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

Glad to hear things are getting better. If you end up really happy with a touch of hardness, then you might be able to get some Cardas interconnects. They are slightly warm and can tame a small amount of hardness. 

@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.