Upgrading a fatiguing listen - advice wanted please.

[the_dude2]

Hi all.

After reading these forums for some time this is my first post and im looking for some advice to draw up a short list of equipment to check out for the first step in an upgrade process.

My current system, which i find fatiguing after about 30/40 mins of listening to is as follows:

Arcam CD93
Linn Intek integrated + Powertek bi-amping:
Mission 773 speakers

The speakers and amps were giving to me by my father, and as solid and nice as they are i think they (probably along with the size of my listening room compared to the size of the speakers, room is 3m x 3m) are the culprit for the tiring sound i am experiencing. I find its quite hard in the treble (i have removed the tweeter grilles on the missions which got rid of the tsingy (?) noise) but is still a bit too hard. I think the combination of the metal tweeters in the missions and the reported (what i have read elsewhere) harshness of the amp are the culprits. The mids are nice, and the detail and treble is ok (apart from the harshness of course) and the bass is a bit boomy (i have also covered one of the ports in the speakers) but i think that is the room and am not worried about that quite as much. But its the way its a bit of an effort to listen for any length of time. Im sure the speakers are def. too big for the room, but im not sure if the harshness is worse, or just a combination of the two working together.

So, advice on where to start please. I listen to MUSE, Radiohead, Black Rebel etc, but also Tori Amos, Zero 7, Lamb and such like, along with the occasional bit of classical.

I was interested in the simple solution (while space isnt an issue per se, the convenience of an inbuilt DAC was appealing) of the ADM 9.1's, they seemed to offer what i wanted. However after reading a recent post in these forums i have decided against them, liking the reviewers description as to what i expereicend after trying my new Jay's q-Jays for Christmas. They have lovely detail and clarity, and are exciting enough, but its the lower-mid (maybe, probably!) that are missing some impact, like its recessed in the sound stage, so for Tori and alike they are amazing, but MUSE does loose its energy and impact. And there are particular guitar parts that i like in certain songs that have practicaly dissapeared. So if the ADM's are anything like that they are well and truely out.

So in my quest for great performance per pound towards hi-fi heaven (as much as i will get with some of the quality of the production on my music, although It's Blitz! by Yeah Yeah Yeahs is quite good) i would like advice on where to go next.

As i had originaly considered the AVI's, 1200 quid for speakers and amp, then my budget is around this mark, to start with, as why rush the process if it could mean i could slowly upgrade towards a greater system. I had considered a Naim 5i along with the EB Acoustics EB1, which i think would work out to my budget. Bu then i considered that money could get a Naim XS, which is significantly better (as im led to believe) than the 5i. So would it be worth in the long run getting that and then speakers when i could afford those (what speakers with that kind of amp i dont know). But would just getting the XS allow me longer listening periods or will the speakers still make me want to switch it off after 30 mins? Listening volume varies, it can be quite loud at times, but not monsterously so (if you can gather what i mean from that!)

So yes, i should probably go to a dealer and ask to borrow the 2 amps to see what i think. I will do when i get time but i wanted some adive from you guys as i think this is a good place to start or at least get a good discussion going and have some alternatives recomended to me.

Sorry for being long winded but i wanted to provide as much info to start with as poss, and thanks for your help.
Andy

 

[Anonymous]

id try new speakers first something like totem or sonus faber

im not familiar with the amp though

 

[Anonymous]

dont rush into anything ... go and have a listen to the AVI's ... many people who own them seem happy

If you were to keep the current amp/cdp, I would then look at changing the speakers ... am sure you will get many suggestions on this forum

The other thing to try first, is to try moving your speakers ... your room is pretty small, but if you have the space, try this:

place the speakers 800mm away from the side walls (800mm from the side walls to the centre of the speaker)

and 1,3m from the back wall to the front of the speakers

make sure that your listening chair is placed in the centre of the room and as far back as possible ... have a listen and come back and tell us if there is any improvement?

 

[the_dude2]

Thanks one off, Never heard of Totem's before, always liked the look of the Sonus' though, i'll have a look around in the dealers near me to see if they have any of those i can check out.

The amps, like the speakers, are around 20 years old or so, so im not surprised you never heard of it. I think it was Linn's first integrated.

Thanks dim_span, yes i will try and have a listen to the ADM's, as i do like the convenience of what they offer.

Had
a quick listen moving the speakers to that position, sound seems
similar to me at the moment, but i will give it a longer listen, and a
bit louder, tomorrow to really get an idea.

 

[Anonymous]

think your room size may be the problem ... 3m x 3m may be a bit small IMHO, but I may be wrong? ...

see if you can listen to the setup in a larger room in your home before committing to buy anything ...

and if you do buy new, I suggest you listen to the components in your listening room/home before signing the cheque

 

[jaxwired]

Also consider dynaudio. They are known for never sounding bright or harsh. The amp is probably fine if you get the right speakers.

Cables can also help some. Look for low scoring cables in the WHF reviews. Those should suck out some of that high frequency content.

This listening fatique from harsh treble is a common complaint on this forum. But people still gravitate to these ear piercing systems. They do sound good in the show room. Seems to be qiute a few people that are unhappy long term though.

 

[the_dude2]

yes my feeling is one major part of the problem is the size of the room. they are hefty speakers moving a lot of air around in a small space. I have wondered about some nice little standmounts to reduce the sound energy reaching my ears. Any suggestions?
Not sure i have room anywhere else in the house to properly set up the equipment, and weighing around 30kgs the Misisons arent easy to move too far either!
For sure i would take any new component home for a listen first. I think its not just the difference in room acoustics between a demo room and at my house, but it would be (i assume) easier to quickly identify any differences between components by sitting in my most familiar music listening place. If you know what i mean by that?!

 

[ear]

id try some standmounts.easy to carry easy to return if you dont like them.

 

[the_dude2]

starting to like the idea of standmounts. Will find if any of my nearest dealers stock dynaudio's, im sure one of them must, as i think a couple of their standmounters have had good reviews.

Although i have just googled my amp, while there were mixed reviews from users, a lot of people do say its harsh sounding and grey (although this is mostly from their memory as its so old). So looks like a trip to my local dealer (of hifi that is) posing him the same quesiton and trying a combination of amps and speakers.

Any suggestions on making a short list (j have some time off but not enough to give many things in many dealers a listen) of what would sound good with my cdp (Arcam CD93, i guess its not the best at anything, but not the worst either) playing the artists i listed in my OP?
Thanks all.