Valve amps, great with Jazz, shit with everything else.

[Mikeandvan]

Audionote UK speakers are supposed to be in the corners - all the Audionote dems I have been to have them in the corners. It's a terrible idea but that's how they are supposed to be used.

In any case it won't matter what where you put them it won't cure strident mid-range, neither will room treatment. It's a distortion issue, whether from amp, source or speakers. Probably not the speakers.

I'd sack the lot off personally and start again but failing that I'd start with the source, get rid of the Mission CD and get something smoother - a Yamaha might do it, they're pretty mellow house sound.

Yes true, they are supposed to be ok in corners, I just thought I'd play around with positioning a bit, its much easier now that I've swapped the room around, they used to be on the other wall, but now I have a bit more space around them, it sounds better overall before I'd even started repositioning, they may well end up going back in the corners. The mission cd player is actually quite smooth, it has a decent chip - the classic one - tda whatever..... I quite like it, could may;be do with a service. If its a distortion issue then its probably not the amp, as it sounds the same with the Soro amp, I am looking into getting the speakers checked, I'll also plug in my other speakers some time soon to compare.

[Mikeandvan]

I'm wondering if it's just the natural stridency of some instruments that is the issue. Not much that can be done about that as it's on the recording.

Yes, I'm trying to track down decent vinyl pressings of some of my fave jazz cds to see whether that cures it, they are not cheap or that easy to find though.

[Macca]

I'm wondering if it's just the natural stridency of some instruments that is the issue. Not much that can be done about that as it's on the recording.

Could be but IME it is very rarely the recording to blame. I don't have the albums Mike mentions but do have Coltrane's 'A Love Supreme' and there's no stridency on that.

[AJSki2fly]

Audionote UK speakers are supposed to be in the corners - all the Audionote dems I have been to have them in the corners. It's a terrible idea but that's how they are supposed to be used.

In any case it won't matter what where you put them it won't cure strident mid-range, neither will room treatment. It's a distortion issue, whether from amp, source or speakers. Probably not the speakers.

I'd sack the lot off personally and start again but failing that I'd start with the source, get rid of the Mission CD and get something smoother - a Yamaha might do it, they're pretty mellow house sound.

I am not sure that is quite correct with the AN J's, I think it took 2-3 years of Peter Qvortrup experimenting with a different size and length baffle pipe before he was happy with them for corner positioning. So I expect the earlier AN J's were still based on Snell J design, in which case corner positioning probably would not be a great idea. So it could depend upon when Mike's AN J's were made. Also I don't recall the Mission PCM 7000 CDP being reported as harsh sounding at he time, maybe because of its age some electronics are getting past their best and causing issues.

[jahsavage]

30 years back I had the AN S500 with some large DIY (Davis) speakers. I used to drive it via an early Tom Evans phono stage.

I do remember rock being fantastic especially Live In Japan, I suggest you checkout ebay for a phono stage.

[Macca]

I am not sure that is quite correct with the AN J's, I think it took 2-3 years of Peter Qvortrup experimenting with a different size and length baffle pipe before he was happy with them for corner positioning. So I expect the earlier AN J's were still based on Snell J design, in which case corner positioning probably would not be a great idea. So it could depend upon when Mike's AN J's were made. Also I don't recall the Mission PCM 7000 CDP being reported as harsh sounding at he time, maybe because of its age some electronics are getting past their best and causing issues.

You may well be right about the J but corner placement isn't going to cause the stridency.

I mention the Mission cd player because there's not many other possible causes left and I'm clutching at straws - and last time I heard one (1990 I think) it was in an all-Mission system that was very strident. That could have been the Cyrus 1 amp though.

[AJSki2fly]

You may well be right about the J but corner placement isn't going to cause the stridency.

I mention the Mission cd player because there's not many other possible causes left and I'm clutching at straws - and last time I heard one (1990 I think) it was in an all-Mission system that was very strident. That could have been the Cyrus 1 amp though.

I think it’s CDP or speakers, swapping out the CDP for another newer one or even a dvd/blue ray player may answer that one.

Speakers close to side walls will re-enforce higher frequencies and can cause distortion so imo it is worth trying to optimise speaker position, and seating position, and minimising side wall near speaker reflections. If it’s not the CDP and playing around with speakers in Tom does not do it then, it has to be the speakers. So would be time to try something else


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[Macca]

I think it’s CDP or speakers, swapping out the CDP for another newer one or even a dvd/blue ray player may answer that one.

Speakers close to side walls will re-enforce higher frequencies and can cause distortion so imo it is worth trying to optimise speaker position, and seating position, and minimising side wall near speaker reflections. If it’s not the CDP and playing around with speakers in Tom does not do it then, it has to be the speakers. So would be time to try something else


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It will reinforce low frequencies, all it will do with higher frequencies is bounce them about, that's a form of distortion I suppose, but it won't cause the break-up on horns like Mike describes.

It could be clipping distortion, even though the amps are valve jobs. Or could be the CD player clipping the input of the amplifiers. Neither seems that likely though.

[Lawrence001]

It doesn't have to be distortion, it could just be a higher response in those regions or just a sensitivity/dislike.

At some point I'd ditch the amp or speakers. Personally as I like a good valve amp I'd try some other sensitive speakers first. No horns though!

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[Mikeandvan]

I am not sure that is quite correct with the AN J's, I think it took 2-3 years of Peter Qvortrup experimenting with a different size and length baffle pipe before he was happy with them for corner positioning. So I expect the earlier AN J's were still based on Snell J design, in which case corner positioning probably would not be a great idea. So it could depend upon when Mike's AN J's were made. Also I don't recall the Mission PCM 7000 CDP being reported as harsh sounding at he time, maybe because of its age some electronics are getting past their best and causing issues.

Model is J type B, serial number 223/224, so only about 200 in, quite early I'd guess, they are in lovely condition though.