Why does my system now have shrill top end.


The equipment in my system (listed below) has not changed but I now find on both CD and Vinyl a high end shrillness to the sound (treble is very harsh) that has become very annoying, especially at high volume levels. I have no idea why this happened all of a sudden.

Endevour E-3
Pass 30.8
Pass XP 20
Esoteric K01x
Linn LP12 (Ortofon Black cartridge)
Linn Linto Phono Preamp
PS Audio P5 (Amp plugged in directly to wall)
JL Audio F112 v2 sub
OCOS Speaker cable (15 feet)
Pass XLR interconnect (Preamp to Amp)
Harmonic Technology Cable Magic Link (not current version). RCA termination

Any ideas?
proacman

Unfortunately the problem is getting stranger. When I turn off all the kitchen lights and play a few songs that are very harsh and then turn them back on their is no difference. But, I plugged the Pass amp into the P5 instead of directly into the Wall and all the Bass was sucked out, as if the speakers were out of phase (they are not). Now this certainly makes no sense. Makes me wonder if the Amp is the issue. Have a five channel amp in my surround system that I will switch with the Pass to see if there is any difference in the harshness (and now bass).

Thanks for all your comments.

Is the P5 set to output a pure sine wave, or is it set to one of the MultiWave choices? If the latter, which as I understand it flatten the peaks of the P5’s output waveform (in other words, the MultiWave modes intentionally distort the AC in certain ways), I would suggest that you see what happens with the pure sine wave mode.

Also, it would be interesting to know what the P5’s status screen shows for input and output voltages, and input and output distortion.

Good luck. Regards,
-- Al

Tried both multiwave and sine wave. No difference in bass (slight difference in sound stage). Output waveform is clean with low THD (versus input which is noisy).
Next up, the absolute polarity thing. Or the Cable Directionality thing. Or the fuse directionality thing. Otherwise it looks like we’re back to them old Morphic fields back home. Waves of...information!

"When you control the mail you control...INFORMATION." - Newman

There are no standards for absolute polarity. - audiophile axiom


When you plugged your amp into the P5, did it do anything for the harshness?
Kenny