my audio system does not sound good

[popeyeindian]

Hello Forum, 

 

I have recently bought Klipsch RP600M speakers along with Denon DRA 800 H amplifier. I use Tidal (Hi-Fi/MQ) to stream the music on it. 

 

but it does not sound good. what can I do to improve sound quality? does adding a pre-amp help? is the source good enough (I am running Tidal on my phone though I think the receiver streams it directly without involving the phone) 

 

Thanks,

[NinJake]

What do you mean it "does not sound good"? What doesn't sound good to your ears? You can try and EQ a bit, however if you are used to cheap logitech speakers it is quite a difference once you start moving up in the audio world. If that's the case, remove your expectations of "what i had before, but better", and try to listen to songs and look for nuances in the songs that you maybe never knew existed.

 

I don't have experience with those speakers though, my friend has some of the floor-standing ones in his living room.

[AbydosOne]

8 minutes ago, popeyeindian said:

but it does not sound good

Quick check: are your speakers in phase? Make sure the polarities out from your amp match to the inputs of your speakers.

 

Otherwise, describe the qualities you feel you're missing?

[popeyeindian]

1 minute ago, NinJake said:

What do you mean it "does not sound good"? What doesn't sound good to your ears? You can try and EQ a bit, however if you are used to cheap logitech speakers it is quite a difference once you start moving up in the audio world. If that's the case, remove your expectations of "what i had before, but better", and try to listen to songs and look for nuances in the songs that you maybe never knew existed.

 

I don't have experience with those speakers though, my friend has some of the floor-standing ones in his living room.

I had a bose system before (still do) and these Klipsch speakers sound a bit harsh to me(they definitly sound better than bose though), a bit more treble than I would like. 

 

Also, I have experimented with EQ. dont make assumptions about what speakers I or anybody else is used to .  

[tikker]

3 minutes ago, popeyeindian said:

I had a bose system before (still do) and these Klipsch speakers sound a bit harsh to me(they definitly sound better than bose though), a bit more treble than I would like. 

 

Also, I have experimented with EQ. dont make assumptions about what speakers I or anybody else is used to .  

Nobody's assuming anything He's just mentioning there's a big difference between common "cheap" speakers and actual high end audio speakers. For all we know your "Bose system" (name doesn't always mean quality) sounds terrible.

 

Klipsch are known to be bright (or harsh as you say) on the treble. You can try EQing the treble down, but in the end some speakers will have a certain sound to them. That's why people often recommend to listen to them if you can before buying.

[popeyeindian]

7 minutes ago, AbydosOne said:

Quick check: are your speakers in phase? Make sure the polarities out from your amp match to the inputs of your speakers.

 

Otherwise, describe the qualities you feel you're missing?

how do I check for phase? they are connected with a 16 Gauge cable to the 'B' terminal on the amplifier. 

 

it has more treble than I would like and EQ does not make it go away. I think a pre-amp might help but not sure. it sounds distorted when playing some tracks but sound okay for others. 

 

Thanks for your reply.  

[NinJake]

I was throwing those speakers out as a general example of what most people start off with. (Myself included). I was in the same boat where once I got some decent speakers the difference was night and day, at first I had negative thoughts about the "lack of fat bass etc" and the treble also seemed to stick out far too much. My ears were just accustomed to bass heavy audio with the highs severely cut off. Watching LTT and other youtube videos, movies, music.. all sounded so much different from what I was used to.

 

Now that I've had time to adjust to a flatter frequency response, logitechs are now the odd-sounding speakers to me.

 

If all you have are sharp highs, and tried EQ... I'm not too sure what else to say except you could possibly return those speakers if qualified for refund and try other speakers.

[popeyeindian]

1 minute ago, NinJake said:

I was throwing those speakers out as a general example of what most people start off with. (Myself included). I was in the same boat where once I got some decent speakers the difference was night and day, at first I had negative thoughts about the "lack of fat bass etc" and the treble also seemed to stick out far too much. My ears were just accustomed to bass heavy audio with the highs severely cut off. Watching LTT and other youtube videos, movies, music.. all sounded so much different from what I was used to.

 

Now that I've had time to adjust to a flatter frequency response, logitechs are now the odd-sounding speakers to me.

 

If all you have are sharp highs, and tried EQ... I'm not too sure what else to say except you could possibly return those speakers if qualified for refund and try other speakers.

I see... sorry about that. 

 

I am hoping a pre-amp would fix the issue. 

[NinJake]

11 minutes ago, tikker said:

in the end some speakers will have a certain sound to them

You can try and "mask" the highs with a pre-amp however as @tikker stated above, speakers have their own unique characteristics to them. Either trying before buying or going to shops and listening is your best bet. Next in line is to do as much research as you can.

 

Now that you know how those sound, you can try to find some graphs and reviews of what people say about them and look for other speakers with a little less treble.

[Ahoy Hoy]

Have you tried plugging a audio device in directly with a cable instead of streaming.

[AbydosOne]

6 hours ago, popeyeindian said:

how do I check for phase?

Just make sure red terminal goes to red terminal, black goes to black. I messed this up once and spent a week wondering why my speakers suddenly sounded so different (it causes soundwaves to cancel themselves out).

[RRRuss]

If it was out of phase I don’t think you’d be experiencing the harshness in the way you describe - both more and speakers are bright and it sound like it’s not a sound trait you like. 
 

you need to change your speakers for something ‘warmer’ - is that an option and what would the budget be please? 

[popeyeindian]

I added a SMSL M400 DAC, started using a desktop PC to play music and got high resolution audio files for the music I want. Also, added a Dayton Audio Sub.

 

The system sounds great now

 

Thank you all for replying.

[geo3]

Try taking a half or quarter of a cotton ball and stuffing it in the tweeter hole.  It's an easily reversible mod if it sounds terrible.

 

Also experiment with position and angling. Try them further away and try a toe-out angle.