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

Ag insider logo xs@2xrlross3

we took a 585 in trade it was okay sounding not great

 

the krell k300i is far more musical

 

another great choice unison research unico 150 which is a hybrid amplifier

 

Dave and Troy

audio intellect NJ

krell and unison research dealer

I had the prior generation and had them in a system with the Simaudio 340i just loved them. Then I went back to tubes and bought more efficient QLN speakers.

Think the OP is clueless on setup and could make them work if he tried. 

A dealer I went to about a year ago was using Sim Audio with Sonus Faber. Sounded very nice. The Nova 3 were what I went to audition but they didn't have the Nova 5. They did let me listen to the Cremonese.  Oh lord I was salivating lol. 

The price is wrong too.  So he has plenty of time to work with room and speaker placement since these aren’t going to sell any time soon.


Something as simple as a thick area rug and a few diffusor/absorption panels from GIK Acoustics matching the decor, as well as pulling the speakers out from the wall at least a foot will transform the listening experience.


Total cost to improve room acoustics will be less than the loss he’ll take selling these speakers and starting the endless merry-go-round.

seems like giant speakers for a small room. But I would go easy on him, he is here for advice not ridiculing