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Why does my system now have shrill top end.

The equipment in my system (listed below) has not changed but I now find on both CD and Vinyl a high end shrillness to the sound (treble is very harsh) that has become very annoying, especially at high volume levels. I have no idea why this happened all of a sudden.

Endevour E-3
Pass 30.8
Pass XP 20
Esoteric K01x
Linn LP12 (Ortofon Black cartridge)
Linn Linto Phono Preamp
PS Audio P5 (Amp plugged in directly to wall)
JL Audio F112 v2 sub
OCOS Speaker cable (15 feet)
Pass XLR interconnect (Preamp to Amp)
Harmonic Technology Cable Magic Link (not current version). RCA termination

Any ideas?
proacman
geoffkait's avatar
geoffkait
23,365 posts
 
Having all the fuses and cables in the right direction helps a bunch with that sour and harsh sound. Harshness is one of the traits of incorrect direction. Too bad most power cord manufacturers don't subscribe to the idea of directionality. Oh, well, so it goes.
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knownothing
1,653 posts
 
Plus one for electrical issues in your new kitchen.  I would try listening to your system with the new kitchen fully operational as a baseline, then try:

1. Turning off all kitchen lights - listen
2. Turning off all breakers to your new kitchen (if possible) - listen
3. Try plugging your amp into P5 with all kitchen electrical devices on including the lights - listen, then repeat 1. & 2. above with amp plugged into P5.

This should tell you if something in the kitchen is the culprit, and if power conditioning is helpful.  If you do not already, you may want to put your system on a dedicated AC supply line(s) and breaker(s), especially if as has been mentioned it now shares a line with the kitchen or some other potentially offending circuits as a result of the new construction.

My main system is on a dedicated 10 gauge supply line with its own 30amp breaker.  I have a dimmer in the listening room (with incandescent bulbs), but it is on a different circuit.  Amp plugged directly into wall with no direct filtering (but do have a conditioner plugged into the same socket for sources) and system is dead quiet, treble never sounded better.

Good luck!
proacman OP
33 posts
 

Unfortunately the problem is getting stranger. When I turn off all the kitchen lights and play a few songs that are very harsh and then turn them back on their is no difference. But, I plugged the Pass amp into the P5 instead of directly into the Wall and all the Bass was sucked out, as if the speakers were out of phase (they are not). Now this certainly makes no sense. Makes me wonder if the Amp is the issue. Have a five channel amp in my surround system that I will switch with the Pass to see if there is any difference in the harshness (and now bass).

Thanks for all your comments.

almarg's avatar
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almarg
9,670 posts
 
Is the P5 set to output a pure sine wave, or is it set to one of the MultiWave choices? If the latter, which as I understand it flatten the peaks of the P5’s output waveform (in other words, the MultiWave modes intentionally distort the AC in certain ways), I would suggest that you see what happens with the pure sine wave mode.

Also, it would be interesting to know what the P5’s status screen shows for input and output voltages, and input and output distortion.

Good luck. Regards,
-- Al

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