[CRESCENDOPOWER]

Moving the speakers out into the room will effect the treble, midrange, and bass; try it for yourself, and see. No matter what you buy with your current setup, and placement you are simply wasting your money.

 

[carlo]

Lisa,

Its a shame the NAD and Dyns aren't working out for you - the problems you describe are very strange to me and I really think it points to placement issues. Since you're so limited in that and if the Audience 52s aren't taming down its time to look at different speakers. Otherwise try playing with the angle of the speakers relative to your position (pointing them so the tweeters aren't coming right at your ears will tame their response) and look at your reflection points. If you don't remember (and if you care to try) suggestions on what to do with your room were in your original post on this system.

Your amp is almost certainly not your problem - unless its defective or something. In fact I think you could get away with the c320 in your room. Wodgy's advice is worth following I think (although in the case of the Dyns I doubt the x-over is your problem). Another speaker to try, overpriced really but (for some) attractive and not fussy with placement is the B&W Leisure LM-1 - variety of colors and stuff.

Good luck.

 

[wallijonn]

Lisa,

since they were installed by the store, why not have someone come over and check them out?

do you hear the "sss" sound when nothing is playing? at what volume level?

the fact that you say that it seems to be only on vocals would point to something in the 2k - 5k range. someone from the store should be able to hear it readily and possibly fix it.

if you power everything off, and reseat all the RCA cables, and then power up everything (make sure the volume control is turned down), is the "hiss" still there?

did you try other RCA interconnect cables?

 

[Lisa]

RCA cables, are those the interconnect?

As for an update.
I put the system in a different room so the burn in can be 24/7 and I could hear if the trouble was with the acoustics of the small room.
Well, no. The speakers are further away from the wall now and the room cannot possibly have wall and floor reflection since it so full of stuff it makes a storage room look empty

The sibilance is still there. Sound is a bit different but I think that's cause there're standing on a huge desk and the bass resonates there.

wallijonn,
it's not just vocals. Cimbles and sounds like that sound very metally (you understand?). I had a bit of a toothache and boy do you not want to hear that metal sound then. Made me think of tin foil between your fillings. Not as bad of course but it sure reminded me off it.

For now I'll just let them burn in for the rest of the weekend. After that i'll speak to the store again. I was thinking to also try out another cable. Just buy 1 meter and connect one speaker with it and see if it's makes any difference If it doen't I haven't spend to much money for nothing. I did not try other interconnects yet. Don't know if they are for sale in my town. And my mother is very busy so don't want to put her through a lot of trouble before it's absoluteley neccecary.

Again,
Thanks for all the advise!
Lisa.

 

[becomethemould]

can you post a picture of your setup? i had huge problems when i was shopping for speakers. the rooms in the house just sounded terrible. the lounge room is wood, and one side of room is glass windows. in my grandma's room, i moved everything out when she was overseas

the speakers sounded a bit muffled because the room was a bit small. i think it was 4m by 3m. the listening position was around 2m back. i was listening to the equinox solstice, australian speakers, check my sig

the designer, rick says they are optimised for 2.5m

i had a listen to dynaudio audience 42s too, the equinox were better

but i guess since you are in europe, they probably cost a little less than here.

here was my room setup

 

[wallijonn]

Lisa,

yes, the interconnects are the RCA cables.

some specialty rca cables have 3 wires in them, usually a shield and two wires or two shields and one wire. to lower noise, a lot of them connect the outer shield at one end only, to ground, and at the other end connect bothe shields or 1 shield and 1 wire to ground.

some people say that it makes a difference shield side the shield is connected to. which is why i suggested that you swap thew ends of each RCA cable around. most of these specialty cables are marked at one end, usually with some sort of marker, label, or colour.

if your RCA cables (interconnects) are silver wire based, they could be giving you a brighter sound. so if you have some old, cheap, inexpensive RCA cables around (from an old stereo or video or dvd) then try them in the place of your expensive rca cable interconnects, and see if the sound changes.

 

[TimSchirmer]

Who told you NAD amps were neutral? They always sound colored to me (sometimes in a good way, others not)

I might get a dedicated power/pre setup them sometime soon.

 

[CRESCENDOPOWER]

Quote:

Originally posted by Lisa RCA cables, are those the interconnect? As for an update. I put the system in a different room so the burn in can be 24/7 and I could hear if the trouble was with the acoustics of the small room. Well, no. The speakers are further away from the wall now and the room cannot possibly have wall and floor reflection since it so full of stuff it makes a storage room look empty The sibilance is still there. Sound is a bit different but I think that's cause there're standing on a huge desk and the bass resonates there.

You are still going to have problems until you put the speakers on stands. And, of course you are going to have reflection problems still, because the reflections are comming from all the "stuff" that is in the room.

 

[Lisa]

becomethemould,
Sorry cannot post pics of the room, don't have a digital camera

wallijonn,
I've tried all you interconnect suggestions. Switched them like you told me. Didn't make any difference.
And I remembered I have a AUX cable lying here so I connected it to the amp and at the other side my mp3 player.
Put both the NAD tuner and the tuner on the mp3 player on the same channel so I could sort of A/B them. The mp3player sounded a bit less clear as was to be expected. But they both gave a very simulair sound. Treble was still far to harsch.

So that leaves the cables or I just don't like the way those speakers are supposed to sound. I dunno.. Still on burn in.

 

[Wodgy]

Quote:

Originally posted by CRESCENDOPOWER And, of course you are going to have reflection problems still, because the reflections are comming from all the "stuff" that is in the room.

But those are diffuse field reflections; they won't affect the sound.

 

[Wodgy]

Quote:

Originally posted by Lisa So that leaves the cables or I just don't like the way those speakers are supposed to sound. I dunno.. Still on burn in.

I'd get rid of these speakers and try new ones. Speaker sound is a very personal thing, and what might sound good to a lot of other people may sound very bad to you.

I've been in a similar situation myself. It took me many pairs of speakers to get something I liked. For instance, many people on this board really like the PSB Stratus series, and they're on the Stereophile recommended components list. But for me they were slightly too bright (not as bad as some speakers though) and the crossover sound was just incredibly irritating to me. Loved by a lot of people (and pretty expensive), but just not to me. (And I was using the official PSB Stratus stands.) Don't be afraid to try new speakers. Cables alter flavor, but they won't change the fundamental sound of a speaker.

 

[Lisa]

Quote:

Originally posted by CRESCENDOPOWER You are still going to have problems until you put the speakers on stands. And, of course you are going to have reflection problems still, because the reflections are comming from all the "stuff" that is in the room.

I KNOW it won't be PERFECT!!!!
I know the best thing to do is put my speakers on proper stands in the middle of a meadow.

In order for me to put them on stand I have to make a whole in my bed, my matrass and the covers, hoping I won't knock it over in my sleep.

About the reflections. Funny how the reflection in a four times bigger room with mostly curtains to reflect to give the same problems as if it were a smooth surfaced wall.

I'm sorry if I come across angree, but please, in your previous post you told me I wasted years of savings. And for your information. I did this because I wanted to have something I could enjoy before I might not be able to enjoy anything anymore in the future.
Wouldn't you try to make the best out of a very bad situation? Even if you knew you couldn't get it perfect?

 

[Lisa]

Quote:

Originally posted by Wodgy I'd get rid of these speakers and try new ones. Speaker sound is a very personal thing, and what might sound good to a lot of other people may sound very bad to you. I've been in a similar situation myself. It took me many pairs of speakers to get something I liked. For instance, many people on this board really like the PSB Stratus series, and they're on the Stereophile recommended components list. But for me they were slightly too bright (not as bad as some speakers though) and the crossover sound was just incredibly irritating to me. Loved by a lot of people (and pretty expensive), but just not to me. (And I was using the official PSB Stratus stands.) Don't be afraid to try new speakers. Cables alter flavor, but they won't change the fundamental sound of a speaker.

Yeah, I think I will.
The store opens on tuesday and then I'll get in contact with them. I think burn in might help to make them sound a bit more open. But I can't imagine them changing sound completely. I mean they have been burning in for quite some time now and the problems I come across are still there.

 

[CRESCENDOPOWER]

Quote:

Originally posted by Wodgy But those are diffuse field reflections; they won't affect the sound.

Oh really, ever had a home theater system where the television is between the two front speakers, and then you move the TV out of the way, and it sounds completely different.
Believe me when I say that a room full of junk WILL effect the sound, and most of the time it will be for the worse.

 

[Wodgy]

Quote:

Originally posted by CRESCENDOPOWER Oh really, ever had a home theater system where the television is between the two front speakers, and then you move the TV out of the way, and it sounds completely different. Believe me when I say that a room full of junk WILL effect the sound, and most of the time it will be for the worse.

A TV in between speakers is a flat surface that extends the baffles. I agree that can make a large difference. On the other hand, a room full of non-uniform sized objects (couch, chairs, vases, sculptures, etc.) creates diffuse field reflections. These won't significantly change the sound of a speaker, since in aggregate they approximate an anechoic chamber.

In my experience most speakers sound better with lots of junk in the room. This is almost essential if you have hardwood floors.