Kleos Sibilance

Unfortunately the most revealing product is also and the most demanding one.

"I thought you were clear that you did not hear mistracking on high pitched tracks, just sibilants & grunge on male vocals. This was the only reason concerning a better matched wiring loom in your system."

There are many types of tracking/tracing problems. The inability to reproduce clean sibilants is one of them.

As a further stop gap I am going to add more weight to the headshell. And returning the Kleos is unacceptable. Not sure he would take it back and I think the Kleos is quite wonderful. The last U2 is playing now and it is in another league with the Kleos, still not great but much better.

"As you ask for a new idea, I would like to point something better : Denon DP80/SME 312S"

Thanks for that. I will look at the Denon. I used to sell their stuff, even the high end stuff. My dealer does have Denon HT products.

Glad y'all are keeping it going. It makes the annoyance a bit easier to take.

FWIW, Fremer reviews the Kleos in the January S'phile - he used it with an Avid Diva II/ SME 309. He certainly didn't experience any sibilance issues - quite the opposite in fact.
Some comments from that review:
"It's performance fresh out the box is better than a fully broken-in Helikon..."
"...cleanly rendered sibilants and shimmering high frequency transients with no hint of edge..."
"..an airy, extended top end that was decidedly not bright or etchy."

To test whether it is a cartridge/arm mismatch, perhaps you could find a friend - or friendly dealer - with an SME or similar and listen before making any decision.

"...cleanly rendered sibilants and shimmering high frequency transients with no hint of edge..."

Yep, glad you brought that up, read it twice. Should have that passage memorized!

Dgarretson had said add weight to the headshell which I did. He then said more. So now I have 3g on it. Even more dampened than with just the .9g . Highs are crisper, particularly noticeable on symbols. The vocals on Captain and Me appear to have mostly cleared up. That LP was showing the most gravel in the some of the vocals. Still getting sibilance on RAM. Bass definition seems to have improved even further. Will try Norah next.

Sibilance still there on multiple LP's including Featuring Norah Jones. It is improved. The sound is really good otherwise. A bit less slam but everything is more controlled and crisper. Maybe a little HiFi sounding occasionally but very little. Just heard really nice cymbal hits that sounded real so that is definitely better. Norah gives a good try to Court and Spark but Ms. Mitchell owns that. At the risk of sounding like a broken LP, piano is so wonderful through the Kleos.

Pretty sure I cannot live with a blob of Blu-tack on the headshell!

So Dgarretson gets the prize, whatever that may not be, for recommending the weigh on the headshell trick.