grainy sounding high end system


Hi, I hope this is the right forum to ask this question. I have a quite decent audio system at home, which consists of Pioneer CLD-98 laserdisc/CD-transport, Bel Canto DAC 1.1, Conrad-Johnson Premier 7b preamplifier, Mark Levinson 333 amplifier and Dunlavy SC-IV speakers. Though this is a "high-end" system on paper, it sounds not very high-end to me: the overall sound has a grainy quality, it has compressed dynamics, the low end is quite lousy and the highs are too prominent. Why is this happening to me? I have invested a lot into this hobby and is this my reward? What could be the reason for the abovementioned grainy sound? Maybe I have to get a better CD-transport, like the TEAC P-30 for example.
dazzdax

Showing 1 response by stehno

I know somebody's gonna' shoot me just for saying this. But I'll bet dollars to doughnuts(whatever that means), more than any other component or combination thereof, it's probably your amp first and foremost.

My list of potential culprits include in descending order:

1. ML amp.
2. Line conditioning and/or Dedicated lines and circuits and/or Cables.

How do, Zaikesman? Thanks for the advice and I passed on that product.

-IMO