Sibilance in recordings: your experience the same?


I have just finished a remodeling project and added new 20amp lines to feed my system. Rather suddenly I became annoyed with excessive sibilance on Patricia Barber's Mythologies recording (CD). I had never noticed this before. I looked at my system configuration and could find no obvious changes in the pre/post-remodeling arrangement of my power cords and ICs, so I have to ask if others have had the same experience with this recording. While I'm at it, are there other recordings, say, in the female singer/songwriter genre with inherently excessive sibilance? The really annoying thing about sibilance is once you hear it, YOU REALLY HEAR IT!
128x128mdrummer01
Lrsky - Yes I don't think it purely a microphone artifact.I don't know if it's magic but lots of people use de- essers to limit sibilance during the recording process. Psacanli - Unfortunately it's common that people don't pay attention to phase during the recording process. I would not say ,however, that sibilance is always more obvious in improperly set up systems unless you are defining "properly set up" as hearing less sibilance exclusively. In fact, I can imagine cases where just the opposite is true. If an engineer has not made an attempt to minimize it and it ends up 'on the disc' a system which uniformly reduces your hearing it is robbing you of detail which would not be considered a "properly set up system" for someone who values detail above " musicality"
Aldavis,

Nice post. I'd agree that if you have an excellent system then a small portion of your collection will have a little too much sibilance (that is because not all studios are equipped with decent gear - many speakers have a midrange scoop for example to make them sound pleasant and laid back - even in studios)
In retrospect most of my upgrades, were to reduce sibilance!

Power cords were the biggest cure for me, my elrods cant live/listen without them!
Also ceraballs under my phonostage really helped, I will add more under my amps when funds allow.
I have a nordost shiva on my power amp (soon to be replaced), if I swap this with an Elrod any remaining sibilance is gone.
Good luck
Sibilance in recording is also a function of the singer's mic technique. If you see a singer who looks like they're about to swallow the mic, there's a good chance that you're looking at a singer who'll make sibilant recordings. I've hear the before/after effect of moving a mic away from a singer's mouth and it can be quite ssssssignificant.

Marty
Mdrummer01 - I had the same problem on Barber and many other recordings (my system is very revealing). I changed tweeter's in-series cap from $10 variety to $100 variety and most of sibilants disappeared. Amplifier distortions also convert to sibilants - my previous SS was "brassy" and less clean. Cheaper tweeters might have small resonances in 8-11kHz range where sibilants are.

Audphile1 - I also use Acoustic Zen cables, Satori Shotgun and Absolute IC.