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Getting rid of harsh, shrill treble

I cannot play my classical cd's at a volume where the midrange and bass come through without harsh, shrill treble, especially the violins. I have bookshelf speakers on stands and subwoofer in a small 120 sq. ft. room. I have no treble control on my pre-amp. I tried a Taddeo passive Digital Antidote II between my CD player and pre-amp with minimal result. I have a solid state integrated amp, will switching to a tube integrated amp cure this problem or is it my speakers?
classical_fred
tobias
1,534 posts
 
The problem may be related to the AC supply. An isolation transformer for the CD player (eBay) would be a cheap way to find out. 125 to 500 VA would be a reasonable size. Topaz and Xentek are good names.
jaybo
4,478 posts
 
the room and the speakers are generally the guilty party
classical_fred OP
18 posts
 
Hello Tvad,
I am not an electrical engineer! How can I find out where my loudspeakers have impedance dips to prevent the same problem with a new tube amp? What is an impedance dip? Should I try replacing my speakers first and keep my amp? I have been reading reviews on von Schweikert VR1's; B&W CM1's; Joseph rm7 si Signature MK2's; Linbrook Sig Monitor's; Green Mountain Audio Europa's; and the Micro Walsh's 35 inches tall? Thanks for your time.
Classical_fred
Post removed 
shadorne's avatar
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shadorne
7,477 posts
 
An SS amp is relatively unaffected by speaker impedance compared to tubes.
Your speakers are a tough load for a tube amp. I'd prefer 8 ohm nominal speakers with tubes. In any case, you are talking band aid solutions....the problem is your speakers....even the room acoustics should not make violins sound harsh and shrill. This is a well known problem for lightweight rigid drivers with small motors.

As you probably won't take this one piece of advice to heart and are probably on a road to spending $1000's of dollars on band-aids.....I beg you to spend a few minutes and google "magnesium cone ringing problems"....see for yourself....don't take my advice but form your own opinion based on well known and published issues with lightweight rigid cones.
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