Smooth sounding speakers?

Tried both silver coated and copper and could not hear any difference... I am not convinced that cables make any difference tbh.
 
I didnt say that, although my thinking was along those lines -same question again what cable you are using?

Are you using the silver in there still?
What copper cable did you try?
How are your speakers wired up - do you use links or the dodgy bit of metal that came with them to link the bindin posts?

The other thing I was thinking about was room acoustics- lowering the 4k on a parametric equilizer will probably make the sitation worse - as its actually removing the rest of the sound that acts as support and exagerates the region you are trying to remove. A parametric equilzer is pants in this regard.
 
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I have lowered everything from 3900hz > 20000hz by 2.5db Which definately lowers the treble brightness / sibilance...

My current cables are QED copper cables and they are not terminated.
 
do you have the same or similar cable links between the tweeter and and mid / bass driver or are you using the crappy bit of metal that comes with the speaker?

If not try a piece of copper mains wire in there instead of the links and see if that makes a difference.

What way do you wire into the speaker - into the tweeter or into the bass unit.
Try it the other way round
 
You need to swap to something without metal dome tweeters. Sibilance is usually a major downside with them, particularly if you have an amp that's short of headroom.

Mission did a set of speakers back in the 90's that started life with metal dome tweeters and were then updated to a 'freedom' range with silk tweeters. Most people preferred the replacements, although the originals did sound better to some ears but getting the rest of the chain right is critical with metal domes. They sound amazing on some stuff and a bit nasty and harsh on other stuff.
 
Take a look also at PMC and Dynaudio, both have smooth but detailed treble. You don't loose anything at the top end with a good soft dome, as they are flat to mid 20Khz.

Freeview sounds fine on the right kit, so you don't need to suffer.

The affordable end of B&W's range seem always set up for 5 seconds demo's, impressive on quick listen, but then fatiguing over time.
 
I would try some 200 grit before working your way down to 2000 grit.

That should really smooth them out for you.
 
9designs2 said:
Take a look also at PMC and Dynaudio, both have smooth but detailed treble. You don't loose anything at the top end with a good soft dome, as they are flat to mid 20Khz.

Freeview sounds fine on the right kit, so you don't need to suffer.

The affordable end of B&W's range seem always set up for 5 seconds demo's, impressive on quick listen, but then fatiguing over time.
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I had some dynaudio DM 2/7 for a while but I sent them back because I couldn't justify the £550 price for the sound but thinking back they were pretty good and if I had some more money I would maybe try some Dynaudio again... TBH though they still had similar levels of sibilance. Slight problem with the PMC speakers in that they cost £1000 for the most basic standmounts up to about £10,000 lol...
 
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Problem with Dyn's is often they required a very good amp, as they don't respond well to poor front ends or amps driving them.
Spending much less than 500 quid on speakers is going to lead into some low grade components and you will need to be even more careful in system matching to mask the limitations.
If the Dyn's still suffered the problem, then does suggest you need to look at the DAC or Amp... NAD is known to be smooth and some times soft, so perhaps start with the DAC.
If your using EQ what other signal processing are you using and where ?
 
I agree with you that it is probably the DAC because this one (CA dacmagic) is known to be a bit harsh sounding and when I tried an Arcam rdac it was somewhat smoother although the bass was not as good on the rdac.... I think I might get another rdac because it is an inexpensive upgrade and the sound quality was definately better than the dacmagic (except for the bass).. The only EQ/signal processing I use is MPC-HC with FFDshow.

When I had the dynaudios I had a worse amplifier (NAD 315bee)... I now have a NAD 326bee which is a fair bit better so maybe the rdac + 326bee with some dynaudios or maybe quads would be good. Any other (slightly cheaper) suggestions?
 
NirK said:
Are the audience better than the newer 2/6 or 2/7 versions?
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No idea, but they will be cheaper ;) I have the 42s for rear channel, tried them on the end of some high end kit and they are great little speakers.... and smooth.
See also what PMC's are about, used as well.....
 
Heartily recommend PMC's, but your right, they wouldn't be a cheaper option if you decided to change speakers. I'd also agree it sounds more like something a change of DAC could help with.
 
Another PMC lover here - you say they're too expensive, but remember the loudspeaker is the most important part of the chain, and arguably will last the longest...
 
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