Why are these speakers so bright but others not?


I'm in the process of upgrading my 10 year old system. It currently consists of:

Arcam FMJ CD23
VPI HW 19jr./Audioquest PT6/Sumiko BPS
Audible Illusions Mod 3 pre
OCM 500
Monster Sigma Retro Gold interconnects and speaker cable
Monster AVS 2000/HTPS 7000 power conditioners
Martin Logan Odyssey speakers

I previously had PSB Stratus Gold's and had finally tuned and tweaked my system so that it was reasonably balanced in my room (approx 20 X 13.5 X 7.5, glass on one side with only partial treatment). I had the opportunity to borrow and purchase equipment from work with mixed results.

ML Odyssey - these worked great so I bought these and am sticking with them. Bass is still uneven and not as extended as the PSB's though.

Revel Ultima Studio - very bass lean and tinny

Magnepan 3.6R - edgy and bright. way too big for my room anyway so I'm selling these.

What gives? Why are two speakers so well suited to the room and too very highly regarded speakers not?

I'm going to borrow an amp from work to see if that changes the situation since I know some of these speaks are tough to drive. Any more ideas?
donato

Showing 1 response by robm321

It could be a number of things, but since I have had a similiar situation recently, I wanted to let you know that uncovered windows (at least in my room) were a disaster.

My system was sounding bright, and I recently bought auralex room treatment. I put it on all of the critical spots; my system was still harsh sounding. Then I saw a picture of someone's room on this forum who had a similiar room setup and size (smaller than your) and bingo! I had blinds over my windows and assumed that they would defuse the sound WRONG! Just like this gentleman, I put a folded blanket over the blinds and added some other treatment to just the window. I got the soft warm fuzzy sound back instead of the "I paid all this money for this kind of sound what the?"

Can't promise you it will work and I feel your pain, but it just takes a minute to listen to it before and after you throw a comforter over the window to see if it helps.