Thanks again for the responses. I ended up trading my Monitor Audio Silver 8's in on a pair of Quad 22L2's, which opened up things quite a bit for soundstage and got me away from the hard dome tweeter (lost a little low end slam, but the MA's were too much in that dept too). So far I'm pretty happy with the new speakers (great soundstage presentation), now just still trying to find a good IC to match with everything. Quad's finish is incredible for the price.
I also picked up a used pair of Cardas Golden Cross interconnects to try. They are initially incredibly bright, which is a suprise. Very resolving, but bright (no etch however). I'm told to let them settle, but not initially impressed as it's too much upper frequency, regardless of how clean it is. Can a used IC really take 3 days of continuous play for the HF to calm down???
Was also demoing a pair of Audioquest Panther DBS and they were much less bright, although had an annoying etch to them I didn't care for. Giving the Crosses some time to settle in, but they're revealing for being labled "warm". Had to dampen some of my isolation setup to calm down the upper HF. Next on the list is Accoustic Zen Matrix IIs...
I also picked up a used pair of Cardas Golden Cross interconnects to try. They are initially incredibly bright, which is a suprise. Very resolving, but bright (no etch however). I'm told to let them settle, but not initially impressed as it's too much upper frequency, regardless of how clean it is. Can a used IC really take 3 days of continuous play for the HF to calm down???
Was also demoing a pair of Audioquest Panther DBS and they were much less bright, although had an annoying etch to them I didn't care for. Giving the Crosses some time to settle in, but they're revealing for being labled "warm". Had to dampen some of my isolation setup to calm down the upper HF. Next on the list is Accoustic Zen Matrix IIs...