Are you dedicated to a house sound?

Discussion in 'Audio Hardware' started by audiorocks, May 27, 2015.

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  1. audiorocks

    audiorocks Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    California
    I've been on a pretty long audio road (maybe not in years compared to some, but in effort) and at this point I've ended up with Red Wine Audio integrated amp, DAC, and phonostage and I'm actually able to fully enjoy the sound. Weird! I never really considered sticking with one brand for all of the electronics but it makes sense now that I've experienced the importance of sound signature. Previously I would go for whatever was best reviewed for each component. Has anyone else found themself settling on a single house sound?
     
  2. Gary

    Gary Nauga Gort! Staff

    Location:
    Toronto
    Makes sense since all manufacturers would match their components pretty closely. Or should. :)
     
  3. BayouTiger

    BayouTiger Forum Resident

    McIntosh has built about the most valuable brand identity in the business around it!!!

    I don't really buy the premise at all. But I can say that I have listened to an all ARC based system with their Reference components driving speakers that were far from megabuck and it was truly amazing, but I would expect no less from $60,000 worth of components just to play a CD!
     
    beowulf likes this.
  4. Rolltide

    Rolltide Forum Resident

    Location:
    Vallejo, CA
    McIntosh definitely has synergy between the components.
     
    beowulf likes this.
  5. bluesky

    bluesky Senior Member

    Location:
    south florida, usa
    Sansui's TOTL gear.
     
  6. Ntotrar

    Ntotrar Forum Resident

    Location:
    Tri-Cities TN
    I have a system that is 90% Rega, don't discount the possibility of synergy, it is real. The sum is greater than the parts. Non-Rega components include wire by Kimber and sub bass speaker by REL. Synergy lives here!
     
    Dmann201 and bhazen like this.
  7. Sticking with Schiit for DAC & Amp. My 5.1 speaker set up is a mix of two brands.
     
  8. Diamond Dog

    Diamond Dog Cautionary Example

    No.
    Been there, done that over the years with all- Technics, mostly Arcam and mostly Bryston systems and my current system is a total mongrel mix of gear from Japan, Canada, Britain, The Netherlands and America. It's never sounded better.I don't dispute the concept of synergy but it can be had by gathering gear from a variety of sources rather than from one manufacturer exclusively. In fact, a particular aspect of a single manufacturer's house sound - say, a tendency towards brightness - can be accentuated to annoying levels in an all-brand-X system. And some of the supposed synergies between certain brands ( PMC and Bryston springs to mind immediately ) are way overrated in my experience.

    I have a hard time accepting that a single manufacturer offers the Alpha and the Omega of every equipment category so I don't feel compelled to stick with a single manufacturer's creations when assembling a system.

    D.D.
     
  9. bhazen

    bhazen I Am The Walrus

    Location:
    Deepest suburbia
    I have yet to hear an Audio Note or Shindo system, so I cannot make a definitive statement; as these marques are priced in the high end, I may never end up there.

    At the more attainable end of things, an all-Rega or all-Naim system can be pretty wonderful and yes, musically synergistic. I hope to have a Naim setup going here pretty soon.
     
  10. missan

    missan Forum Resident

    Location:
    Stockholm
    No I´m not, if not my house counts, it has some weird noises sometimes at nights. I think it´s maybe these old northern mythology figures, like Yggdrasil, Gungnir, Thoor, Freja and all the others and that aren´t that keen on the new attention they are getting in the wrong circumstances.
     
    russk likes this.
  11. triple

    triple Senior Member

    Location:
    Zagreb, Croatia
    What about "coherent cable looms" - do they count here?
     
  12. DeRosa

    DeRosa Vinyl Forever

    I've been all Naim for quite a while. I think some brands do have a synergy, but I also find
    that if I like a brand, I just want more things from them, sort of like Apple products.

    There is a lot of HiFi gear that doesn't appeal to my design preferences, often I end up with
    one brand because it's such a challenge finding something that like, and I don't hate the way it looks.
     
    Alan2 and Mazzy like this.
  13. JBryan

    JBryan Forum Resident

    Location:
    St Louis
    No. One of the reasons that there are so many types and brands of audio gear out there is that very few people share the same sound preferences - about the same probability as having the exact music library as someone else. There is no perfect set up and mixing and matching seems to be the only way to discover just what appeals to one's particular taste. I think some companies do their best to offer a package that works well together but in the end, your just buying someone else's idea of what sounds good.
     
  14. audiorocks

    audiorocks Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    California
    Exactly. So if you find a designer you agree with, it makes sense to try filling out your shelf with their stuff. I would have totally disagreed with this a short time ago. But here I am wishing I hadn't wasted to much time. It makes sense.
     
  15. russk

    russk Forum Resident

    Location:
    Syracuse NY
    Ive done the match every component route and play them through the brand of speaker that they use at shows. It gives you good synergy I guess. I can get better synergy matching components and speakers myself, and I think anybody can. One manufacturer is limited to what they can actually make, limited to a set period of time (no cool vintage pieces), and has no idea how my setup will be necessitated do to my room.

    That said I do tend to like house sounds. I like Rega for analog and digital.
     
  16. Diamond Dog

    Diamond Dog Cautionary Example

    That is an area where I've found success staying consistent with one manufacturer and one series of products but I know others using the same stuff I do cable-wise who have ended up making changes so it's a tough one..

    D.D.
     
  17. The Pinhead

    The Pinhead KING OF BOOM AND SIZZLE IN HELL

    Never believed in a ¨house sound¨. A company can manufacture terrific amps but mediocre speakers (or good speakers whose sound you don't like). So I pick brands according to my preferences and budget. Do I have a preference ? Indeed. Pioneer is my soft spot and 4 of my components are Pioneer but the rest of my stereo gear is Klipsch, JBL, Behringer, Technics.

    Synergy ? Never experienced a problem.
     
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  18. JamesD1957

    JamesD1957 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Cypress, Texas
    Only if that house is "Heinz 57" ;)
     
  19. varyat

    varyat Forum Resident

    Location:
    wheaton,IL,USA
    All Naim here-since the 80's....
     
    DeRosa likes this.
  20. ggergm

    ggergm another spring another baseball season

    Location:
    Minnesota
    I've always learned from companies with a house sound. Linn is probably the best example. They have such a distinctive sound I was greatly attracted to it in the 1970s. It just sounded enjoyable, maybe not real, but enjoyable.

    Yamaha has a house sound with a bit too much upper midrange/lower treble in the presence region. When it's done right, it can be very appealing. When it's done wrong, it can be annoying as heck.

    Nakamichi cassette decks definitely had a house sound, so much so that tapes recorded in a Nak often didn't sound right in other decks.

    For twenty years I used a B&O whole house music system as my daily driver. I loved it, with speakers in the bathroom, kitchen and out on my deck, all controlled by a remote. This was pretty heady stuff when I installed it in 1986. B&O's house sound is very mellow, with never a coarse edge. After 20 years I'd grown tired of it, wanting some more pizzazz. I certainly didn't regret my 20 years with B&O's house sound but it was also time for a change.
     
  21. Jim T

    Jim T Forum Resident

    Location:
    Mars
    I probably have more Denon gear than anything else right now, except my 3 Sony DVP-NS 755 SACD/DVD/Cd players and my Yamaha S-1800 that resides in a separate system of a Denon DRA-397 and DCP290 Cd player. But into that I have my Yahama S-1800 that gets to most disc play, but also into that DRA 397 is a Sony DTC-690 DAT and a Sony MDS;JE330 minidisc reocorder/player. Also in this is a $60 Sony PS-LH350H I bought new off a closeout on Amazon. It has a Shure M97 on it. That drives a pair of newer AR-15 bookshelf speakers from the later 1990's.

    Another system has a Denon receiver with one of my Sony SACD players and a Yamaha P550 TT/Stanton 881S and a Denon DRS-810 3-head cassette deck that drives my AR-58s (1984) .

    Driving my old large Advents is a Pioneer Elite VSX 21 with another one of those Sony SACD players, a cheap Toshiba BlueRay player and my refurbished Dual 502 with the new Rega 202 arm installed. The video for that is a 42" Philips 720P TV, all in the mancave.

    It is a hodgepodge of stuff for sure along with all my recording gear of 15 mics and 3 mixing boards and Lexicon DSP. I moved a technics RS-B48R cassette deck into that mess for quick sound checks. It has Dolbly B, C, and DBX . Only use Dolby C for recording and B for commercial cassette playback.

    I guess I have always like the Denon amp sound. The Pioneer Elite is much the same. Probably would be nice if I bought something from THIS century. lol

    Ah, wait, my Steinberg UR-22 USB 24/192 computer interface does that. And my AKG 701s.
     
    Last edited: May 30, 2015
  22. triple

    triple Senior Member

    Location:
    Zagreb, Croatia
    If you move from a house to a flat, does house sound become flat sound?
     
    ggergm likes this.
  23. missan

    missan Forum Resident

    Location:
    Stockholm
    No the house sound will stay in the house.
     
  24. xcqn

    xcqn Audiophile

    Location:
    Gothenburg, Sweden
    It's funny how all component-manufactures are bragging about natural sound yet there is a difference between them. Who is right and who is wrong?

    They can't all be natural and still sound different? Or? :D
     
  25. VinylRob

    VinylRob Forum Resident

    I'd actually like to get rid of my (90hz dip) house sound. I have commented that whatever component is making it, has got to go... turns out it is the living/listening room. Time to move!
     
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