____________________________________________

Will: what i've tried to say (apparently not very well...sorry), is that the harshness is there in ANY prepro when playing most stereo cds.

i believe the 950 is no more harsh than the rotel....just more revealing of the cd format and the terrible production process thereof. if the 950 were harsh, then sacd and dvd-a and dd and dts would also sound harsh. if anyone hears a good multichannel sacd through their 950 and hears it as harsh, then EQ probably would help, as i think it is a room environment issue.

i hear the harshness in playing a cd through my 950, but i also have heard someone speak ever so faintly in the background of one cd that i've listened to 1,000 times before on many other setups i had over the years, that i never heard before. i'd bet money you wouldn't hear that voice through the rotel.

on the other side of that, sacd multichannel discs i have, have zero harshness through the 950...at any volume.

and...no....i don't think 'lowering the treble a tad' fixes anything.