[nothing101]

I was listening to a well recorded acoustic song today on my dads hifi system with Quad 63 ESLs and found it exquisite and rich and all those things.

When i went in to my room to listen at night on my computer (where i am right now) i noticed heaps more detail. I am using the etymotic er6i unamped. WHY IS THIS???

maybe its something to do with differences in soundstage or separation of sounds between both ears.

I connected my ipod to the hifi if that helps. The file is the same on my ipod as computer so that cant be the problem. Maybe the dac on my computer is running circles around the dac in my ipod?? i dunno.

 

[stewtheking]

The sound from the quads will be affected by room acoustics massively. If you haven't addressed reflections, this could dull the sound considerably. I am not a speaker expert, but I know this has been the case in my setup.

Also, the quads are 20/30 year old technology are they not? Yes they have stunning warmth and richness, but hi-fi technology does move on, and you might expect new technology to best old.

The last thing is that detail is the area where most headphones excel over speakers. By throwing an intimate soundstage you can hear the details more clearly maybe?

 

[nothing101]

i dunno, i think headphones are more detailed but i dont know why. I really cant tell. Maybe disturbances in the air muffle the slight detail when you are far away? meh, probably not...

the quads are a bit on the smooth side but i still think they should be able to reveal more detail than $150 iems for sure!!!!

I think it may well be the soundstage. If so it is amazing how much difference soundstage can make to the actual sound. (if that makes any sense )

 

[Duggeh]

The Quad ESLs have always had that magical Quad signiture midrange, at the slight expense of bass and treble. They also require pinpoint posisioning to sound their best, and need a room which is a suitable size and shape, they sound good without all this, but sound almost incomparible with it.

Yes, your IEMs will seem to have more detail than the Quads. Headphones nearly always present more intimacy and detail than a speaker setup. The ESL63 is not as old as the legendary 57, but IMHO it still holds its own well against modern loudspeakers. You shoudl try to tweek them if your dad hasnt already.

Its horses for courses really when it comes to listening to music. I think if I had some 63s, my headphones would get far less head time.

 

[nothing101]

i think the problem is room acoustics because we have just moved houses.

my dad also has 1 square meter sized subwoofer. TRY PICKING THAT UP TO MOVE!!!!!!