Scientist73, I'd suggest going with either Acoustic Zen Matrix Reference MkII or Audience AU24 from your cd player to integrated. I think you can forget about AZ Silver Ref MkII because that will not deal with your brightness issue. Another interconnect to try is Nirvana S-L. AZ Matrix MkII will give you about 85% of performance of Silver Ref MkII but will be smoother. It contains silver though, so if it will be bright, you may want to go with AU24 interconnects. they will have a bit more air and will be a bit smoother on the top end, but won't give you the bass as deep as the AZ cable could. So there is a trade off. AU24 bass is still decent though and very clean. So that's that. Also try running your amp directly into the wall. try Audience powerChord power cords on both the amp and cd player. Should smooth out and add a bit to the lower end which will most likely compensate each other if you use AU24 interconnects. I appreciate that this is your family room, but at the minimum you can do to treat it without anyone complaining....check out stuff from http://www.eighthnerve.com/products.htmlTheir Adapt rectangles and triangles usually blend into any decor. And they are very effective too. |
Hey Scientist73, sibilance on Patricia Barber(I am pretty sure you're either talking about Modern Cool or Cafe Blue) is there in the recording like that. It is not your system. The degree of that sibilance will vary from speaker to speaker, some speakers worst than others, but in general, that unnatural ssssssssssssss is going to be there no matter what.
Listen to instrumental recording to find out if the system is brihgt or not. |
Scientist, you have a lot of good and free recommendations here that you may want to try aside from changing equipment.
Tvad's suggestion on speaker positioning is very good. You may want to consider trying that first.
I really beleive that in your situation, the AZ Silver Ref MkII interconnect may do the opposite of what you're looking for. I am a big fan of Acoustic Zen cables and think they are one of the best. But that doesn't mean I will recommend these every time. Silver RefII is a great interconnect. The best I have tried from the cdp to preamp when from preamp to amp I have had Matrix Ref II. I have tried 2 pairs of Silver Ref II - 1 pair from CDP to pre and second pair from pre to amp. The sound was very thin, artifical and bright with 2 pairs of Silver Ref II in the system. I too have the AZ Satori speaker cable.
When I replaced the pre-to-amp Silver Ref II with Matrix Ref II the sound was excellent. It returned to being full-bodied, natural, smooth. Good thing I borrowed the second pair of Silver II from a friend and could go back to my Matrix II in a matter of minutes.
I think in case of your integrated amp, you may encounter the same situation I encountered when using 2 pairs of Silver RefII in my system. So I think this may not be a solution for you. See, if the system is already bright and forward, and you run your cdp to integrated, you only have 1 interconnect. And you don't want that one and only interconnect to be a bright one.
I suggest going with the AZ Matrix Ref mkII interconnect or the Audience AU24 interconnect and speaker cable.
Also, you may want to call cable company(1-800-fat-wyre) and have them sent you few pairs of interconnects and speaker cables to try from their lending library. They have a database with feedback from users with particular amps, speakers, cables, etc.
So this may be helpful to you and they may guide you in the proper direction as far as cables. I think going with a smoother sounding interconnect will help a lot and it probably is one of the solutions for you since you mentioned that room treatment is most likely out of the question. |
The instruments on Modern Cool disc are recorded super clean, top level quality. It's her voice that screwes things up. On Modern Cool track 3 when she sings "SSSSSetting my being completely....on fire" and on track 8 she sings "Your SSSSSSSSSSSSun makes me feel like a fool".....these can drive you nuts man!
So Scientist, best of luck to you. Relax and don't go crazy with PB's sibilance when you evaluate the sound quality. It's not the equipment. She can drive you nuts. :)
You CAN reduce this with cables to some degree. And with room treatment. But what's on the recording can not be eliminated completely. Although I never listened to a pair of Andras, I am pretty sure they are top of the line speakers. With a different set of cables you may reduce the sibilance on her CDs but you may loose some other qualities you like about your system. There is always a trade off. |
Scientist73, I have no idea what is wrong. But in my opinion, the amount of hiss you're getting should not change with different volume settings(although I am not familiar with MF equipment, normally, hiss is not an issue). MF equipment is tubed, so some hiss I guess is normal. The only thing I can think of that's causing the hiss to go up in volume with volume increase on your amp, is that your CD player hisses and the amp just amplifies this hiss. In this case, you won't get rid of it unless you change your cd player.
And by "there" I mean in general, in your set up and not the wall outlet. outlets don't hiss. Power cord will not cure it. I mentioned Shunyata Hydra2 because you were interested in surge protection, which you will get with Hydra. And also because Hydra is a passive unit(no transformers), it should do a fine job by not presenting any kind of barrier for a current flow into your amplifier. |
oh, and you know what else to try....try switching from tube out stage to solid state on cd player then see if the hiss persists/keeps on increasing with volume on your integrated. |
try Shunyata Hydra2. only plug your amp there. But the wall outlet should not be hissing. There's something wrong going on. |
Scientist, you have daisy chained your surge protectors.
Besides that you are degrading the performance of your gear by plugging it all into the HTS5100, you also managed to plug that unit into a cheaper, powerbar type surge protector. Has anyone recommended this configuration or you just came out with it on your own? I don't mean to sound rude, but with the level of equipment you're running, what possessed you to configure it this way?
IMHO,
1) Your amplifier should be run into the wall directly.
If you want to use power line conditioner, you have to get one of the units that don't restrict current, such as Shunyata Hydra2. But if it's a dedicated circuit, run the amp straight into wall.
2) Your CD player can be plugged into another Hydra2 unit and both Hydra2 units can be plugged into the same duplex outlet.
3) If you want AC regenerator, there are few popular ones - Exactpower, PS Audio
4) Get good power cords. Affordable on the used market that works good with digital gear is Audience powerChord. For your amp you will need something beefier, for example Shunyata Taipan Alpha.
And get your audio gear out of those Monster units.
For your AV gear, even the AVS2000 will suffice.
You don't need HTS5100, especially when you plug it into the AVS2000.
And if the Cello amps are being sold by a family friend, why not borrow these and try in your set up? |
While I think the Silver Ref MkII are excellent cables, in your case, and I already said that before, the Matrix will most likely be the one. Since you are going cd->integrated without any preamp, Silver in that configuration may be out of place.
Try Hydra2 or the new Guardian. Also try the solid state output stage of your cd player into your integrated, just to see if you omit the hiss |
did you get your AZ interconnect cables yet? |
