Sibilance with Spectral gear

[Adimon]

Hello,

I've a little problem with an irritating "s" sound on my Spectral gear.
Spectral DMC15SS DMA100s Avalon Ascendants and MIT shotgun cords.
Which component can cause this problem?

 

[RBFC]

Is the problem present in both channels?

Lee

 

[Adimon]

Hello Lee,

Yes it is in both channels.
I upgraded recently from the Arcus to the Ascendants II.
The Arcus sound was darker.
I tryed everything but the sibilance stays (different owercords).

 

[RBFC]

You'll have to substitute other pieces of gear/wire to track down the problem. Just change only one thing at a time, so you'll know what is causing the problem. Also, make sure your ears are clean!

Lee

 

[Adimon]

Thanks for the response.
Any idea where to start?
I don't have alternative components for all my gear.

 

[RBFC]

Start with what you can switch. It may be bad tweeters in the Avalons. Be sure all your connections are good before doing anything.

Lee

 

[Adimon]

I checked all the connections a several times.
Is it a matter of burn-in?

Or is there a relation between the hum of the pre (right channel).

 

[RBFC]

Well, you never mentioned that there was hum from the preamp. I'd have the electronics checked out by your dealer, or send them to the factory for inspection. Without being there to go through this step by step, it's almost impossible to diagnose this problem over the internet.

Lee

 

[amirm]

Sibilance typically occurs in the 3 to 7 KHz region. Do you have a way of measuring your room to see if you have a peak there?

Alternatively, can you listen with a headphone to see if it is in the source?

 

[Adimon]

There is indeed a little hum on the right channel (of the pre) and it is audible at the listening seat.

I already informed the dealer about this, and this month it will (hopely) checked up by the tech.repair.dep.

I also heard that Spetral gear is not the quietest.

No i'm not able to measure the room.
I will look if there is a way to do this.

 

[ack]

I have heard the 15SS and 100S with a couple of speakers and there is no overemphasized sibilance. Still, it could be electronics or the speakers - did you audition the speakers with anything before purchasing? There is no hum either in a properly working and set up system.

 

[FrantzM]

Hi

When did you start noticing this excessive sibilance?
With what combination of hardware
Did yo move your speakers?
Did you change speakers?
COuld you tell us a little bit about your room?

If the problem remains after changing electronics, it could likely be a speaker/room issue. Depending on how your room is treated and the dispersion characteristics of your speakers, it could be that the sibilance is due to an excess of reflected energy in the 7~8 KHz region as pointed earlier by Amirm.. The speakers themselves could be well behaved on axis but the dispersion being great enough to exacerbate reflections at the ear that cause such...
if you narrow it down to speaker / room issue, this thread in another site may help. One of the posters in this thread is our own Ethan Winer and he could chime in ..

THREAD

I am speculating but answering some of these questions would help us narrow down the problems ...

 

[Adimon]

I noticed the sibilance after switching from Arcus to Ascendants.
The sound of the Ascendants is imo much better.
On instrumental it is a perfect combination.
With voices i notice the sibilance.
My listening room is on a attic (with a pitched roof).
Length 20 ft between the straight wall’s.
Width 17 ft between de pitched roof side
Height 21 ft max height.

 

[geppo]

Hello,

the new speakers may have affected the stability of your amplifier and caused excessive distortion that may be perceived on high pitched tones. It is a matter of interaction between the amplifier output stage (at frequency well beyond the audio band) with cable and loudspeaker impedances.

You may want to try a zobel network across your speaker terminals as suggested here:

http://www.linkwitzlab.com/faq.htm#Q37

WARNING: your MIT cables may already have a similar network built in. It may be better trying with another set of cables first. The risk is to make the effect worse (to the point of damaging some piece of equipment, amp or tweeters, for instance). If in doubt, ask for assistance, possibly using an o'scope and a signal generator to see what is going on.

I hope this helps.

Best regards

 

[TMenacker]

This is an old post. Since none of the suggestions are looking at the "whole" problem, as a Spectral dealer I thought I would just offer some suggestions, to show the way to find the problem & then solve it. (1) What source are you using? CD, Analog, & what is the brand or these source components? (2) what cables (speaker, IC, & power cords are you using? Do you have a dedicated power line? Was the Spectral equipment purchased "new" or used? Doe this problem exist on all recordings. In this case the listener felt that Spectral was at fault. One needs to have all the information, before blaming anything in the system. Hopefully the problem has been solved by now!

 

[TMenacker]

Again an old post. Don't even think about doing something like this.

 

[JackD201]

New speakers? I'd say give these time to settle in first before making any judgements. If it persists, my first instinct would be to look at the quality of the AC lines feeding the gear.

 

[Phelonious Ponk]

Sibilance, natural and unnatural, is a function of human speech, though the word has been co-opted to mean hissy sound across the board. But, because we humans know the natural sounds of human speech better than anything else, we recognize sibilance in human speech much better than in anything else. So it's no surprise when it's heard in vocals, but not instruments. The OP's system change could be revealing high-end information he couldn't hear before, and he could be hearing that as sibilant when it is merely more revealing. Or he could be hearing an unnatural emphasis in the band where we normally hear sibilance. But if it is there, in vocals, it is there in instrumental material containing the same frequencies. His system is not discriminating instruments.

And let's start at the beginning -- He changed speakers and blamed his amplifiers. And we're all talking about the amps, the cables, the source, the power?

He changed speakers and heard the problem. Is it possible that the demands of the speakers caused something else in his system create the problem? Sure, it's possible. But why would we look for a complex synergistic problem before investigating the obvious?

He changed speakers and blamed the amplifiers. Evidently he doesn't want his new speakers to be the problem. Maybe he wants to buy new amplifiers. But the business of swapping out components, one at a time, to isolate the problem has been done. He changed speakers and heard the problem. The problem has been isolated.

Tim

 

[Adimon]

Hello,

I know the new speakers has a better resolution.
But ialso discovered that the ACpower supply has a large effect on this.
Every time i change somerhing on the AC site the sibilance is getting worse.
After some days it is less notable.

The Cdp is an AR CD 3
All cables are MIT magnum MA

 

[TMenacker]

Hello,

I know the new speakers has a better resolution.
But ialso discovered that the ACpower supply has a large effect on this.
Every time i change somerhing on the AC site the sibilance is getting worse.
After some days it is less notable.

The Cdp is an AR CD 3
All cables are MIT magnum MA

You should have a dedicated AC line. Do You? Are you using MIT power cords? What is the length of the IC between the preamp & the power amp? What length are the speaker cables? Regarding the MIT Magnum cables, I'm sorry to tell you that (a) they are VERY GOOD cables, (B) they are NOT recommended with Spectral equipment. One other question; Are you using any kind of power line conditioner. If so, what type?

Terry Menacker, Overture Audio