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
I bought the house because of the room. [The realtor asked the missus "Why does he go around clapping everywhere we look?"] Then I designed the diffusers, err, bookcases and put down hard as blaze strand bamboo then covered about 60% of it with wool rugs. Not visible are CD & DVD racks behind the seating area which extends back about as far as the front distance. I could have put the TV at the other end and the sofa on a turntable, but there are limits... 😎 |
I am 65 and also still enjoy louder listening levels than what many seem to enjoy. I have had a terribly difficult time finding speakers that will allow me to listen louder, without the upper midrange/treble region becoming fatiguing and troublesome to my listening. I had sold highend audio on and off from the late 70’s until the early 2010's. Maybe it is my age/ears, but I think it has more to do with changing attitudes towards sound reproduction. I think that maybe my wants are not willing to embrace what is now the more accepted way for better music systems to sound. |
@mckinneymike I tend to listen to music in the high 70s and low 80s db. I think there’s significantly better equipment at lower relative prices in comparison to the 80s, 90s, and 2000s. And there’s more options with equipment with different characteristics. I have SF Nova Vs and they sound different using different amps (I have owned McIntosh and Moon). They sound different than other speakers include B&W, Proac, Wilson DeVore, etc. Different tastes for different folks. And use of a sub may be worth considering |
Couple thoughts you may want to add into your equation. What source/s are you experiencing these issues with….Dac, phono? OR is everything equally less than acceptable in sound? Do you have any other speakers that you could hook up to provide some type of comparison? Has this combination ever sounded good to you? You may want to try some type of sound demo tracks and see how they sound on your system. Do you have a dealer where you could demo another integrated to see if that improves your sound? How old are your speakers, and do you have subwoofers? I would start with all the basics first, straight from the power cord, to interconnects and speaker wire. If all that checks out then you may just have two components that are not a good match. I had a similar situation with my system where I was running McIntosh mono blocks with Martin Logan electro stats and the Martin Logan’s needed an power supply that went down to 0 ohms but the McIntosh was not capable of delivering that so I never got the full experience of my system. Hope this helps and let us know how you make out! Good Luck rlross3!! |
