I think there are a lot of good comments above. I am especially appreciative and supportive of where frogman was going, in that you really want to diagnose and address the problem rather than throw bandaids at it. Who among us appreciates the auto mechanic who fixes our cars by sequentially replacing parts until the problem goes away?
When I read the OPs comments, I focused more on lack of integration than lack of smoothness. I think most of you focused on smoothness rather than integration. This is where the comment above that this may be due to more than one issue is also relevant. Further clarification from the OP is required with respect to what he means by "smoothness." Does this mean you are experiencing excessive grain or excessive brightness? If it is excessive grain, I strongly urge you to replace the aq4s. They are very grainy, but I did not find them overly bright. If the problem is brightness, then some of the comments regarding power treatment and IC's may well be relevant to this problem. If dirty power is exacerbating the problem, it will probably be variable. Most people have cleaner power in the evening than during the day. If the problem is not variable, you may not want to address power treatment first.
My guess remains that the "integration" (coherence) problem is speaker related. I have no knowledge of this speaker. If those who do can indicate that coherence is a strong point with this speaker, well, I guess the problem must lie elsewhere. I can tell you this. I had major issues with integration (lack of coherence) and also a minor issue with stridency or harshness in reproduction of violins (at the crossover frequency) that pretty much completely went away when I went from Magnepan 1.6QRs to 3.7Rs. I have an extensive library of orchestral and chamber music, and I would have to go back to cds recorded in the early 80's to find examples of recordings where the violins are excessively bright. Granted, certain recordings can make a violin sound larger than life due to close miking, which I suppose could be a part of the problem here. But I find it difficult to believe that the OP has somehow managed to selectively collect a large number of bad recordings.
I do have a tubed CD player, but I do not have a tubed pre amp. I have nothing against tubed preamps, but they are not a panacea, nor is vinyl. Digital can get this right, and will not require investing in a top notch vinyl rig and phono preamp. Resorting to vinyl is not really a viable option for those who have a substantial investment in CD's, and I would suggest most fans of classical would not be satisfied with the quantity of music that is available on vinyl as compared to digital.
One other possible issue here is jitter. I don't know the Marantz, but in my experience jitter will for some reason manifest itself as most objectionable with music that is rich in high frequencies.
When I read the OPs comments, I focused more on lack of integration than lack of smoothness. I think most of you focused on smoothness rather than integration. This is where the comment above that this may be due to more than one issue is also relevant. Further clarification from the OP is required with respect to what he means by "smoothness." Does this mean you are experiencing excessive grain or excessive brightness? If it is excessive grain, I strongly urge you to replace the aq4s. They are very grainy, but I did not find them overly bright. If the problem is brightness, then some of the comments regarding power treatment and IC's may well be relevant to this problem. If dirty power is exacerbating the problem, it will probably be variable. Most people have cleaner power in the evening than during the day. If the problem is not variable, you may not want to address power treatment first.
My guess remains that the "integration" (coherence) problem is speaker related. I have no knowledge of this speaker. If those who do can indicate that coherence is a strong point with this speaker, well, I guess the problem must lie elsewhere. I can tell you this. I had major issues with integration (lack of coherence) and also a minor issue with stridency or harshness in reproduction of violins (at the crossover frequency) that pretty much completely went away when I went from Magnepan 1.6QRs to 3.7Rs. I have an extensive library of orchestral and chamber music, and I would have to go back to cds recorded in the early 80's to find examples of recordings where the violins are excessively bright. Granted, certain recordings can make a violin sound larger than life due to close miking, which I suppose could be a part of the problem here. But I find it difficult to believe that the OP has somehow managed to selectively collect a large number of bad recordings.
I do have a tubed CD player, but I do not have a tubed pre amp. I have nothing against tubed preamps, but they are not a panacea, nor is vinyl. Digital can get this right, and will not require investing in a top notch vinyl rig and phono preamp. Resorting to vinyl is not really a viable option for those who have a substantial investment in CD's, and I would suggest most fans of classical would not be satisfied with the quantity of music that is available on vinyl as compared to digital.
One other possible issue here is jitter. I don't know the Marantz, but in my experience jitter will for some reason manifest itself as most objectionable with music that is rich in high frequencies.
