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Need a warm amp for bright speakers

So when I bought my system some time ago I made some mistakes being this the first time I ever ventured out doing this. I bought Paradigm Monitor 9 v5 and a Pioneer VSX21TXH. Surrounding speakers aer all Monitors backs are Titan v5 and center is a 290 I believe v6. The SVS kills though. The fronts do get very bright when pushed especially with metal that I listen to and it is VERY BRIGHT. Without redoing my whole system is there a way I can tame this problem? Use my Pioneer for maybe center and rears and processing and a dedicated amp for the fornts? If so what should I shoot for? I hear NAD is a good warm amp. I don't want to sell or get rid of the Paradigms because getting all new speakers would be far costlier than a dedicated amp. However I am a little skeptical that I can solve this with just and amp. All ears open for a relative newbie.
mmartin0617
b_limo's avatar
b_limo
2,274 posts
 
I do think a tube amp might be smart...

My question is, is it a bad idea for the OP to tone down his rig in order to make a bright speaker sound neutral? What happens if he goes with a more neutral speaker later, and now his other components make a neutral sounding speaker and make it sound super laid back? Honest question in which I don't know the answer, just something I was thinking about in order to helpthe OP...
mapman's avatar
mapman
22,198 posts
 
NAD will do the trick and should not cost a lot to try especially if you go used/vintage.
mapman's avatar
mapman
22,198 posts
 
Personally, I would buy the best amp I can to match your speakers and use tubes up front in the pre-amp and/or source to get the tonality desired, warm or otherwise. NAD power amps would be a sound choice but many others as well under this model.
almarg's avatar
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almarg
9,670 posts
 
The one suggestion I would make that hasn't already been said is that before replacing anything you try changing the receiver's speaker impedance setting from 8 ohms to 6 ohms, if you already haven't. See page 40 of the manual.

Although the impedance of your speakers is specified as "compatible with 8 ohms," whatever that may mean, it most likely drops down to significantly lower values at some frequencies. Therefore using the receiver's 6 ohm setting might result in an improvement in its distortion characteristics, and therefore perhaps a reduction in perceived brightness.

Regards,
-- Al
ddd1
261 posts
 
Play around with toe-in and damping the first reflections with wall treatments first. Make sure there is nothing reflective near the speakers and that the area between the speakers and listening position is unobstructed.
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