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Paradigm Studio 60 V5 Fingernails on Chalkboard

The highs have an edge that hurts my ears, especially female voices (e.g. old joni mitchell, Emmy Lou Harris, etc. I have a Denon AVR 1709 80 W/Ch home theater amp. Could the amp be the problem? It's not room placement - I've moved them all over the room, and it's not interference - it happens even when I only have one speaker plugged in. If it is the amp, what should I replace it with? I spent all my $ on the speakers, assuming the amp I have would work out. I have the speakers for sale on Audoigon but would like to keep them if I can find an affordable solution. Thanks!
bobagov
sprink
110 posts
 
I have the Studio 40v4. I listened to them at a dealer and loved them. I got them home, ran them for a while with my Carver TFM 25 and it was painful. Went back to the dealer and saw they were driving them with Marantz and B&K. Ended up getting a B&K 200.2 amp and have been happy ever since.
ryder
1,689 posts
 
The title of this thread is eye-catching.

Does your Denon AVR amp have tone controls? If it does, you can tilt the treble down and increase the bass to compensate for excessive brightness. I know, not an ideal way to fix things but if it sounds good why not.
bobagov OP
9 posts
 
Thanks Ryder - I'll check out better amplification as an option. As it may not be affordable for me, I'll also explore a bit more trying to sell these so I can find a combo affordable to me.

Meanwhile, I understand now that the room, the amplifier, and the wiring can all play critically into how a speaker sounds. I had read that the speaker is pretty much 90% of the sound and considered anything beyond that as prissiness, but am seeing with my own ears that things are a lot more complicated than that!

I came to the right forum and appreciate everyone's advice!
wilsynet's avatar
wilsynet
264 posts
 
The speaker is indeed 90% of the sound, it gives you the fundamental character of your system, but the remaining 10% can mean a lot.

I think cables are snake oil. Buy good quality csbles at Blue Jeans cable and be done with it. If you hear any difference, it can likely be attributed to the power of suggestion.

You should decide what your budget will be and let a dealer or the people here suggest synergistic components that meet your budget.
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