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Need a warm amp for bright speakers

So when I bought my system some time ago I made some mistakes being this the first time I ever ventured out doing this. I bought Paradigm Monitor 9 v5 and a Pioneer VSX21TXH. Surrounding speakers aer all Monitors backs are Titan v5 and center is a 290 I believe v6. The SVS kills though. The fronts do get very bright when pushed especially with metal that I listen to and it is VERY BRIGHT. Without redoing my whole system is there a way I can tame this problem? Use my Pioneer for maybe center and rears and processing and a dedicated amp for the fornts? If so what should I shoot for? I hear NAD is a good warm amp. I don't want to sell or get rid of the Paradigms because getting all new speakers would be far costlier than a dedicated amp. However I am a little skeptical that I can solve this with just and amp. All ears open for a relative newbie.
mmartin0617

Showing 2 responses by almarg

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almarg
9,670 posts
 
The one suggestion I would make that hasn't already been said is that before replacing anything you try changing the receiver's speaker impedance setting from 8 ohms to 6 ohms, if you already haven't. See page 40 of the manual.

Although the impedance of your speakers is specified as "compatible with 8 ohms," whatever that may mean, it most likely drops down to significantly lower values at some frequencies. Therefore using the receiver's 6 ohm setting might result in an improvement in its distortion characteristics, and therefore perhaps a reduction in perceived brightness.

Regards,
-- Al
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almarg
9,670 posts
 
01-19-14: Bifwynne
Al, why would a SS amp have different speaker load options? I would "a-thunk" that most if not all SS amps have very low "decimal-digit" output impedances. So what's going on inside the black box when switching from 6 to/from 8 ohm speakers?? Does it affect the amp's output impedance?
Hi Bruce,

I'd expect that the output impedance would be negligibly small for either setting. I would guess that in the 6 ohm setting the DC "rails" (supply voltages) provided to the output stage are reduced, and perhaps bias is adjusted, such that the output stage is operated within a smaller range of possible output voltages but a larger range of possible output currents.

Best,
-- Al
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