Help me tame the brightness of my Triangles

Thanks for all the advice, everyone.
Curious about the impressions of the 80's mullards. My only frame of reference is the USA Jan/Philips tubes that the amp came with. These were grainier and more forward in the midrange, but had similar tonal balance. I don't find one to be brighter than the other.

Has anyone used Cardas cables? Lots of people have recommended them. People are pushing me toward the Cross, which I may be able to pick up used for $200 ... seems like a lot for this system. I can get used quadlinks for more like $130, but I've been warned that they can sound slow and sloppy in the bass. Any experience with these cables?

Have people really heard significant changes with power cords on CD player? And by significant, I men ones that you notice just sitting back and listening to the music, not just squinting during an A/B test. I've never experimented, so I don't know.

Thanks again,
Paul

Did you try any other speakers in this set-up? Maybe Triangle is not a good match for Unico/Rega combination?

My previous speakers were interim only .. cheap Onkyo bookshelf speakers. They sounded fine with everything, but managed this by having very little frequency extension in either direction.

I have heard the Unico/Triangle combination with other sources .. it sounds great. Triangle uses the Unico to demo speakers at their trade shows, so it ought to be ok. It would seem odd for a warm source like the Planet to be a problem in this combination.
Paul

I have listened to a few of the upper end (I forget)Cardas cables and they lack the open sound I crave and yes they are big and sloppy in the bass.

I have just recently gotten some PCs and I recommend them to everyone. The kind of difference they make are hard to discribe but most people say your system takes on a more musical quality with a lower noise floor which lets nuances thru.

I have had good results with Vibrapods which helped my stereo to be more focused and lower resonences.

Paulraphael, what you are describing about the Triangles is common. The upper mids/lower treble is a bit harsh.

This is related to three things. First, Triangle keeps as much crossover out of the mid - tweeter as they can. Traditionally, a single capacitor(in series with the tweeter) was the only crossover component used in this region by Triangle. They want no intrusion of a capacitor or coil, which in their opinion(and I agree) these components can only slow down the music, reign in dynamics, and change the sound. Secondly, the mids and tweeters overlap more in their speakers than what is usually encountered. The midrange operates as high as it can go, which results in beaming and uneven response which can show up in raggedness and distortion. The tweeter also plumbs down lower than it probably should, again leading to raggedness and distortion. Thirdly, emphasizing with my second point, I find the response of the tweeter to be a bit unsettled in general. Depending on ancillary equipment, volume, musical tastes, and room, this tweeter can easily turn nasty. I find this from a great many metal domes, but factor in the lack of crossover to filter out the lower frequencies the tweeter sees, and you end up with exactly what you describe.

Do not try to do too much other than setting the speakers on a good pair of spikes. Triangle speakers eschew the use of most of the damping and vibration control solution sacred cows of audio. That's the way they are designed. Like a violin or other musical instrument, Triangle speakers(like most speakers before the 1970s), are supposed to "sing along with the music". These resonances and vibrations in no way add up to shrillness or the problems you are seeing.

I would say the first thing you need to do is move away from the StraightWire Rhapsody 2 interconnects. StraightWire has always produced some of the most forward cables in the business, and in many cases, they are downright bright. Most audiophiles no longer talk about or know much about StraightWire these days, but think back to about 1990 and the lightbulb will come on for many. Whether you move to Cardas, or most other copper interconnects(you may also want to think about Alpha Core Goertz or Analysis Plus), I think you will see a fair amount of your problem solved there.

Second, you also need to find a different speaker cable. AudioQuest cables do not nearly spotlight brightness as mush as StraightWire, but they also do nothing to tame it. Again, move to something along the lines of the interconnect you go with.

Most of your problem should be solved by cable. Although I am not the world's biggest advocate of cable solving problems, in your case, I think the solution is appropriate and will work. The combination of cables which highlight detail and speed, coupled with what I laid about the Triangle crossover/tweeter is a recipe for pain.

Apart from my suggestions, it seems wise to also investigate the tube suggestion(can't hurt), but I think cable will be an area which you will need to address in your system regardless of what happens otherwise.