I'm confused - Different music...different speakers?

@smaarch1 

Before purchasing the Cronus Magnum 3, I auditioned it at home with the stock K120 and didn’t like the overall sound especially with older recordings. When I returned it to the dealer, l told him I didn’t care for the sound. I tried KT120 with my previous Primaluna integrated amp and didn’t like the sound either so I installed KT77 tubes which improved the overall sound. Fortunately the dealer had a set of used KT77 and installed them in the Cronus. We were both surprised how more musical and less glaring the sound was compared to the KT120. So I ordered the Cronus with KT77s and couldn’t be happier. I also replaced the preamp tubes with NOS tubes.

There is no guarantee you will experience the same. It might be worth spending $200 for a set of 4 KT77 instead of going thru the process of trying other pieces of equipment. If you do try the KT77 you will need to reduce the bias from 35 to 30 as recommended by Rogue. Good luck.

BTW- Live at the Fillmore sounds great especially Stormy Monday

There are no such sounds in nature (rock) - this is every time the author's invention ... interpretation

P / S - if a person after 30 years old listens to such music - I feel sorry for him - he remained a child ...

sometimes 1-2 songs can be listened to (if nostalgia)

@decooney Thanks and yes toe in is not necessary on the Hawks. I think I have them in an optimal position, although I keep moving them closer and further to the back wall - too close and the bass gets "bloomy". What surprises me about these speakers are their wide dispersion. The B&W's they replaced did some great things but not dispersion - If you moved your head 1 inch, everything was lost.
@ronrags this is very interesting - talk to me some more about this please. Different bias setting is noted - thanks. Any reason the KT77's and not the KT88's? This should like it has great possibilities. What speakers are you running please? Thanks ronrags.
@serjio your comment is noted and ignored. Best regards in any event.
Thanks again everyone

I have the Totem Rainmakers, powered by all tubes. I also find no toe-in works best and love the wide dispersion. I also find distance from the wall is critical, and closer than a foot has proven to give me a lot of accurate punch without boominess (too far away, they get thin or confused). I add a REL sub when I'm listening more critically, or when there's something big down there, like synth-bass. My amp is 35 wpc, so I'm not crazy loud, but it's not soft, and I've played in bands '-).

The other thing I thought this thread might get at is how a lot of older rock albums just don't resolve to audiophile, even on CD. I've been in studios back in the day where the final mix was signed off on through auratones. Especially in the bass; I often wonder if the RIAA needed to keep it under control so it rolls off. I'll give the Fillmore recording a listen!

I went through something like this in the past. I had all tube gear with Infinity Kappa 8 speakers. Listening to Led Zeppelin through them was amazing. Wall to wall big sound with good bass. I could hear John Paul Jones's bass amp speaker rattling. I mentioned this a long time ago. Friends would come over and say that it sounded great except my right speaker was rattling. I said, no that's JPJ's amp speaker. Later, I switched to Monitor Audio studio 6 speakers, because I wanted something more transparent for acoustic jazz, etc.. They were really good speakers and I enjoyed them. Recently I replaced them with Monitor Audio Silver 500's. Bigger speakers with strong midrange and bass. It's kind of a middle ground between the Kappa's and the Studio's. So now I can enjoy Led Zeppelin again, as well as other types of music. Good luck.