smoothing those sibilants...

I do indeed appreciate the feedback, thanks. Right now I'm only using a Panamax "light commercial duty" power strip/surge protector, but a good friend has a Monster 1000 (allegedly a quality piece) that I will be able to pick up soon. Unfortunately, the cord on the Antique Sound amp that I have is captive, so I don't have much wiggle room there. Do you suggest a better quality wall receptacle, I have read conflicting reports on the effectiveness of this. One last question, is there a reasonably priced cleaner that I could use on the connections throughout the system that someone can recommend? Thanks again for the input, and I will DEFINITELY be trying some different interconnects along with power upgrades... You know, the system sounds really pretty good, if I could just "naturalize" the vocals (female especially).

The first changes have been made, and I think I'm on to something. A friend has lent me a pair of Cardas cables, which has made a none-too-subtle difference. At first I thought that the system sounded "darker", but some careful listening is revealing details that were obscured before, just WAY less "sizzle". Right on! The other change made this morning is to remove the little mesh things that live over the tweeters, and reinstalling the grille covers on the speakers. Now why this shoud make such a difference, I don't know, but these two "tweaks" are exactly the type of changes that I'm looking for. Soon I'll have the opportunity to try some cables from Nordost and also Alpha-Core (or is it Goertz, I get confused), and will be trying improved vibration/isolation techniques as well. Better power, too. Anyone in doubt of whether or not cable can make a difference is sure welcome to come over and listen! Thanks again for the posts...

For "albertporter", the Antique Sound is all tube, 2x15 (pentode) or 2x5 (triode) using KT88's for the power tubes, and 12ax7's for the input/driver tubes. The power tubes have been upgraded to Svetlana KT88's (thank you to Stewart at Sanctuary of Sound), the input/drivers to JJ Yugo's. You know, when I put up the second post, I thought for sure that people would say that I needed to change some tubes around to get the results that I was looking for. Interestingly, it was speakers, interconnects and power considerations that were mentioned, and if today's experiments were any indication they were right on. That being said, I have read that changing the input tubes of a tube amp will have more effect on the sound than changing the power tubes. Comments and advice are WELCOME!

Having had the chance to audition some different interconnects here in my own casa, I wanted to post an update, and also respond to a couple of other posts. First, I got to try (and am using for reasons financial) some low-end Cardas, which although seemed to have "darkened" the overall sound, did indeed reduce sibilants without sacrificing detail. I also tried a pair of Nordost Blue Heavens, which were good but a bit "zingy" for my taste. Then, the Epiphany! I had the pleasure to listen to a pair of Silver Audio 6.0's, and that did the trick for sure. Wow, smooth, detailed, warm, just the things I was looking for. A pair of these will definitely be the next system upgrade. Now, about some of these posts, I understand that the source that I'm using is not the be-all end-all for "smooth" digital sound, but it is FAR from junk. I have heard some high-dollar digital gear (admittedly not in my own home) that not only didn't sound better, it sounded worse. And at the risk of going off-topic, I at this time cannot see spending huge dollars on a digital source as standards get settled on. The new Sony ES DVD/SACD player looks promising, but what's this, Sony themselves hinting that multi-channel SACD will be at CES next month? There's also a hint on the Perpetual Technologies site that says they may have a Universal player at CES, that's SACD, DVD-A, CD, etc., for about $1500. Also, I completely agree that sibilants change from disc to disc, and unfortunately some otherwise great recordings (one in particular is Alanis Morisette's Former Supposed Infatuation Junkie) are marred by excessive sibilants. Sometimes, it seems, this is just going to be part of the game.