2. misc-audio
  3. 994209925

Upper Midrange Glare problem

I am seeking advice to eliminate hard upper midrange glare. I spent alot of money and the sound improved, but the glare is still present. Is there something wrong with my set up, or etc? My systems is as follows:

Counterpoint DA 11.5 transport with Shunyata King Cobra.
Sonic Frontiers SFD 2 MK II DAC with Shunyata Black Mamba.
Sonic Frontiers SFL 1 Signature Pre Amp with Shunyata Viper.
All above components connected to the PS Audio P300 with a Shunyata King Cobra attached to it.

Bryston 7B ST Mono block with PS Audio Lab Cables connected to two Ultimate outlets which is connected to XLO Type 10 powercords to the wall outlet.

Speakers PSB Stratus Gold, placed 3 ft away from rear wall 2 1/2 ft from side wall, room is 15'wide 21'deep
8 1/2tall. Listening distance is 9 ft away from speakers.

Cables:
Digital - Illuminati D60 - BNC and Illuminati DX-50 - XLR
Interconnects - AudioQuest Diamond X2 - RCA
Speaker Cables - AudioQuest Dragon to highs and Clear 3 to bass.
All Cables are raised by ceramic tiles.

Brights star foundation platforms, tip toes, for each component sitting on a Stand design rack, set of room tunes corners, side walls and tune stripes.

New additions will be XLO limited edition XLR digital cable and Siemens CCa tubes for SFD 2 MK II. Will be here shortly.

Very fraustrated. Any suggestions will be openly noted, thanks.

bowlerds

Showing 6 responses by aragain

aragain
39 posts
 
I'll pass this along for what it's worth.

While I'm not sure what you hear as "upper midrange glare" I had a problem with instruments like violins and sax's. They were so screechy and glaring I just couldn't listen to them.

After a bunch of equipment changes I have come to believe the problem is actually my room.

Using an equalizer with real-time display I have determined that there is a large (about 6db) peak at 1000hz in my room.

Speaker position doesn't change it. Amps don't change it. Different speakers don't change it. It seems like some frequencies are being sucked out and the room just rings at 1000hz.

For now, even though I have some pretty fancy gear, I use an equalizer to take away that peak and everything is fine.

If you can borrow some equipment it would probably be worth a shot at taking some measurements.

Hope this helps.
aragain
39 posts
 
I will stick my neck out and postulate that cables are not going to help.

I do not seek a tussle with those who suggest cable changes. It is simply that in my experience cable changes are in the fine-tuning category and your problem is in the major anomality category.

You are going to need either measurement equipment, set up your equipment in a known good room or bring known good equipment into your room. I know this is a lot of work but it seems to me you are pretty much out of options.
aragain
39 posts
 
Sean -

Thanks for the info.

I think we are basically on the same page and am looking for an explanation of our different posts.

My view is that under 'normal' conditions cable changes make subtle changes and are used to fine-tune a system.

You have posted that your GAS cables can rescue a system with a glaring midrange problem.

To me a system with a glaring midrange isn't 'normal'. There is a root cause which should be determined and corrected to return the system to normal.

The fact that a certain cable can make such a system listenable is to me a special case.

In addition, you have said the GAS cable can make a system sound worse than the freebie cables. This indicates to me they have some unusual properties which happen to be useful in taming certain misadjusted systems.

In summary, I recognize that you have an unusual cable that can tame some systems. It seems you don't want to allow me my view that under normal conditions cable changes have subtle effects. I believe both are positions are viable and there is no need to discount the other.
aragain
39 posts
 
Paging Bowlerds!

Has any of the info posted here helped in any way?

It adds to the knowledge of everyone when we find out what was sucessfull in curing your problem.

Let us know what's going on!
aragain
39 posts
 
To Sean:

On the systems which were cured with your cables, what do you hypothesize the root cause was and how did the cables cause the sound to improve?

Also, what is the effect of placing these cables in a system which sounds good to begin with?

Thanks.
aragain
39 posts
 
Jcbtubes - I agree completely.

What I'm trying to say is - if a person says their system is so far out of whack they can't listen to it then we're out of the realm of cable optimizations. The system problem should be found and corrected.

It's like having a car that pulls to the left and 'fixing' it by dragging a block of cement from the right rear. Ok, the car no longer pulls to the left but you still don't have a properly functioning car. People are entitled to that approach but it seems there is so much more performance available if the root cause is corrected.
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