New system has fatiguing, harsh high frequency sounds. How to fix?

I think the OP’s speakers are fine, if that’s what he likes.

Dealing with room acoustics will make everything better. If the monitors are just used for music selection, maybe an iPad or Android driven music server would help. At least that way when playing music you can cover everything up.

I have to shake my head at some of the thoughts in this thread. It seems like the desire is to spend lots of money to solve simple issues is strong here. This is why I think so many audiophiles should make at least one pair of speakers in their lifetimes. It would completely reset their expectations of money and value.


Best,

E

So much to comment on, so little time :-)  I see lots of solutions that swap pieces and throw money at the problem.  I'd first do some trouble isolation.  Step #1 would be to adjust speaker placement and angle to see not only if you can fix it, but if you can at least change it.  For example, moving the speakers off axis a bit might give you a HF decrease where you sit.

In the overall context cables and dragon-toothed plugs are a total waste of money.  Focus on the basics. I tend to agree that you likely have too much stuff, of too little quality, with too small a room, but proceed logically, step by step.

Can you borrow some components to substitute in?  I would substitute in a different source (CD/DVD) and see what difference THAT makes, next a receiver.  I am not up on current receivers, so i wont comment on brands - i live at the other end of the spectrum. In the old days NAD made some nice stuff, as did Rotel.  In that room you need less than 20 wpc, except maybe to drive a subwoofer for movies.

I also tend to agree that the first order effect is likely speakers, followed by speaker-room interaction.  I know you were asked, but why do you have four sizable speakers? Concentrate your fire!  Get smaller, higher quality speakers that you can position idally - and maybe move for music vs movies.  If in fact you have a 100% return policy, i might go in and ask - within the period, to listen to a bunch of smaller speakers of high quality and listen for "musicality". On quick back to back comparisons the louder or brighter speaker always wins - and will torment you ti; you;re "praying for the end of time to hurry up and arrive" - a notably bright album I'll add :-)

To get an objective view of what;s going on maybe you cna find a local audio geek with a doppler or pulse spectrum analyzer. It puts out wide spectrum noise and then measures the in-room response. You find out if you really do have a rising high frequency, and then you ask the store "why?"  They wont know, but it outs you in a good place :-)

If i had a  small room, and I;ll date myself here, I'd have a  NAD 3020 and a pair of Met-7s, with some active subwoofer stuffed behind a table. Or similar.  Maybe something designed since man landed on the moon, but you get the idea.

lowrider57: "Your room now looks like a comfy place to watch a movie." Yes, indeed. I'm pretty satisfied with it for watching movies now. Thanks for everyone's help in getting to this point. :-)

willemj: "Are you using the room eq of your receiver?" Yes, that was part of the solution in this (movie) room.

RE: advice from Johnny at Audio Connection. Yes, I appreciate his advice and I have all of the things suggested that can be done now. (Break-in, for example, will take time.)

mrdecibel: "I would also experiment with hanging a large towel on the front wall, slightly behind, but above the tv ( maybe using painters tape ) to further stop early reflections." Interesting idea. I didn't try it yet, but I will keep this in mind. Thanks.

swampwalker: "In sum, you have inadvertently created a sort of positive feedback loop." Yes, it seems that way! :-)

"I would look for electronics known for a warm or slightly laid back sound (often described as a British sound) and put them in a larger space where the speakers can be well out from the wall behind them and where you can place furniture/pillows, curtains." That sounds like the approach I would like to take.

firstgrowth: "You are getting some good advice re: break-in time. Be patient or run your system on a loop while you're out of the house." Thanks. I know break-in time is controversial, but my system does seem to be getting better with time.

dskinner5: Audience Powerchords... they really work?

jnorris2005: "Your best bet is to turn the treble down on the receiver and move on." That was part of what I did, but it wasn't enough until I also made the other changes discussed above.

"You're using Polk, Sony, LG and Klipsch equipment. Mid-fi at best..." Yes, I know. But I don't have enough experience to warrant buying higher end equipment yet.

taww: "Marantz leans a lot warmer and smoother and should help." OK, good to know.

jnorris2005: "Ridiculously expensive power cords are of questionable value in a very high end system. On a Sony they are an absolute waste of money. On a similar note, while expensive interconnects and speaker cables may have more validity, their effects would be mostly inaudible in this system."

Actually, this is my feeling exactly. While I am open to trying anything that fits my budget, I think I'll hold off on trying expensive cords, cables, and wires until I have a true high end system.

kosst_amojan: "No offense folks, but we're talking about $600 speakers here. Nobody is hearing the qualities of cables through ANY Polk RTi series speakers."

Thanks. This further confirms my feeling. I'll forgo the expensive cables.

mtrot: "No offense to you, but I don’t see how the OP could NOT be offended by your dismissive comment." I wasn't offended at all. I realize people have different opinions. I also realize that the subject of expensive cables is very controversial. I realize bi-wiring is controversial too. I have good quality 4 conductor high strand count 12 AWG OFC speaker cables in a bi-wiring configuration. I think I'll stick with that until I have more expensive gear. (Some might say that even this bi-wiring configuration is overkill for my speakers and AVR.)

oem-wheels: "also use all copper cables, especially in the speaker cable.. ". Yep. :-)

"I'm not sure why he opted for 2 pairs of front channels, but the cash would have been better spent on a single pair of better speakers." I started off with a 7.1 configuration. When I realized 7.1 was too much for this room, I tried a 5.1 with the dual front speakers. I liked it better. But I only did it because I had an extra pair of speakers left over from the 7.1 config that I initially thought was going to work.

willemj: "Since you seem to be in a position that you can return a lot of your gear (all the Polk stuff, including the Polk Sub (?), the Sony, and perhaps also the LG disc player?)" Yes, I bought a lot of it from Amazon, and I think I can return it. But I bought it to begin my learning process. I'm not sure I know enough yet to know which higher end components to purchase. And by the time I can go somewhere to audition equipment, it will be too late to return this. I'm more inclined to take smaller steps. I have my movie room sorted now. As my next step, I would prefer to get a mid-fi music system set up in my larger room using an integrated amp or the Oppo disc player and/or some of the other options you have suggested. I'm trying to learn more about those options now. I like the idea of one of the Yamaha amplifiers you mentioned (e.g.P3500S), the But I'm inclined to keep the RTi speakers at this stage. Later, when I get better speaker, I'll appreciate them more. If I got the best speakers now, I probably would not be able to fully appreciate the sound.


harley52: "Why did you not buy better speakers and buy a smaller tv?" I like my TV. The movie room is fine now. No complaints. I dont' want to change anything about it at the moment. Now I'm focusing on a music system in a larger room.

BTW, if I had initially bought more expensive equipment there is a good chance I would just have made a more expensive mistake. It took the experience of listening to the equipment in THAT room to realize some of my initial ideas were just not realistic. That's why my main goal now is to gain experience step by step.

erik_squires: "This is why I think so many audiophiles should make at least one pair of speakers in their lifetimes. It would completely reset their expectations of money and value." That's an idea I really like! Thank you.


itsjustme: "I tend to agree that you likely have too much stuff, of too little quality, with too small a room, but proceed logically, step by step." I agree now too. And yes, I will proceed step-by-step. My goal is to learn and gain experience before I start spending a lot of money.

" I know you were asked, but why do you have four sizable speakers?" I started off with a 7.1 configuration. When I realized 7.1 was too much for this room, I tried a 5.1. That left me with two spare speakers, so I experimented.

"To get an objective view of what;s going on maybe you can find a local audio geek with a doppler or pulse spectrum analyzer." That interests me, but meeting trustworthy experts takes time. I hope I can do what you suggested, but I don't know how quickly I'll meet the right audio geek. I only started this project a couple weeks ago. :-)