How do I smooth out violins?

Maybe it's the CD, the recording itself, not the player. You should not attribute every aspect of your sound to a component in your system. Nothing will correct a poorly recorded LP or CD.

After reading your post and the responses, I listened to several CDs to see if I could hear anything similiar.

Beethoven Sym #9 1st movement
Bohm and the vienna Phil

Same piece but Karajan and the berliners SACD.

Julia Fischer Bach concertos with ASMF

The Fischer disc was a little fast, but the strings were easy on the ears. no complaints. Of course she was great.
The Bohm was GREAT. Very smooth. No irritation at all.
The Karajan sounded sort of harsh and strident.
Both of the Beethovens were recorded by DG.
The Bach by DECCA.

A lot of CDs are like this with big orchestras. I own a lot of them. Have not listened to them in years, once a I got a better performance and recording. Just a wall of sound that sort of grates on the ears.

I would advise you, as someone said, get a KNOWN well recorded violin heavy piece and listen. If you find it grating on your ears, then maybe you do have a gear peoblem. But remember, if your system will play at least ONE CD with mass violins to your satisfaction, then it will play ALL properly recorded CD the same way. If you modify your system to make BAD cds sound better, what will it make the GOOD cds sound like. Don't say, ' MO Better' :) Beethoven's 5&7 by Carlos Kleiber and the Vienna is considered one of the best classical recordings. Try it.
The Philadelphia Orch with Ormandy was know for it's violin section. But that was on LP. I can't believe I just said that. :) Good Luck.

Cheers

I have the CD5004 also. Even Stereophile could not find fault with it. I don't think it will be the problem.
Cheers

Gentlemen,
The OP says massed violins sound like crap on his system. Asks for suggestions as to how to correct the situation. Now THINK for a monment. How many VARIABLES are we confronted with here?

The CD was badly recorded
the CD was actually a transfer of a 1942 recording
The performance was subpar
It was not a top tier orchestra
he does not know what massed violins sound like
his expectations are too high for recorded music
his speakers are not up to the task

And Lord knows what else

SO, how can anyone ponder the OP's question and come up with BUY THIS, BUY THAT, UPGRADE THAT CHANGE THIS.
would it not make sense to do the easy and simple and the cheapest things FIRST.

The 349 dollar CD player owned by the OP and moi. Please google CD5004 STEREOPHILE. I will assume you gentlemen know how to 'READ' equipment reviews. Trust me, if they had found anything wrong or bad with a 350$ CD player, they would have shouted it to the roof-tops. Because it would support the firt law of high-end 'If it cost more, it's better'. The obligatory last paragraph comparison to the mega buck 'reference' player notwithstanding.

Cheers

Jmcgrogan2:

" Why do you feel the need to have someone else tell you how something sounds? I realize that reviews are merely ads, I've read many in the last few decades....some are right, some are wrong, some are right AND wrong. So what's your point?"

I don't need anyone to tell me how a CD player sounds. I knew how it would 'sound' before I bought it. And just for the record, I owned the CD5004 before I ever read the review, since I never read stereophile unless it reviews something I already own. Also, I owned the CD 5400, which is the exact same player as the CD5004 with a different face plate. So, I have owned the player since 2004. I also own the SA8001. The difference in sound between the two? There is none. The SA8001 plays SACD, that's the only difference.

And my POINT is this: Why would anyone ASSUME the player is causing the problem? There is no evidence to make the player suspect, except, it's common sense price. So knowing the audiophile mindset, that the least expensive item is always the 'problem', I thought bringing up the Stereophile review would mean something to the high-end audiophile crowd and result is better advice to the OP. It was as simple as that.

One last point. I always try to respect people who post, and will always take them at their word when it comes to the problems they state. BUT, I suspect many posters just want to be told to BUY or UPGRADE. Because the only advice anyone seems to take or even consider is the advice to replace something or buy something new. Just my perception. I could be wrong. Thanks for the post.
Cheers