Just another cable advice thread

[Macca]

But wouldn't that just make the sound bright or 'toppy'? I don't see how reflections and/or HF lift could make the sound harsh. Plus IME harshness is a product more of the mid-range than of the tweeter. So I'm still confused.

[Reffc]

Possibly but without hearing for oneself, it's a circular argument. fwiw, out of phase treble will sound harsh because it's a form of distortion and combined with lift, it could be heard as harshness. Just raising the HF response to many people would form what they might describe as a harsh sound because it can become tiring. Yes, clipping can be the culprit, but I've used said speakers with lower output amps and have had no issues at reasonable volumes with clipping (in my case it was a 70wpc amp). Just trying to knock one thing off at a time. If softening up the listening room helps, then it's job done without having to jump on the hifi merry go round again.

[YNWaN]

Just raising the HF response to many people would form what they might describe as a harsh sound because it can become tiring.

For me, this is the crux of the issue; I have found that what one person calls 'harshness' another calls 'bright', 'toppy' or even 'gritty' etc.

[drpetar]

IMHO, it's always difficult to describe the characteristics of the sound you hear. It's always very subjective and depends on the individual perceptions, experience etc. Further more, different people may use the same words for different things or use different words for the same thing. A wise man, I don't remember his name had been said: "Before talking with me, describe your terms first". The other difficulty is when you try to describe the sound on a language, which is not your native and this is the case with me. But this is the reality.

Nevertheless I think that the disccusion is very constructive and your opinions are very useful for me. Thank you very much, I really appreciate that.

I think to start with the room acoustics and if still unhappy will try with some cables replacement. Do you think it is wise?
As for the last option - replacing something in the system due to a bad synergy - I don't want to thing about this yet

[drpetar]

Hi again guys,

Just to let you know what changes I've made last month. Now the improvement is significant - the slight harshness dissapeared and I'm happy enough.

First I put a carpet on the floor and additional cushions on the sofa. The result was a moderate improvement.

After that a replaced the Chord Odyssey 2 speaker cable with VD Blue Studio Grade 2x6mm - the thickest cable I have ever seen. For my surprice - a huge improvement.

And the last was to replace the Chord Cadenza Reference ICs with MS Audio / Klotz MC5000 (Thanks Brian). This brought additional smoothness in HF. The Cadenza is an excellent cable (and not very cheap), but sounds a bit bright/harsh to me, so I preffered the MS Audio / Klotz MC5000.

If I try to evaluate the changes impact rates, it will look something like that:
1. Carpet+cushions - 25% (I know that room acoustics is very important and further improvements can be made, but my wife said very very angry NO )
2. VD Blue - 50%
3. MS Audio / Klotz MC5000 - 25%

Thanks to all for the advices.
Cheers
Peter

[fatmarley]

Some people find the Van damme cable a touch too soft, so that would probably be why you noticed such a big difference. I only have very short runs, so just use flexible mains cable but If I needed longer lengths I'd probably try the cheap Beldon 5000UE speaker cable.

[icehockeyboy]

Some people find the Van damme cable a touch too soft, so that would probably be why you noticed such a big difference. I only have very short runs, so just use flexible mains cable but If I needed longer lengths I'd probably try the cheap Beldon 5000UE speaker cable.

I swapped my TQ Black speaker cable for the same VD Blue mentioned here, and I don't find them soft at all.

And that from a guy who has misused his lug holes for many a year! 😜