Broke and still not happy

Gellis1,

Take a look at Kimber's PBG and KCAG, neither sheilded. They do offer a sheilded version of the PBJ and it sounds worse. One example but do not worry about it. You will be fine using a digital source. Trust me on this. You will dig the cables.

Chris

Hey Homer,What yah say,I can't here U......

Gellis, your system looks good to me. Please pay attention to room acoustics and try some sound proofing. When there are lots of reflective surfaces, you can apply diffusors. Be very judiciously with absorbers, because they tend to make the sound lifeless. I don't like rubber or sorbothane feet under the equipment, because of the same results. To me wood is the best material to use with audio equipment, not glass, not marble or granite, not metal or high-tech materials like carbon. The use of cones will lead to thinning of the sound and shrillness. Don't be obsessive with cables, because my credo is: A system is INHERENTLY good or bad sounding. This has nothing to do at all with cables, tweaks, whatsoever! A bad system will not sound good when applying $10,000 worth of cables!

I agree with Larryb. Most high end is not great for rock music. Resolving and revealing, airy and transparent, these are generally not the ultimate sonic goals of a rock-oriented system IMO. I went through this process, and ultimately decided that simpler is better.

When I had a Jolida 502B paired with Soliloquy 5.3 speakers and an Adire Rava sub, I found I was totally engaged when listening to rock/pop/country. With the switch to an Audio Aero Prima Hybrid, the bass got tighter and punchier, and the sound was equally as engaging. By the time we upgraded to a $2200 CD player, and a pair of $6500 speakers, the musicality of the system far surpassed that of the recordings, and we were beset on a quest similar to yours: to tweak the thing to death until we realized that the simplest (and less expensive) system worked best for us when it came to this genre of music.

On another note (so to speak), how do you like the Cremona's? I found them to be exactly as you described your system as a whole--sterile, and harsh in the highs. Are they more to your liking with the addition of the Pathos? I would think that you would find the music more to your liking with some tubes in the system--either in the form of a hybrid or tube amp.

For our rock-oriented system, we are reverting to something simple:
Audio Aero Prima Hybrid Amp
Simple CD player: Rega Planet or Naim CD5i
Soliloquy speakers (probably 6.3)

I did not care for the AU24 IC's, nor did my wife. Smoothed over highs, and frankly boring in our system. We much prefer the clarity and immediacy of the Z-Squared. Or the Verastarr.

Sorry if this sounds scattered. I'm just trying to say that when it comes to creating an engaging system for the type of music you like, I would suggest that less is more.

Happy New Year,
Howard

I dont agree with that,music is music,rock, jazz,pop,classical etc...a good system should sound good on whatever type you play on it,sure some systems might shine a bit on quartets or full orchestral, but a real hi end system should sound good, very good or whats the point. Also if you are tweaking your system it means it doesnt sound good. If you keep searching for equipment that has more "air" your search will never end because that is NOT music. Again a system that is musical makes you want to listen to more music....not tweak and fiddle etc.....so if you dont get that from your equipment, it aint musical pure and simple....may have alot of "air" and "soundstage" though but who cares,if you are not tapping your foot and in the groove...like I said, whats the point ?