Likely culprit for harshness at higher volumes?

Hi folks,

Again, thanks for the continued expertise and help. BTW, I should mention I'm on a pretty tight budget which explains my rather dated and very modest system as well. :)

Started the experimentation this morning with room dynamics while waiting for Radio Shack to open.

I'm still testing but it seems that room dynamics is having a strong first order effect.

I changed the configuration of the room such that the listening direction is across the narrow of the rectangular room. So, the listening distance may be slightly shorter (not by much -- maybe a few feet at the most) but it allowed wider separation of the speakers. I also put up some fabric to try to minimize reflections.

This change allowed me to increase volume levels from about -20db (when I would start to hear harshness) to about -5db (where it starts to get uncomfortably loud); at this point, I hear a little harshness but it's not nearly as much as before. The harshness is almost (but not quite) acceptable.

Wow!! Just a little grunt work and things seem to be improving. Either that or I need coffee and my ears haven't woken up yet.

I'm still working my way through the 4 steps but so far things seem promising. I'm hoping to make what I have work -- basically have a zero sum budget. If I buy something, I need to sell something else. :)

BTW, a lot of terms, brands, parts (ie - HF glare, congestion, ferrite clamps, etc) you folks mention are new to me. I've been spending a lot of time looking things up on the internet. Thanks -- I'm learning a lot. This has been a good experience -- you've all been very helpful.

Good to always max out the configuration of what you have first via tweaking with placement and room acoustics first before changing anything.

If you can squeeze it somehow, an inexpensive IC upgrade might still do some nice things.

Good luck!

@Mceljo: I set the Front Speakers as Large. I don't have center, surround or subwoofer (probably meaningless, but I set the sub x-over frequency at 160Hz from 80Hz; I feel my speakers put too much weight on bass). Other than that, I set the effects to Stereo (no processing) and have bypassed Tone controls.

Using analog inputs now --- I have them going into the Direct Analog inputs which is supposed to bypass everything except volume and tone (which I've set to bypassed).

Other than that, I'm not sure what to check. Is there something else I should look at in the config that I've missed? Nothing else seems to be mentioned in the manual (that I recall).

@Mapman: I have Monster MC 200I-1M being delivered next week for the pre-amp to amp connection. While picking up the ferrite clamps from Radio Shack when they open, I was thinking about picking up their AUVIO® 3-Ft. Stereo Audio RCA Cable for the CD to pre-amp connection.

Is this better than the non-branded red/white RCA cables (that might come with cheap consumer electronics)? Or are you thinking about something even better? I'm not really sure what to look for in a IC cable.

You say "hardness", can you be more specific? It's hard to determine if you have electronic or an acoustics problem. Throw some blankets up and listen. If that helps you can experiment with different approaches. Sometimes you can put big plants, bookshelves, or other objects to disperse instead of absorb the sound. This can be an alternative if damping makes the room too dull.