Warm Tube Amp(s) to Tame Hyper-Accurate Speakers?


I have these Spendor D9.2's mated to an MC275 VI and the mids and highs are still too much, sometimes.  Sometimes the sound is sublime based on the recording, sometimes harsh.  I imagine perhaps Focal and B&W folks know what I speak of, maybe not Magico owners.  Even using a C2700 tube pre-amp.  Can this be solved with a WARM tube amp, and if so, which ones?  I like my MC275 VI but I am open to suggestions.

alphonsodamato

Without changing speakers, there are a few things you could try.  Some previously mentioned:

  • felt tweeter rings
  • Mullard CV4004 preamp tubes are fairly warm
  • different speaker wires/
  • different cables
  • room treatment
  • scrutinize your sources

 

Have you tried playing with inverse toe in? In other words put the speakers to point at the side walls at your listening position, then gradually move towards the paralell position until you have no blind spot in the middle of the soundstage. (You may need some Isolation on the first reflection point on the sidewalls to make it work. Changing the amp seems to me completely the wrong approach. Alternatively putting a large shaggy carpet in front of your listening position may achieve similar gains.Sometimes putting isolation boards on the ceiling halfway from the listening position also works

Have you tried playing with inverse toe in? In other words put the speakers to point at the side walls at your listening position, then gradually move towards the paralell position until you have no blind spot in the middle of the soundstage.

Side walls are a known source of harshness due to causing early reflections. So I see this as bad advice. Instead, toe in the speakers, possibly to the point that they cross in front of the listening position. Side wall reflections must be controlled else they are well-known to cause harshness. If the tweeter has a wide dispersion characteristic, this can make setup tricky.

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