taming brightness

[RyanJoz]

I recently purchased a used adcom 5503 which sounded very warm and rich only to find out the left channel was fried. I then purchased a brand new 5500 (hoping they would sound the same) and the 5500 is brighter. I have about 50 hours on the amp and I am 98% happy with it. Some very select times, the highs are harsh with the A9's I have. I want to wait until the warranty is up on the A9's before I mod the crossovers. My question is would the mod tone down the brightness of the 9's at high volume levels? Would it tone it down through all volume levels?

My general question is how do I tame the highs with these beasts?

Buying a new amp is out of question so I would like some results.
My gear can be found in my signature and I use all blue jeans cables. (LC-1 interconnects and bjc 10 speaker wire)

[Hawkeye]

Do you have the ability to add any room treatments at the first and second reflection points?

Gordon

[heiney9]

Is this a brand spanking new amp? If so, it will take some time to settle in. Also it should sound better after about an hour of being powered up. Finally RTiA's tend to be on the bright side. Room treatments and a very good source as well as a very good pre-amp will go along way. It's not the amp as the 5500 is a Mosfet design and is actually a pretty neutral amp all by itself.

[headrott]

H9 is correct. My amp is the Aragon 8008bb, but it is also extremely bright when I first turn it on. After about 30 minutes to an hour it tames the brightness quite a bit. I would think that your amp would do the same (to a greater or lesser degree). Leavit on for an hour and then listen to it, it should stop sending spikes through your head.

Greg

[heiney9]

Thee 5500 as well as the Aragon 8008bb is heavily biased into class A operation and it takes about 30+ minutes for the bias to stabilize and the output trannies to get in the proper operating zone.

[anhchungdoan]

Try some Kimber Hero that will cut down some of the sizzling treble if you like the bloating in the mid-range. If that does not work, get some Harmonic Technology Truth Link ICs.

[ChrisD]

Turn down the treble one notch on the tone control?

[comfortablycurt]

+1 on warmup time.

My Adcom 545 sounds a bit bright and slightly harsh until it's warmed up for half an hour or so. Once it's warmed up, it sounds fantastic though.:)

[leroyjr1]

Try different speakers...

[comfortablycurt]

Try different speakers...

That's probably the best suggestion in this whole thread...lol

The A9's are some great sounding speakers, but if you don't like brightness, they may not be your cup of tea.

[lmacmil]

My amp is the Aragon 8008bb, but it is also extremely bright when I first turn it on. After about 30 minutes to an hour it tames the brightness quite a bit.

Is this a solid state amp? If so, I wonder if it isn't your ears that are doing the adjusting rather than the amp. Hard to imagine how the sound of a solid state device can change from warming up beyond a couple of minutes.

[heiney9]

Hard to imagine how the sound of a solid state device can change from warming up beyond a couple of minutes.

Happens all the time. In some higher end designs components need time to bias up properly to reach maximum linearity. It takes my Aleph about 60 minutes to sound it's best and get settled. The heat sinks go from cold to "can't touch for more than 10 seconds" as the output trannies reach optimum operating temp.

Not saying this is the sole reason for his problems as it's usually a combo of things, but he should evaluate/troubleshoot after the amp has been powered up for atleast 20-30 minutes.

H9

[anhchungdoan]

Is this a solid state amp? If so, I wonder if it isn't your ears that are doing the adjusting rather than the amp. Hard to imagine how the sound of a solid state device can change from warming up beyond a couple of minutes.

Some manufactures do recommend a warm up time for SS but that does not mean the warm up time will make a harsh amp "warm". It simply allows the amp to perform up to their capacity within 20 minutes or so of "warm-up" time. The signature house-sound will not change.

Sound more like system mismatch issue. First, Adcom sound is "RAW" by design. Politically, I do not want to use the word HARSH here. Secondly, the pre-amp and the source need to be carefull matching with the amp. Garbage in garbage out. A bright pre-amp will bring the worst out of the Adcom.

[heiney9]

Some manufactures do recommend a warm up time for SS but that does not mean the warm up time will make a harsh amp "warm". It simply allows the amp to perform up to their capacity within 20 minutes or so of "warm-up" time. The signature house-sound will not change.

Not true at all. Some amps change a little bit, some amps completely change. I don;t listen to my amp until it's been powered up for atleast 45 minutes. The character changes dramatically.

H9

[Face]

Screw the warranty, mod the crossovers.

[heiney9]

.

Sound more like system mismatch issue. First, Adcom sound is "RAW" by design. Politically, I do not want to use the word HARSH here. Secondly, the pre-amp and the source need to be carefull matching with the amp. Garbage in garbage out. A bright pre-amp will bring the worst out of the Adcom.

Wrong again, especially in the 55xx series which are Mosfet based and actually smoother than the earlier bi-polar design and all but the 5802 gives up a tad of detail compared to the bi-polar designs. The bold part is an absurd statement.

I do very much agree with the last part about matching/synergy and GIGO.

To the OP, start with your source and then room treatments.

H9

[comfortablycurt]

Not true at all. Some amps change a little bit, some amps completely change. I don;t listen to my amp until it's been powered up for atleast 45 minutes. The character changes dramatically.

H9

+1

Anymore, I don't even do any listening until my amp's been warmed up for a good 20-30 minutes.

[RyanJoz]

First, thanks for the replies.

Second, yes the amp is brand spanking new. I got it about two weeks ago and while I do leave it on all the time (was told ss devices last longer that way), I probably only have 40 hours on it or so. The A9s have about 300 hours on them while hooked up to the hk receiver (assumed to be burned in by now). The speakers high end qualities sound perfect with the receiver powering the towers. The addition of the amp has added the brightness. I would trade up the amp but the wife would kill me (i'm only 25 and she says i'm too young for all this crap).

[heiney9]

The amp still needs to be broken in, give it some time and see if that helps. If not, maybe the Adcom isn't for you and may not be a good fit for what you're looking for.

H9

[Huck344]

Try different speakers...

+1

I have RTI8's. They are extremely bright. I powered them with a Sunfire amp which tamed them a little bit, but they are still very bright. The RTI speakers are great for Home Theater, but for two channel, I just think you need different speaks. Just my two cents.

[anhchungdoan]

Wrong again, especially in the 55xx series which are Mosfet based and actually smoother than the earlier bi-polar design and all but the 5802 gives up a tad of detail compared to the bi-polar designs. The bold part is an absurd statement.

I do very much agree with the last part about matching/synergy and GIGO.

To the OP, start with your source and then room treatments.

H9

I was totally wrong. I admitted. I should have stated IMO. All the opinions including professional reviews are subjective. Totally subjective, period. Otherwise, I am right on the spot IMO.

[anhchungdoan]

Build your system around the speakers that you like. The matching between the speakers and the amplifier are very important. I owned the Sl3 and the Aerius I for 10 years and IMO there was nothing can drive the ML as the Krell amp . If I own a pair of Klipsch horn, I would go with some tube amps as Audio Research not even the Cary Audio. On the other hand, I would be happy to drive a pair of JM labs monitor with the Cary SLi80.

What I try to say here is audio is a very subjective hobby. It's a trial and error process untill the OP can find the system that will please and will fit his taste with the kind of music that he likes. Every one will have his or her own opinion but that does not worth more than a grain of salt. Remember an old saying " One man Harsh and bright sound is another man airy and extended-high FQ" .

A lot of people are in love with NAD in the mid-end and CJ on the hi-end but not me. I cannot stand them. I'd rather have Krell and Audio research sound.

One does not buy audio gear based on price and reviews or forum opinions. It's a totally wrong approach. Trust your own EARS when you AUDITION audio gear with the type of music that you like .

[dpowell]

My RT3000's powered by an Adcom were bright and sometimes a bith harsh until I changed out the power cord on the CD player (a Denon 3910 at the time). I replaced the stock power cord with a Signal Cable Digital Reference power cord and noticed that the highs smoothed out a bit. I know I'm probalby going to get the snake oil crowd riled up here but I know the difference I heard with this simple change. Buy one used here on the forum and try it out. If it doesn't make a difference you can sell it again and not be out much $$ for the trial.

[Fongolio]

Room treatments will tame harshness better than almost any other tweak. My place has hardwood/ laminate floors and without a throw rug and room treatments in the listening area it was unbearably bright. Treatments at the reflection points and other various places have toned down the brightness to exactly how I like it and really tightened up the bass. Every time I move anything in the room the sound changes.

Synergy of components is critical too. Some pieces just don't play well with others. At the moment all my gear is happy with all the other gear.

By the way for what it's worth when I was using the RTiA7's up front I didn't find them overly bright at all. The RTiA line I find is not nearly as bright as the RTi's. When I bought my A7's I demo'ed them in the same room with same components against the RTi10's which are basically the same speaker with improved cabinets and crossovers. I much prefered the sound of the A7's Not nearly as bright and more natural sounding bass and mids. I believe this is true of the whole RTiA line. Just my opinion. Good luck.