Dazed & Confused


Listening to mostly jazz, solo instruments and vocals I find my Martin Logan Spire hybrids to sound awesome, but recently I was listening to some both "Busy" 90’s rock and classical (lots of instruments playing loudly together) and I find the music starts to sound garbled and annoying (to bright), so much so, I turn it off.
I was wondering if you all might have some suggestions on some speakers that would be a little more forgiving with busy/loud music that I could possibly switch over to when listening to different types of music. That is unless I can find speakers that can handle all styles of music, then I would consider taking the hit ($$$) on selling the Spires.

Without getting into room size and dynamics, lets just call it a standard room, I was also looking for something more efficient. The Spires need a huge amount of power (and volume) to sound good. Looking more for something I can listen to loud but also still enjoy the music at a much lower volume if that’s at all possible. Neutral and not to bright.
Living in the sticks, I can’t just jump in the car to go demo speakers. Only once, in the past, did I purchase a set of speakers online and unheard, going solely on the sales person’s recommendations. I learned the hard way to never do that again!

Equipment now: Coda CSiB integrated amp with W4S 2v2 SE Dac running Roon Nucleus.

I also wanted to mention that the Spires have phenomenal base, so much so I sold the 2 subs I was originally using with them. Floor standers and bookshelfs have come along way in SQ these days, but if I need to purchase another set of subs the budget is starting to dwindle.

No vinyl or CD’s, just Tidal.

$3,000 - $5000 budget, new or newer demos.

Thanks for any suggestions or advice you may have to offer!
Paul
high-amp
1. I have balanced connections between my DAC & amp.
2. The W4S DAC volume is set to maximum, which is 65.

Either or both of those factors could very conceivably be the entire cause of the problem, IMO, given the 1K balanced input impedance of the amp and the 10.5 volt maximum balanced output of the DAC. And if so, changing speakers will of course not help. Definitely try using RCA interconnects, and definitely try lower volume settings on the DAC.

Good luck. Regards,
-- Al


Thank you Al, you have really dug deep into this. Thank you to everyone else as well. I don't have time today, but tomorrow I will play with the DAC volume as suggested. You have also sparked some other trouble shooting ideas for me. Some that will take me a while to figure out as I will have to purchase a few CD's first. I will report back on my findings. 
Any further speaker recommendations are greatly appreciated as well regardless. I will eventually downsizing my system with a pending residential move next year at which point the ML's will to large for my intentions. 

The Sonus Faber Sonetto VIII's list price is above your budget, but I note this seller has a pair of demos for sale that might be closely priced to your top end.

https://salon1audio.com/product/sonus-faber-sonetto-viii-new/

FYI.

Upon first look at the room picture, I exclaimed "Oh my God!"

the Spires have phenomenal bass
in that room! 

Cover the TV. Add something to the right wall to reduced reflections. While the minimalist shelving has nice esthetics, it's a disaster for reflections. I didn't do the math, but the wall/ ceiling corners could be a problem.

Sensitivity: 91 dB/2.3 Volts/Meter.
Seems like the amp should drive to S T U N [110+db @ 3m] unless it is giving up into:

Nominal Impedance: 4 Ohms (0.8 Ohms at 20 kHz)
The bottom end impedance is  50-100x 20k. I've never been a fan of amplifiers with so many output devices per channel. Transistors are non-linear devices and into a complex load with 20 devices per channel, unless the devices and driver circuitry are extremely well selected, things can get ugly in a hurry.

Perhaps with the subs in the previous install, rolling the low end made life easier for the amp.

What speaker cables? Perhaps the amp does not like the ESL/cable load?