I remember reading years ago about someone being sent new tweeters to replace in these speakers. I have a pair of M80's that sound horrid on Norah Jones feels like home, track number one as well as well as her debut album Come away with me...
I notice this harshness usually with highs, piano solos, etc.


I feel like the problem may be my dvd player, but I don't have another one to A/B it with. Does anyone have the same disc, and can verify if it is the CD recording? I tried the CD in my iMAC and I did not detect the high frequency aberration... But the test was using the built-in speakers at the bottom of the computer screen.

I did try a second speaker, and the high distortion was there also... Could it be the "cheap" Toshi SD-5980 DVD player? I noticed this using an HK 550 receiver, using parasound A23 amp for mains, and now, since I changed over to an ONKYO TX-SR805 and the problem is still there.

Where's Gonk?

Help!

I doubt that the DVD player is to blame, as it should be passing the digital bitstream without any alteration - something so badly out of whack that it could create an issue with the signal would show up in lots of other ways. My initial suspicion is related to either the speaker (even without damage to the tweeters, the combination of metal dome tweeters and Canadian speakers like Axiom or my old Paradigms can come across as bright in some circumstances) or how the disc is mastered, but I am not familiar enough with Norah Jones' discs to know if it could be as simple as the way the disc was mastered. The speakers in your iMac are likely to roll off a lot faster than the M80's, so it's very possible that the computer speakers wouldn't reproduce the "problem" frequencies even if it was a disc issue.

Others who are more familiar with Jones' work may be able to answer fairly readily of what you describe is typical for these two discs. Failing that, I may be able to run a little test. I just looked next to me and discovered a copy of the CD of Come Away With Me in among my wife's CD's (I think she got it from her sister at some point and decided she didn't like much). If you know of some consistent problem spots on that disc, I can toss the CD in my two-channel system (OPPO 980H and Outlaw RR2150). I usually use AV123 X-LS speakers in that system, but if I can get that close to the floor I'll finish hooking up the old Paradigm towers to the B speaker output of the 2150 and try those passages with both sets of speakers. The Paradigms and M80's are voiced rather similarly, so there's a fair chance that I could slot a disc issue.
Sitting in his den, resting a bit (stood too long trying to help with the dishes, curse this bum leg) while a certain three-year-old watches Dora behind me... Hey, you asked...

thanks. The speakers i used for the a/b comparison are optimus radio shack highly regarded lineaum tweeter bookshelf speakers ( i can never rid myself of these, as many others have stated in many posts elsewhere...) I tried xm radio over directv and I have not (after two hours or so of listening) detect any irregularity whatsoever.

Two nights ago my family and I watched Sweet Baby James' pull over DVD and listened to it start to finish. My living room guests never mentioned any irregularity, nor did I notice one.

I am really at a loss as to what in the world could be causing this. I am thinking that a logical upgrade for my system now is an Oppo that you beta'd, so I would eventually find out for myself, but..
if you are willing to continue to research this issue, I would be eternally grateful. I have followed your work for years, reply after reply to others like me.

thanks again, Gonk.

David

I'll give the Norah Jones CD a listen on both the X-LS and the Studio 60's. High notes and pianos, right? If I notice any odd spots on the disc, I'll also try them on the main system with the Outlaw speakers.

correction, that was a 525 HK receiver, not 550.
I would think that it would not be the DVd player either, but the only one real non-isolated item in this experiment to determine the cause is the speaker wire.

I used signal cable, and then switched out to zip cord type speaker wire (monster or like type, not cheapo).

then, I used that wire to power my Axiom and had the same problem after switching it to the main audio out of receiver.

so, isolate wire, check. isolate speaker/ a/b, check. use two different receivers/amps, check.

what does that leave us? I can only think the CD!!

Am I crazy?

The cause is very likely the recording. It is quite common for female vocalists to have difficult to record voices that sound too sibilant right next to a microphone. I've battled many such singers myself; sometimes de-essers help, but they still end up sounding hard and harsh.

Electronics, and especially things like speaker wires do not cause harshness to the degree you're hearing.

I've listened through around half of Come Away With Me on my Paradigms, and I've also noticed moments of harshness, mostly with piano and cymbals. I really think that the issue is related to the CD rather than the hardware.

thanks. I thought for a while that I was up for new speakers. hooray, since I love these Axioms!!

regards,
senordaley

Your speakers are probably like many these days - more hot in the high end than they should be, along with a somewhat sucked out high-midrange. That voicing is not going to do any favors to recordings which have accentuated high frequencies. The ideal frequency response at the listening position is a very gentle and linear rolloff from the low frequencies to the very highest so that at 20kHz the response is down 5dB to 10dB.

Interesting, Altec - wasn't that pretty much the frequency response of the classic Acoustic Research AR-3a - pairs of which back in the early 60s, if memory serves, actually passed "live vs. recorded" tests before live audiences, driven with Dyna tube equipment? The recording medium must have been open-reel analogue tape.

Ah, progress . . .