2. amps-preamps
  3. 1049675277

Amp/Int. Amp to smooth the highs...

...okay, so here is the story...i just purchased a pair of great sounding speakers...i placed them in my rig and they do everything amazingly well, but the top tend to be a little bit screechy (i can live with it, but maybe can be fixed) from time to tome...well, my preamp/amp are not screechy as they proved with the old speakers...so, me thinks i might need another amp or int. amp to replace the amp and the preamp to "mellow"a little bit hte highs but still with great bass, soundstage, midrange, etc...is anything out there?...my current system Audiomeca Keops, Innersound preamp, Innersound ESL amp, and Innersound Isis just replaced by Usher 719xspeakers...

thanx
iasi
gboren
143 posts
 
Smooth is what Plinius is all about.
audiokinesis
2,715 posts
 
Iasi -

Your current speakrs are Usher 719's? I couldn't find any information on them...

Okay, you might try this: Wire a 16-ohm, 25-watt resistor across the speaker terminals (if bi-wire capable, then across the high frequency inputs). Just tighten the binding posts down on the leads of the resistor. You can vary the resistor value by ear, between maybe 8 and 100 ohms in large (50%-ish) increments. This may well smooth the highs a bit, depending on what the speaker's impedance curve is like. Without knowing the impedance curve I can't predict what the effect will be, but the InnerSound amp can drive very difficult loads so that won't be a problem.

It is unlikely that the problem is amplifier clipping - that's a very powerful amp.

If you want to address the problem by changing amplifiers then I suggest you consider tubes, perhaps Conrad-Johnson or JoLida. I'm a dealer for the latter. If you decide to stick with solid state, then try a used Pass Aleph amp of appropriate wattage. But trying a few resistors is a lot less expensive.

Duke
aball
2,016 posts
 
Masters of smoothness in my experience are McIntosh amps. I looked a long time for that smoothness and Mc gives it to me in spades. I can listen all day with constant goose-bumps. love it! The highs are as nice as I have ever heard (except for Pass X350 and Lamm M1.1). Anyway, good luck -Arthur
gunbei
2,327 posts
 
Duke, your suggestion is very interesting to me, maybe something I'd like to try. Will wiring a 16-ohm, 25-watt resistor across the high frequency inputs result in the amp seeing a higher impedance for the tweeter?
iasi OP
115 posts
 
Duke,

Thanx for the imput...i have to try that...i know is not amplifier clippin since the InnerSound ESL was used to drive the Isis (a more demanding speaker) with no problem what-so-ever...if you wanna find out more about the 719's go on the www.useraudio.com and look at Compass Series for the top model monitor...
i'll try some different speaker cables as well...as i said, the problem is not that bad...in only certain passages i can detect a little bit of "metallic"sound...
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