2. amps-preamps
  3. 193593-188109

Preamp Sibilance?

Hi all; first time here with a question that maybe I can get some input on.

prior to a recent purchase, my gear was an auralic g2.1 streamer feeding a sonnet Pasithea DAC feeding Triode Lab 45 monoblocks into some large Joseph Crowe horns… and this system sounded fantastic. 

 

I Wasn’t really looking for any sound changes BUT Then  I decided I wanted to try out adding a turntable to the mix, which meant I needed a preamp as a control unit and so looked for one that had a reputation of being transparent and not coloring the sound. I landed on the Halo Audio Serene Kitsune edition. With the Serene in place, For 90+ percent of the music I listen to this was a notable improvement including a step up in image size, bass weight, fullness, and resolution; however for that other percentage I now hear a level of silbilance that kind of ruins it for me.

the Serene has about 100 hours of playing time so far and I would have expected most of the break-in time to have passed.

Prior to using the Pasithea as a DAC/Pre, I had a Don Sachs Model 2 that I really enjoyed, but ultimately sold because I preferred the DAC direct sound. I heard no hint of Sibilance with the DS pre or with the Pasithea  by itself.

so I guess my question is, have others experienced this with either this preamp or with other preamps?

Is this preamp just not the right paring with my triode Lab 4wpc monoblocks?

is it possible or likely that more breakin time is needed?

Other than giving this a bit more time, are there other recommendations, such as swapping cables or interconnects. For reference all cables are duelund 16ga tinned copper cotton/oil.

 

Thank you in advance 

Glen

glenmschneider

Showing 4 responses by glenmschneider

glenmschneider OP
42 posts
 

@sls883 @audioman58 thank you for the LTA suggestion. I listened to them at LTA in DC a few years back and was very impressed. With this latest purchase I was shooting for the equivalent to no preamp so I could add a new TT, so I tried to stay lower cost in the pre (but still not low). And the Serene has gotten glowing reviews from many reviewer with virtually no one dissenting. If some of these options don’t pan out; I may be back to the LTA option or similar. 
I’d love to hear my gear with @ghdprentice Audio Research but I’m not seeing that happening any time soon. 
also, it’s nice hearing I’m not the only one who has experienced that with a pre.

glenmschneider OP
42 posts
 

@ghdprentice - Thank you. I've seen you say this many times before in many situations and I will definitely give it some more time and track progress.

@bolong -  Thank you for the fuse suggestion and recommendation. I hope I dont have to go down the fuse route to solve this problem but I may give that a shot if other options don't work. The reviews I looked up seemed very favorable.  

@yyzsantabarbara I appreciate sharing your experience.

glenmschneider OP
42 posts
 

Update for all who are interested.

been leaving the preamp break-in in my second system (solid state) pretty much 24x7 since my original post. 
 

Tested once during the week with a definite improvement in Sibilance but still some hardness / harshness to the sound.

then back to breakin for another 100 hours and back in my main system today. Wow, how nice it is. Sibilance mostly gone, harshness gone, left with nice full transparent detail. 

I can tell you all I wasn’t confident it would play out this way. Let’s see if some more hours bring more pleasant changes. 
thank you again!

glenmschneider OP
42 posts
 

@ghdprentice - I appreciate your advice. Before I swapped to the duelund cables I was using Cardas Reflection interconnects. They really made a positive difference in the warmth they brought to my prior speakers. I sold them when I swapped to the Duelund cables for my current speakers, which are naturally warmer. I will definitely consider going back if I ultimately need to. 
 

@bolong - I’m currently using EML 45s rectified by Sophia Electric Aqua II. I’ve never tried anything other than the EML 45s but I have swapped rectifiers. Interestingly I tried this after my original post using PSVANE 274b in place of the SE. that did in fact help with the Sibilance problem quite a bit; but the tradeoff was a darker, less airy, and harder sound that was less preferable overall to me (except for the Sibilance problem). 

Once I get another couple of hundred hours on the system, I’ll swap the PSVANE in again for a more fair comparison in a fully broken in system. 
 

 

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