On Friday, 15th May, we’ll be joining Martins Hi-Fi in Norwich for an afternoon dedicated to something we speak about often, but is still widely misunderstood in practice: Lowering the Noise Floor.
It’s a subject that sits slightly outside the usual conversation around hi-fi. Most attention is given to components such as amplifiers, sources and loudspeakers. Yet in many systems, the limiting factor isn’t the equipment itself, but the environment it’s operating within.
Interference is everywhere.
RFI from nearby devices, noise on the mains, network activity, and even the physical environment all contribute to raising the system’s noise floor. The effect isn’t always obvious at first, but it’s there… masking fine detail, softening timing, and reducing the sense of realism that makes a system feel engaging.
Lowering the Noise Floor (LTNF) is simply about addressing that.
Not by changing the character of a system, but by allowing it to perform as it was designed to.
Demonstrations
Across three informal sessions during the day, we’ll be demonstrating LTNF in a practical and repeatable way. Starting with a well-balanced reference system, and then introducing different elements of noise floor management step by step.
The sessions are as follows:
The System
For the demonstrations, we’ve put together a system that is both highly resolving and inherently balanced, exactly the kind of platform where these effects are most clearly heard.
At the front end is a J.Sikora Aspire turntable, fitted with an Analogue Relax cartridge. The electronics are a complete Gold Note stack, including phono stage, line stage, power amplification, and external power supply.
Loudspeakers are the OePhi Transcendence 2.5, with cabling throughout from OePhi and Entreq.
It’s a system designed not to impress on first listen, but to reveal what’s actually there — which is precisely what’s needed for this kind of demonstration.
What we’ll be covering
Throughout the sessions, we’ll focus on four key areas of noise floor management:
- Mechanical isolation using Stillpoints, reducing the effect of structure-borne vibration
- System grounding with Entreq, providing a controlled path for unwanted noise
- Magnetic field management, again from Entreq, addressing electromagnetic interference
- Room acoustics, with Acustica Applicata, dealing with the listening environment itself
Individually, each plays a role. Together, they form a more complete approach to system optimisation.
Join us
Martins Hi-Fi has been part of the Norwich hi-fi community since 1968, and it’s exactly the kind of environment where this sort of demonstration makes sense: considered, relaxed, and focused on listening.
If you’ve ever felt your system has more to give, this is a chance to explore that properly.
We’d be very happy to see you there.
Book your free tickets here.
