"Air, Extension, Resolution" Music or Hi Fi?


I have mentioned in other threads my efforts to tame the treble on my Tympani IV a's which has led to a number of upgrades:

tweaky resistors in line with the tweeters
MYE stands
a Musical Fidelity tube buffer
new tubes for the Audio Research SP11
new Signal Cable speaker cables and interconnects

Once in a while, with the right recording, late at night, the system sounds very, very good, and although not quite the midrange magic of my Apogess Stages with Jadis preamp and Aragon 4004 MK II, probably some of the best "sound" I have ever heard.

But to be honest, I dont find myself compelled to go and listen to the system and often, the system still sounds fatiguing.

Ever the audiophile, I have wondered if

Rives Audio room treatment and/or
Replacing the SCD-1 with a TURNTABLE

would really restore the passion that got me into this hobby nearly 30 years ago.

But reading an ad for Tympani 1-Ds on ebay a couple of days ago gave me a Eureka?! moment:

As much as the ribbon tweeters sound really impressive, with air, extension and detail that the non ribboned models clearly dont have...

...I am suddenly wondering if all of this comes at the expense of the MUSIC.

I cant ever remember, for example, listening to my Magneplanr MG-1Bs, for example, and saying:

"I stayed up all night listening to MUSIC, but sadly the experience was ruined by my craving for more "extension" "air" and/or "inner detail".

All of this is making me wonder if the evolutionary push for "transparency" "lifting veils" "inner detail" "resolution" is exactly what turns music into hi fi, and if I might enjoy a newly restored pair of Tympani 1D's more than my Tympani IVa's.

Just my latest thought.....thank you for listening.
cwlondon

Showing 1 response by onhwy61

I suspect there is nothing wrong with your system. The ribbon tweeter is very revealing of source material and there are a good number of recordings out there that have tipped up treble and upper midrange responses. Your system could just be reporting the facts on the record. If this is the type of fatigue you are experiencing, then you should experiment with a high quality parametric equalizer with shelf controls. A broad 1 or 2 dB dip centered anywhere from 7 to 12.5kHz can do wonders for those overly hot sounding records.

You do hint at a broader question about music vs. audiophile effects. It's not always clear cut, but I've come to the conclusion that some of the qualities audiophiles strive for are not that musically important. I'd put much of soundstaging and imaging into that category.