High End Woes

[waynwass]

I have home theater setup with
Stage Center
Vantage Fronts
Grotto Sub
Kef Rears
Marantz 7002 Receiver
Rotel Driving the Fronts
OPPO dvd player
I am getting extreme discomfort on the high end when I turn up the volume.
For Example on Celine Dion DVD the violin on the last song is irritating when I am playing at a loud volume.
Anyone with similare experience?
thanks

 

[Hocky]

Do you have audyssey enabled ? If you do, try disabling it and see if the problem goes away. For some reason, I cannot get audyssey on my receiver to calibrate in a way that isn't very harsh despite trying many different sample positions.

 

[waynwass]

I agree, I have turned it off and have turned down the high end as far as it will go...still the same. Somthing is amiss, but I don't know what.

 

[Satch]

Acoustic sound treatments, RealTraps, GIK, etc.

haha... Welcome to the madness!

 

[Bernard]

Acoustic sound treatments, RealTraps, GIK, etc.

haha... Welcome to the madness!

Ray, it could well be the components and/or cables. It would be a shame to spend money on room treatments before sorting this out.

 

[Satch]

I agree Bernard. Get rid of the digital components. Go all analog. hehehe...

 

[RichTeer]

I agree Bernard. Get rid of the digital components. Go all analog. hehehe...

Rich Likes this.

 

[waynwass]

I know when I bought the speakers, the dealer said they were not meant for rock and roll...and couldn;t stand loud volume...but Celine and Phil Collins at a failry loud volume should not be causing me this grief....I guess I will get a troubleshooter out to have a look and there may be some cheap martin logans for sale as this is not working the way it is.

 

[repman]

I think the problem may be the reciever trying to drive the load.
Most recievers do not have enough current to handle three electrostatics up front

 

[Gordon Gray]

My sense is Rep is correct.

What's the power spec and how loud are you listening?

How does the receiver do at a 4 and 2 ohm load?

Are you sure you are not overdriving the system with your receivers amp and the volume level?

Is this a new issue?

Do you hear the distortion with other material at the same volume?

It may be this particular disc. I've had this occur to me in the past.

GG

PS: Regarding your Post No. 8, you may have the same issue with other ML's. You should not assume this will resolve the issue and you will be happy.

 

[97ChameleonTA]

He mentions he's using a Rotel to drive the two fronts...

 

[Spike]

A few questions...

1. Does the discomfort occur in multi-channel or stereo mode? If multi-channel, could it be due to the receiver driving center channel + surround sound causing the discomfort? I would switch to stereo mode in order to isolate the problem.
2. Try switching to "direct" mode to rule out any surround processing mode. This will give you a base line to troubleshoot your issues.

If you're already at "direct" mode and you're still hearing the "harshness", check your connection to ensure they are not out-of-phase with each other. Out-of-phase connection will result in cancellation of the bass between the 2 Vantages, and this will surely cause "harshness".

Good Luck,
Spike

 

[twich54]

He mentions he's using a Rotel to drive the two fronts...

True....but Rotel what ????? besides I think 'his dealer' is a looney toon, who says M/L's can't rock..........and with that being said if all you're after is 'noise' go buy a pair of Cerwin Vega's !.

Regarding his dilema....overdriven and or room acoustical issues.

Op.......we need more info !

 

[repman]

He mentions he's using a Rotel to drive the two fronts...

Good pick up , I did miss that he was driving the vantages with a Rotel .

I am still suspect of the volume at which the system is played and the amount of clean current driving it

 

[waynwass]

The Rotel driving the fronts is a D Class stereo amp 1072...100 watts
I will give that direct a try and let you know...

 

[waynwass]

Tried the receiver in direct and in stereo tonight ...no difference.....Sound is wonderful until you turn it up.
Maybe Gordon is right ...speakers are not meant to rock at concert volume.
I will audition some other speakers this weekend and let you all know the results.

 

[Satch]

You're kidding, right?

You can't rock Vantages or any other panels to concert levels with 100 watts. Nothing wrong with the speakers, but you're gonna blow up your amp.

Satch

 

[Spike]

How loud?

What is the sound pressure level you're listening at to consider "loud"? Different people interpret "loud" differently. For example, 95db is plenty loud for me, but maybe barely loud enough for some others. Please specify room dimensions, how far away the speakers are from your listening position, the decibel reading at your listening position to give us more hints as to what might be the problem. From the surface, it looks like you're overdriving your Rotel amplifier. One way to take the Rotel out of the equation is to let the receiver drive the Vantages (in stereo mode) and see whether you're coming close to the same sound level.

Spike

 

[churchill]

Your receivers amplifier section is clipping, you might want to try an external power amp if your receiver has pre-outs.

 

[Jimna]

Yes try another amp, I bet thats the problem.

"Sound is wonderful until you turn it up" <<that sounds like amp distortion to me.