Is it normal, amp/speakers to sound slightly different every now and then?

[Gavin Pursinger]

Wall voltage...humidity...ear. fatigue...connector going funky somewhere

 

[Michael Tibes]

Just to throw in one more variant: some tweeter use ferrofluid in the magnet's gap - which changes behavior with temperature...

If this wasn't mentioned yet: placing a mic in a (very) fixed position and doing a measurement in the morning and in the evening should reveal any differences. Even if the mic isn't flat, it should reveal any possible differences.

Michael

 

[pucho812]

I’ve told this story before but it’s a good one. A known mastering guy, once approached me about making power cables as I have wired studios(audio wiring not electrical). He wanted to hear my power cables. So I said sure and made 2 cables. I used the same audiophile plugs I purchased from Amazon on each cable. I used the same length and size of carol 3 conductor cable. Everything was. Identical except for one difference, I used 2 different colors of flexo sleeving. One was a green cable, the other orange.
Get to the guys suite and the first thing he does is play some reference music on his set up with his current power cable that cost him something like 500 dollars. He then proceeds to move from his usual position and go to his amp with my cable. He unplugs his cable and plugs in one of mine. Goes back to his position and plays the same song. He does this more times with my other cable. And then repeats the dance of out of his usual listening position, to the amp, replace power cable and back to his listening position. After a few times with each cable and several ah ha’s. He proceeds to tell me that my cable in orange flexo would be good for preamps and my cable in greeen flexo good for subs. The entire dance that he did, I didn’t move once and heard zero change between any of the power cables. In the end his 500 dollar cable was the best.
Who is right? Who is not? Something to think about. The only change was 1.listening position and power cables.

 

[JohnRoberts]

I’ve told this story before but it’s a good one. A known mastering guy, once approached me about making power cables as I have wired studios. He wanted to hear my power cables. So I said sure and made 2 cables. I used the same audiophile plugs I purchased from Amazon on each cable. I used the same length and size of carol 3 conductor cable. Everything was. Identical except for one difference, I used 2 different colors of flexo sleeving. One was a green cable, the other orange.
Get to the guys suite and the first thing he does is play some reference music on his set up with his current power cable that cost him something like 500 dollars. He then proceeds to move from his usual position and go to his amp with my cable. He unplugs his cable and plugs in one of mine. Goes back to his position and plays the same song. He does this more times with my other cable. And then repeats the dance of out of his usual listening position, to the amp, replace power cable and back to his listening position. After a few times with each cable and several ah ha’s. He proceeds to tell me that my cable in orange flexo would be good for preamps and my cable in greeen flexo good for subs. The entire dance that he did, I didn’t move once and heard zero change between any of the power cables. In the end his 500 dollar cable was the best.
Who is right? Who is not? Something to think about. The only change was 1.listening position and power cables.

I recall making a joke back in the 80s that some of the differences heard during impromptu listening tests like that was from blood pressure changes caused by bending over and standing up straight again.

JR

 

[kags]

I once had a salesman bring some very expensive speaker wires to the studio and asked us to swap out our existing wires to experience the beauty of these cables. I suggested we first change the wiring to only one side and leave the other alone. I was very familiar with the sound of my speakers and suggested that if his cables made a difference I would surely notice some sort of imbalance between left and right. He said that was ridiculous and I politely showed him the door. Maybe the speakers wires were great, but his attitude sucked.

 

[Tubetec]

I had a similar moment recently when there was a change in weather/temperature ,
all of a sudden things sounded clearer and brighter on my monitors ,
The amp that runs them is permanently powered , it runs above ambient temp so I dont suspect much variation there .
They do use ferrofluid cooled tweeters , some say ferrofluid can dry out , perhaps loose moisture , but it probably can take it back in as well .
What was interesting was first we has a couple of weeks of heavy rains and high humidity ,then the temp went up as summer came in . All of a sudden my speakers sounded better than usual .

 

[Matt Syson]

The density of air changes with temperature and humidity and is of course the medium that transmits the acoustic energy speakers to your ears.

 

[JohnRoberts]

The density of air changes with temperature and humidity and is of course the medium that transmits the acoustic energy speakers to your ears.

True but unlikely to be significant enough to explain the OPs observation.

We have seen temp/humidity/and audience influence feedback sensitivity in a space.

JR