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Can't get Acoustic Zen Adagios to sound smooth

I have owned a pair of Acoustic Zen Adagios speakers for over 4 years. They can sound very good, BUT also have a HARD AND UNSMOOTH sound when playing certain CD's. I have changed electronics from separates to an integrated amp, and recently purchased a Ayre CX-7e to replace a Rega Apollo. The Ayre easily highlights the limitations of the Rega player and outperforms it.

Nevertheless, the hard and unsmooth sound seems to prevail. It can also sound like an acoustic overtone, and (I think )the music looses its bloom or musicality. The current living space is well damped with maps,and rug hangings on the walls. I also have two 6 ft tall bookcases that contain only 70% less books than my previous apartment These shelves are in the corner, perpendicular to the speaker on each side of the room.

I encountered this problem before in a different and smaller living space.

I also recently changed speakers cables from a 4 year old pair of Audio Art SC-5 to a brand new pair of Grover Huffman which seemed to be slowly breaking in and are more detailed than the AA cable. I also replaced the standard wimpy power cord of the Ayre player with Panagea's new 14SE MKII power cord designed for just components, not amps. The Panagea PC is excellent, and has dropped the noise floor allowing for more detail to emerge. I drive the Adagios with the Rogue Sphinx hybrid integrated amp (100RMS)whose PC was replaced by an Acoustic Zen Tsumani Plus power cord.

I am beginning to wonder if there is another speaker that might provide a smoother top end performance and still have the taut bass, and detailed mids of the Adagios. Will appreciate all and any advice, even new speaker recommendations. Thank you
sunnyjim
jdoris
972 posts
 
Be careful Jl35, the Vandersteen Walkers are coming for you!
mmeysarosh
126 posts
 
I've had a few different speakers that shared similar attributes to the Adagios. Sound engineers who master albums on speakers with a forward stage will produce work that suites these speakers well. The majority of engineers out there base their work on the most common devices out there (nothing really good). Especially for material that is expected for mass consumption on the go.

I also heard the Vandersteens (Quattro I believe) once for a short period and they are the polar opposites to the forward sounding speaker. Everything happens further away, pushing to you become drawn into the sound. They do well with imaging that is finely defined, good depth and layering, and a relaxed sound. There in lies the issue with it. It can be overly relaxed on recordings that were intended to be edgy in sound. For me, a bit more distant than what I find ideal.

You do have to understand that mastering methods will cause different recordings sound best on a variety of different speakers. Nothing will be truly ideal with every recording out there. My experience with forward sounding speakers is that on daily basis, they will prove to be fatiguing far too often. Based on my recollection of the Adagio, it would be quite the challenge to tune these speakers to your liking. You'll end up with a system that is very speaker specific when you should have instead be starting with a speaker much closer your ideal.

But I do feel if you can experiment a little, learn a little with each change, you've come a step closer to enjoying the audio hobby and experience some extraordinary music while you were at it. You know how the Adagio sounds and it honestly makes it a very good tool that allows you to hear upstream changes quite easily, good or bad.

But for the enjoyment you might be looking for on a day to day basis, these speakers sound like they won't cut it for you.
jl35
4,017 posts
 
Jdoris - that's why I made sure to mention how much I liked the 5 !!!
jl35
4,017 posts
 
I have heard the current and previous 2 and 3 series. Have not heard current 5, so I may not like it anymore. Agree that you can really only decide after listening to properly set up components.
jdoris
972 posts
 
I'd still sleep with a piece of rebar by the bed, Jl35! ;)
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