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My stereo receiver is a little too bright. Can a cable help me out?

I just had my vintage Pioneer SX-1050 refurbished.  I had a severe case of sticker shock when presented with the bill - oops!!  Which unfortunately pretty much forces me to use it. 

I will say It is sounding very powerful which is no big surprise because there is a lot of horsepower under the hood.  But the audio impression is that it’s also a little too bright.  The only way I know to tame brightness is with the right interconnects.  But I’m not experienced in that area.  Recommendations would be most welcome.


It’s probably important to know how I am using  the Pioneer SX-1050.  It is responsible for all audio in my TV system.  My choice of music is almost exclusively opera and classical.  

 I send the HDMI signal from my four sources ( TV-DVR, OPPO DVD, ROKU streamer and Pioneer Elite Laser Disc Player ) to my AVR, an ARCAM SR-250, and I send the respective analog audio signals to the Pioneer.  I am into opera and classical music and I didn’t think my ARCAM AVR sounded as good as I wanted it to, even though it’s ideally  suited to my needs, a two-channel product touted for its exceptional audio.  The audio is good but definitely not great.  Prior to deciding to refurbish it I had paired the Pioneer with a Musical Fidelity A3cr Preamp, using the Pioneer just as an amplifier, and I was getting very good audio that way.  But one of the goals of the refurbishment project was to feature the Pioneer and eliminate the musical influence of the Musical Fidelity preamp.   And now, after spending so much,  I wanted to hear how my now very expensive Pioneer sounded, so I pulled the Musical Fidelity Pre and attached my sources directly to the Pioneer.  Currently all the interconnects are Blue Jeans Cable.  Obviously I can’t spend huge amounts replacing cables for all four sources, so the DVD is priority.
128x128echolane
jtcf's avatar
jtcf
1,598 posts
 
I had a little 20 watt Pioneer receiver back in the day.It was never bright at all, even straight out of the box.Maybe those " new fangled" parts do need to run in some:-)
upforsomething
12 posts
 
Are you using any type of power conditioner, as it would help. Don

julianstevens
6 posts
 

I had a similar problem which drove me nearly to selling my amps (Bryston) & speakers (PMC) and starting over with a completely different combination.  Expensive interconnects and power cords wrought no worthwhile improvements, though I didn't go as far as what would have been the biggest outlay of all, namely a complete new set of (non-returnable) speaker cables.  Eventually, though, I did find a remedy.

Assuming your speakers have separate terminals just for their tweeters, the cheapest solution by far is to insert a pair of 10w fixed value cement resistors in series.  Finding the correct impedance value is a matter of trial and error.  I started with something like 0.2 ohms (way too low) and, pair by pair, worked my way up from there until I found just the right value.  Too high a value robs the sound of top end air, openness and sparkle but, after a few months, I finally settled on 1.5 ohms (which took a bit of finding) and haven't looked back.

I did try a pair of variable resistors that I had knocking about but they were very cheap ones, of commensurately low quality and definitely had a negative effect on transparency.  Not being in the trade, I just couldn't seem to find a pair of high quality variable resistors, so I abandoned that path and stuck with fixed value ones.

The right impedance value for your system and your tastes will, of course, be personal to you but, given that a pair of 10w cement resistors costs just a couple of pounds (or dollars), the expense is minimal and the experimentation process, with each new pair getting you a step closer to the result you want, is quite enjoyable.

ebm
9,311 posts
 
Upgrade to amp and preamp asap!!
teo_audio
2,197 posts
 
The smallest receivers and integrateds from all the lines tended to be the best sounding. Luxman, Yamaha, pioneer, you name it, the smallest lowest powered are easily the best sounding. Less is more.

The big clue (back in the day) was in the Bryston line up, the original one. The circuit was the same across the three amplifiers, but scaled. 2b, 3b, 4b. 60w/120w/200w. the 2b was always the best sounding.

Less parts, less circuitry, less damage to the signal. Less is more. Part of the secret of tube circuits - they have a low parts count by their very nature (part of the story only, but definitely important).

Then, some companies made maximum versions of simple circuits.

Some of the more modern integrateds are similar to that.

If you see a big impressive box with what looks like a cool pile of a near thousand parts, tons of circuit boards, with tiny tiny parts by the hundreds per board... then it is probably (almost certainly) going to be ’not so good’. Even if it is $10k.

And the AVRs? Almost a 100% chance they are at the bottom of the sound quality pile.

500watt 100 pound 80 transistor monoblock? Sonically? In comparison to the sonic quality of a 20 watt el84 tube amp? Somewhere near a 100% chance the giant monoblock is a sonic dog in comparison.

No one wants to hear that, even it if is true. The standard ’pick any two’ scenario(sound quality/wattage/price).

The fight to try and get all three, is where we all sit. With the right kind of mind and the right kind of design, we can get pretty darned close to having a functional three. Or at least find a compromise that works for us individually.

Individual tastes and individually built up hearing and self wiring of our hearing.... can convince the given individual... that this basic recipe has somehow been violated in their favor... or that the recipe and known parameters of the quandary are not true.

But it is true, this given audio quality quandary of all things not being available -at all times in all ways. A personal fit for one self wired (we wire our own hearing as we grow into it) individual is not a perfect fit for others.

I’ve torn down and rebuilt/repaired/re-thought somewhat more than 500 and less than a thousand pieces of high quality audio gear, over the years. Many of them, in step by step single cause analysis procedure and mind, while listening. With an ear and mind that grew more and more informed and capable, day by day. Feverish OCD of the highest order. The end result is... I’d call mine a seemingly well informed opinion.
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