Harsh Treble, advise appreciated

Badlands - I do agree that Dynas need the most articulate and powerful amplification.  But confused by your comments reference Neats and Kudos - never ever heard them sounding harsh.

Regards,

Lindsay

Bing Teng posted:

I have a well damped room, 6 meters (19 feet 8⁷⁄₃₂ inches) deep and 5 meters (16 feet 4²⁷⁄₃₂ inches) wide with an 2,5 meters wide opening to my kitchen at the rear. The kitchen is about 3 meters deep. There is no noticeable flutter echo.

My system consists of a Naim Supernait 2 + HiCapDR, NDX-Network player + Linn LP12/Lingo Dynavector DV10X5 driving my Dynaudio Confidende C2 speakers through Chord Company Signature cables. My streamer amp interlink is Kimber Hero (0,5m) and my phono preamp (Lehman Black Cube SE) is connected with Van den Hull The First Ultimate (1m). 

My problem is harshness from the upper midrange (e.g. the guitar in the intro of Sweet Jane from Rock and Roll Animal) up to the highs (especially high hats in Techno). Experiments with placement of my speakers does not really help solving my issue and there is no big difference between vinyl and digital.  The harshness is totally absent through my Shure SRH1840 headphones. There is no bass overload in my room, even at deafening levels. Placing tissue over the tweeters does eliminate the problem but results in an unwanted muffled sound. 

Jazz (varying from Diana Krall to Miles Davis) sounds really good even at high sound levels but Rock and electronic music like some of my favorite techno songs are just not pleasant to listen to. 

My previous speakers (Sonus Faber Liuto Tower + SF Gravis) which have silk dome tweeters worked wonderfully in my setup with all music of course dependent on recording quality. The soundstaging of the Dynaudio`s is however far more 'big' and low end control is slightly better. 

Does anyone have advise on my harshness issue?

Your help is appreciated,

Bing 

 

I have used a lot of higher priced Chord cables Signature included..I eventually liked the sound of Chord carnival listening over a long period ...everything seemed better balance wise and no sharp mids..In my current system nac 112x 150x  I find having tried Chord and lots of other  cables that Nac a5 is very good at making sense of naim gear...I keep coming back to it...

Some of the Audioquest cables are good to ' but have never used those in my naim system.

Strat, yes, I guess that came across wrong, what I meant was that compared to Dyn's, Neat and Kudos, for the most part, have a more forward sounding presentation. Not so much they are harsh, they are not, it's just that their overall presentation can sound a little tilted up on the top end.

The Dynaudio C2's does not need powerful amplification. They will just get better with more power. They will work OK with a Nait2 ( I have tried it with my brother's C2. Try NACA5.

rjstaines posted:

Any chance of borrowing some Naim speaker cables, either NAC A5's or Super Lumia?  (or both).  They may be a more controlled match for your Supernait driving the Confidende's 4 ohm load. 

I have no experience of their new reflection minimising DDC technology, so I won't muddy the water by implicating that in any way,  but as I said, look closely at the speaker cable.

I hope the solution finds you soon    ...but I can't help feeling that what Strat says above may have a lot to do with your problem.

In my expirience DYNO'S need room to breath...

You're not wrong there Garry

metal tweeters...

Hi I have heard Supernatural on a nuber of occasions it never sounded harsh or particularly edgy ..... I don't know your speakers....I think the advice about the amp is sensible. I have also had it on good authority that the  chord cables can be a bit 'in your face'. I suggest NCA5....speaker cables and a change of interconnect's it is a trip to the dealers I think...

Try cables by all means but this is not the cause of the problem  I have Chord wiring in my Naim/Dynaudio system and in your face it is not.   This is simply a case of the amp not being up to the demands of the speakers.