For those who have great rooms and systems, does this song sound sibilant to you?

[Rexp]

Well, I have heard songs I know well on my system at shows and dealers where is sounded very harsh and thus sibilant on female vocals. In the original post, I mentioned the Conrad Johnson/Kharma system where I did not hear sibilance. One song played there was:

and the trumpets sounded glorious and never harsh or bright.

I was then at a dealer showroom in DC with the Wilson Alexia, a full DCS stack with Momentum Amps and heard the same Count Basie song and it was harsh and bright - very very detailed but those trumpets were harsh.

I don’t have the 24/192 Qobuz version of Raven but the Tidal 16/44.1 doesn't sound sibilant.

 

[Nuprin]

Sounds like OCD to me. Try some "time out". Might help. Good luck.

Not a "take a break" thing at all. Sometimes I go weeks without listening to my system. Doesn't change the sibilance I hear.

 

[Iamrael]

Sounds like OCD to me. Try some "time out". Might help. Good luck.

Dude, do you consider yourself the audio guru?

 

[Kal Rubinson]

How could it not originate on the recording? What mechanism could create sibilance and only sibilance in an audio system?

Rob

An errant resonance?

 

[Kofi Baffour]

Is it just my ears, system or is it the recording that makes this Holly Cole song "I can see clearly now" very sibilant? The "S" sound is very piercing to my ears.
My system is sounding great with the bass really dialed in and have no complaints with just about every other aspect except the sibilance in many recordings that I would expect to be very well recorded. It's not true of every artist and recording, but certainly on many, including a few male vocalists. Instruments like cymbals and violin sound really good and not bright or harsh at all.

For example, Chesky's classic "Spanish Harlem" by Rebecca Pidgeon even has it. I would assume David would record his tracks well and the sibilance shouldn't be there?

the meat and bones of sibilance live in the region of 3kHz to 8kHz. That range of the frequency response is what, when in excess leads to ss, tt and tchh sounds being edgy and painful.
looking at the spectrum analyser of my music player, during any passage with the phonetic SSS, there's a jump in the spectrum from what is normal for music spectrum(which is either flat and sloped downwards)

The image above is the song paused right on one of those SSS and you can see the spectrum jump in the lower treble to mid treble and uyes that is the region for sibilance. Couple that with maybe a system that is presenting as bright in your room and that will be exacerbated further.

Below's a different song with better control on the sss with tools like de-essers

the above is Fast Car by Tracy Chapman. As you can see it is smooth in the rate of fall off from bass to treble. Not all songs are mixed with this balance but generally songs follow a semblance of tilt from bass to treble. Treble is present but not aggravating on Fast Car.

So yes, the Holly Cole Song is sibilant in presentation and if you have a system with tonal balance listening on bright. it won't be an enjoyable listen.

I don't have a sibilant system, but do not have a dark one too. Just right, neutral. But that means I notice songs that are sibilant much easier than if my speaker/room RTA dropped off a cliff after 1kHz. On the other hand, if you have an overly present in the treble setup, even songs like Fast Car will sound sibilant

Anyway that was my little analysis.

 

[thedudeabides]

Dude, do you consider yourself the audio guru?

Not at all. No longer do serious audio. Much more interested in the music. FYI, just a common sense thought. And the OP didn't take offense. I don't fight. And I hope the OP resolves the issue. Have a great life.

 

[Iamrael]

Not at all. No longer do serious audio. Much more interested in the music. FYI, just a common sense thought. And the OP didn't take offense. I don't fight. And I hope the OP resolves the issue. Have a great life.

Ok, if you say so.

 

[Richard Austen]

Is it just my ears, system or is it the recording that makes this Holly Cole song "I can see clearly now" very sibilant? The "S" sound is very piercing to my ears.
My system is sounding great with the bass really dialed in and have no complaints with just about every other aspect except the sibilance in many recordings that I would expect to be very well recorded. It's not true of every artist and recording, but certainly on many, including a few male vocalists. Instruments like cymbals and violin sound really good and not bright or harsh at all.

For example, Chesky's classic "Spanish Harlem" by Rebecca Pidgeon even has it. I would assume David would record his tracks well and the sibilance shouldn't be there?

Not getting a sibilance issue on my system on either track. Not with my SS amplifier either - the CD sounds better than the YouTube, which has a gritty element. Albeit this could be my computer.

The Count Basie track sounds utterly sublime on my system.

Good luck sorting it out. You may just need to reposition your speakers and aim your tweeter differently (toe in/out). My old dealer sometimes would tilt the speaker back a little bit to fire the tweeter above your head - just a little bit. Worked on some speakers he sold, like the Cerwin Vega CLS215. These were well reviewed by SoundStage and not your father's Cerwin-Vega. But they were a little rough in the treble. There are affordable fixes, and this is a very budget speaker at $1500 US a pair, so if they can be fixed, then better speakers probably can too.

 

[DasguteOhr]

compare to this recording by Holy Cole, which was recorded live. A reference recording for me.

P.S
Very often, it's cables that tend to be harsh or over-toned. Lack of synergy with certain devices.small cause, big effect