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My stereo receiver is a little too bright. Can a cable help me out?

I just had my vintage Pioneer SX-1050 refurbished.  I had a severe case of sticker shock when presented with the bill - oops!!  Which unfortunately pretty much forces me to use it. 

I will say It is sounding very powerful which is no big surprise because there is a lot of horsepower under the hood.  But the audio impression is that it’s also a little too bright.  The only way I know to tame brightness is with the right interconnects.  But I’m not experienced in that area.  Recommendations would be most welcome.


It’s probably important to know how I am using  the Pioneer SX-1050.  It is responsible for all audio in my TV system.  My choice of music is almost exclusively opera and classical.  

 I send the HDMI signal from my four sources ( TV-DVR, OPPO DVD, ROKU streamer and Pioneer Elite Laser Disc Player ) to my AVR, an ARCAM SR-250, and I send the respective analog audio signals to the Pioneer.  I am into opera and classical music and I didn’t think my ARCAM AVR sounded as good as I wanted it to, even though it’s ideally  suited to my needs, a two-channel product touted for its exceptional audio.  The audio is good but definitely not great.  Prior to deciding to refurbish it I had paired the Pioneer with a Musical Fidelity A3cr Preamp, using the Pioneer just as an amplifier, and I was getting very good audio that way.  But one of the goals of the refurbishment project was to feature the Pioneer and eliminate the musical influence of the Musical Fidelity preamp.   And now, after spending so much,  I wanted to hear how my now very expensive Pioneer sounded, so I pulled the Musical Fidelity Pre and attached my sources directly to the Pioneer.  Currently all the interconnects are Blue Jeans Cable.  Obviously I can’t spend huge amounts replacing cables for all four sources, so the DVD is priority.
128x128echolane
stringreen's avatar
stringreen
6,386 posts
 
wrong to think of cables to correct problems elsewhere in the system.  Find out where your brightness is and correct that issue
lukaske
307 posts
 
stereo’s-Stereo 5  says the true. All that kind of amps.gives the same kind of sound. For me the Music Fidelity is not so a good match. Not so detailfull,and that’s important . When he cann’t good detected the sound (signal) of the source, it gives you a little bit a mess in high tones. But like stereo5 said: all those amps,he mentioned, are not so deep in mid-low and low, Thereby accentuating the clarity of the treble. Now this time, a lot of Japanese product, have still the same problem: Esoteric,Accuphase Teac,.... but they sounds very detailfull: it’s a choice what you want. For going better in low,use a tube-amplifier: usually go deeper into the layer. And use wires of cupper, 99,9% , instead of silver.
tatyana69
269 posts
 
Changing cables WILL affect the sound. Why do people STILL naysay this ....? Some are  on the bright side and some are duller than typical.

I have an Oppo 105D and do not use it to stream music as it can be a bit harsh, so that would not help, and your Roku is a pretty low level device too, so you are not helping your system much


motown-l
174 posts
 
If you love vintage gear, trade your Pioneer for a Sansui AU --17. I would consider an AU-717 or AU-917 integrated amp. They sell for about what your SX-1050 is worth. I used to sell both lines, in the day. The Pioneers always sounded too bright, to me. The Sansui AU---17 were as good as vintage aficionados say the are. Later series AU---19 and such sounded good, but started using cheaper internals, especially the power supplies. 
musicloversaudio's avatar
musicloversaudio
44 posts
 
I have made the mistake of spending a lot of money re-building much better preamps (Conrad Johnson PV 5, PV 10) from the 80s and 90s because I felt I couldn't afford new. My wife got fed up, I saved some money and now I'm very happy listening to music daily. Nothing from thirty or forty or fifty years ago sounds nearly as good as the better stuff made now. The best engineers actually have learned a few things in that time. I did hear a pretty nice Spectral amp that was thirty years old, but the new stuff is MUCH better. On a budget, get a new Arcam. 
As far as cables go, many are bright or forward to give the short term illusion of detail (I'm looking at you, Nordost). The only manufacturer who references live classical music in cable design is Transparent. They are the most natural sounding at every price point. Don't be dismayed by the prices of their top stuff, they have the same design criteria all the way to their most affordable.
Cut your losses and move on - you will be happier.
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