Coping with the too bright setup--Yamaha AS500 & MA RS6

[vtokmak]

Guys if we match the bright speakers with a bright amplifier can't we just lower the harsh sound by fine tuning the "treble and loudness" by the amplifier ?

I have found pristine Monitor audio RS6 and planning to combine it with My Yamaha AS500.I have not bought any hi-fi speakers before and i think i can not diffentiate the bright-harsh sound and it is long time fatigue etc.

 

[Anonymous]

No; not really...

The M/A RS6 speakers are superb but they do have a bit of harshness/brightness to them if matched with the wrong map. Unfortunatey having heard both; the Yamaha amp will bring that out in the speakers

You could consider a different amp (i.e Arcam , NAD or Rotel) but if you're after different speakers then the like of Acoustic Energy, B&W and QUAD would be better suited IMO

 

[ear]

have a Yamaha amp and I find the loudness to -1,5 and treble to -1 suits most bright speakers.only think you could get more control on the bass with some other amp

 

[plastic penguin]

Guys if we match the bright speakers with a bright amplifier can't we just lower the harsh sound by fine tuning the "treble and loudness" by the amplifier ?

I have found pristine Monitor audio RS6 and planning to combine it with My Yamaha AS500.I have not bought any hi-fi speakers before and i think i can not diffentiate the bright-harsh sound and it is long time fatigue etc.

It really depends on how well your room is damped. If you have chunky curtains, carpet, soft furnishings then you can push the boundary.

 

[poldo]

Guys if we match the bright speakers with a bright amplifier can't we just lower the harsh sound by fine tuning the "treble and loudness" by the amplifier ?

I have found pristine Monitor audio RS6 and planning to combine it with My Yamaha AS500.I have not bought any hi-fi speakers before and i think i can not diffentiate the bright-harsh sound and it is long time fatigue etc.

It really depends on how well your room is damped. If you have chunky curtains, carpet, soft furnishings then you can push the boundary.

true, room is very important

 

[the record spot]

Keep the speakers and get a more suitable amp. The next one up in the AS700 gives a more netral and even
performance and could be a better match. See also Harman Kardon's HK3490 receiver or their HK980 amp. Both will give you a more even
performance than the AS500.

 

[poldo]

you can do 2 things:

1) change your room, more absorption and diffusion

2) buy a more neutral speaker

I don't think the amp is the problem of the brightness/ harshness

I tried the MA rs6 with lots of maps, but the brightness did not disappear.

 

[Rethep]

According to "Stereophile" MA RS6 are a very good combination with Creek Destiny (1). These amps should be somewhere old stock for 850 GBP, or is that to much for you ? Th Creek sounds sweet on the ear and compensates for the bright MA's.

 

[Anonymous]

I don't think changing amplification will calm the RS6s down, their metal tweeter is known to be detailed but fatiguing and no amp can change that IMO.

 

[Anonymous]

A few months ago I booked a demo at Sevenoaks for new floorstanding speakers where I tried B&W 684s and RS6s. The amp was a Rotel RA-06 SE and the B&Ws were first up. After 8 or 9 different CD tracks I was quite pleased with the results but then I asked them to connect the RS6s so that I could make a comparison. I only played about 40 seconds of the first track when I made up my mind that they would be no good for me as the treble was much too pronounced, which was bound to be fatiguing over time. Also my system at home is in a fairly small room with the speakers close to a back wall so I knew that I would need to routinely reduce the bass on the tone control which would only magnify the problem.

You might be better off auditioning different speakers instead of changing the amp. I can certainly recommend the 684s (especially with the jumper bars removed) for a very honest and neutral sound, but try as many as you can within your price range and you should find that this approach gives you what you're looking for in the end.

 

[ID.]

From what I can tell, the OP has the amp and is considering buying RS6, so advice along the lines of keep the speakers and get another amp, or advising a different amp probably isn't that helpful.

 

[Anonymous]

I don't think changing amplification will calm the RS6s down, their metal tweeter is known to be detailed but fatiguing and no amp can change that IMO.

I suspect a tube amp would make a difference, but you should perhaps look at the speaker's crossover.

Too much fatigue can be from inadequate crossover filter slope (too much LF reaching the tweeter), you could ask MA if they have an updated crossover.

A sort-of fix is simply to buy a wirewound 8Ohm resistor and solder it in series with the tweeter - knocking off about 3dB. You may need to experiment with resistor values - buy a bunch then you can also try 2 in parallel for a 4ohm. You would effectively be now doing the job of the speaker designer but adapting to your taste. Speakers in the past have had controls like this - it wouldn't be a first time.

The series resistor is the easiest - just pop out the tweeter, unsolder a wire and solder it back via the resistor.

 

[CnoEvil]

Buying a system that is compromised from the start is unwise, as you then spend the time trying to mitigate this.

I agree with Globs that a tube amp can make a big difference as it completely changes the presentation. I have heard several speakers that I couldn't sit in the room with, sound good with a tube amp.

Bear in mind that if you get out a souldering iron, it will invalidate any warrenty where one exists.

 

[Anonymous]

I don't think changing amplification will calm the RS6s down, their metal tweeter is known to be detailed but fatiguing and no amp can change that IMO.

I suspect a tube amp would make a difference, but you should perhaps look at the speaker's crossover.

Too much fatigue can be from inadequate crossover filter slope (too much LF reaching the tweeter), you could ask MA if they have an updated crossover.

A sort-of fix is simply to buy a wirewound 8Ohm resistor and solder it in series with the tweeter - knocking off about 3dB. You may need to experiment with resistor values - buy a bunch then you can also try 2 in parallel for a 4ohm. You would effectively be now doing the job of the speaker designer but adapting to your taste. Speakers in the past have had controls like this - it wouldn't be a first time.

The series resistor is the easiest - just pop out the tweeter, unsolder a wire and solder it back via the resistor.

I don't recall ever hearing a tube amp, i'll have to try to get a listen to one sometime, should be interesting.

 

[Zax89swe]

Is the tweeter sitting in the BX/RX range same or less strained/bright?