What is Happening?


I have been fighting an issue for months. I have very little highs in my system . I am specifically missing the Cymbals. Ride Cymbals and Hi Hats are very faint if there at all.
Here is my dilemma. when I replace my cables it gets better. Not as one would think though. As I replace cables with cheaper cables the high come back.
Speaker and Interconnect both. I have Wireworld Solstice speaker cables and Clear audio interconnects. I replaced them with cheap 12 guage speaker wire and the interconnects with Ultralink cables ($20).
The sound is better overall but specifically the highs.
Any idea why? May have cables to sell cheap.
Thanks,
Bill
I am using the following: Audio Research VS 55 Power amp
Audio Research SP 16 Preamp
Roksan Caspian CD player
Ariston Audio RD 11s Turntable
SME 3009 tonearm with Shure V 15 type III cartridge ,SAS stylus.
Quad 22L speakers

shiner3237

Does the sound seem closed in? Did you recently change anything? The amp or speakers? I might have gone with a more powerful amp for those speakers.
don’t know your age but i recently figured out that i had some hearing deficit concerning high frequencies. Finally realized that all my audio gear(car etc)that had treble controls were set at max. Went to a Luxman 509x because of its treble control. I have a new appreciation for them. it’s not optimum but a good solution if you have this hearing issue. best wishes
If your speakers are a good couple years old or more, more than likely the ferrofluid in your tweeters has all but dried out. Check with Quad to be sure your tweeters use ferrofluid.

If so, to refurbish, you may do the operation yourself, once you learn how to disassemble the tweeters, clean out the old residue and add some fresh fluid and reinstall. Or, you can remove the tweeters and send them to Quad (or to another speaker repair place you trust) and let them do that, if they do that sort of thing, many speaker companies do.

Being a 'quart low' on fluid robs teeters of their power handling and there is a profound high end roll off. You don't really have to worry about it if you don't really listen Rilly loud, but the fluid keeps the voice coil cool (to allow more power), so if you push the volume too hard before the fix, you could blow them up.

But the loss of highs is only temporary, top them off and they'll be good as new.
I concur, with djones51. The cables that you perceive to sound good with your ears are the right cables for you. :-) 
There's nothing wrong your original cables were well made don't sweat it and sell the new ones.
shiner3237

I wonder if there is a connection/contact issue between cabling and gear (pre/power amps)?  Keep us posted on your findings.

Happy Listening!
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Are your cables new? Have you played music or a burn-in disk through these cables to break them in?
Break-in is real, ask the Wireworld and Cardas designers.

https://www.musicdirect.com/equipment/isotek-full-system-enhancer-burn-in-cd

Also:
Are your speaker cables in phase? Do you know if your preamp/amp inverts phase?

You like grain and glare, which you misinterpret as detail and extension.