Quest for Audiophile Zen

I will take a stab as well. First and foremost, I would suggest you audition some other Interconnects and Speaker Wire. Silver is great when used in the right system. In most cases it will add brightness and a general hardness to most pure solid state systems. I also agree with MCNE and suggest you try some room treatments.

I use a large decorative rug which I have mounted on my main wall in my listening room behind my speakers. This not only improved imaging but also removed any glare from in the treble I had ever witnessed. My 2 cents for what it is worth. Good Luck and Good Listening!

Chris

I would check with Ric Schultz at EVS for any recommendations he may have. I have experienced much of what you are experiencing but am not sure the fixes I have found would prove effective in your system. I am using speakers with metal cone drivers and suspect that they contribute to the brightness I have mostly tamed. Ric endorses cables manufactured by Zcable. I am using Zcable "Thunder" power cords and could not be more pleased. I also am using the Zcable "Live" interconnect. I can now listen for hours on end without fatigue. Another product that has helped are Acme Audio Power outlets. Feel free to contact me if you think I can be of any assistance.

I had an awefully bright system with Thiel 1.5s. Two things did the trick and a third is on it's way. 1) Like Mcne said, try repositioning your speakers and avoid toe-in. 2) Try MIT MH-750 speaker wire and MI-330 interconnects. The newer MIT interconnects are impedance matched to your amp. Your's wasn't on the list but I'm sure contacting MIT will get you the right match. Thiels seem to really like networked cables. 3) I'm getting a set of Sound Anchors stands. You don't want the aluminum tweeter pointing right at your ears. With the 1.5s the stands will lift the tweeter about a foot over my head in the listening position. I anticipate this do work beautifully. Granted the 3.6s are a good deal taller than the 1.5s but it maybe the case.

I don't want to sound like I'm knocking the Thiels. They'll just bring out the worst in a system that doesn't "gel" with them. The MIT cabling and repositioning already has the brightness 90% tamed for me. The Thiels are also very position sensitive. Even a half inch change can bring noticably different sound.

Hope this helps. leo.

Gotta start with the Thiels in the room.
First order crossovers can require careful placement, and most Thiels sound a bit uptilted in any but the deadest rooms. Blah, blah, blah...we all know this.
Here's a smaller bit of it, though:
I was REALLY surprised at how floating my previous old CDP (Rotel 855) on a Neuance iso-shelf, although NOT changing the sound spectrally, but by improving the coherence of the frequency range resulted in a more unified, musical integrity that allowed me to accept some brightness because
`of improved resolution. Pretty interesting. I'd try popping your Adcom on a Neuance before replacing it or smothering it with a too-warm cable. You don't want to suck the air out of it.
Does your room have wall-tp-wall carpeting? Are you absorbing first reflections off the sidewalls? The point is to tame the 2-6kHz stuff without rolling off the 10-20kHz air.
Good luck.

Are you using any nice power cables?