2. amps-preamps
  3. 1066685776

New preamp or other suggestions?

I'm really getting tired of the harsh sound of my system. At this point, I honestly would rather listen to music in my car than in my listening room. I've always chalked it up to a poor room layout (and that's not something that I can change), because this same system sounded UNBELIEVABLE in the dealer's showroom. For what it's worth, I've already treated the room with Echobusters panels, which helped quite a bit, but not enough to make the system sound really enjoyable.

Recently an audiophile friend suggested that a good tube pre might make the system more listenable. The current system is:

Source 1: CAL Icon MKII HDCD w/PowerBoss power supply
Source 2: Music Hall Fidelity CD-25 (stock)
Pre - Bryston BP-20 line stage (balanced to pwr amp)
Power - Bryston 4BST
Speakers - Thiel 3.6
Interconnect (pre to pwr, bal)-AQ Lapis or Nordost Red Dawn
Interconnect (CD to pre) - AQ Lapis, unbalanced
Spkr Cable - AQ Midnite X3

The system on the whole is currently lacking mid-bass (the terrible room strikes again) and has a harsh, in-your-face high end. Of the two sources, the CAL has a MUCH better bottom end, but is lacking detail and air at the top, and has a very "forward" presentation. The CD-25 has a much more detailed (and enjoyable) top and a wider soundstage, but light bass.

I listen mostly to pop, acoustic jazz and contemporary electric jazz.

My friend suggested picking up a used AR or CJ tube pre in place of the Bryston. Another friend suggested replacing the op-amps in the CD-25 with 627's to enhance its bottom end.

I'm a musician and not an audiophle, so I don't know if the advice I've received will fix the problem.... I'm also on a budget, but could swing $1-1.5K on a new/used pre if that would fix my problem.

Do any of you experts (and I mean that sincerely) have any ideas?
hoosierdaddyonline

Showing 1 response by petscan

petscan
4 posts
 
Having recently returned to our hobby after a 20-year hiatus, I've taken to reading Stereophile, TAS, etc. One thing that has amazed (and dismayed) me is the quality control problem in the (high end) industry. How many times have we read reviews that went: "It stunk until I sent it back... got a new unit... wow, what a difference..."? Or similarly-minded manufacturer responses to less-than-doting reviews ("...as soon as we got the unit back to the factory we examined it and found a bad {part-of-the-day}...")?

Is it possible that you could have a bad component? When you said that "this same system sounded UNBELIEVABLE in the dealer's showroom," do you mean that THEIR demo units sounded great, or did you actually shlep your own equipment to the store for a listen? If the former, and if you trust the dealer's integrity and skills, then you might want to have one of their staff come to your home for a critical demo.

Good luck

Doug
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