2. amps-preamps
  3. 1033262025

Sibilance how do I get rid of it?

Hello
I am currently experincing a problem with sibilance in my system,I must admit I know that unless I set up a overly dampened ( lack of Hi's ) set up, I'm almost always going to have some degree of siblance,I listen to mass produced commercial cd's so I know that this is atleast 40% of my problem , and my listening room 26'x14'x8' is relatively live,,lanolium floors..no dampening,,etc,,
But somewhere in the back of my mind I hear "you need to do careful system matching,
My system consisits of:
Cal Aria MkIII CDP
Conrad Johnson Pv10a Pre
& Conrad Johnson PV 14L Pre
Llano A100 SS Amplifier
Dynaudio Contour 1.3 2 way's "GLORIOUS Midrange and Presence"
JPS Labs superconductor FX Ic's
Tara labs Time and Space with TFA Return speaker cables
Transparent Power Plus Power cord &
MIT run of the mil powercord on the Llano power amp
I have no power conditioning whatsoever except some hospital grade junction boxes in which I have the CDP & Pre's hooked up-AMp straight to the wall.
Now I have experimented with various IC's and speaker cable Discovery,Cardas,Transparent..etc
I don't want to address this problem thru cable choice
I have changed the tubes in the CDP as well as the PreAmps
the Jps labs provides me with the transparency speed and extended Hi frequencies,,and resolution, but with noticable
sibilance could it be the Ac line conditioning or lack of it that is introducing the stridency and graininess to the sound? if so where can I start?
What brand power cables offfer the best shielding or get's the GRUNGE out? I've heard good things about coincident
I knwo that I should ( and AM in the process of)addressing the room itself carpet is in order and some accoustic paneling to kill the early reflections,should I do this first? then get the ac conditioning? has anyone had any experience with Marigo Powercords, shuyanta, Coincident etc.
Please offer me your suggestions
braab8

Showing 3 responses by ezmeralda11

ezmeralda11
303 posts
 
"I knwo that I should ( and AM in the process of)addressing the room itself carpet is in order and some accoustic paneling to kill the early reflections,should I do this first?"

You've got the acoustics of a grade-school cafeteria --linoleum floors? To answer your question--YES. Go buy some very good acoustic treatments, foam will be fine, a nice Turkish rug for the floors would look great if you want some styling, otherwise just get any carpet in there. I would straight to Istanbul to get the best prices for the Turkish rugs. Get back to us once that's done.

"I have changed the tubes in the CDP as well as the PreAmps
the Jps labs provides me with the transparency speed and extended Hi frequencies,,and resolution, but with noticable
sibilance could it be the Ac line conditioning or lack of it that is introducing the stridency and graininess to the sound? if so where can I start?
What brand power cables offfer the best shielding or get's the GRUNGE out?"

The room is probably so bad--I don't see how you could even hear if those are really your problems.

Speaker/room interaction is still the most important. Hit the sidewall first reflection points first, the center wall between the speakers, and then the wall behind the listener. Search previous threads on room acoustics and maybe get a good book on the subject "Audio Cyclopedia" or "The Master Handbook of Acoustics."

www.silentsource.com
www.echobusters.com
www.auralex.com
www.tubetraps.com (don't recommend these guys as much)
ezmeralda11
303 posts
 
While its true that the human ear can percieve/distinguish between the original and reflected energy the two become interrelated in different ways. A sound wave will bounce around a room an average 60 times (RT-60) before becoming inaudible (as Rives said). HIS ROOM (Braab8) is probably more like 70 to 90 times before becoming inaudible. These reverbrant sound waves bouncing around the room will do two hideous things 1) it places a certain amount of "strain" on the brain trying to decipher between the original and reflected signal(a lessening enjoyment of the musical experience) and 2) the sound waves can then crash into each other, reflected waves crashing into the original waves. This can cancel detail so that the original signal doesn't make it from the speaker to your ears unaltered. This is the summation/peaks and cancellations/nulls called Phase distortion as it pertains to room acoustics.
"Long time reflections must be attenuated or they impede on the intelligibility of the original sounds being produced" (Rives)
It happens in more deceptive ways in the higher frequencies since its not simply a matter of calculating room nodes which pertain to the lower frequencies (e.g. their wavelengths being of direct significant proportion to the room). To throw on a 3) point--regardless of how flat the speakers freq. response may be, the reflected envergy can easily become colored/unbalanced based on how the room absorbs certain freq. and reflects others and its overall dimensions. High frequencies get colored up too. I know I'm regurgitating a little now. (Lastly, I find AC conditioning to be junk in most respects. There's some foundation to it, but not enough to deserve anywhere near the level of attention it gets in the marketplace--especially compared to room treatment products.)
ezmeralda11
303 posts
 
Correction on RT=reverberation time
http://www.mcsquared.com/reverb.htm
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