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I have NOVA V's and I am not happy

I have a Mark Levinson 585 and a pair of Sonus Faber Olympica Nova V's and although I admittedly have some room acoustic issues that I am working on I am not happy with the sound. 

I listen to music LOUD. This Pairing thru a pair of Kimber Cable 8TC's gets bright in what I think is the 2 to 4 khz range and the sonus faber nova's seem to mute the lower end of female vocals, artist like Macy Gray or Tina Turner dont seem to have the same drive in the lower octaves. At the same time the upper end of vocals like Sheryl Crow can get too bright and cause fatigue (I am assuming this is in the 2 to 4khz range) I have tried every speaker placement you can think of, toe in, toe out. distance from front wall and I am adding acoustic treatments as fast as they can be shipped. 

Here is my question, I had Mark Levinson 436 Mono Blocks in the past connected to a pair of B&W Nautilus 802's thru a pair of MIT Shotgun bi-wire speaker cables and I never noticed that system to be bright. Granted that system was in a different room in a different house. Everyone is telling me that B&W is a brighter sounding  speaker by far over Sonus Faber. If I decide after all my room treatments that I am not a fan of the Sonus Faber sound where should I turn for my replacement speaker? Or is it Mark Levinson's Fault? I want Rich Lush Loud Musical sound. I like a decent sound stage, I also really love it when when you hear decay from the instruments. I don't really care if that's what is neutral or not that's what I like :) 

Where did I go wrong and what can I do to fix it?

Thanks Lee

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overthemoon
419 posts
 

I have tested Kimber Kable 12 TCs and I experienced harshness in the higher frequencies and muted base. Because my experience with Kimber was positive I tried their BiFocal XLs and there was a significant improvement in the sound quality 

fstein's avatar
fstein
199 posts
 

Schitt Lokius

denon1
345 posts
 

OP, after many years of trials and errors I realized that synergy is the very important aspect of the system. Like one gentlemen above, I have now Nova V driven by Luxman 590axii and frond end is luxman d-10x. Sound is so natural, airy and 3D with greatly defined tight textured bass.

I had more expensive setups in my home but they all did not sound as good as my current setup. Room acoustics and synergy  between components and cables is the key. 
what is your front end? What are your Ics and  power cords? Outlets? Dedicated lines?

it’s all very important. 

Cables - I settled with audience front raw for speaker cables, Ics. 
Currently my power cords are very good Triode wire labs Obsessions but saving for Audience front raw. Outlets - all furutech latest gdx  ncf rhodium.

my recent discovery  - all AC outlets on the path to your components including wall and power conditioner or distributor should be from the same make/model to avoid mismatch.
Mechanical  isolation also crucially  important. 

Don’t  skimp on all these things -especially cables and outlets. Or you never hear what you gear is capable of and as result waste tons of money chasing for that sound.
 

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samzx12
1,220 posts
 

The Nova 5s are fantastic speakers. Just a quick glance at this thread I'm thinking the ML isn't the best match.  Also I would upgrade the Kimber 8TC and look into warmer interconnects. The Luxman, McIntosh or consider Audio Research amps. I have the Olympica 3 and they are a tad warmer than the Nova series. McIntosh are great amps however,  I found a MC402 & MC452 didn't have enough low level detail. I then trusted my gut and purchased a ARC REF75SE. Perfect match for the 03. The newer McIntosh amps also seem to be a great match for the Nova series. 

jbhiller's avatar
jbhiller
1,430 posts
 

I agree with Bigkidz. I’d try another amp first. Unless you listen in a terrible space, I’d think those speakers should come alive with decent cables, a great source and good amp. At $12k that amp should get them to sing.

How big is your room and what sources do you use?

I’d think a Luxman would sound great with this speakers. I’m perpetually confused by Mark Levinson. Who is the designer and soul behind them?

I nice heard a top line Rotel sound better with a pair of large B and Ws and Sonus Fabre Olympica IIIs than a five figure Levinson.

id bet a reference series Marantz would do the trick smoothly at high volumes too.

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