Hear sibilance on Krall, Famous Blue, D. Fagen?


Hi, Folks,
I have made some changes to my system that I am overall very happy with, but I'm noticing some "sibilance" or harshness to certain voices and I'm wondering if I'm simply hearing some things I hadn't heard before because my system's more resolving, or if there's a synergy problem that has given me a tipped up "presence region." So I want to know if you hear these things too:

1) Jennifer Warnes on Famous Blue Raincoat, first track, "First We Take Manhattan:" I'm hearing an edge to her vocals... sounds like some sort of processing.

2) Morph The Cat: Title track; Donald's massed voices on the verses. How do those (highly processed) vocals sound to you? Breathy? Harsh?

3) Diana Krall, "Let's Face The Music and Dance" from "When I Look In Your Eyes." Very closely miked, but do you hear harshness in some sibilant consonants?

Trying to figure out if this is the recording or my system! Thanks in advance!
rebbi
I'm suggesting a variation of Al's cable troubleshooting by going right to the source. Even though you own a middle of the road CDP, I've seen good reviews.
"09-04-15: Lowrider57
(Zd, he has a system page). "

I see that, but the last comments are several months old. If the OP made some recent changes to the system, I thought that there was a good chance he didn't update his system page. Also, unless I missed something, the OP hasn't told us what components were involved in the upgrade. Since the problems started after, I would begin by looking at the changes.
Almarg,
Thanks so much for your ever-helpful posts. I have a Signal Cable power cord on loan from a friend but hadn't yet tried it on the DAC because my stereo cabinet only has a puny hole for running cables out the back and I'm not sure the beefier cord's plug will fit. But now I'll have to give it a try.

Jea48,
Wow, thanks for all that research. Since I'm bypassing the CDP's internal DAC, I think I'll try a better cord on the DAC first, but I'd never seen Roy Hall's comments on the stock power cord, so that's very useful.

Zd542:
Yes, my system page isn't up to date. I've sold my Ref 3A De Capo's and I'm on a hunt for speakers that may be better suited to my new SET amp.
I am currently breaking in a new pair of speakers. I'm not getting more specific on make and model because this is from a small manufacturer and I am sensitive to not putting negative comments on the Internet that may have more to do with my ears and system than the product itself. Also, they're not fully broken in yet and I'm still futzing around with the positioning.
I'd never heard this sibilance before and I'm trying to figure out if it's coming from the speakers or somewhere else in the system. Or maybe that's just how those tracks were recorded.

Also, FWIW, the Warnes FBR is the Cisco gold 24th Anniversary CD with the extra tracks. On Steve Hoffman's forums, some seem to love this version and some find the remastering a little harsh and sibilant! ;-)

Ironically, I don't particularly care for the music on either the Warnes or the Krall, but since they're audiophile warhorses I thought they should sound good. :-P
Rebbi, I notice the AN Kit one uses a 5U4G rectifier. I have 5 pieces in my system that use this tube, and I have done some fairly extensive tube rolling with this rectifier. Some 5U4GBs, especially, can give me excessive sibilance in my system. It may well be that your current speakers are more resolving than the deCapos, and now you are hearing the sibilance though it may not specifically be caused by that speaker. What rectifier are you using in your AN? It may be possible to mitigate the problem by a change in that tube.
On Diana Kralls "Let's Face The Music and Dance" This song should sound very intimate and Diana's voice is supple and rich and really big and full it exudes a drinkable velvety smoothness without any harsh edges of any kind. (On my vinyl rig playing new 180 gram pressing)