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My battle with sibilance.

At the minimum sibilance is annoying to me. Its only present on a small percentage of my records. However today I wanted to see if I could improve it. The song in question is Men at Work's "Down Under". The cartridge is an Ortofon Cadenza Bronze retipped by Soundsmith. I went through a lot of the protocols for abating annoying sibilance.
1.My anti skate was not optimally set so I thought and I adjusted to less using a dead spot on a test record. I know some people don't agree with this. I tried Soundsmiths method but until I see a video I won't understand it.
2. I adjusted my VTA to at least 20 degrees. I realized it was off. It was set at 12-15 degrees. I know the Shibata stylus is sensitive to VTA.
3. I checked the VTF and it was set at the manufacturers suggestion at 2.5 grams. Which is dead in the middle of 2.3 to 2.7. I adjusted to 2.62. A lot of people think the higher range is optimum.
3. I made sure my stylus was absolutely clean.
Guess what? After all this, the sibilance was less but still there. As a check I listened to the song in streaming and it was in the recording!!! However not as bad as my record before my TT adjustments. So I'm happy now my TT might sound better on other recordings. Anyway I hope my fellow members here have had some success on sibilance and maybe some will benefit from what I did.

128x128blueranger
rushfan71
291 posts
 
I suddenly have a craving for a Vegemite sandwich.
crustycoot
643 posts
 
Schiit Loki+ has an EQ point at 4kH. They are a clever lot at Schiit!  I keep one in my tape loop for use only when needed. 
schubnel
7 posts
 
baclagg,

No sibilance from Stevie Nicks on “Don’t Come Around Here No More”. Nicks does not sing on that song.
lewm
13,030 posts
 
Mijo, There is a long and very informative thread on the "Gundry Dip", also known as the BBC dip, on Hydrogen Audio.  A few of the contributors are speaker designers or acoustic engineers.  For one thing, it is pointed out that a "natural" dip in frequency response in the 1kHz to 4kHz range is not uncommon among 2-way speakers, where the woofer is giving way to the tweeter in that range.  I urge anyone to read the thread for many interesting tidbits, but the consensus is that the deliberate incorporation of a Gundry Dip in frequency response was a passing fancy, no longer espoused or incorporated so much in modern speakers.  As you suggested, the Gundry Dip is or was a way of incorporating a fixed compensation for the Fletcher-Munson curve, the tendency of humans to be most sensitive to frequencies in the midrange and relatively less sensitive to low bass and treble frequencies.  Why we used to have "Loudness" controls.  A Loudness control makes much more sense than a built-in fixed Gundry Dip in the crossover, because it allows the user to adjust compensation according to his or her listening habits, high vs low SPLs.  If Wilson use a Gundry Dip, I don't find evidence for it on the net.
tablejockey
3,892 posts
 
Vocal sibilance can vary on pressing.

I hear differences on a period press vs greatest hits vs 2nd press vs later reissues.

Example- Donovan's 1968  Hurdy Gurdy  Man-title track perfect on my stereo and mono press. NOT implying a new reissue is inferior-that's another thread to argue about.

Hurdy Gurdy Man on the 1969 Greatest Hits-sibilance. 
"came ssssinging  ssssongssss of love"

"tizzy" high hats on drumming tracks drive my crazy too!
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