Hear sibilance on Krall, Famous Blue, D. Fagen?

Rebbi,
I would try the Signal Cable power cord on the Music Hall cd25.2 CDP first, even if you are using it as a transport only.

What are you using for a digital cable from the Music Hall cd25.2 to the DAC? I assume it is at least 1.5 meters long.
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Rebbi,

Sibilance is a manner of articulation of fricative and affricate consonants, made by directing a stream of air with the tongue towards the sharp edge of the teeth, which are held close together; a consonant that uses sibilance may be called a sibilant, or a strident.

Wikipedia

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I hadn't listened to Warnes' "Famous Blue Raincoat" for a while So I did so today as well Krall's, "When I look In Your Eyes".

As for "Famous Blue Raincoat", "First We Take Manhattan", Warnes voice sounds smooth and warm. No edginess heard on my cd. My CD was made in 1991 under the "Private Music inc." label distributed by BMG.

Krall's "When I Look In Your Eyes", "Let's Face The Music And Dance". On that track in particular Krall drags out some of the words like it's her last breath. Especially the words, dance, music, romance, and chance. I guess I just never noticed it before. I think the mike used and the closeness to her mouth with the way see pronounced her words brings out the sss and zzzs but in no way, at least on my system, is her voice irritating or the sibilance over exaggerated. Because sibilance was what I focusing on while listening to the CD I found myself listening to her every word, yes, s and zs, but again not exaggerated and not irritating to listen to. I think she deliberately wanted the song to sound the way it does. Listen to the track again and see if she doesn't stretch, lengthen, certain words out. Especially the words dance, music, romance, and chance.
Let's Face The Music And Dance video.

I am not sure you won’t find a hint of sibilance in any female voice if closely listening to every word spoken with the letter sound of s or z in it. The question is are the "sibilance" exaggerated in the recording to the point where they are irritating to the listener or is the over exaggeration of "sibilance" caused by the audio system?

I ran across an old CD I use to take with me when auditioning audio equipment at a B&M audio dealerships.
The CD is by Alison Krauss, "Now That I've Found You".
Krauss' voice should sound sweet, not harsh or edgy.
That was not the case on some digital equipment or speakers I listened to.
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All is well until she gets to the word "soon [we'll be without the moon…]." The letter "S" in the word "soon" is very strident.
09-04-15: Rebbi

She sings the phase twice in the song. Neither passage of the words "soooon, we'll be without the moon", sounds hard or harsh to me.

I think you need to listen to the rest of the CD a few times and stop concentrating so much on track #1. You also probably need to put more hours on the new speakers.

You never did say what you are using for a digital cable from the transport to the dac, and the length of the cable.
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Rebbi,

I have the Jennifer Warnes "Famous Blue Raincoat" and Diana Krall,"When I Look In Your Eyes" CDs. Neither of the two tracks you mentioned have sibilance problems when played on my system.

I found this doing a search on the Web.

Music Hall cd25.2 CD player; power cord

Folks,

As the owner of a Music Hall cd25.2 CD player, I read with interest Sam Tellig's review in the April, 2006 issue of Stereophile and Sallie Reynolds's review in the August, 2006 issue of The Absolute Sound.

In Ms. Reynold's review, the following sentence appears: "Then, on a tip from Roy Hall at Music Hall, I changed the power cord in the CD player to the Acoustic Zen Tsunami, and it instantly rewarded me with a wall of sound very like its name." In the Manufacturer Comments section of the same issue of The Absolute Sound, there is a note from Roy Hall in which he comments on both the Music Hall a25.2 integrated ampfilier and the cd 25.2 CD player as follows: "The power cords supplied with the units are not good enough. This will change in the future. If you really want to improve both of these units in all respects buy a good, heavy-guage power cord (preferably shielded). I don't think you need to buy an expensive one. Remember the golden rule of wire--'The more it costs, the worse it sounds.'"

Assuming that I, like Sallie, might hear an improvement with a new power cord for my cd25.2, and assuming that Roy Hall's advice about his own product is worthy of consideration (which I assume is the case), I'm wondering if you folks have a recommendation for a power cord that meets his criteria: (a) good, (b) heavy-guage, (c) shielded, (d) not expensive. It is hard for me to believe that given the mid-fi nature of my other equipment (Outlaw Audio RR2150 receiver, Monitor Audio Silver RS6 loudspeakers, etc.), I would want to spend more than, say, $100 on such a cord. (By the way, Ms. Reynolds notes that the Acoustic Zen Tsunami power cords sells for $350, which is sure to cause DUP to refill the cartridge in his poison pen.)

So...recommendations?

Stereophile

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Listening

Early on I threw Jesse Cook’s Gravity [Narada 63037] at the CD25.2, listening closely to his solo run at the climax of "Mario Takes a Walk." I was struck by a clinical vibe coming off Cook’s acoustic guitar. He sounded a little thin, even cold. At the highest registers I thought I’d caught hints of sibilance. Was this coming from the recording itself or CD player?

Soundstage

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When I first read your posted message I was thinking possibly the power cord and or the wall receptacle.
Yes, the receptacle can help control sibilance.
I would try a different power cord first. Then if that helps try a Hubbell Extra Heavy Duty Industrial Series HBL5262 (15 amp) or HBL5362 (20 amp) duplex receptacle.
This receptacle has non plated brass contacts and a non plated brass supporting back strap.
Hubbell PDF. See page 6.

For the duplex cover plate just a cheapo non breakable nylon plate. Leviton or Pass & Seymour.
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Jim