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Frustrated with the sound of my system

Here is my system:
Rotel RCD-965BX CD Player as transport
MSB Link 2 DAC
Sonic Frontiers SFL-1 Signature preamp
Classe 10 amplifier
North Creek Audio Borealis speakers (Custom built kit speaker...something close to a Proac Response 2.5 design)
M&K V-75 sub
Kimber and Cardas interconnects
Kimber 4TC/8TC bi-wire speaker cables.

Here is my frustration:
The sound, regardless of music, sounds stringent, hard, really lacks air, and is anything but relaxed. It is fatigueing. I can listen to my Grado 60 headphones on an iPod and the sound is frustratingly more relaxed and has what I would call air.

I don't think that my system is that outstanding, but it really seems like I should be more pleased with what I am hearing.

I would be interested in your thoughts on where the most likely opportunity is. I really like the individual components of the system (OK the Rotel/MSB set up is old and just OK), but all together they seem to be underwhelming. I am thinking it is either in improving the digital front end (new player or DAC) or moving to a planar speaker to get the sound I desire. I have thought about new player like an OPPO 93 or 95, perhaps a tube based player or DAC, or else looking at something like a used pair of Maggie 12's or 1.6's. I have always enjoyed the Maggie sound.

In either case I am thinking that $2k is the absolute max I would want to spend on any solution. Thanks in advance. If there are other questions I would be glad to supply details.
stuartbmw3

Showing 2 responses by almarg

almarg's avatar
almarg
9,670 posts
 
01-23-12: Newbee
IMHO the OP need to think out side the box by discarding for the moment what won't practically or esthetically work for him ... set his system up in a very near-field set up well away from the boundries to see what his system really sounds like without room boundary reinforcement and reflections.
IMO Newbee's suggestion is excellent and is definitely the place to start. You need to get a handle on what your system really sounds like, while minimizing the presence of reverberant energy that undoubtedly comprises a great deal of what you are hearing, particularly given the listening distance and room dimensions you have described.

I would suggest that when you do this you try a variety of toe-in angles, including no toe-in.

I see that your speakers have been designed to provide essentially ruler-flat frequency response from 45 Hz to 22 kHz, as shown in the graph about 1/3 of the way from the top of this page. That kind of response can be very unforgiving of non-optimal placement, listening position, and room acoustics, and IME can sound hard and excessively bright if not set up optimally.

Regards,
-- Al
almarg's avatar
almarg
9,670 posts
 
Hi Ron (Rrog),

I agree, and I did notice the OP's statement that you quoted. However, it seems to me, and per Newbee's suggestion, that step 1 is to identify as precisely as possible the predominant contributor(s) to the problem. And moving the speakers way out into the room and listening from a closer distance, as an experiment, could very likely facilitate that process.

It seems very conceivable to me that the end result of those experiments could be a conclusion that the particular speakers are simply not suitable for the listening arrangement that has to be used. If so, replacing the speakers might end up being a course of action that would allow the OP to avoid a lot of unnecessary time and expense pursuing the myriad other suggestions that have been offered.

Best regards,
-- Al
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