Reynaud Bliss Jubile vs Cantabile Jubile

Now that I've had the Monster Cable speaker cables in my system for a bit, I think they're certainly a better fit. There's still a bit of top end to be toned down. The thing with trying speaker wire is that I can't use standard lengths as I need 12' or so at the least. I don't want to just purchase cables and be stuck with them.

Regarding the Sylvanias, Andy had actually recommended them, but I suppose it's worth trying something else. At least he has a return policy with his tubes.

I also tried the Russian Tung-Sols originally supplied with the Pathos, and they're worse in the high end (brighter, brasher) and worse in the bass as well (tubby).

I was playing my the UHQR 45rpm of Kind Of Blue, and oh, does it sound great. There's not a ton of high end in that record, but what I do hear is pretty terrific. Neutral, musical, plenty of small-scale dynamic nuance, very natural, and 3-dimensional images.

But while better than with the Grover Huffman silver speaker cables, it get still sound too bright with brighter records. They're not forgiving. If I raise myself up from my sitting position on the couch a little bit, the brightness gets more pronounced. I may try to angle the speakers back just a bit more. I've maxxed out on what I can do with the spikes (lower in back, raised in the front), so I'll need to find some sort of shims.

Try the other direction, higher in the back with the fronts all the way in. 

I already did. Not as good. It put the midrange/woofer drivers angled toward the floor (where there's a carpet and wood coffee table, and resulted in a less open midrange and less coherent with the top end. Tilting them upward is much better overall.

Well, either the speakers are settling in a bit or I am. I have noticed that certain frequencies can sound a bit harsh to my ears outside of listening to the speakers. My previous speakers didn't seem to exacerbate any hearing issues so it might be that these are more revealing? I don't know. The top end can still sound a bit pronounced and dry compared to the rest of the frequency spectrum. It's not as bad as it was, though, overall.

The speaker come with metal spike places upon which to rest the spikes if you're placing them on a wood floor. They're on a carpet, but it allowed me to angle the speakers back just a bit more and that seems to be better.

Listening to music that doesn't have a ton of massed top end sounds great on these. Listening, for example, to the AP UHQR 45rpm pressing of Kind Of Blue is a revelation on these. And I hear more of a qualitative difference between my CD path and my analog path. The Castle had a romanticism that these don't have nearly as much. The Castles tended to make more things sound lusher, whereas the Cantabile Jubilee might be a bit more honest. But when the sound quality is there, it's even greater than before. And top to bottom (particularly from the midrange on down), there's such an openess and coherence to the sound, and the soundstage is wider and taller. It reminds me a bit of the Magnepan SMGc speakers I had. One of the great qualities of Maggies is their top to bottom coherence.