I owned Sapphire IIIs for a number of years, never thought of them as bright, very natural and non-fatiguing. A couple of things: Those 30' runs of speaker cable are awefully long, anyway to shorten them? The Sapphire IIIs are a 1st order design. They can sound harsh if you listen to them too high above their main listening axis. This is also true of Vandys, Thiels, etc. Correct height is with you seated in a normal chair, and the speakers on stands about 24-26" tall. I'm trying to picture your room, and it sounds like the speakers are quite close to a lot of stone and hardwood. These materials can be extremely reflective and make the sound very hard sounding. Just as an experiment, you might try moving the speakers way out and listening nearfield. Or try draping a heavy blanket behind the speakers. I know, it wouldn't be permanent, but it will help you find out if that was the main problem. Hang in there, I think your system has great potential. I'm not familiar with the interconnects you're using, you might want to try something else to see if they are part of the problem. I know it can be frustrating, took me years to really be satisfied. I do strongly feel that the speakers are not the problem. You can go nuts swapping speakers, so I'd play with the other variables.
Most compatable amp for ACI Sapphire III
Just got these speakers a couple of weeks ago and am now upgrading the system to go with it. I want to replace the old Yamaha R-7 receiver with separates, already have a Magnum Dynalab F-11 Tuner on hold. Also using a Sony 80-ES CD player.
Been looking at Rotel pre-amps & amps...(RC-1070 & RB-1050) plus an older RC995 amp.
Any thoughts on the compatability of Rotel equipment with these speakers? I like a warmer sound, can go another $700 or so with the amp/pre-amp. Cabinet size limits me to just over 17" width, so that chucks some items out the window.
Thanks for any help!
Been looking at Rotel pre-amps & amps...(RC-1070 & RB-1050) plus an older RC995 amp.
Any thoughts on the compatability of Rotel equipment with these speakers? I like a warmer sound, can go another $700 or so with the amp/pre-amp. Cabinet size limits me to just over 17" width, so that chucks some items out the window.
Thanks for any help!
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- 12 posts total
- 12 posts total