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Why does it sound better at lower volumes?

Hi, I have a Krell, a Slim Devices Transporter, and Aerial 7B speakers with Zu spekaer and ICs. The thing is this combination sounds fantastic, among the best systems I've ever heard at lower even moderate volume levels. The Krell volume control is incremented from 0-150. Anything less than 50 sounds sounds fantastic across the frequency spectrum. But when I go higher on many pieces the highs take on on a harshness that is like an axe chopping broken glass.

Don't get me wrong - a number of pieces sound great - often classical and even some rock such as Fleetwood Mac sound great. I'm trying to figure out if many of the newer i.e., last 20 years, recordings with compression and boosted highs are the problem. Is my system just too good reproducing the dreck out of studios these days?

I've noticed in the car many of the same recordings sound ok with the background noise competing with the boosted highs. They boosted highs are still there but aren't as annoying due to the road noise and limitations of the car stereo.

I've just purchased a balanced cable - the Transporter has native XLR and it's often said Krell sounds noticeably better with XLR. It hasn't arrived yet.

Secondly, I'm thinking about a power conditioner. The guy at the Cable Co. said my system is just very detailed and probably needs power conditioning. Interestingly he wasn't pushing a cable at all.

I live in a new house but the power source isn't discrete. I can wire a discrete one but don't really want to go to the trouble. I have a discrete source in the crawlspace powering a single bulb down there and one outlet. I'm thinking about running an extension cable from that to my system just to try a discrete run to see if I should go further down that road.

Lastly I'm thinking about changing amps. Again is the Krell too good for my own good? :) I've heard a lot of amps from the big and small names and I like the Krell. It simply sounds fantastic... on probably 20% of my music. But I'm starting to think maybe I don't need that 20% like I need the other 80%. :) Maybe some coloration and rolling off of the highs is better at the end of the day.

I have a Sqeezebox as well and have A-B'ed it against my Rega Apollo. The Apollo was a little better but the SB did pretty well against it. I moved on up to the Transporter but haven't A-B'ed it against the Rega.

I've got to do something here, I guess other than listening at lower volumes. I may try a new integrated, say, a Plinius, MF, or go to tubes. Problem with tubes, my speakers aren't efficient so I'd need to eventually change speakers if I go that route. I have recently heard a Manley Stingray on Spendors and Quads and the sound did have that certain ineffable quality of warmth and a good sound. Also same with an SLI-80 and Theils. OTOH, I've heard my 7Bs sound fantastic on other systems such as Theta.

Any thoughts on this conundrum would appreciated. At 46 years old maybe it's just my ears acting their age.

regards, David
wireless200
nickword
49 posts
 
Sounds like you're overdriving the room. As a recording engineer I'm surprised to find people don't understand room acoustics or when they've been exceeded.

Get yourself an SPL meter and see what kind of level you're getting to before it goes south. I'd be you'll be surprised at how loud it is.
markwatkiss
508 posts
 
Simple solution.Ditch the Krell and acquire a tube amp.
rodman99999
6,171 posts
 
As Atmasphere and Nickword have stated: Sounds like your room is being over-driven. I treated my back wall with Auralex, and corners with LENYRDs to eliminate the same issue(with marvelous results). I'm lucky to be single in that regard(among others). Ebay has a number of options listed under "acoustic foam".
french_fries
815 posts
 
this "overdriving the room" is a common problem- at lower volumes you're listening to the system; as you crank things up you're hearing more and more 2ndary reflections from the walls/ceiling. echobusters and/or lots of cloth and/or foamy surfaces in and around the listening area will help to tame/smooth out the upper-mid/lower treble shreik- this is what your ears are unfortunately designed to hear particularly well. hurray for high-end audio!- designed to let you hear these frequencies with unrelenting accuracy. i had a nasty slap-echo problem- by whistling i could hear a well-delayed echo coming from all over the place. i got 5- door-sized echobuster panels and they helped ALOT- plus they look nice too. now i just have just a bit of echo which i actually feel is beneficial- it still gives the room a "live" quality. but i have to keep the volume at what i consider to be a "sane" level, or it's just not music anymore.
alex333
38 posts
 
I ran into this first hand. With my Hafler DH-500 at 255WPC I knew it was not distorting, yet it sounded terrible when I increased the volume. Also the sound would change drastically at different parts of the room.

Bought accoustic panels, the OEM version of owens corning 703, ~$50 for 6 panels, 2'x4'x2"(exact same product, no brand name on box, so much cheaper) at the local spi-co dot com office.

Placed most of them behind the speakers using the DELE method (Dead End Live End). Instantly the volume level dropped, but the sound became much cleaner, because before I was hearing the same sound multiple times as it bounced around the room. Previously I could not reach 0db on my pre, now I was easily getting there and wanting more.

Yes, it looks like crap, but no WAF, and everbody is amazed at the sound. Need to cover the panels in fabric. Best tweak for the money, no doubt. Also now I hear much more detail, including other things vibrating, windows, the TV, but that's another story.

BTW I had to upgrade the speakers before I damaged them. They were only rated at 100wpc (B&W DM602s) and they don't care about how it sounds, only about how much current I'm driving through them.

Regards,
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