Balancing "compelling sound" and euphonic sound

Many people have come to the same conclusion as you.  Sometimes it's called too detailed or too bright or ruthlessly revealing, but a lot of people find they prefer a more forgiving presentation.

There’s always that perfect balance to strive for, but it’s subjective, and every room and system is unique.  Just the right synergy of the right combination of components, room, and cables is all you need.   (which is always easier said than done!)

I’ve chased higher resolution for years, and sometimes it just reveals more issues to chase, but at some point within the last few years it all started to come together nicely to where the system sounds more like music with a sense of space and natural realism..  I never could afford expensive component changes, so went about refining what I had.  Unfortunately, there’s no single definitive path to achieving that perfect balance, in part because we all have a different definition of it. It can be a single component or room upgrade, or a slew of smaller things that close the gap.  It’s a puzzle, and a unique journey for all of us with an unknown destination.  That’s what keeps some of us chasing that nirvana for so long. 

I’m not sure what you mean by "overactive transients."

I understand the general issue you’re talking about, though. 

I do believe the euphonic qualities are not necessarily opposed to resolution and crisp dynamics. Dynamics are a function of the amp controlling the speakers, and euphonics and resolution have to do with the tonality, if I have that right. Some have found other tweeters to help bring both to the table.

I have speakers with a dome tweeter (Fritz, a bit more forgiving) but also a ribbon (Ascend) and AMT tweeter (DIY). When I use my tube or Pass XA25 amp with my DIY speakers (very sensitive) I get the euphonics and the resolution and the dynamics. Other speaker-amp combos change the dynamic PRAT a bit, but the happy tonal mix remains.

When I bring in a friends very powerful Class D amp, I get all the PRAT and dynamics I could hope for, but the brightness now takes over and I need to give the amp back to him. I am currently experimenting with the Benchmark AHB2 to see if it provides a happy middle ground. So far, I'm not sure. I'm missing the euphonics, that intimate midrange that makes me forget I'm listening to gear at all.

@hilde45 By overactive transients, I mean that transient attacks were a bit too powerful and slightly exaggerated. It's particularly noticeable in piano leading edges, which had a bit of a hard quality. This was more noticeable when I upgraded my digital front end, but turns out to have been mostly the 12AU7/FET amp doing it.

@magon 

Thanks. When you say transient attacks were a bit too powerful I assume they were too loud for the musical context, including the piano passages. That helps a lot and I found that happening with a Class D amp I was testing out.

@hilde45 

It sounds like you are noticing the same thing, that an amp can have that excitement, dynamics, etc. and yet have something in the sound that is unattractive. In my case, it was simply lowering enjoyment. I knew I was listening less to my system since getting that amp, but I figured I had other interests. Now I realize it was the amp all along. When I was noticing sound qualities to check boxes, it seemed to check them all. But the enjoyment wasn't there.

(And I don't mean it was cold or lacking musicality. It was amazing in many ways including musicality. It just had this "wart.")

I've had the impression that Benchmark is an "engineer's brand," focused on good measurements. I haven't heard their stuff, but I'm suspicious when equipment is engineered for measurements - maybe the musicality isn't there.

 Variety is the spice of life.  Sound comes in many flavors.  

@magon 

definitely a fine line to walk.  I have succsssfully threaded that needle with system synergy after many years of trying.   my audio kryptonite comes in two forms-  the first is lack of refinement.  I prefer a slightly brighter sound as long as the dynamics are strong but not over the top and the sound is squeaky clean and refined.  

the other form of fatiguing kryptonite is sound that is too veiled, warm, overly bass heavy, "musical" etc.  If it is too far in that direction I find the sound just as fatiguing as overly analytical and lacking refinement.  it is as if my ears are straining to hear the missing detail !

@avanti1960 Interesting that you find an overly warm/veiled sound fatiguing. Interesting. I think I find it "boring."

Totally with you when it comes to refinement. I find that my power conditioning and PCs improve the refinement a lot. I use a system of distributed parallel capacitance and ERS paper throughout the house as well as a custom designed "power strip" that is chock full of parallel capacitance. This system was designed by Igor Kuznetsoff of the New Jersey Audio society. 

I was listening to a friend's headphone system and it lacked refinement. I had brought some PCs (which, by the way, have parallel capacitance built in) and put one of those on his DAC. Instant refinement improvement. He doesn't listen for refinement. He's happy driving his DAC from an iPad. I brought my Aurender N100 to drive his DAC via USB. Much better sounding than an iPad. 

By the way the Aurender N100, which cost me $1500 used, was the biggest jump in my digital performance I've ever heard, and the Aurender sound signature exactly matches my taste and desires. If I could afford it, I'd probably get one of their higher-end servers with DAC built in.

@magon 

Glad you found your solution, I might have guessed it’s the DAC before the tube amp.

My journey I’m using a high quality SS with transparent speakers, and a 100db speakers to investigate tube amps including flea watt.