Cables to settle brightness

That old misconception " silver is bright " might not apply since op haven't mentioned having any kind of silver/ silver over copper cable in his/her system. 

I do share the opinion that using cable as equaliser is a bad idea, changing equipment to find synergy might be more inconvenient but mostly more rewarding in the long run! 

Don't worry about your power cables.  But get rid of EVERY INCH of silver conductor in the signal path.

I used to have C2600 with DAC1. I upgraded to Moon 280D and it was significant. I also had MC 302 and Sonus Faber Olympics Nova Vs. I used Kimber Kabyle KCTG interconnects and bifocal XL speaker cables. 
 

I auditioned Kimber Kabyle 12TCs and I thought they were horrible because the higher frequencies were harsh to me. 
 

Hope this is constructive

don't fix the brightness with cables....fix it by getting rid of the brightness in the system.

Soo you want to use cables to place a band-aid on your sound. Interesting.

@carlsbad + 1 

Many Have been preaching that for many years, other than electronic equipment seems That has to Burn in Lol !
Have 123ale and enjoy your research.

2nd Cardas

I'd add Acrotec/Acrolink to that list.

The previous Golden generation of Cardas is warmer than the current. Try the Golden Cross or Golden Reference, the "mid" cable the Golden Presence isn't quite as good.

cardas

discovery

cerious

most beldens

My experience has been in order to get speakers to sound less bass forward/brighter to move them away from the walls. To increase bass/less bright move them closer to the walls. In order to have speakers to become clearer and more focused use an isolation platform like Isocousitics. I couldn't recommend a sure way for a cable to provide the results you want.

DAC research to begin! All awesome feedback. Much appreciated.

CARDAS CLEAR REFLECTION. (the improved successor to the prior GOLDEN REFERENCE model…)

I had an email conversation with Josh Meredith at CARDAS on this very issue. He referred me to his own experiences. His wife, Angela Cardas-Meredith,(… daughter of George Cardas and the current prez at CARDAS …) personally stepped down from the top CARDAS CLEAR BEYOND to the CLEAR REFLECTION speaker cable model in her home, to successfully tame the excess brightness produced by an audio system in large room with a lot of glass windows.

I followed that key advice personally too this past month in like manner, and I swapped out NORDOST FREY (silver on Cu) to all-Cu CARDAS CLEAR REFLECTION speaker cables a few weeks ago, to tame my own unwanted brightness.

- Success - the unwanted brightness is gone, presentation is a touch warmer, and all with no loss of details and slam.

PS: I have all CARDAS CLEAR interconnects for all components, and a mix of both CARDAS CLEAR and GOLDEN REFERENCE power cables …FWIW..

My Equipment:

REGA ISIS VALVE cdp/ DAC

REGA OSIRIS integrated amp

BRYSTON BDP1-USB digital player/ streamer/ server

BRYSTON BDA2 DAC

HARBETH M30.2XD standmount speakers on TonTraeger stands

PHILLIPS 630 tuner ( fully rebuilt )

interesting reads :

Angela Cardas (Cardas Audio) @ RMAF 2018

https://youtu.be/xpzgwLzzV2E

This is the BEST video about LOUDSPEAKER CABLES that you will see all year

https://youtu.be/PW3QHfH9Nho

+1 on upgrading the DAC.  Your amp, preamp and speakers ae al in the 'not bright at all' category (to me). 

Many will recommend the dac and or streamer /dac they have.  Plenty of smoother DACs out there, and you have expensive gear.  Demo some!  And yes, most find all copper smoother than silver or silver blends for interconnects, power cables and speaker wires.

If vinyl doesn't have the problem, it is in your dac.  Some DACs have a voltage setting. Turning down the voltage can reduce harshness.

I keep saying that cables aren't tuners and many disagree.  But you're spending a lot of money swapping out the wrong component.

Jerry

I should add that the DAC that I criticized was the DAC2 inside my MA12000. I think this DAC competes in the $1000-$1500 stand alone DAC range, but we each have our preferences/bias for what we consider musical. You might want to chat with Juan (blisshifi) in that I believe that he shares this bias and he helped to get my system where I wanted it.

Also, I’d keep the amps plugged into wall. 

OP…

@vonhelmholtz nailed it. 
Forget cables for now. The internal mcintosh dac is your issue. It’s digital/harsh sounding. Cables won’t cure that.
Get a good DAC. Worry about cables later. Stay $5k and up MSRP for the DAC used or new. There are multiple threads covering this topic under digital (latest discussion should show up at the top).

@w123ale 

@ryder has a thread asking for cables to add brightness. Maybe the two of you should get together.

Stranded cable, even stranded silver, should reduce the brightness, though copper is a sure bet. That's been my experience.

All the best,
Nonoise

Analysis plus, not hilighting upper regions.

Mid-range WW is actually the recommendation I'd make to you.  It gets brighter as you go up the line.

@w123ale Yes definitely let it burn in at least a week or two before buying new gear or cables to address issues. What amps are you using, and which PowerPlant do you have?

Yeah, as @blisshifi mentioned I’d give the Power Plant more time to settle in.  It’s hard to believe a Mac and SF Olympica combo could sound bright, but I’m not familiar with their DACs so that might be something to explore as well.  

PowerPlant is new—about a week—and probably has only 30 hrs on it so far actively playing. I’ll try plugging the amps into the wall.

Audioquest cables are probably the right cables for you.

@w123ale Which PowerPlant did you get, and when? If it is not broken in, give it time. If you have a current hungry amp and are plugging it into the PowerPlant, unplug it and go straight from the wall. I’ve owned a few PowerPlants and had to do this every time. I’ve since moved to the Synergistic Research PowerCells (first the UEF 12 SE and now the Galileo) and those solved any brightness issues for me. 

Otherwise, cabling and component upgrade suggestions above also help.

Cardas! If you need a lot of taming go for old used Golden Reference. I used them for decades to warm up my system. Contemporary Cardas are still warm, but not nearly to the extent. But are still excellent cables.

You will want copper as the conductor for sure. Nothing silver or silver coated. 

AQ Type 4 and Kimber PBJ.

There are several possibilities. Based on my limited experience cables may help fine tune the sound by reducing the brightness but the difference may not be significant enough to completely resolve the sibilance with human voice or glare in the treble.

In my system, the amp and speaker match is usually the culprit with sibilance and brightness. Replacing either the amp or speaker resolved the issue. DACs don’t contribute too much to the brightness in my system. As a matter of fact, one of my DACs (Luxman DA-06) sound slightly warm.

I would look at trying different amps if you like the sound of your Sonus Fabers.

Interesting idea about the DAC. I’m currently using a Mc DA1 module in a MCD85. Perhaps as I’m improving my power/amps/pre I’m revealing a deficiency in my DAC. I’m also getting sibilance now with female vocals.

Upgrading my DAC took care of this..using AQ Earth.

Mc system: 601s and a c2300 and SF Olympica. My speakers cable is Wireworld equinox. So not an overly bright system by any means.

I should note that vinyl doesn’t have this issue, just digital sources, so cables to the digital source might be the place to start. 

Turning the treble down certainly helps, but, as a purest, I would prefer to not use the EQ

For your application, I would choose something that's pure copper (as opposed to silver, or a mix/alloy).

I like Synergistic Research cables. There are always some available on usedcable . com

What equipment are you using and what speaker cables are you using