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I noticed brightness/harshness more than usual from my system a couple months back.

My system is not high end by any stretch see my virtual system. A couple months back I noticed brightness/harshness when playing my lp Steely Dan Aja the song Deacon Blues. I had never noticed this before. This is one of my best sounding LPs. I hear it on others too. Sometimes it's subtle, other times it stands out, sometimes I think all is OK. Weird!  I never noticed this before. I always liked the sound of my system. Something changed, but what? I am approaching 70 years old and I am wondering if my ears are more sensitive to high frequencies. But anyway I started by checking my cartridge. Visual inspection. Adding and reducing tracking force. Anti skate too. Moved speakers away from and closer to the walls. Cleaned all connections with deoxit. Even sent the cartridge to The Sound Organization to be checked. They did not find anything. I am not able to rearrange my listening area or add room correction. Just nowhere to go.

I would assume if the speakers or integrated were defective I would know it. Something like that would stand out. Yes? I am thinking it is probably a combination of bright speakers, bright amp, bright cartridge and old ears.

So if nothing is broke.... I am considering replacing the speakers would work. Maybe Wharfedale Lintons. I can afford them or something in this price range. Maybe the cartridge? Hana SL or ML.  Maybe the integrated? But with what I have no idea. Naim SuperNait 3 caught my eye though I would need to save a long time to afford it. I am retired and on a fixed income. Really fixed! There is nowhere close I can audition any of these. 

I realize I am asking alot but any suggestions would be great!

 

 

oharek
noromance's avatar
noromance
9,404 posts
 

Have you changed, or tried changing the DIP switch adjustments on the Rega Phono Pro?

curiousjim's avatar
curiousjim
4,124 posts
 

@oharek 

There are times,  mostly in the evening, when electric guitars and saxophones really start to hurt my ears, but that’s only at night. Are you having this problem all the time? How loud do you play your music?  There’s a few things it could be, but it wasn’t happening a week ago, I doubt it’s your equipment.

henry53's avatar
henry53
280 posts
 

I am 70 now however this happened to me over 25 years ago, I had a bad cold and ear infection ever since I have suffered mild tinnitus, it is especially evident with 'ssss" , it made me very prone to hearing sibilance. Try listening to instrumental music, if that is not brighter then this could be the cause.  Simple hearing tests will not determine this as no loss of the ability to hear each frequency has occurred.  In my job, working with explosives, I had hearing tests very regularly, the results never changed.

oharek OP
3 posts
 

Thanks everyone for all the great information and advice. I will try and respond to some here.

I have unplugged and cleaned all connections. This would eliminate a loose connection somewhere. I have had a loose connection problem before. If I remember correct it was at the cartridge wire connections. This and all other connections is first things I checked.

I did change phono mc dip switch settings. It didn't eliminate what I'm hearing but definitely changed the sound. Not to my liking. 

The room is very small and changing position of speakers is very limited. It's a small bedroom. I have moved the speakers away from and closer to the rear wall. Toed in. Straight out. Best sound for me in this room is 12 inches from the wall straight out. I figured this out way back when I first got them. Wish I could spread them out more but no room.

The stylus is not worn out. Only about 350 hours on it. That was my first thought. It is still under warranty and I sent it to be checked out. It is ok. 

I am leaning towards it not being an equipment malfunction problem. Maybe bright equipment issue but nothing broke. Maybe record pressing issues I never noticed before until now. There are 2 things I have decided to try for now. Have my hearing checked. Get 2 AQ power cords. One for the integrated, one for the cd. Music Direct has the suggested ones on sale 1/2 off. $200 bucks isn't going to break me and they can't hurt, right?

boxcarman - I can relate. I played some records yesterday and all was well.

couriousjim - I listen mostly in the evening. 5pm and on.

On the lighter side...

I have no neighbors close enough for them washing clothes to be a problem.

Is "audiophilia nervosa" a thing? I'm starting to believe it.

 

ghdprentice
6,358 posts
 

Different systems, depending on their emphasis can be really forgiving, or not. This is about the components and interconnects.

 

iI I were to buy some different interconnects with the hope of fixing the problem you have it would be Cardas. I own some high quality AudioQuest power cords and have tried some interconnects. They are not designed to be forgiving. Cardas are. I encourage you to read about Cardas… their ,owes level are designed to be the most forgiving, and less so as one goes up their product lines.

 

I highly recommend trying Cardas before AudioQuest. They are much more likely to improve your sound.

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