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How do I smooth out violins?

I have a decent system (bit of a mixed bag) but know that I can achieve a smoother, more integrated, and more relaxed massed violin sound. I listen to a ton of orchestral music and notice that massed violins in their upper registers (1500-3500 Hz) often jump out from the mix and sound a bit harsh, unlike what one hears live. Right now, I have the following:

Spendor SP1/2E
McCormick DNA-125 (original)
NAD 1600 (pre/tuner)
Marantz CD3000
Audioquest Sidewinder ICs
Audioquest Type 4

Would a tube pre help (maybe a AA M3A)? I'm thinking that the NAD may be the culprit. Any advice from those of you who have quested for "real" violin sound is very much appreciated.
bojack
zd542
5,339 posts
 
This post is to hopefully clarify my other post where I mentioned Cardas and Audioquest cables. By some of the responses by other posters, I don't feel I did a very good job at getting my point across. Here's something I should have said: In my opinion, you need to get your system sounding good, BEFORE you buy cables. If you've done a good job buying components you like, matched them to each other properly and to the room, It should sound good, even if you have basic, entry level cables, connecting everything. The problems start to arise when you are not happy with your system and you buy cables to fix it.

I'm not at all saying that cables don't make a difference or that you shouldn't use them to tune your system to your liking. Absolutely. Buy whichever cables you like. Its your money and your system and there's nothing wrong with picking cables that sound good to you. It would be foolish not to.

I hope I was able to clarify my comments. Sorry if I confused anyone.
frogman
7,472 posts
 
Bojack, you want this! ;-)

http://app.audiogon.com/listings/cd-sacd-players-ah-njoe-tjoeb-4000-cd-player-2013-01-09-digital-02790

(No affiliation with seller)
extravaganza
373 posts
 
the funny thing is in my case that violins sounds the best with low budged amplifier Technics a700mk2 connected to Dynaudio contour s1.4 and bryston dac.No magic wires at all,just simple ones.Overall sound is massive and very powerfull
mapman's avatar
mapman
22,336 posts
 
THis would be an interesting trial application for Steve at Empirical Audio's affordable reclocker gadget. That should help assure being in a good place from a jitter perspective I would expect. HE offers a free trial period. I would be interested to know if it helps.

Synchro Mesh
jmcgrogan2's avatar
jmcgrogan2
6,346 posts
 
Zd542, I think you have made things clear enough, and I agree. I look at it as preparing a meal. Yes, you will want to pick out the best main ingredients that you can afford and locate to cook with. These represent the system components. Then you will want to use spices (cables) to season to personal taste. In this analogy, all meals are seasoned as far as I know, since there are no systems out there that do NOT use cables.
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