[MoLtoSoLo]

If you want to try some new speakers, I would recommand to give the Triangle Titus 202 a try. To me, it's a wonderful speaker and the high is just "comfortable".

 

[bundee1]

Try the Acoustic Energy Evo 1 or Evo 3. They are budget speakers but match well with NAD components. They have soft dome tweeters and if you get the Evo 3 you wont need stands cause theyre floorstanders. Check them out they should be cheaper than the Dynaudios and with the money you get back you can get decent I.C.'s

 

[James]

I own the NAD C370 and Audience 52's, connected at a previous time with Monster speaker cables and driven by an old Marantz CC48 changer. I ended up with the amp after trying the NAD C350 (and my old NAD 320). A few observations.

1. The Dynaudios, like most Dynaudios, have an upper-mid and treble forwardness. See Audience 40, Audience 50, Audience 62, Contour 1.3 Mk.II, and other places. But they are not as bright as some speakers I know! I bought them precisely because they had a sweet treble and that slight forwardness, lending extra life to female vocals, strings, and such. The Tituses are going to be more laid back in that region, but have a stronger treble. If you didn't like the Dynaudio's treble, I'm going to guess the Tituses will be over the top for you.

2. Neither NAD (C350 nor C370) is bright, but they may come across as dry. This may accentuate treble problems further up the line, as in your CD player.

3. Different CD players make a great difference, but not enough to completely "solve" the 52's forwardness (I didn't want to remove it entirely, anyway). My MSB DAC smooths the harshness of the Marantz. My portables are all smoother and less harsh in the treble, but they are also less dynamic, one of the great attributes of the 52's. The point is that the 52's are so revealing in the treble that you must have absolutely smooth sources.

4. Cables can help with smoothing out harshness, but will not flatten frequency anomalies like the Dynaudio's forwardness.

As always, changing the speakers will make the greatest difference. It's what I would have done if I didn't have trouble finding something else even near the 52's price range that had the same dynamics, detail, and neutrality. I understood that the first was at the expense of the last, but at this price, you MUST compromise somewhere. Alternatively, you can accept the Dynaudio's "liveliness" and attempt to lessen its overt effects through smoother CD players (or DACs), amps, and cables. This is the route I intend to take when I upgrade.

Hope that helps. Good luck!

 

[Lisa]

Quote:

Originally posted by James 2. Neither NAD (C350 nor C370) is bright, but they may come across as dry. This may accentuate treble problems further up the line, as in your CD player.

What's dry sound like?
Cause I'm missing emotion in my music with the NAD- Dynaudio combination.
Will this be a problem too if I change speakers?

Quote:

Hope that helps. Good luck! [/B]

Thanks!
You did help quite a bit.
The way you decribe the Dynaudio speakers comes close to what I'm hearing. And now I'm even more sure that this just isn't the sound I'm looking for.

 

[Wodgy]

One more suggestion... when you talk to the store next time, mention that you're looking for speakers "on the warm side of neutral". This will help guide the salespeople to suggest things that will be closer to suiting your tastes.

Also, be sure to mention that you're mostly listening to music, and not really interested in home theatre. In my experience, most "home theatre" rigs have main speakers that are on the bright side of neutral, and they use the subwoofer to compensate somewhat.

 

[Orpheus]

you know Lisa, have you heard other high-end speakers before? Dynaudio is supposed to represent some of the best modern speakers being made today. their speakers are in some of the most expensive recording studios in the world. their woofers are used in some of the most expensive loudspeakers in the world. but perhaps............ perhaps you aren't used to such "perfect" sound. i dunno what you've been listening to.... but many of the audiophile type speakers sound very different from modern ultra-high end "flat" response speakers. for instance, i have two pairs of high-end monitors. i have a NHTPro A-20 + B-20 system that probably sounds a lot like your Dynaudios--extremely detailed, and perhaps "harsh" sounding to those not used to the sound. I also have a pair of Sequerras, which are more of the audiophile type (exotic woofers, tweeters...) which sound much more natural, and that's why i use them for mixing. but i can tell you, the NHTPro's are probably much flatter than the Sequerras, which probably have a rolled off treble. but many people who have listened like the Sequerras for vocal type music.

anyway, my point is, there's nothing wrong with your Dynaudios. and they really are some of the most advanced speakers in the world. Dynaudio probably invests MUCH MUCH MUCH more money into research than 99% of the small speaker companies out there. it's a very big company which makes many different types of speakers. but if you don't like them, that's fine too. which type of speaker is technically better?--well, by the numbers, probably your dynaudio. but let your ears be the judge.

and no, don't expect burn-in to make much of a difference... and don't get hung up if you don't hear any difference between cables as 99.99% of the population won't.

but the different speakers do sound different. don't like the dynaudios? dump them.

 

[Lisa]

Thanks Wodgy, for your suggestions on what to say the the people in the store.
I've been helped in this by my mother (bless her). Let her know exactly what i don't like about the Dyns. She feels the same so maybe our taste is more simulair than I first thought.
She'll go listen for me to other speakers. And maybe the store will let me have an audition at home after she's picked out some speakers she thinks I might like.

Orpheus,

I hear the good things the Dyns do too, but the treble (at least in my set up) is unenjoyable for me.
They are very clear, no doubt about that. But I happely give some clearity for a more enjoyable sound.

You are right. I haven't listened to good speakers for more than ten years. But I did like the Grado SR-60s a lot. Not the best of the Grado's I know but still.
Maybe speakers and headphones are two different things.

 

[James]

Hi Lisa,

At this point, I'm probably too late. Sorry for not replying earlier; I didn't see your response!

By dryness I meant a certain reticence in the midrange to upper-bass. The NAD C370 (and C350) isn't very lush or even generous-souding, a bit analytical if you will. With a more neutral amp you will find the music to be warmer, richer, rounder, bigger ... the kind of adjectives that I think you may be looking for. Along those lines, if you've ever heard a tube amp with the Audience 52's, this may resolve a great deal of your criticisms. Unfortunately, my own experience with tubed amps with the Dynaudios are somewhat less than satisfying on the detail and dynamics front.

Good luck with your auditioning! BTW, I am surprised and happy to see TWO women so interested in audio. If only mine were so inclined ...

One thing I definitely remember from my many auditions is that my mom and my other girl friends (not girlfriends, I'm not so prolific

) all had a sensitivity to treble harshness, whereas most guys tend to view it more positively (calling it aggression, liveliness, etc.). But the women were always right in the long run; audio is the only thing for which advice I ALWAYS take from my mom!

 

[wallijonn]

just don't let the salesman suggest you put a sock in front of the tweeter. be firm. listen to a few more speakers. if you listen to his setup and can't hear the same treble trouble, have him change equipment around until it sounds just like it does in your home. then listen to some other speakers (with the new equipment configuration) and pick out one that sounds best to you.

 

[Lisa]

You guys are not too late.
I've translated it in Dutch for my mother. So she can take the advise with her when she goes for a listen!

Thanks.

 

[wallijonn]

Tina,

I had this really high treble problem in my setup. No matter what headphones I connected, they just all seemed too harsh. So I did as I suggested to you - I swapped the RCA cables 180 degrees. Now all the high end harshness is gone. So from no on I will be inserting the cables so that the shield is grounded at the "in" (input) of the amp. The other way, where the dhield is grounded at the DVD was just plain too bright.

It looks like I'll have to make up some more cables. What I'm thinking of his having the shield soldered at both ends, but only having the negative tied to the shield at one end. I also want to experiment with magnetic oxide coated copper wire.

See, cables do make a difference.

 

[Orpheus]

normally on "half-balanced" cables the shield is connected to the source end, or the output of your preamp or whatever, not the input of your amp. i am not an electrician, so i can't tell you why, but that's what my friend with a PhD in EE tells me to do. but either way, it should not affect the sound in terms of frequency response. its effects will be on noise and hum.

 

[blr]

I've listened to all the components you have and in properly set system none of them is harsh.
Dynaoudio are indeed fine speakers and while the easiest way will be to just exchange them I'd suggest to try and get the most out of your system.
I suspect speaker cables may be one of the reasons. You'll be surprised how much difference a speaker cable makes especially to the high mids and treble. I experimented with some DIY designs lately and came across some cables that really tone down the treble. You can try several other things like placing decouplers underneath the speakers vibration isolation for componets ICs etc.
Anyway, it is perhaps too late. Just keep us posted this is an interesting thread

 

[Lisa]

at the moment i've got a terrible flu.

i'll give you all an update when i feel a bit better.

 

[bundee1]

Get your vitamin c and get back to us soon.