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

Ag insider logo xs@2xrlross3

@rlross3 This afternoon I removed my CD rack containing about 300-400 CD’s from my small office. I had an acoustic absorption panel in front of the rack because it was near the first reflection point of my right speaker.

I also increased my wall of computer monitors by adding to 2 more to get 6 monitors. Now I expect more reflections off the monitors and less from the right speaker. Whatever the balance, the sound is improved. My sound was lacking a bit of dynamics or excitement before and now that bit of extra oomph is there. So far this is not fatiguing.

I just wanted to highlight how the contents in the room are so important, more so in a small room like mine. My room used to sound like crap and very fatiguing with the same gear as I am using now.

Next week, I plan to put an exercise bike (Wattbike) in the place of the CD rack. That will also have some effect, likely negative.

Sometime back I added a bookshelf behind the speakers with thick books. The sound really improved. The bookshelf used to be where the current wall of monitors reside (on the other end of the room).

 

Op , I have a nova 5 and Luxman 595 class A amplifier! It’s perfect in every way to my ears. Excellent sound stage , amazing detail and imaging. I went through a bunch of amps ( michi x3 , x5 , McIntosh mc462/c53 ) I had the same issues you speak off. I also added GiK monster bass traps it worked out great. Pm me if you want more insight. Nova 5 is fantastic speaker not bright like BW and Focals it’s very neutral and has significant bass response for its size. Speaker placement is huge factor in your experience. 

I agree with OP.  Listening to Sheryl Crow is fatiguing.

I have solved this by not buying any of her albums.

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