@OP - two definite problems and one potential one. Your Focals are bright sounding and the Rogue amp leans in the same direction - put together its a case of negative synergy. But the speakers are the more problematic of the pair. The room sounds like it would benefit from acoustic treatment. Since that is cheaper than changing speakers, it should be your first port of call. But don't be surprised if you have to look at the equipment once the room is sorted. But at least you will have a neutral sounding space to work with.
Listening Room or Components or my ears?
My system is sounding a bit harsh, hard, shrill. (Cronus Magnum lll Amp, Focal Aria 948 Speakers, Denon DCD 1700NE CD Player, Shunyata Gamma Cables). It is just CD play back at 1/3 volume. It's a basement, L shaped room. Carpeted cement floors. The Speakers are 3 foot from rear wall. Left speaker 2 foot from side wall. Right speaker is 15 foot from side wall. Speakers are silghtly toed in and a 6 foot apart. Equipment rack and two subs between them. The wall behind the speakers is covered in framed posters. Is this an obvious fault? The walls themselves are wood paneling. Is there a problem with only one apeaker next to a side wall? Ant thoughts or suggestions? Thanks
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My older Wilson speakers have the Focal 1" inverted titanium-coated tweeters. They have a bad reputation for harsh highs. When I first got them, I concurred. Not anymore. Now, they sound sublime. Zero fatigue. The solution was cleaning up the AC power - with special attention to the digital components. All of the above suggestions about the room, room treatments, speaker placement, speaker toe-in are correct - as is clean power. It takes a fair amount of tweaking to properly dial-in good SQ. The distance between the speakers is based on several factors. If they’re too far apart, the soundstage becomes defocused & delayered - a vocalist sounds like their mouth is 5 ft wide. Here are assorted discussions. |
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