How about an integ. amp or receiver that colors the sound? (1 Viewer)

[Alex_C]

I've been moaning about the NAD 370 I picked up recently. The detail and clarity are too much for me. I find it irritating on certain recordings. It seems I need an amp/receiver that smooths it all out. I know, I won't be listening to the "true" sound. However, I don't think I'm ready for the "true" sound yet.

My old Onkyo smooths the sound out but also isn't clear at all.

Is there an amp/receiver out there for me?

Does anyone understand what I'm talking about? :frowning: If so, please help.

Thanks!

 

[JohnSmith]

Very strange...NAD isn't harsh or bright at all- what are your speakers? Sure the speakers aren't the problem?- perhaps very harsh speakers?

You say the Onkyo "smoothes the sound", which I guess means softer sounding?...but then you "say isn't clear" which is contradicting your first statement..sorry bit confused with what you're getting at.

Although it could just be the recordings...with my Hi-Fi system CD's from artists/studios who bother to release good sounding albums it sounds bloody fantastic. Put on Oasis....and immediately switch it off.

 

[Nathan Stohler]

I think "coloring the sound" usually refers to altering the frequency response. I assume your NAD at least has bass/treble controls that could be adjusted if you find the sound to be too bright?

I second John's comments: Your speakers, CDs and room characteristics will have a much greater impact than your receiver on what you are hearing.

--Nathan

 

[Alex_C]

"You say the Onkyo "smoothes the sound", which I guess means softer sounding?...but then you "say isn't clear" which is contradicting your first statement..sorry bit confused with what you're getting at."

lol. Yea, I'm getting confused too.

My speakers are Onix Rocket RS750 Sig Series. They are supposed to be somewhat laid back. I'm begining to wonder if they are the culprit.

The Onkyo sounds a little softer but there isn't as much clarity/detail. You hear more sounds with the NAD.

I tried Treble/Bass but that didn't really help. And it also effected other areas of sound.

I'm going to hook the amp up to my DefTechs in the basement and see how they sound.

Thanks.

 

[Elinor]

I agree with the others. I've had a NAD unit for about 5 years and there is nothing harsh or overly-detailed about their products.

I'd have to look to the speakers ... or ...

Are you connecting the source (dvd/cd player) over a digital connection? If you are using the analog (L+R) connection, the player's DACs are doing the D-A conversion ... they could be mucking things up.

 

[Alex_C]

I have to use the analog connectors. There are no digital connections on the amp. :frowning:

 

[Elinor]

What is the source component? Do you remember the player's model number?

I'm thinking it may be the culprit ... the Rockets are pretty well regarded speakers.

 

[Alex_C]

I'm using an Onkyo CD player - not sure of the model - and also playing flacs/mp3s through a Chaintech AV-710.

 

[kevitra]

Re: your Chaintech: are you sure you have ASIO or kernel streaming working so you have bit-perfect playback? You can tell by playing a DTS WAV file (I'm guessing you know this if you have the Chaintech but I'm just verifying ). If you don't have bit-perfect playback when Windows resamples to 48K the resulting sound is very harsh.

But I guess if your Onkyo CD player sounds the same as your HTPC that probably isn't the issue..

 

[Alex_C]

I'm using Kernel streaming through Foobar. Although I've never checked to be sure. What's this about a DTS Wav file? What do I do?

Yea,the CD player sounds pretty similar.

 

[David Judah]

I know exactly what you mean, Alex, because I've had the same thing happen to me on occasion when swapping out new components. It sounds like the NAD is giving you all the detail on the recordings that the Onkyo was masking to a certain degree. That is normally a good thing except on poor recordings where everything comes through warts amd all.

Give it a week or so and you will adjust to the new sound.

DJ

 

[RobWil]

I think the NAD C370 is the culprit and I think you should get rid of it immediately. I'll be glad to take it off your hands though.....how about $350 shipped?

 

[Alex_C]

Thanks for the help Robwil.
Actually, I think it's the speakers. More testing to be done . . .

 

[Chu Gai]

Apart from your decision to buy an integrated amp (NAD) that doesn't have digital in, given that you're running a soundcard into it, I'm still confused by all this. I took a quick look at the NAD C370 manual and note that the unit will produce its rated power with an input of only 290 mV. This begs the question, "Are you overdriving your NAD, be it with your CD player or soundcard such that what you're really hearing is your NAD going into agony by dealing with a front end overload?" After all, what's the spec'd max output on a CD player? Something like 2 volts (2000 mV) I think. I'd guess that whatever you used before probably had an input sensitivity that was a bit more, perhaps even an input that said CD in. YOu may want to consider posting a more detailed explanation of how you're running things here and a place like hydrogenaudio.com.

 

[Alex_C]

I did some testing last night to see if it was really the amp or the speakers. I'm beginning to think it's the speakers. I played the amp through my Deftechs and the highs weren't as . . . .er. . .high.

Also, I did all my testing in the basement where I could sit 6-8 feet from the speakers. In my office (where I usually listen to them) I'm only about 4 feet from the tweeters. Everything sound better in the basement.

So, now the question is do I get a set of speakers that I can listen to up close without getting that irritating sound? I don't know which speakers I would look at. The Rockets are floorstanders. Perhaps bookshelves? I can't rearrange the room at all. It's really small.

Thanks!

 

[Jack Briggs]

Alex, we're looking at speaker-placement issues here. The NAD is just doing its basic job.

 

[Alex_C]

"Alex, we're looking at speaker-placement issues here. The NAD is just doing its basic job."

I think you're right. I really think I have a placement problem. The speakers/amp sounded much better in the basement.

The speakers are on risers so the tweeter fires at my head. I'm going to take them off the risers and toe them out to see if it sounds better.

If you have any other suggestions, please let me know.

x

 

[Chu Gai]

Seeing as how you're so close, what about nearfield monitors?

 

[Alex_C]

If I can't get this resolved. I was thinking of Monitor Audio Silver6's. They are near field aren't they?

What others should I consider?

 

[JohnSmith]

Ruark Epilogue's have a very nice sound to them...