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My system is bright? I need help. thanks

Hi. it is my first time here in this forum. i would appreciate input and help from all of you. No sacrasm or bad langauge please. I had bad experience with other forums in that aspect. music loving people and audiophiles should be an elite, high caliber and classy community. This is rare to find today. Ok Down to the point.

My system
Musical fidelity kw 500 sacd player. I use the tube output.
Musical fidelity kw 500 integrated amp.
speakers:eggleston andra (not andra 2)
speaker cable: satori acoustic zen
interconnects: Nordost baldur and nordost quatrofil RCA
USe a dedicated 20 amp line with regular power cords(came with the gear) and a panamax 20 amp surge protector and filter.

This is in my family room so there is little room for treatment and moving things around.

problem: bright. the highs are killing my ears, after 1-2 hours of listening my ears start to hurt,sometimes 3 minutes. I have to turn the volume down. I tried postioning, it got a little better. I will try acoustic zen silver ref II may be it will help. The sound is otherwise phenomenal, i could be happy with more bass, but overall it is very good. Depth, tranparency, acuity and soundstaging are great. As for mids, i can see the person infront of me,I can hear the articulation of the tongue in the mouth before the words and tunes comes out. no kidding, but not for long because of fatigue.

I would really appreciate your input.
Scientist73
scientist73

Showing 4 responses by listener57

listener57
730 posts
 
At the source, try the micro-priced Herbiesaudiolab.com ($14.24) Grungebuster 2.2 CD mat. This has the effect of reducing brightness, or glare, while enabling excellent player performance. This can give the psychoacoustic effect of diminishing the relative level of the offending high frequencies, a "virtual equalizer" for the equalizer averse.
It is returnable if you find it is not part of the solution.
Marigoaudio.com wiring (IC, PC, speaker cable) delivers a Rolls-Royce sound which is revealing in a more comfortable manner than many other great brands - a "less intense", yet wonderful, presentation. I have only listened to successive generations of used Marigo products, but there is a distinctive reduction in perceived brightness in lesser quality recordings. Don't know about home trial policy.
Re-evaluate your use of the Panamax; there are a number of competitors which have been praised for their ability to tame harshness; see archived Audiogon disussions.
As posted already, the listening room itself is often needing work. Others will address this after you describe your starting point. Also, see archived Audiogon discussions for more ideas in that direction.
listener57
730 posts
 
I always agree with Wellfed about Herbie's cheap, effective, even returnable, products.
The website has just enough excess of choices to confuse the first-time visitor.
If you stick with Wellfed's advice then your selections stay cheap, effective, and uncomplicated.
Wait a minute, those three words hardly ever go together in this hobby.
listener57
730 posts
 
I don't know if it is politically correct to tell Scientist 73 that it's not rocket science.
But, your solution has me ready to toe in my own speakers as there has been a barely noticeable high frequency emphasis since my own speakers were faced straight forward (without my knowledge, officer) by the neatness police, just a few days ago.
The brilliant idea that suspicious looking solid bookcase sides are now reflecting more tweeter output just popped into my head from somewhere.
Didn't realize how reading books in a darkened library could be a strain on both the eyes, and the ears.
Maybe, it's rocket science after all.
listener57
730 posts
 
Historical note - The Quad of England preamps used to have an elaborate set of adjustable tone controls with one of the effects available being to select a shelf-like uniform decrease in the high frequency range: ------------------__________________
Although this was not a true equalizer,
it was very useful in the original heyday of the vinyl LP to help make the high frequency range in recordings uniformly less aggressive.
With the advent of CD "perfect sound forever" the use of such a circuit became virtually extinct in home high end stereo preamplifiers.
This would still represent a quick and useful temporary solution for many systems, although it could not be considered ideal. The modern preamp designers might be able to resuscitate this type of defeatable, shelf-like, tone control. The perception of high frequency brightness, or glare, is definitely a prominent topic of discussion on Audiogon.
During the sometimes lengthy process of trying to achieve ideal high frequency reproduction, why not allow the listener an option to "fake it 'til you make it"?
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