Getting rid of harsh, shrill treble


I cannot play my classical cd's at a volume where the midrange and bass come through without harsh, shrill treble, especially the violins. I have bookshelf speakers on stands and subwoofer in a small 120 sq. ft. room. I have no treble control on my pre-amp. I tried a Taddeo passive Digital Antidote II between my CD player and pre-amp with minimal result. I have a solid state integrated amp, will switching to a tube integrated amp cure this problem or is it my speakers?
classical_fred

Showing 1 response by fatparrot

Bingo...you just nailed the primary weakness of the redbook CD format! Bowed violins and violas are the ultimate test for a quality CD player. Even the best CD players will give some minor digital "glare, brightness, or harshness" on these instruments. This is inherent in the digitizing an analog conversion process of redbook CD's.