new system way too bright

[mazurek]

I just got some Martin Logan Mosaics and a Rotel 1056 receiver at my friend's recommendation. I heard the Mosaics on an Arcam amplifier and they sounded awesome in the store. Now I am using them, and they are painfully bright (they have been broken in for only perhaps 8 hours).

The audio store tells me to to use analog inputs and better speaker cable for the best sound, they want to sell me fancy cable. I have 10 gage cable already, and don't really believe them.

Is the Rotel amplifier a bad match for my speakers? I started out with an Arcam briefly, but its digital inputs were flaky. I also learned that the Rotel has a hell of a lot of background noise unless using direct analog mode, which sucks.

Any suggestions? Be patient, and wait for break in? I am using WinAmp equalizer to fix the brightness which seems wrong, for just having spent that much money.

 

[jaxvon]

What is your room like? Room + Speakers accounts for the vast majority of your sound. If you have hard floors and bare walls, that will make things unbearably bright. If you have hard floors, get an area rug. Get some sound absorbing panels for the walls, or bookshelves. Bookshelves are great at diffusing sound without looking goofy.

 

[mazurek]

Thanks for the input. The speakers are in front of regular painted drywall. Do the front/rear firing tweaters make the speakers more susceptible to this? I used to have traditional driver speakers, and they did not have quite as much of an issue.

I don't quite have room for a bookshelf, now I got to find something to put on the wall which will not make me look crazy.

 

[eddiem67]

You can try silver speaker wire to tone them down, but absorbing panels is your best bet.

 

[jaxvon]

Eddie, silver speaker wire will not make an ounce of difference. The panels will. Check out Realtraps. They aren't the best looking, but I think you might want to get some. Regarding the dipole radition, I think that the sidewalls are a bigger concern. The rear wall will create secondary reflections that give the sound of more depth. Besides, it would be pointless to purchase a dipole speaker like your ML's and then stick an absorber behind it. Try getting some absorption or diffusion at the primary reflection points along your sidewalls. To find this, get someone to move a mirror along the wall while you sit in your primary listening postion. When you see your speakers, that's the spot. If you have windows in the room, try getting some heavy drapes. Those are also effective at absorbing high frequencies.

 

[WmAx]

I second jaxon's recommendation. Use some side wall absorption panels. The ML's have rather poor off axis response(as compared to on-axis), as do most speakers, so using side wall absorbers to reduce the 1st reflection off the side wall will be beneficial. Do not absorb the backwave unless you can not space the speakers at least 3' from the rear wall. If you have to use closer spacing, then it's best to absorb the rear wall reflection, too.

-Chris

Eddie, silver speaker wire will not make an ounce of difference. The panels will. Check out Realtraps. They aren't the best looking, but I think you might want to get some. Regarding the dipole radition, I think that the sidewalls are a bigger concern. The rear wall will create secondary reflections that give the sound of more depth. Besides, it would be pointless to purchase a dipole speaker like your ML's and then stick an absorber behind it. Try getting some absorption or diffusion at the primary reflection points along your sidewalls. To find this, get someone to move a mirror along the wall while you sit in your primary listening postion. When you see your speakers, that's the spot. If you have windows in the room, try getting some heavy drapes. Those are also effective at absorbing high frequencies.

 

[WmAx]

I just got some Martin Logan Mosaics and a Rotel 1056 receiver at my friend's recommendation. I heard the Mosaics on an Arcam amplifier and they sounded awesome in the store. Now I am using them, and they are painfully bright (they have been broken in for only perhaps 8 hours).

The reciever(except for the noise--that's not good!) nor the wires are the problem with the brightness. If some acoustic treatments don't fix the problem for you, you'll need to either (1) use an equalizer [or] (2) get new speakers.

BTW, you can purchase a superb quality digital equalizer device for $250 these days, if you need one.

-Chris

 

[jaxvon]

You just can't pass a day without plugging the DCX2496, can you Chris

 

[WmAx]

You just can't pass a day without plugging the DCX2496, can you Chris

Where did I make any mention of a specific product? I just stated that you can get a high quality digital equalizer for $250. I did not way which one! If the DCX2496 just happens to sell for $250, then perhaps it's just a coincidence?

-Chris

 

[mtrycrafts]

You can try silver speaker wire to tone them down, .

Is this a joke??? Or what?
I do have a thick skull and may have missed it.

 

[mtrycrafts]

You just can't pass a day without plugging the DCX2496, can you Chris

He'll probaly will stop when you start recommending them

 

[cam]

Didn't you hear mtry, silver speaker wire also adds about 1000 watts of pure current. It tones the speakers down while increasing spl's. All you need is a 2 inch driver with silver speaker wire and it should sound like you have dual 8 inch drivers.

 

[jaxvon]

Oh, but I did! Of course, I just did it to beat him to the punch on an EQ thread.
Another good thing about silver cables...
You can kill werewolves!

 

[mazurek]

Thanks a lot for the advice. I tried playing around with the speaker positioning with some success, I think the reflections of one of the speakers in the corner were causing trouble. I panned one tune from speaker to speaker to test out variations, and found the one in the corner was the most offensive one. Also, I've been breaking them in further, which may have helped. I tried draping a blanket on the wall beside the speaker, but I think I will hold off on any room treatments until I move in two months, and have my audiophile friend to help me try things out without laughing at me.

I generally like the quickness, and the bass of the ML's as compared to others in the price range, so the next step after I move and set them up properly will be to get a soundcard with good DACs, and an equalizer. I'm thinking the equalizer is a good idea, because it seems some music was not made to be played neutrally.

 

[9f9c7z]

Mazurek – welcome to the board.

I had a chance to do a side-by-side listening comparison between an Arcam pre/amp and an Anthem pre/amp thru some MLs. Night and day!!! The Arcam gear has a warmer sound when heard next to the Anthem gear; but the Anthem had a clarity that seemed to extend the audio deeper than Arcam. Fwiw, the Arcam sound was something that I personally found more pleasing as it compliments my musical tastes. This may have been what you heard when you listened to the Mosaics thru an Arcam. If that is so, and if the Rotel’s sound is similar to Anthem’s, it may not be an issue of room acoustics or speaker placement.

Perhaps there is someone here that can comment on a comparison of Rotel’s sound to that of Anthem’s…are they similar? If so, you may be a candidate for new Arcam gear, or similar.

 

[mazurek]

Thanks for the welcome.

Do you think using the "pure direct" mode on the amplifier will result in a more honest sound? Its really hard for me to say now because my benchmark analog signal is from a creative sound card, which is being compared against spdif coaxial into the amp.

I'm going to have a lot of fun trying things out in a couple of months, my future roomate is quite the audiophile. I'll finally have a proper place to setup my gear, and will be able to borrow his Arcam amp and try it out. Unfortunately, we went to his favorite dealer in Cinncinati (I live in Columbus), so while they would let me try things in my home, it is a pain.

I'm really glad people have been offering such reasonable (as in not nonsensical) advice. When I asked the store for help, they tried to sell me more expensive cables, which may have done something, but only would have obscured the real issue.

 

[jaxvon]

You're right. The more expensive cables would leave less money in your bank account that you can now spend on something that will make a difference.

 

[Privateer]

I'm really glad people have been offering such reasonable (as in not nonsensical) advice. When I asked the store for help, they tried to sell me more expensive cables, which may have done something, but only would have obscured the real issue.

Cables will do nothing, I guess you could run a cable with 100 times the resistance of normal copper and then that would do something.

 

[mtrycrafts]

Didn't you hear mtry,

I am told I am deaf

silver speaker wire also adds about 1000 watts of pure current. It tones the speakers down while increasing spl's. All you need is a 2 inch driver with silver speaker wire and it should sound like you have dual 8 inch drivers.


I must have been absent that day

 

[mtrycrafts]

Also, I've been breaking them in further, which may have helped. .

No, I doubt that this helped as this is yest another audio mythology, driven by wishful thinking