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

[Mikeandvan]

Yes, I have taken that into account. It is not an accurate amp.

And neither is the AN Soro se either I take it?

[Mikeandvan]

Have taken the AG1500 mains regenerator out of my system, no difference at all. Upper treble is still quite hard, will persevere!

[AJSki2fly]

Yes, I have taken that into account. It is not an accurate amp.

This is rubbish, the S500 Is a very good amp. The issue Mike is experiencing is there with several amps he has used.


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[fatmarley]

This is rubbish, the S500 Is a very good amp. The issue Mike is experiencing is there with several amps he has used.


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One being the Quad 306. The only complaint I've ever heard about that amp Is being a bit dull or overly smooth (sounds fine to me though).

[Marco]

Me too.. I've just bought one, as a second amp, and 'dull or overly smooth' it fundamentally isn't. If it sounds that way, blame something else in the partnering system creating that effect!

Marco.

[walpurgis]

One being the Quad 306. The only complaint I've ever heard about that amp Is being a bit dull or overly smooth (sounds fine to me though).

I can only think that anybody saying this has not heard one and is basing their comments on the character of the rather different sounding 6, 7 and 9 series power amps (which are good, but more laid back).

[AJSki2fly]

I can only think that anybody saying this has not heard one and is basing their comments on the character of the rather different sounding 6, 7 and 9 series power amps (which are good, but more laid back).

By laid back do you mean they tend to make you nod off?

[anthonyTD]

Good that you have at least eliminated that Mike!
A...

Have taken the AG1500 mains regenerator out of my system, no difference at all. Upper treble is still quite hard, will persevere!

[Macca]

Just ordered a cd of Donald Byrd Street Lady, see if it is the recording that's the problem. Should be here tomorrow.

CD is here so will try it on both of my systems later (after The Professionals and The Sweeny obvs), and see what the deal is.

[AJSki2fly]

So having got my digital shit sorted today I decided to have a listen to some of the tracks Mike has raised as having issues, and here are my findings.

Firstly all the tracks I listened to were either at CD SQ or higher so I should be getting at least the same or the full monty compared to your CD's

John Coltranes - 'favourite things', a very interesting one this, on QOBUZ there are 32 different albums with it on:-

Coolnote release sounds quite laid back and Coltrane was back in the mix, not nice overall
music manager 2011 was very odd to say the least, Coltrane sounded like he was in another room(horrible),
release 2010 by Pheonix USA was weird - in fact horrible
release 2012 by Black Sheep Music was certainly the best so far all instruments sounded natural, Coltrane though had moved from centre stage to right speaker, even on the very high notes his sax were not harsh
Release 1998 Rhino Atlantic (hi-res) this was virtually same as above, same mix I would say this is from the master tape, mixed to Stereo and sympathetically done. Very nice.Even at 7:40 for about 30 secs the high notes in the solo are clear, slightl edge, but I think this is the way it is.
Release 1960 BNF Mono - this is the original mix(I think)!. The detail is not as good as above and slightly edgy on the high notes, interesting.
Release 2014 AVID Entertainment - Remastered, this has had some quite serious sound processing to clean up the recording and get the best from it, it is the most open sound of all so far, Sax is very clear, 7:40 very high pitch notes are clear, no noticeable harshness
Sinetone AMR 2011 this is a clear mix, the sax is clear and they have obviously tried to get it how it sounded originally, at 7:40 the very high pitched do have some edginess

So the above is a can of WORMS IMO, the original recording I would say is rather dull and sounds a bit lifeless, which is why there are so many re-releases trying to clean it up. The Sinetome AMR and Black Sheep Music were my favourites, but I would say there is some edginess in places, but having played in a few amateur jazz bands I recognise it as just how a sax can sound when on the edge of control, so I think it is how it is.

Horace Silver - 'Pretty Eyes' some lovely trumpet on this, beautiful control, there is the odd bit of edginess at 3:15 to 3:32, but I think it is natural. By the way I have played that one.

Horace Silver - 'Bonita' interesting one this, at the beginning I think that there are two trumpets, or brass instruments, which are deliberately causing harmonic dissonance which sound right, it's deliberate, and very hard to do. At 4:30 the sax solo up and down the scale has some end note edge which is how it is IMO.

Eddie hendricks - Sunburst, there are some very high trumpet notes on this and some challenging synth at 38 to 45+ secs, at times you could say because of the mix the high pitched notes are in your ears big time, not exactly harsh but getting towards piercing on the ear. I think it is how it is!

Donald Byrd - street lady, get on down and boogie to this, a very up front mix, at times the riffing guitar and the horns harmonically sound slightly off pitch with each other, in places there are a lot of high notes from different instruments together, the flute in particular sounds as if it has been very closely mic'd up, and can sound a little harsh at points. the trumpet solo immediately after the flute has some very forward in the mix parts, its either the mix or the player got too close to the mic. Actually I can now hear the in the second solo he/she sounds too close, I think he/she may have been pushing the mic to its limits, or the recording was clipping.

Donald Byrd - Miss Kane, now this does have some very high and squelly cymbals, this mix has lots of high stuff all together so sounds a bit strident overall.

So there you have it, I enjoyed listening to them although I became bored with JC and 'Favourite Things"

IMHO I think the tracks do have some quite challenging high end content, some more than others, I have tried to be as objective as possible when listening. My Allnic 300B amp is pretty neutral IMO, and the Wilson Benesch Vectors are considered to be very accurate in the mid to top end, and they produce some good bass. So I think it was worth listening and letting you have my thoughts.

So I think the bottom line is that nearly any system will be challenged with these tracks, and actually some will never sound smooth or without some edge to them, purely due to the recording, musical content and/or mixing.