely effective as they can be used in conjunction with other isolation devices and provide you with a very high standard surface to start with. Even with a full Hi-Fi rack, a purpose made shelf will bring good sonic improvements. Shelves will usually be made from a form of wood or MDF with cones or spikes to enable leveling and provide additional isolation.
Hi-Fi Racks can be considered as isolation in some cases but in others they can actually impair the performance of your equipment. Housing the items on individual shelves certainly helps with air circulation but sitting the items on a substance such as glass will bring its own ringing properties into to sound. This is where isolation devices are most valuable, where perhaps you have bought a rack based on design not its sound properties. This can be a happy compromise giving design and performance. Good isolation devices can also be friendlier to your environment, for example on wooden floors, a traditional spike can cause damage whereas alternatives, such as an RDC cone and cup systems will not cause damage and will also do a superior job with the sonic performance.
The more you can decouple your components from fixed surfaces and weak materials the better they will all respond. For further advice please call the sales line on 0870 3212125.
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Headphones
Different headphones are suitable for different tasks. Whilst all might be high quality you will get the best results by selecting the model designed for the task you have in mind. You should also consider the environment you will be using headphones. Different designs all have different positives and negatives.
For the best quality and most transparent sound an open backed headphone will perform the best. The lack of pressure in the capsule allows a cleaner faster and richer sound as the drive units can move more freely. The negative to an open back headphone is that they will leak noise from the outside of the capsule. Most Hi-Fi or home music listening headphones are open backed as these headphones are really designed with limited restrictions and really excel in comfort and sound performance alone.
If you use your headphones in a populated or noisy area's and do not wish to burden others with any sound from your music or hear what is happening outside the headphones then a closed back headphone is more suitable. A closed back design allows less noise in and out of the capsule by sealing it off from external interference. These headphones are most suitable for professional applications. for example: if you are a musician, DJ or even commentating you require the absolute minimum amount of external interference with your listening material to enable you to do your job most efficiently.
If you use your headphones for listening while traveling then a couple of considerations can also be made. Of course size becomes an issue as you may like your headphones to be a more discreet design to wear in public, you may like closed back to not disturb people and the final consideration would be ‘noise canceling', This is a new technology that helps to reduce more constant back ground noises such as when traveling by train or plain by using advanced phasing techniques. You should also pay close attention to the impedance (sensitivity) of the headphones to make sure they will perform correctly on your portable device. A low impedance number is most suitable as the amplification in portable items is usually of very low output and current due to sizes and other considerations such as battery use.
Headphone Amplifiers are becoming more popular all the time as more and more people realise the actual potential of their headphones finally realising that the output for headphones in nearly all Hi-Fi Amplifiers and Hi-Fi Systems are of at best poor performance and will not stress or push a low impedance high quality headphones to anywhere near their true performance which is usually way beyond a speakers ability. All that is needed for a headphone amplifier to run is a line level output on your source component or you can use a tape loop on an amplifier. I would suggest spending more or at less the same amount of money on your headphone amplifier as your actual headphones to get the best results.
My final note is on Wireless headphones. Although these products have improved drastically over recent years you should not expect a sound quality equivalent to that of a wired headphone. The main reason for this is that more resources are required such as batteries, transmitters and amplifiers in the headphones themselves. The other reason is that converting an audio signal to an RF signal then back again really does not help the quality or strength of the signal. All of these issues mean you should expect a sound quality level equivalent to a wired headphone of approximately one third of the price of a wireless set. E.g. £100 wireless will sound approximately the same quality as a £35 wired headphone. Having explained all the negatives of a wireless system in great detail you do need to consider the huge benefits too!! Wired headphones are supplied with approximately 3m of wire whereas a wireless headphone can move up to 100m away from your sound source including through walls and outside of the house giving them facility and convenience beyond wired headphones. Of course you also do not get the hassle of a wire either which until you try a set of wireless headphones you will not appreciate the difference for comfort in bed or listening to TV while trying not to disturb others. You will find only the best wireless headphones on this website and they are all highly recommended for their place in the market.
I do not wish to put anyone off buying any headphone for any purpose; I am simply trying to help put the headphones that will best suit your purpose in your hands. For further advice please call the sales line on 0870 3212125
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Tweaks & Recommendations
More information coming soon...
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