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Why are my SF Venere S Speakers not sounding as warm?

I have a beautiful pair of Walnut Sonus Faber Venere S speakers and I use them for everyday surround sound/music listening in our living room.  The issue is I fell in love with these speakers in the showroom, and when I set them up in my living room they sounded almost piercingly bright and not nearly as balanced and pleasant.  I have bi amped them with my Marantz SR 6012 Surround Receiver, ran the room EQ set up as well as tried to manually EQ the system.  I was able to take some of the brightness out and get them to a more balanced sound.  I am VERY happy at the un-hindered sound quality they produce.  However there is not near as much bass as there seemed to be in the showroom (I had them disconnect the separate sub).  Now I understand my room is not treated and that of course makes a difference.  I added a Definitive Technology SuperCube 2000 and that has helped, surprising amount of bass for such a small discreet sub.  What are your suggestions?  What am I missing on the set up of these speakers to get the full range from them?

We have a tile floor and a raised ceiling that is at an angle from approx 9' up to 15'.  We have a large fabric couch with an area rug and wooden coffee table.  The dimensions of the room are approximately 14' deep and 19' wide.

tice34
mzkmxcv
777 posts
 
1) Don’t let anyone tell you the Marantz isn’t good enough, it is more than good enough. 
 
2) SF’s Venere line is not warm, I’d say they are even a tad bright. 
 
3) Did you try with no toe-in? Listening at 30° off axis (assuming you are in an equilateral triangle) will for sure make them sound more warm, and they image well so no issues with doing that. 
 
4) That DefTech sub in actuality is pretty lacking, despite what you said, $500 for a 7.5” subwoofer is a rip off unless you cannot fit a bigger sub. A Rythmik L12 is around the same price and is much better. 
 
5) adding a tube preamp won’t change the sound one bit if you still run Audyssey, and if you don’t, it will make the speaker bright again, most likely more than the warmth added from the tube preamp. 
 
6) If no toe-in srill isn’t warm enough, try extreme toe-in, having the speakers angled 15° past you (intersecting a foot or two in front of you). 
 
7) Play with placement from the front wall as well as the sidewalls. 
 
8) Adjust your seating distance from the rear wall.
tice34 OP
9 posts
 
Mtrot,
Which ones do you recommend?  Are you using RCA to XLR then?  What type of ends on the RCA should I be looking for?
mtrot
804 posts
 
Well, it would depend on which type connectors you have on your 6012 and your power amp.  What types do you have?  My power amp has only XLR connectors and my AVR has only rca connectors, so I use rca interconnects with an XLR adapter on the amp end.

As to which interconnects, I have for several years been using a set of High Fidelity CT-1 interconnects.  They are pretty pricey, but I've never heard such good sound before.  I think they cost $1,500 back in that day.  At more reasonable prices, Wireworld and Audioquest makes some quality interconnects.
tice34 OP
9 posts
 
The power amp I ordered has both XLR and RCA, but with everything I have read I need to send it a balanced signal so I need to find a cable that I can plug RCA into the Mrantz and XLR to the amp.  So same setup you have looks like.  But I don't have a cable budget any where near that high.
tice34 OP
9 posts
 
mzkmxcv,
Thank you I am going to play with the placement when I get the new amp in and up and running.  I will definitely be planning a chunk of time for that.  I can see what you are telling me about the Audyssey, so far I am not a fan of that system.  Or at least I have not figured out how to use it to my advantage yet.  And the sub was purchased out of necessity regarding the size right now, it fills the room decent enough, but tucks away out of sight which is what I needed to keep the Mrs. happy ;)

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