Once you have it broken in, if you are still looking for interconnects, then yes Cardas has been known to be warm. Another great option is to look for a lower cost Audioquest cable, but make sure it uses gold-plated RCA connectors (avoid the silver plated!). Evergreen interconnects can be had for less for $50 on ebay. I think these would be better than Blue Jeans cable because Audioquest uses larger 21awg solid-core conductors. The gold-plated RCA will help in reducing the highs. Or you can move up to Audioquest Golden Gate or Big Sur cables (still under $100).
Need cable to soften brightness just a little?
Would appreciate some hand holding on solving a small problem. I think a different cable interconnect might be what I need. Right now I am using Blue Jeans interconnects.
Have three new variables in our TV Stereo system.
New Oppo UDP-205
Musical Fidelity A3cr Preamp
Pioneer SX-1050 Stereo Receiver (bypassing it’s preamp)
Still in use is the Arcam SR250 AV Receiver.
Speakers are floor standing Spendor FL-6.
I am an opera lover and classical music devotee and like really good audio. The Arcam SR250 is just perfect for ordinary tv watching, but I soon found out it can’t equal the musicality of a good stereo receiver, so I rigged up a way of using my Audiomat Arpege tube amp for musical program listening. But I just found a better use for the Arpege and decided to replace it with the Musical Fidelity Preamp and the Pioneer Receiver. The Oppo is just a few days old as well, replacing an Oppo BDP-83SE.
There is a big improvement in clarity of spoken dialogue.
Everything sounds brighter and clearer and there is an unmistakable sense of power from the much more powerful Pioneer.
Musically it is harder to evaluate. At first there was a feeling of “wow, major improvement”, but on further listening it feels a little bright. Might be the sort of brightness that causes music fatigue.
How do I take just a little of the edge off the brightness without losing the wonderful clarity I’m getting?
And how to go about figuring out which of the three is causing that little bit of edginess.
Have three new variables in our TV Stereo system.
New Oppo UDP-205
Musical Fidelity A3cr Preamp
Pioneer SX-1050 Stereo Receiver (bypassing it’s preamp)
Still in use is the Arcam SR250 AV Receiver.
Speakers are floor standing Spendor FL-6.
I am an opera lover and classical music devotee and like really good audio. The Arcam SR250 is just perfect for ordinary tv watching, but I soon found out it can’t equal the musicality of a good stereo receiver, so I rigged up a way of using my Audiomat Arpege tube amp for musical program listening. But I just found a better use for the Arpege and decided to replace it with the Musical Fidelity Preamp and the Pioneer Receiver. The Oppo is just a few days old as well, replacing an Oppo BDP-83SE.
There is a big improvement in clarity of spoken dialogue.
Everything sounds brighter and clearer and there is an unmistakable sense of power from the much more powerful Pioneer.
Musically it is harder to evaluate. At first there was a feeling of “wow, major improvement”, but on further listening it feels a little bright. Might be the sort of brightness that causes music fatigue.
How do I take just a little of the edge off the brightness without losing the wonderful clarity I’m getting?
And how to go about figuring out which of the three is causing that little bit of edginess.
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- 48 posts total
OP - Are you using footers under your components? If not, the vibrations and resonances your equipment is subjected to could very well be causing a brightness (brittleness) to your system. New interconnects may mask the problem but if vibrations are the problem they will not fix it. Consider regular Tenderfeet from Herbie's Audio Lab. I have, over many years, tried many very different footers to combat vibration and none has come close to what the Tenderfeet can do without making your system sound "mushy".http://herbiesaudiolab.net/compfeet.htm |
Thanks much all for the helpful advice. The Oppo has been set up to repeat until I put a stop to it. I am also including the Musical Fidelity and the Pioneer in the continuous play. The Pioneer has only been played once or twice in the last 25 years or more and the Musical Fidelity has only seldom been played of late so it makes sense to assume they need some break in too. Hoping that’s all that’s needed. |
Yes, continue to run-in your new components. How do I take just a little of the edge off the brightness without losing the wonderful clarity I’m getting? Before changing cables, examine how well your room is treated. You may need treatments to absorb and diffuse the mid to high frequencies. Replacing interconnects will affect the clarity and timbre of your sonics in some manner. IME, using Cardas may help tame brightness, but will change the clarity due to the sonic signature of their cables. The Clear line of cables is more neutral and has clean extended highs, but will still change the overall timbre of your system. Changing power cables is the only way I have found to tame harshness without changing the overall sound. Some cables can extend the top-end and some can provide smoother, more organic sonics. PC’s that have helped my system are Pangea, Audience, JPS, PS Audio. OTOH, Signal Cables provided extended highs. More importantly, clean power from either dedicated lines or power conditioning can treat a fatiguing system. |
- 48 posts total