Request advice-need "brighter" speakers than Totem Hawks

Try some Paradigm Signature's with beryllium tweeters. 

Hey Erik (et al): 
Some updates. First for Erik, Hawks have 6 ohm impedance, FWIW. I have not encountered an amp that had trouble pushing a lot of sound through them, though SQ is another issue. 

Quickie recap: In our last episode, I took the Hawks to Hermary's (local dealer) and tested them on a McIntosh Power Amp/Paradign Pre setup. Source was a high-end Audio server. Sounded great. I've now swapped out the Sim Audio Moon P-5/W-5 for my Creek 100a, and the sound is better, but ONLY because (IMHO) the Creek has tone controls, with which I have been pushing the treble way up (setting of 6-9/10). But it sounds good. Current cables are Audience AU24SE (ICs) and Audio Art SC-5SE(R) on speakers. I tried some anti-cables, and retain them as the bridging conductors between speaker posts (well-designed design for that). 

Insights/Action/Questions:
(1) My hearing is worse than I thought. Specifically, owing to the geometry of my setup, for near field listening (including a process per Erik's suggestion above) I was using my left ear on the right-speaker and right ear of the left-speaker. Oops. I have major high frequency hearing loss in my right ear (now that I stop to seriously listen for that). I was diagnosing the left speaker incorrectly. I switched to listening near-field with only my left ear, and things improved some. Not sure what action item this portends, except I am toying with getting a "Hear One" device for use in-ear. I'm mostly interested in that for use as an inexpensive hearing assist-device (in my classes), so I'm far from counting on this to make a difference in music listening. 

(2) The Moon P-5/W-5, while truly a pleasure to operate, and possessed of stunning aesthetics (IMHO), has a couple issues--notably (in my specific case) no tone controls, which I apparently need. Also, from an audiophile perspective, the bass (my low- and mid- freq, hearing is fine) was "too extended" in the Moon + Hawks setup. The Moon pre/amp put out a bit more than the hawks could readily resolve--seriously low frequencies--well beyond the (admittedly brilliant) ability of the Hawks smallish drivers. This resulted in slightly "loose, boomy" bass at times, depending on the recording. The Creek amp, solved this issue (speculation: by simply not going there as powerfully on the lowest frequencies). The result: audibly tighter bass. Still plenty of low-low frequencies, too. 

(3) The system I heard at Hermary's listening space was driven by an expensive (>$5k, I suspect) server. I got the brand wrong--not PS Audio, so that remains a mystery for now--sorry about that. The point: the source was top-notch, far above the Marantz SA 8005SACD I'm using. Even with a modded Eastern Electric DAC (discrete Op Amps in for ICs, pulled out tube) the Marantz is simply not as good as that server pushing out FLACs and WAVs. Having the Parasound pre and the McIntosh Amp in the loop could not hurt either. I am wondering now about the quality of my source material (CDs) and the Marantz SACD 8005. 

(4) Actions Items (planned and prospective):
-I'll take the Moon W-5 (power amp) in for service--I have a couple minor issues that need attention (loose speaker binding post, intermittent power LED). I'll have the service guy go over the whole unit. Everyone I talked to, however, told me power amp problems are generally much more "catastrophic" by nature--subtler issues like "muted highs" are not on people's radar for this type of gear. 

-My wife (whom I adore) has said I can have a belated Xmas gift of a component of my choice. If I sell the Moon Pre- and Power-amps, I'll have plenty of $ to get something that hopefully meets my needs better. Having spent an inordinate amount of time validating the speakers, I wonder where I might turn next. Open to constructive suggestions. Let's keep single component cost at $5500 or less, please. Less is more ;-).

-Having, in the course of this exploration, done a whole bunch of cable-swapping (anti-cable/Audience/Audio Art/Better cable/vintage Monster M-Sigma 2000/others) I now firmly believe that once one has decent quality cable in the system, differences are absolutely minimal. My not so subtle way of saying I am done exploring cables for now. I'm thinking (from the visit to the dealer) of looking at a used McIntosh power or integrated amp. Other ideas (including replacing the CDP) are welcome. I'm quite open to new or used top-quality gear--there's a lot of McIntosh available out there--it's confusing, actually. Thank you all for your thoughts. 
-B

Not a component recommendation, but try substituting an IC with extended highs. Your Audience ICs have smooth and laid-back sonics. This is not the fix you are looking for, but with new components, you may get more high frequency detail.

Well don’t fully self diagnose yourself yet!

I had that problem and it turned out to be wax build up so serious it required a technician. I switched to using a lotion soap, and thoroughly washing and rinsing with the shower head which has prevented recurrence.

Point is, make sure you have what you think you have. Talk to a doctor and get examined first.

Best,

Erik

Lowrider: I'll try that idea on the ICs, but not too optimistic. Already attempted a couple variations along those lines, with little result, but I'll dig deeper into my cables (BJC or Better Cables or old vintage Monster seem likely candidates). Stay tuned for a report. 

Erik: Thanks for the insights. After 45+ years of playing percussion, and several visits to the audiologist, my knowledge of my condition is as stated above. When playing, I now religiously use hearing protection (isolating Shure ear buds, currently). I run them thru a multi-output pro headphone amp (presonus) with volume controls for each output. I try to keep the levels reasonable when playing with my combo in-studio, and I use more mundane ear plugs for live gigs. This all helps, but the damage to right side hi freq. is real. 

All: I think much of my issue is reflected by the tension between seeking neutrality in the gear, and needing brighter highs given my story. Put differently, and more usefully, I wanted to avoid listening fatigue, which I get from overly harsh highs, so I overcompensated (a lot) by inappropriately combining gear that ALL boasted "laid-back sonics," per Lowrider's comment on cables. In my case, the Sim Audio, Marantz, Audience, and even the Totem Hawks (though less so) combined to over-soften my highs. The result has been muted highs that are a particularly poor fit to my personal situation. Please comment. 

Other miscellaneous news:
(1) Took the Moon W-5 in for service today. It needed a couple minor fixes anyway. The senior tech was deeply skeptical of the high freq. issue residing in the amp, as I previously noted in an earlier post, though he admitted a messed up capacitor could conceivably play a role. 
(2) Room conditioning fans: I added bass traps to the corner nearest to and opposite the speakers. So far, some minor differences are apparent (better clarity at the low end, but it's pretty subtle). I need to listen more extensively following this tweak. No effect on highs detected so far. I used 72" of cloth covered medium density foam cylinder.  Actually looks ok. 

Thanks to to all for hanging in there with me on this issue. 
-B