D
Deleted member 15865
Guest
Yes, I experienced this first hand recently. I had fairly upgraded and optimised my stereo system before this and I was happy with the sound. I have a largish living room (340 sq ft) with multiple windows and cross ventilation, hence I never considered air conditioning it till now. But this summer beats all records for high temperatures and I had to give in and get it fitted with a split AC.
And then after the installation was complete I fired my system up with the windows closed and air conditioning on. And guys, was I surprised! Oh yeah. The clarity went up by notches. And the details - wow! I could hear so much more of the music I have heard umpteen times before. Let me give you one example. The last song on Mark Knopfler’s album ‘Tracker’ has the instruments coming on very slowlly. Earlier, I couldn’t hear anything till about 8 seconds into the song. (Try it and see when you start listening the sound). But now right into the 2nd second I started hearing it. So, my system had the detail, which I couldn’t hear earlier due to the ambient noise.
And then I started listening to other albums and I started discovering not just more detail. The sound has become much more lively/immediate. The immersion in the music has increased manifold as I get to hear what the singer and musicians were doing at the subtler level. Also the interplay/harmony between instruments is much more nuanced now. Norah Jones ‘Come Away’ with me was a favourite album always, but now it was like the musicians playing right there in front of me with so much virtuosity, and she is tempting me to go away with her. The brushed stroking of drums, the sustained sound of the strings... so many things the artists did that you were supposed to hear in the first place, but couldn’t due to the ambient noise around you.
And mind you. I live in one of the quietest areas in Thane, Mumbai. There’s no road for about 300 m from my building in any of the directions.And am on a high floor. And yet the sound isolation I could get by closing the windows with the AC allowed me to do is causing such a huge difference! If you live in a busy place, your dividends will only be higher.
So guys, if you haven’t yet gone the AC way, and even if your house is well ventilated, do consider conditioning your living room with a good split AC - it’s the best investment you can do in your system once you’ve done all other optimisation (including speaker placement - read my other thread in it). The 50 odd K you’d spend will take your system up a couple of rungs on the hi-fi sound ladder - and you’d enjoy your music a lot more than before. I’d say especially if your are into listening to acoustic music like Jazz, Classical, Country, Soul etc, you should do yourself the favour.
Here’s the hero who made this difference
And then after the installation was complete I fired my system up with the windows closed and air conditioning on. And guys, was I surprised! Oh yeah. The clarity went up by notches. And the details - wow! I could hear so much more of the music I have heard umpteen times before. Let me give you one example. The last song on Mark Knopfler’s album ‘Tracker’ has the instruments coming on very slowlly. Earlier, I couldn’t hear anything till about 8 seconds into the song. (Try it and see when you start listening the sound). But now right into the 2nd second I started hearing it. So, my system had the detail, which I couldn’t hear earlier due to the ambient noise.
And then I started listening to other albums and I started discovering not just more detail. The sound has become much more lively/immediate. The immersion in the music has increased manifold as I get to hear what the singer and musicians were doing at the subtler level. Also the interplay/harmony between instruments is much more nuanced now. Norah Jones ‘Come Away’ with me was a favourite album always, but now it was like the musicians playing right there in front of me with so much virtuosity, and she is tempting me to go away with her. The brushed stroking of drums, the sustained sound of the strings... so many things the artists did that you were supposed to hear in the first place, but couldn’t due to the ambient noise around you.
And mind you. I live in one of the quietest areas in Thane, Mumbai. There’s no road for about 300 m from my building in any of the directions.And am on a high floor. And yet the sound isolation I could get by closing the windows with the AC allowed me to do is causing such a huge difference! If you live in a busy place, your dividends will only be higher.
So guys, if you haven’t yet gone the AC way, and even if your house is well ventilated, do consider conditioning your living room with a good split AC - it’s the best investment you can do in your system once you’ve done all other optimisation (including speaker placement - read my other thread in it). The 50 odd K you’d spend will take your system up a couple of rungs on the hi-fi sound ladder - and you’d enjoy your music a lot more than before. I’d say especially if your are into listening to acoustic music like Jazz, Classical, Country, Soul etc, you should do yourself the favour.
Here’s the hero who made this difference
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