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How to tame the midrange???

I am almost there with my system, except that the midrange sounds harsh, grainy, and exceptionally digital. Female vocals in particular. It actually sounds like clipping, but I can hear it at any volume level. However, the problem is more noticable as volume is increased. I listen to a lot of acoustic music with prominent vocals, so this is a real problem.
The room is 26 x 28 x 9. Furnishings are 6 piece HT type seating and carpet....nothing else. No treatments at all. I/C cables are Radio Shack's best. I plan to do room treatments and better cables last.
I am thinking a good DAC might smooth things out a bit. Or maybe seperate 2 channel from HT by adding a good 2 channel preamp with HT pass through. (the front speakers are already on seperate amps) Maybe a preamp with tubes. I suppose having the Denon CDP modified is an option as well. My focus is 2 channel. HT sounds good enough as is, and is a low priority. Budget is around 5000.00, but flexible.
The gear is:
Sunfire Theatre Grand II processor
Denon 3910 ....no mods
Classe Seven Hundred Mono blocks for fronts
Adcom 300x7 for center and surrounds (all bi-amped)
B&W 800N fronts
B&W HTM-1 center
B&W CDM9-NT surrounds
Another consideration is that I listen to Comcast Music Choice digital music channels quite a bit through their Motorola box. I think that makes a stronger case for adding a good DAC. I am new at this and rely exclusively on Goner's advise. Your thoughts are greatly appreciated.
baffled
ozzy's avatar
ozzy
7,499 posts
 
APL can re Engineer the Denon 3910 for a lot less than $5000. Tube stage, With upsampling , state of the art Dac etc.
When its done you can control the volumne thru the Denon direct to your Amps. (No Preamp needed.)

Also, APL can add digital input and analog inputs .

P.S. Trash the Radio Shack interconnects. You have good Equipment buy good cables. Somewhere between $500-$1000 (or of course more) you can find interconnects to be used from APL to Amp.

Remember, everything matters and your system is only as good as the weakest link.
oldpet
295 posts
 
Baffled

1. Your room MUST be treated. You can do some research here, and on the net, for DIY room treatments and save yourself TONS of money.

2. Gmood1 is right. Get a dedicated 2 chanel preamp and you'll be amazed. BTW - I'd recommend a good tubed preamp.

I was like you, in that, I had (have) an HT set up, but was unhappy with my 2 chanel sound. What did I do? Treated my room, and ADDED a 2 chanel preamp to my system. I'm very pleased.

good luck.

paul
mikesinger
572 posts
 
if you are using radio shack interconnects, what are you usung for speaker cable ? is this a trick question thread ????

the sunfire is a decent preamp/processor, and the denon and classe are fine(the dac in the subfire is prety decent too)....

get some decenet interconnects, speaker cable, and poweer cords if your serious...
bbaxley2
141 posts
 
what interconnects are you usesing,i just went through this,i took my whole system apart and started add the interconnects one by one till i found the one that was doing it ,changed it out and its great again so try it it dont cost nothing,,
audphile1's avatar
audphile1
5,279 posts
 
Adding a dedicated tube stereo pre-amp will help a lot. There are excellent tube pre-amps with processor put-through, so you can still run your theater but for 2 channel stereo you will hav e a dedicated pre. Secondly, B&W speakers require bi-wire run of speaker cables. I don't know what speaker cable are you using, but a single run speaker cable would cause some modramge harshness with B&Ws. I would suggest looking into shotgun bi-wire speaker cables such as Acoustic Zen Satori. Also, B&Ws are very sensitive to source components. Garbage in - garbage out. Getting a good dac would help a lot as well, because your DVD player is not a proper source to these speakers. God luck.
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