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Need cable to soften brightness just a little?

Would appreciate some hand holding on solving a small problem. I think a different cable interconnect might be what I need. Right now I am using Blue Jeans interconnects.

Have three new variables in our TV Stereo system.
New Oppo UDP-205
Musical Fidelity A3cr Preamp
Pioneer SX-1050 Stereo Receiver (bypassing it’s preamp)

Still in use is the Arcam SR250 AV Receiver.
Speakers are floor standing Spendor FL-6.

I am an opera lover and classical music devotee and like really good audio. The Arcam SR250 is just perfect for ordinary tv watching, but I soon found out it can’t equal the musicality of a good stereo receiver, so I rigged up a way of using my Audiomat Arpege tube amp for musical program listening.   But  I just found a better use for the Arpege and decided to replace it with the Musical Fidelity Preamp and the Pioneer Receiver.   The Oppo is just a few days old as well, replacing an Oppo BDP-83SE.

There is a big improvement in clarity of spoken dialogue.
Everything sounds brighter and clearer and there is an unmistakable sense of power from the much more powerful Pioneer.
Musically it is harder to evaluate. At first there was a feeling of “wow, major improvement”, but on further listening it feels a little bright. Might be the sort of brightness that causes music fatigue.

How do I take just a little of the edge off the brightness without losing the wonderful clarity I’m getting?

And how to go about figuring out which of the three is causing that little bit of edginess.


128x128echolane
ghosthouse's avatar
ghosthouse
4,296 posts
 
1) Wait until all your new pieces are fully burned in. Your sound is going to be going through some changes while this happens. No sense trying to pick wire before then.

2) Talk to the folks at The Cable Co. about your system and what you are looking for. They often have system-specific suggestions. They also have a loaner program so you can try different wire in your home.

3) Search the Cable discussions here (enter "Looking for a warmer interconnect"). This topic has been done-to-death over the years.

4) One almost "cliche" answer is going to be: Cardas wire. It’s got a reputation (deserved or not) for warmth.

After burn in, and before any wire "upgrade", if the problem persists, you might try swapping your pieces in and out (with their predecessor) one at a time and see where that edginess is coming from. On the other hand, the overall sound might be due to a specific combination of pieces so expecting brightness is caused by one piece alone might be a mistaken assumption.

Good luck
auxinput
2,920 posts
 
The Oppo has been known to take a very long time to break in.  Some people say 200 hours, but many others have indicated as much as 300-400 hours of continuous play.  Just put a CD in and set it on repeat.  Then turn your preamp down and you can turn off your amps.  10 days straight is what I generally recommend for 200-240 hours.
auxinput
2,920 posts
 
Once you have it broken in, if you are still looking for interconnects, then yes Cardas has been known to be warm.  Another great option is to look for a lower cost Audioquest cable, but make sure it uses gold-plated RCA connectors (avoid the silver plated!).  Evergreen interconnects can be had for less for $50 on ebay.  I think these would be better than Blue Jeans cable because Audioquest uses larger 21awg solid-core conductors.  The gold-plated RCA will help in reducing the highs.  Or you can move up to Audioquest Golden Gate or Big Sur cables (still under $100).
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