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Please help--my ears are hurting

I had heard of the synergy phenomonem, but being a relative newbie I had always thought it an audio myth. I now know it is no myth. I had started building a system and like many, I bought some equip. before I knew what I was doing. Not that I bought anything necessarily bad, I had not bought anything necessarily good. I have 2 Polk floorstanders & center speaker, an HK 325 receiver, and a cheap JVC dvd player. I went the receiver route because of the WAF and FAF(family aproval factor). I am interested in mostly music, but the family is interested in mostly movies. Well, the sound was just OK. My first step was to add a new CD player--the highly reviewed Music Hall CD25 w/ Level 1+ Mod. At first I was amazed at all the sound I had been missing. What detail, what clarity, and finally what brightness-- especially in the upper mids/lower highs. I now cannot listen for more that an few minutes without getting a headache. At times my ears literally "prickle", especially at certain frequencies. The cd25 apparently is synergistically out of sync with the rest of the system. I have actually gone back to listening mostly to the DVD player. I contacted the seller and he thinks the problem is most likely in the HK and suggested that I buy a Jolida integrated amp w/ a tube preamp ($600) to warm things up a bit.
1. What do you guys think about this?
2. I would like something that I could incorporate into the HT system. I don't think this is possible with the Jolida.
3. Is there an ss amp that might warm this player/system up?
4. I am using Blue Jeans Cables which get high ratings as a budget ic. Opinions?????
5. Could the speakers be the culprit? I have been looking into some Spendors.
6. Could the new player somehow be defective? It has been broken in according to the recommendation.
7. Should I scrap/sell the HK and start over in the amp section of the system?
Guys, I am at an impasse here. I don't have dealers nearby to audition, so I have to go mostly on what I read. Being a high school teacher I don't have a lot of discretionary income, but I do love good music, and now that I am nearing retirement want a decent system. I was thinking of spending $8-1000 for each new upgrade---source, speakers, amp section. Where should I go from here? Thanks in advance. Ouch.
papertrail
gmood1
1,251 posts
 
I'm not sure what model of Polks you have. But some of that stuff has a tendency to be hyped up in the treble. I'm talking boom and sizzle.No amount of room treatment , tube smoothing or cd player burn-in is going to help.I hate to say it but the Music Hall needs to go as well.

Dump the Polks first. Find a pair of speakers that will allow you to hear the components upstream.From there you can decide what to dump next in the system. I have been down the tone control road several times.I figured out I just needed to find components that work together in the system instead of using wires and power cables to adjust a bad matching of components.

Speaker suggestions ..maybe a used pair of Vandersteens,Green Mountain Audio Europas.. even some of the Paradigm models should put you ahead of the (boom and sizzle)Polks.

There's no doubt the reciever is thinning things out a bit.
Look at separates. Maybe a Outlaw Audio 950 digital preamp. I saw one used here on the Gon for around $550.00 ...I think.
From there you can mix and match amplifiers it's your choice. You can put the most refined amplifier on your mains and use another for the surrounds.

You can get elaborate with it as well and use your reciever to power all of the surrounds.Most digital processors have and in and out digital. Basically you can daisy chain the reciever into the system until you get another separate amplifier for your surrounds. Put what you can now into a better preamp,amplifier and speakers.It sounds a little crude but it will work.

Also some people confuse detail and clarity with a tipped up top end.There is a difference. You can have these qualities without the ear bleeding effect.

Good Luck!
tobias
1,534 posts
 
Papertrail--yes, the power cord upgrade helped my player. It produced more extension, energy and definition in the bass and more detail overall. (If I'm not mistaken, this is the kind of improvement everyone notices when they upgrade power cords from stock, no matter what the unit is--source or preamp.)

About detail: my small experience leads me to distinguish real from apparent detail. The latter is a kind of artificial brightness, the sort of thing that can be exaggerated by less-than-first-class electronics into midrange opacity and high frequency aggressiveness. Real detail is additional information; perhaps micro-information is a good word. It lets me hear more of things like instrumental timbres--the rosin on the bowstring, the woodiness of a clarinet--and the dimensions of the recording space.

As for the amp suggestion, what I mean is you could swap your current HK receiver for any other unit you could get, 2 or 5-channel, just as a tryout. Not a sidegrade, though. Try something which would definitely be a step up. As an alternative, you could take your player and interconnect--or your receiver--to an audio pal's place, or a dealer's, to try it in another system. The objective would be to isolate what's causing the edge you hear.

On Dave's point, I think he is right about room and power line treatment, but most of us seem to want to get the major system components that satisfy us first, and then go into those domains. Not that you couldn't start exploring now, perhaps with an isolation transformer for the player and corner and wall junction absorbers. However this would multiply the number of variables you have to deal with, and I'm for solving a problem one step at a time. I suggest you try to eliminate the amplification as a problem source before you consider changing speakers, for example.

If you do come to speakers, though, after you eliminate both the receiver and speaker placement as the issue, then I second Paradigm (Pabelson's point). Their tonal balance seems less forward to me than PSB or NHT.
Ag insider logo xs@2x
tsugury
251 posts
 
Paper, I think Swampwalker might have something there. New cables, new cd player. I'd give it a few hundred hours burn in before you make any decisions.
rsbeck
887 posts
 
What is the configuration of your room? What are the surfaces? A lot of windows? Floor-coverings, or bare floor?
timrhu
2,779 posts
 
Excuse me but is the cd player the only change you've made? Are you the only person who hears the nastiness or is it identifiable by someone who isn't an audio enthusiast? If so, that is where I would suspect the problem lies. If you are dissatisfied with the cdp you should return it for another, and don't let the dealer sell you an integrated amp you don't want.
If I make a change to my system and things get worse instead of better I look elswhere. The suggestions on room treatment are good advice only if the room permits. I also understand this particular cdp is popular amongst Audiogoners but if it doesn't work for you, it doesn't work. If your intention is to get better sound from cds and you intend to build you entire system around this cdp, keep it. If not, look for something more suitable to your ears.
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