First Stereo - Wharfdedale 9.2 and Marantz

[seal78]

Dear Forum Members

After reading through the forum for several months and auditioning (with a budget constraint of 40k which was extended little to accommodate this), finally I have made my first stereo purchase. I bought Wharfedale 9.2 (from Vector Bangalore) and Marantz PM/CD 5004 (Combo offer through HiFi Mart). Both got delivered yesterday.

First song after I plugged in the system was Eagles-Hotel California, Little disappointment here ..... it was not giving the effect which it had when I auditioned earlier . Will have to patently wait till the burn in and opening up period. No I am exploring the various possibilities of positioning it in an appropriate place in my home with minimalistic interference to space and aesthetics (Wife's requirement ) and out of reach of a young inquisitive mind, who is first one to spot any additions in the house (my 3 year old kid).

Thanks to this forum.

 

[adie]

hi seal congrates on ur purchase. it takes some time to settle up. both ur spkrs and amp are good choice. final system will depend upon ur choice of source. enjoy

 

[jaudere]

The reason for the difference in showroom and at home is due to optimization of room acoustics. If the sound is not good enough even after 15 days, you may need to fiidle with position (within your limits)

 

[Rupam]

good quality Interconnects are also important in stereo set up. What are you using?

 

[S.P.KRISHNA]

Dear Forum Members
First song after I plugged in the system was Eagles-Hotel California, Little disappointment here ..... it was not giving the effect which it had when I auditioned earlier .
Thanks to this forum.

Did you auditioned the same combo and if so / if not where did you find the difference. The Marantz Amp will not attack the 10.2 in lows and you may not find the Dynamism in the music if you pump up the Amp to enjoy the lows.

Regards

 

[olly42]

Congratulations wait for the burn in and then you will need to experiment with placement of speakers...

 

[jk_chaos]

Congrats on the set up bro!! try and source a pair of stands for the bookshelves and there will be a huge difference in the way the speakers sound, the best VFM ones available being the ones from sound foundations. You can contact our fellow forum member "magma" for further details. Sure he'll be of great help!

 

[spirovious]

Congrats & have patience,sound will improve later.

 

[koushik]

Well the sound will definitely better with time, cable, placement etc but IMO a good system will definitely make its mark and show its class at the very first go. Good luck!

 

[rud3dawg]

Congratz Seal78... way to go...!!!

 

[seal78]

Did you auditioned the same combo and if so / if not where did you find the difference. The Marantz Amp will not attack the 10.2 in lows and you may not find the Dynamism in the music if you pump up the Amp to enjoy the lows.

Regards

I did not audition this combo! I have auditioned the Wharfedale 9.2 with Denon stereo amp as the source.

Finally after changing the placement of the setup and tweaking the bass and treble, its sounding much better. Presently there is 18 ft from the speaker to the wall. In the earlier position the distance from the wall was 8 ft. In this the bass was getting reflected and it was overwhelming.

Presently i am using DAC SPK 16, 16 AWG cable (without a banana plug) between the amp and speaker and the interconnect that came with the CD player (between the amp and CD player... this looks like a cheap one). Is there a better cable suitable for this set up?

 

[S.P.KRISHNA]

Is there a better cable suitable for this set up?

At a later stage try to upgrade with Monster intercoonects and cables. Marantz combo you have is excellent particularly with their openness and detailing. I think your dissapointment is in the area of Punch that was produced by Denon Amp in the lows. Marantz cannot match Denon in the lows. But of the two Marantz is the best and it is a audiofile amp. If you hear to both the amps side by side you can note the authoritativeness of Marantz in highs and mids and which frequencies are very important to music than to the lows.
Happy hearing.

Regards

 

[Nikhil]

Congratulations seal! My suggestion would be to place the speakers at ear height (if you can) wherever you are planning to listen to your music. I would also re-look the speaker connection if you've connected the speaker cables correctly.

Enjoy and welcome to the world of great sound!

 

[kendun]

I would also re-look the speaker connection if you've connected the speaker cables correctly.

Enjoy and welcome to the world of great sound!

Yep, Seal, I would look at the speaker connections carefully to ensure that it has been connected correctly. I remember my foray into hifi a few years ago and I had bought entry level hifi kit based on forum and magazine reviews but was underwhelmed initially as I thought the music sounded worse than my all in one - I hadn't connected the speakers properly

Once the connections were sorted out, the music was in a different league and I started to slide down the slippery slope of hifi hyeah:

Apologies if I am just reiterating basics

 

[iaudio]

Seal78, the interconnects that come with the cdp are not good. Get atleast a pair of interconnects from mx, bandridge etc. it will make a substantial improvement.

 

[anuragn]

Congrats. A very nice stereo setup.

I suggest to get good quality stands, maybe from Magma as already suggested by a FM.
Also, place the speakers according to the equilateral triangle rule i.e. the listening position at one corner while speakers at the other two corners.
This would definitely improve the listening experience.

 

[ravin]

Congrats on your purchase.

To start with, you will need a good pair of bookshelf speaker stands. Then "google" for stereo setup and speaker placements. There are some articles about stereo setup in Crutchfield. This would get you started in experimenting the hi-fi realm.

Before you invest in interconnects and cables, allow your equipment to open up and you get accustomed to the sounds. By this, you will know what is lacking in your music so that you can buy interconnects and cables to fulfil those missing tones and frequencies in your music.

 

[seal78]

Krishna, Nikhil, Kendun, Iaudio, Anuragn, Ravin - Thanks for all your inputs. Will look into these aspects. Presently I am planning to give a burn in/opening up time time of 1-2 months and slowly take the next steps as suggested by you all.

 

[tirthankar]

Seal, as per the photo you have posted, the speakers are too close to each other. This can affect both the stereo imaging and bass, as channels will overlap and the lower frequencies of one will be cancelled by the other. I will suggest you move them further apart. The distance of 18 feet from the rear is too much I feel. You should move them a bit closer to the rear wall.
As suggested by other members, investing in a pair of stands will bring a huge change in the sound .
I had listened to a denon amp and I felt it had a FAT sound, lower frequencies were prominent at the cost of mid and high detail. Marantz should be a much more detailed amp with a more flatter output.
Placing speakers too high from ear level can also affect the perceived bass.

You have assembled a good starter system. Congratulations and enjoy.