smoothing those sibilants...

A sibilant problem is often a problem with the speaker. You want warm, laidback without losing detail? I suggest you listen to a pair of Vandersteen 2ce Signature speakers. I really am not familiar with the Mordant Short speakers you use but there is no sibilant attenuation with Vandy's. They sound like what you may be looking for. And they work very well with a wide assortment of electronics. Good luck.

My Denon AVR-5700 had the same problem, I changed speakers, tried various interconnects, changed power cords, and my best results at taming those "SSSSSS'S" were the Harmonic Technology Truthlink interconnects. When I can afford it I will upgrade the Denon to Theta gear.

Can't argue with the Vandersteen or HT recommendation. Came very close to buying Vandies and currently own HT ICs. Several recent changes have helped in taming an annoying sibilant trait in my system, so maybe this will help or spur some useful discussion. -BDR cones under the transport for vibration isolation. Another set is on order for further experimentation (preamp, DAC, amp?) BTW, this had a side benefit of improving bass definition. -Proper tension on the interconnects' locking RCAs. Too loose and "S" is more "Sh"; too tight and the dynamics suffer. It's a bit of a tight rope. -Cleaned all the connections which took out a bit of grunge, figuratively and literally. Half the cables were bought used, so should have done this before. Especially with the silver, non-locking RCA connectors on the digital cable. Live and learn. -Found a connector on the DAC was loose. Snugged it up which helped. -The room has a noticeable slap echo. Sitting extremely close (beyond nearfield) shows that much of the remaining sibilance is interaction with the room. Will add drapes this weekend and sound panels/flags next month. Hopefully these will finish taming the problem and bring the sound to the desired quality. The nagging question, though, is whether it's ever really *exactly* right? Probably not for long if at all...