Yes, I heard system broken in, so I suppose it could be my room. The 703's are pretty efficient speakers-- don't think power is the problem. I agree that the cd player is not the problem. I also listened to the 704's and they sounded a bit too bassy, but if there's something in my room that's accentuating brittle highs, then maybe the 704's would actually be a better choice. I'm going to see if I can bring home a pair of broken-in 704's to see how they sound. The thing is, the more I listen to the current setup, the less I like it-- not a good sign. At first i loved the added detail, but increasingly, the treble is killing my ears-- I don't even want to listen to it at this point!
How to warm up cold-sounding Rotel/B&W system?
I recently purchased Rotel 1062 Integrated, Rotel 1072 CD player and B&W 703 speakers. Perhaps system will settle in over time, but at this point it sounds very cold and clinical to me. Highs on many cd's are downright painfully harsh and generally the sound is fatiguing. "Warm and musical" it ain't. I tried the CD player with my old set-up: Nakamichi RE-1 receiver and B&W P5's, and this coldness was not apparent. I also tried substituting the P5's for the 703's with both Rotel pieces and the sound was still pretty chilly, though not quite as bad. Any suggestions? Maybe it's the amp? I have Transparent "the wall" speaker wire and whatever the cheapest Transparent interconnects are. I've heard people call Transparent stuff "cloudy" but never "chilly". Any suggestions?