will
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duaneh,
Sorry, with this room and system being a little close to the edge, while also being into progressive modifications... listening so closely for a long time to subtle changes, gradually discernment has grown to cover pretty subtle things. So it is not that what I was talking about is not real, but that when my "super ears" are turned on, some smallish things can become big ones for me. Also, as I was saying, in this setting, my amps and speakers together have previously been a little underpowered for what I want in this room at my highest listening levels.
With my HR-1s (92.5 dB), having turned down the player software some (now liking the sound of 93 out of 100), and some other baseline gain tuning levels pretty amped up.... ZBIT (DAC 4 volts, ZBIT ±3/4), ZRock (close to or a bit above unity, and using 12AU7s... higher powered tubes contributing to distortion here) and CSP3 (±8 on the tube gains, and ±3/4 on the main gain)... these settings left only transient distortions, on some recordings, at my loudest listening levels.... so the amp could overload, but the stages were good. And I think some of those distortions are on the recordings to begin with... where, like noise can be amplified too much, so can distortions. Also, like mrchipster, my DAC attenuator sounds a little off to me, even with fairly minimal reductions, so that was not an option. But I do feel like reducing the signal at that player software helped here with component integration and the overall signal being less prone to sounding overstated, or having subtle distortions.
Then I found some 97 dB Omega Super Alnico High Output Monitors, and thankfully, they came with some nice, pretty highly adjustable super tweeters that it turned out I needed. My HR-1s, with the right cap combo, have some nice ribbon tweeters. They go up to 21K, so not quite "super" levels, but extended, fast and clear ribbons. I think this contributed to why, for me, these super tweeters on the Omegas were needed to make the them complete. Placed and tuned just so, they integrate beautifully here, and not only do they give more resolved and very fast highs, but the same information wakes up and refines right through the mids and on down to better bass speed and clarity. Along with upgrading interior wires and binding posts increasing transparency and speed, I am now getting sound quite close to my also tuned up HR-1s, in some ways better, and others a little worse, but really good sound, and with 97 dB sensitivity.
The more easily driven speakers have increased noise showing up when it is there, but have pretty much solved my last notable distortion issues, the Omega setup giving enough headroom to get me off the edge with my loudest listening levels. The trouble is, with quite resolving, immediate, dynamic and lucid aliveness from my tuned up ZBIT/ZRock/CSP3 and 6SN7/300B/845 amp, and with this speaker setup being quite revealing, I can turn it up too loud without noticing it is a little loud! It also sounds amazingly good at low volumes with this amp and all this gain tuning, but it is still an adjustment to keep from going too loud for my ears!
Just wanting to be clearer about what I experienced with potential issues with gain riding tools. I really like having the range I had with the ZBIT/ZRock/CSP, each having their own ways of tuning the signal. And now I have four with a newly tuned up thing that is supposed to (and sounds like it does) sort out baffle step issues, having adjustments for different speaker widths. Upgrading and tuning it inside with the same refinement goals as my other stuff, and all having pretty reference level ICs I came up with over years, the conventions of "purity" have changed for me. If the source, amp and speakers are optimized without notable weaknesses, and all that is between is pretty completely resolved and fast, enhancing how they improve signal quality... I find several components together can have less transparency issues than many pretty highly praised single stock components.
From this experience, at least for what I need, buying Decware, I would recommend the anniversary mods on everything.
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