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I have NOVA V's and I am not happy

I have a Mark Levinson 585 and a pair of Sonus Faber Olympica Nova V's and although I admittedly have some room acoustic issues that I am working on I am not happy with the sound. 

I listen to music LOUD. This Pairing thru a pair of Kimber Cable 8TC's gets bright in what I think is the 2 to 4 khz range and the sonus faber nova's seem to mute the lower end of female vocals, artist like Macy Gray or Tina Turner dont seem to have the same drive in the lower octaves. At the same time the upper end of vocals like Sheryl Crow can get too bright and cause fatigue (I am assuming this is in the 2 to 4khz range) I have tried every speaker placement you can think of, toe in, toe out. distance from front wall and I am adding acoustic treatments as fast as they can be shipped. 

Here is my question, I had Mark Levinson 436 Mono Blocks in the past connected to a pair of B&W Nautilus 802's thru a pair of MIT Shotgun bi-wire speaker cables and I never noticed that system to be bright. Granted that system was in a different room in a different house. Everyone is telling me that B&W is a brighter sounding  speaker by far over Sonus Faber. If I decide after all my room treatments that I am not a fan of the Sonus Faber sound where should I turn for my replacement speaker? Or is it Mark Levinson's Fault? I want Rich Lush Loud Musical sound. I like a decent sound stage, I also really love it when when you hear decay from the instruments. I don't really care if that's what is neutral or not that's what I like :) 

Where did I go wrong and what can I do to fix it?

Thanks Lee

rlross3

Showing 5 responses by audphile1

audphile1's avatar
audphile1
5,443 posts
 

@rlross3 I agree with your assessment of B&W Nautilus and the latest Sonus Faber. The older series SF such as Cremona, etc. were dark/warm sounding. But the latest SF are transparent and don’t have the warmth the older SF speakers were known for. 

Also, Kimber cables I tried in my system in an attempt to get a bit more air and details resulted in similar experience. The KS interconnects made my system sound bright and fatiguing. Yes slightly more detailed but the cure was worse than the disease. 

So if you want to keep your SF speakers, fix your room acoustics and try warmer cables like Acoustic Zen or Cardas. Also give AQ power cables a try. 
 

Lastly, look into a warmer sounding amplifier such as Pass or Luxman. Someone mentioned hearing Levinson with Magico A3 and it wasn’t warm not an indication. The A3 sound like the older Cremona may be even darker. 
 

audphile1's avatar
audphile1
5,443 posts
 

An opinion….you should not use wires as tone controls.

@deadhead1000 I agree 100% but different cables sound different. That’s just a reality. And hence my suggestion to try Acoustic Zen and higher end Cardas as well as AQ power cords. To me the AZ interconnects and AQ power cables sound most natural and do less harm than something like Kimber within the context of a transparent system.

audphile1's avatar
audphile1
5,443 posts
 

Yup the two myths…B&Ws are bright and terrible and SFs are warm and welcoming. Goes back a looong time. Hasn’t been true for at least 10-12 years.
It’s all about synergy. Careful matching and you can get most speakers to sing (at this level at least). And yes matching includes cables. It is not about using cables as tone controls but it is about using cables that match up well and do no harm.

audphile1's avatar
audphile1
5,443 posts
 

The price is wrong too.  So he has plenty of time to work with room and speaker placement since these aren’t going to sell any time soon.


Something as simple as a thick area rug and a few diffusor/absorption panels from GIK Acoustics matching the decor, as well as pulling the speakers out from the wall at least a foot will transform the listening experience.


Total cost to improve room acoustics will be less than the loss he’ll take selling these speakers and starting the endless merry-go-round.

audphile1's avatar
audphile1
5,443 posts
 

Looks great! But can’t possibly sound any good. 

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