Broke and still not happy


I like new country and good old rock & roll. My system sounds sterile, flat sounding,not musical and harsh in the highs.I have been playing bass guitar in the same band for 35 years for a living,I think I know what music is suppose to sound like. This is my gear.
Sonic Frontiers Line 1se,Classe Cam 200s,North Star Design Dac&Transport,Sonus Faber Cremona Auditors,Rel sub.Cables are balanced Nirvana SL pre to amps,Nirvana SL to speakers and Nirvana SX from source. Vibrapods under everything but amps. Echo Busters.HELP
gellis1
I second the idea of listing to headphones. You can really get an idea of how well your speakers are setup and how well the acoustics are by listing to headphones. Get the Stereophile test cd and pay attention to the MATT (music articulation test tone) done by Acoustic Sciences Corporation I believe and the soundstage tests. They worked well for me. It can be discouraging however.
Music sounds dry and not open,also I am hearing a ringing sound out of the tweaters.When you go to a high end dealer they sit you down in the sweet spot and take great care to adjust the speakers till it sounds perfect to your ears.I want to be able to walk around the room and have it still sound good.I use to have nordost cables, they were open and lively but way to much highs.I have a friend with a Marantz M7 yhh! tone controls.It help me tailor the sound to my liking but I lost something.
I think if you experiment with interconnects and power cables you might be able to get the sound you want. The best way to do this is contact the Cable Co. and rent a bunch of cables. Cardas cables have a warm signature that might work for you. Try Cardas Neutral Reference from your preamp to poweramp. If that one isn't warm enough, try Cardas Golden Reference. Audience AU24 is also a basically neutral cable that can help with aggressive highs.

Cardas and Shunyata power cables also can warm up a system. You may lose a little in the way of high frequency dynamics but they can definitely warm up the midrange. Try the Cardas Golden Reference PCs on your power amps and a Shunyata Python Alpha on your preamp. Your DAC may benefit from a shielded PC, also.
One thing is for sure, we all have opinions. Some cables can be a bad match, but I do not think they are the problem. System synergy is very important, it is clear that you have some very good gear, but maybe they are not a good match for each other. Furthermore, from what I have READ, no experience, the speakers you have may not be the best for the music you like to listen to.

The headphone idea is good if possible, but also if you have access to other gear, swap out pieces until you find something that may be the cause for lack of synergy.