[Lisa]

Just called the store to let them know that there is a problem so I might use their exchange policy.
They said to let the speakers burn in for 5 more days before changing to others. I think I'll do that. But in the mean time I'll look into solutions and what other speakers I might exchange them for.
The store supplies:
B&W
Kef
Mission
Dali.

Maybe more, but it was kind of hard to get that info out of them over the "Let it burn in first" comments.

Other amps they suggested were:
Rotel
Denon
Arcan (arkan?)

Hope got it all spelled right.

[rant]
I hate not being able to go to a store to listen or buy some other cables and interconnects. To have my mother do this stuff for me while she know less about it then I do. I cannot even change the interconnect and cables myself.
It's so frustrating to have to ask someone to do all this stuff for you when you know she doesn't like to do it. It's not her hobby.
Everything takes forever this way.
Sorry for this, I had to let it out.
[/rant]

 

[Hirsch]

Quote:

Originally posted by Lisa The store's got an exchange policy so I'm thinking if burn-in won't fix this I'll use that policy.

I think that you're on the right track. Speakers right out of the box are very likely to sound completely different after they've had some playing time. This is also true of the cables you're using. So, the best approach is to take things as slowly as the store will let you. Running the system on a tuner 24/7 is a decent way to accelerate burn-in. Harshness is actually normal in a new setup, so any panic is likely premature. I think the store gave you good advice to let the speakers burn in.

 

[Lisa]

Well it won't be 24/7 cause they're in my bedroom and i value my sleep

But they're playing all day.
You really think that harschness that make you think of nails across a blackboard will go away. (Yessssss it isssss that bad

)

 

[CRESCENDOPOWER]

Quote:

Originally posted by Lisa Well it won't be 24/7 cause they're in my bedroom and i value my sleep But they're playing all day. You really think that harschness that make you think of nails across a blackboard will go away. (Yessssss it isssss that bad )

Are the speakers located very close to the back wall? If they are try pushing them out into the room some. I still think you may want to look into something like this:
http://www.vacuumtube.com/JD%20102b.htm

 

[SuperGiraffe]

Hmmm . . . I know that a lot of the people suggested interconnect change, but I might suggest a speaker cable change instead. Without spending a lot of money, I would make sure you have at least 12 gauge stranded, high quality copper cable. My Dyn 60s (basically floorstanding version of your speaker) sounded quite a bit richer and fuller when I upgraded from 16 gauge to 10 gauge (and now I'm on 9 gauge) speaker cable. Without spending a whole lot of money, Monster Cable's "New Monster Cable" should do well. It retails for about $1.50 per foot in the U.S., possibly (probably) more in Europe. In my experience, it does not have the oxidization problems the older "Original Monster Cable" ($1.00 per foot, U.S.) has. The Monster Cable seems to have a slightly warm sonic signature as well, which might help with the harshness.

The Dynaudios do take a while to break in, unfortunately, but I don't think mine ever sounded harsh the way you described -- more like they started out sounding "congested" or closed in, and gradually opened up more.

If the speakers don't break in well for you, I can only give some other suggestions for replacements: In my experience, and IMHO, the B&W 600 series speakers are quite bright and sibilant; with B&W, I personally don't care for their product until the CDM-series, which are quite nice, really. Maybe you could splurge for something from the CDM series? I really don't have a lot of experience with Kef in this price range, so I can't suggest anything, by them. Missions generally have a pretty relaxed sound, so these might work for you as well. I also don't have ay experience with Dali at all, so I'm pretty much useless there as well.

As for the amps, it has been my experience that of Rotel, Arcam, Denon and NAD, that NAD would be the least harsh of these brands. But different models by the same manufacturer can indeed differ, so I'm not sure.

Good luck, and hopefully everything will work out!

 

[Lisa]

All this information needs a while to sink in since it's all new to me (I'm starting to sound like a broken record

) But the way I see it is that I could try something with the interconnects, change the cables or, if nothing helps, get other speakers. The amp is probably ok. I think... Quote:

Originally posted by SuperGiraffe The Dynaudios do take a while to break in, unfortunately, but I don't think mine ever sounded harsh the way you described -- more like they started out sounding "congested" or closed in, and gradually opened up more.

That's the way the midrange and bass sound to me. Like it needs to open up. But the treble. When someone speaks sound like they have a ssssspeaking dissssorder.

Quote:

If the speakers don't break in well for you, I can only give some other suggestions for replacements: In my experience, and IMHO, the B&W 600 series speakers are quite bright and sibilant; with B&W, I personally don't care for their product until the CDM-series, which are quite nice, really. Maybe you could splurge for something from the CDM series?

how much do they cost approximately?
Quote:

Good luck, and hopefully everything will work out!

Thanks!

 

[dudlew]

Just my personal opinion but.................




AVOID MONSTER CABLE LIKE THE PLAGUE!!!


as in my first post, from that experience of my brother i am not
monster fan, but you may like them. It is a pity you cant do some listening in stores as that is the best way to get what you want.

You have all good components that should go well together. My eldest brother tried my other brother's danes in his setup and even though his rotel player is a bit bright, (he has a RCD951 and a NAD C340), the sound was fine, not fatiguing at all. it was more detailed and natural than the speakers he had then which are the speakers I have now, the B&W 601. If after all the experimentation and time you can muster doesnt improve things then look for another amp or even other speakers?? Its possible that the sound is just not for you!!!

D

 

[SuperGiraffe]

Quote:

That's the way the midrange and bass sound to me. Like it needs to open up. But the treble. When someone speaks sound like they have a ssssspeaking dissssorder.

That really does not sound like any Dynaudio speaker that I have ever heard -- one of the things I like about the Dyn soft-dome tweeter is how clean the "s" sounds are reproduced. No sibilance at all! Try to use the NAD's balance controls to see if just the left or the right speaker has the problem. Could the speakers possibly be wired out of phase? This means the the positive (+) and negative (-) terminals of one of the speakers or amp is reversed. It could be worth looking into. I know that these were "professionally" set up, but mistakes happen. My fiancee's car stereo was installed "professionally" with the front door speakers out of phase, and I have been to several stereo shops where one or more of the speakers on display were wired out of phase.

 

[Lisa]

Quote:

Originally posted by SuperGiraffe That really does not sound like any Dynaudio speaker that I have ever heard -- one of the things I like about the Dyn soft-dome tweeter is how clean the "s" sounds are reproduced. No sibilance at all! Try to use the NAD's balance controls to see if just the left or the right speaker has the problem. Could the speakers possibly be wired out of phase? This means the the positive (+) and negative (-) terminals of one of the speakers or amp is reversed. It could be worth looking into. I know that these were "professionally" set up, but mistakes happen. My fiancee's car stereo was installed "professionally" with the front door speakers out of phase, and I have been to several stereo shops where one or more of the speakers on display were wired out of phase.

What are + and - terminals?
Could you just describe it in understandeble words please?
Thanks.

-edit-
Tried the balancssse controlssss and both sssspeakersss ssssound like thisss.

 

[Wodgy]

Just my two cents... changing interconnects or speaker cables almost never changes the fundamental sound of a system. I've tried playing around with wires with systems I've disliked, and sometimes it makes a difference and satisfies me for a while, but ultimately I still end up hearing the same flaws, just in a slightly different way.

The NAD C350's headphone jack is powered by the same circuit that powers the speakers (via a voltage-divider network), so if you find the sound out of the headphone jack to be acceptable, it's probably safe to rule out your source, amp, and interconnects.

My advice: do let your speakers finish burning in, but if you still don't like them, don't feel ashamed about trying something else.

 

[davidcotton]

Quote:

Originally posted by Lisa What are + and - terminals? Could you just describe it in understandeble words please? Thanks. -edit- Tried the balancssse controlssss and both sssspeakersss ssssound like thisss.

Positive or negative. In others the Red plug on the ic cable or speaker cable goes to + and the black goes to -.

One other (probably stupid) question, are you using decent speaker stands or do you have them plonked on the desk or floor. If possible get some in if you haven't, these make a big difference to small speakers.

 

[Lisa]

Quote:

Originally posted by davidcotton Positive or negative. In others the Red plug on the ic cable or speaker cable goes to + and the black goes to -.

I checked this yesterday. The red connects to the red alright.
When you stand behind a speaker is the red suppose to be to your right?
When I looked at the back of the amps it looks like this:
red black black red
Is that ok?


Quote:

One other (probably stupid) question, are you using decent speaker stands or do you have them plonked on the desk or floor. If possible get some in if you haven't, these make a big difference to small speakers.

No not stupid. I don't have speaker stand. I know not good. But the room is too small for it...

Can this really make a speaker sound so harsch?

 

[Wodgy]

Quote:

Originally posted by Lisa [BI don't have speaker stand. I know not good. But the room is too small for it... Can this really make a speaker sound so harsch? [/B]

No, generally it's the opposite. Putting speakers on the floor/close to the wall almost always increases the amount of bass, not change the treble. People put speakers on stands to eliminate bass&midbass wall/floor reflections and thus improve imaging. Speaker stands can also eliminate resonances, but again that primarily affects the bass and midrange, not high frequencies.

 

[stymie miasma]

Quote:

Originally posted by Lisa I checked this yesterday. The red connects to the red alright. When you stand behind a speaker is the red suppose to be to your right? When I looked at the back of the amps it looks like this: red black black red Is that ok?

I think you mentioned that your system was set-up by the people that your purchased the equipment from, so hopefully they wired the speakers correctly. For peace-of-mind, you can check for yourself:

If your speaker cable is colour-coded (ie: each cable has a red and a black cable inside the main jacket), then you should ensure that the red cable is plugged into the red terminal on BOTH your amp and your speaker. This is a bit trickier to ensure if you are using lower-end monster cable for example, where you need to look for a distinguishing grey stripe on the outer jacket. In this case, the grey stripe does not signifiy anything, but simply allows you to ensure that the grey-striped cable is plugged into the same coloured terminal at both the amp and speaker.

As for the [Red-Black]-[Black-Red] configuration of speaker terminals on the back of your amp, that is the same as my NAD C740. Use the left hand [Red-Black] pair to power your left speaker and use the right hand [Black-Red] pair to drive your right speaker.

Hope this helps!

 

[bundee1]

Another couple of things to throw at you (sorry):

-I have an arcam a65 plus integrated thats 40w/channel
the sound is warm and punchy, but I dont know if it has enough juice for your dynaudios. Maybe something higher up the line.

-If you want to change the speakers, Mission or Acoustic Energy evo 1 are smoother budget speakers that should work well with the NADs

-last but not least, hanging tapestries on the wall can cut down on harshness. Clap a couple of times around the room. If you hear nasty shrill echos, they could be contributing to the problem.

Good luck with everything.