Aftermarket fuse to tame a bright system?


Been reading all the interesting posts here, I've recently switched over to Audioquest silver interconnects and speaker cables, the improvement is easy to hear over OCC copper - lower noise floor, more clarity, greater transient snap, larger soundstage etc.... BUT.

I would say my system still has body, but the top end is now bright/harsh.  Could an aftermarket fuse tame this, so that I can still retain the clarity and other benefits of silver? I'm concerned that this potential solution may make my system more dynamic, and potentially give it a U or V shape sound profile - which is definitely what I don't want.

gavin1977

@sls883 the Harmonic Technology RecTa interconnect seems to use Neotech OCC Copper bulk cable. Did you retain the same clarity, details and soundstage when you switched over to this? I’ve tried some copper interconnect in place and it does indeed cure the the brightness, but I loose all of the other benefits of silver and the sound is comparatively murky.

@gavin1977

Yes, the Harmonic Technology cable gives me all of the sound qualities that you mention with my current gear.  Linear Tube Audio MicroZOTL preamp, Coda amp, Innuos Zen Mk3 streamer, etc. 

It was recommended by a rep with the Cable Company. The first time I tried it with my previous preamp, I didn't care for it. I felt that I was missing some top end. On a whim, I got it out along with the DH Labs cable and tried it. I'm very happy with the results. 

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For now, do nothing.  You need to get accustomed to the new sound.  A lot of the break-in process, I suspect, is the listener breaking in, not the gear. Also, try not to move the new cables at all; let them rest in their current position so that static charges in the insulation stabilize and become evenly distributed. After that, you might need to tune the system if it still doesn't please you.  Any new addition is not something that you can drop in in place of something else; you have to make adjustments. 

The first adjustment would be speaker placement or listening chair placement because these are free changes.  Sometimes it is a shockingly small movement of the speaker will do it.  In particular, change the toe-in of the speaker to primarily alter the energy delivered by the tweeter.  Moving the speaker may allow you to find a placement with more bass reinforcement--more bass means the relative balance has shifted downward so the perceived brightness is reduced.  

I doubt that a quick and easy hardware solution, such as fuse swap will really do the trick if there has been a substantial change.  Perhaps the best hardware solution might be to put back one of the interconnects, or the speaker wire, s that the entire system is not cabled with the Audioquest stuff.