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Speakers - lots of treble

M

Middlemex

pfm Member
I had a pair of Yamaha Soavo speakers, whcih had amazing treble (i like treble), even had a metallic sound to it, which I liked very much. it gave a kind depth that is not usual in other speakers I have heard.

Their later models have removed this metallic sound, so as to conform to market tastes, however, i wonder if anyone can guide me to finding this kind of sound again? Is Klipsch ,for example, a brand which has a high treble and slightly metallic sound?

thank you
 
Monitor Audio are a good bet. I had a pair of Studio 20's which were rather explicit in the treble region. I liked them a lot.
 
Maybe it’s just me, but I think a lot of speaker brands run the tweeters quite hot.
Along with the aforementioned MA & Focal, I would add B&W, ProAc & PMC as well.
I think it’s actually harder to find a speaker where the tweeter is overly tamed, but as I say, maybe it’s just my taste.
But yes, MA would be a good place to start.
 
manicatel said:
Maybe it’s just me, but I think a lot of speaker brands run the tweeters quite hot.
Along with the aforementioned MA & Focal, I would add B&W, ProAc & PMC as well.
I think it’s actually harder to find a speaker where the tweeter is overly tamed, but as I say, maybe it’s just my taste.
But yes, MA would be a good place to start.
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Yes, my Formation Duo's certainly weren't shy in the treble ... the Kef Actives sounded positively recessed, in a good way.

I think extended treble is not necesseraly a bad thing but it can be if there are spikes or plateaus which follow a dip which make it stand out rather than integrate with the rest.
 
Middlemex said:
I had a pair of Yamaha Soavo speakers, whcih had amazing treble (i like treble), even had a metallic sound to it, which I liked very much. it gave a kind depth that is not usual in other speakers I have heard.

Their later models have removed this metallic sound, so as to conform to market tastes, however, i wonder if anyone can guide me to finding this kind of sound again? Is Klipsch ,for example, a brand which has a high treble and slightly metallic sound?
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Curious as to how old you are as ‘treble’ can mean very different things to different people? The main drum kit metalwork, cymbals, hi-hats etc, i.e. the stuff that should sound metallic is not actually that high up, 4-8kHz or so. The stuff ageing audiophiles tend to loose is above this, and is more the air, space etc, the absolute upper harmonics. As such you may be looking for something that is upper-mid forward, of which there are many options to my ears these days!
 
I agree that many 'speakers these days are too brightly lit. Either that or I get more sensitive to it as I get older.
Take the KEF R3 which gains awards galore but to my ears sounds very wrong at the top.

Anyway, you can go on swapping kit for years hoping to hit the spot, or you could invest in some EQ and fix it day 1, assuming the speakers are fundamentally of good design without nasty resonant peaks.

Do not be tempted to fix something of this magnitude with amplifier swaps. Sure you'll get some very mild changes to tonality (sometimes) but you are really playing on the fringes if you want to effect a wholesale change in trop end presentation.
It's unfortunate today that many attribute powerful properties to amplifiers which they simply cannot posses, unless designed by a clown!

I say that as someone who certainly hasn't always followed his own rules over years, has gone off on wild chasses for perfection, spent far too much money and often come unstuck.
Don't make the same mistakes :)
 
I don’t find my PMC speakers bright at all. (SEAS tweeters)

I have some Rogers LS7t speakers with metallic tweeters, Maaan they are bright.
 
What is the rest of the kit including cables, the Yamaha's are normally flat and even in there audio reproduction but do need good kit to work them well.
 
It is very strange that, as I grow older, I have become susceptible to bright treble to the point I can't bear it - whereas you'd think with hearing loss (56, and a lifetime driving loud cars!) inevitable, it would be the other way round... in my younger years I had naim sll the way; I associated treble with more detail at the time...
 
I’ll also chip in on the Monitor Audio suggestion… and JBL (typically the ones with titanium tweeters). While I couldn’t get on with the Kef LS50 Metas, particularly their bass, I thought they excelled at treble. Best thing about those speakers really…

I once had a Krell KAV400xi driving Monitor Audio GR60s. Exciting at first but just too fatiguing eventually (I remember some people telling me ‘told you so’). Dynaudio Contour 1.8mk2s proved to be a much better match for the Krell!
 
robbyd said:
It is very strange that, as I grow older, I have become susceptible to bright treble to the point I can't bear it - whereas you'd think with hearing loss (56, and a lifetime driving loud cars!) inevitable, it would be the other way round... in my younger years I had naim sll the way; I associated treble with more detail at the time...
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As we grow older we do not only lose our hi-freq hearing, but mainly the ability to easily differentiate hi-freqs and make sense of them. So any distortion in the high range becomes unbearable as it seems to scramble everything. Very clean integrated treble doesn't disturb me but if it's a mess...
Omer.
 
Middlemex said:
i wonder if anyone can guide me to finding this kind of sound again? Is Klipsch ,for example, a brand which has a high treble and slightly metallic sound?
Click to expand...

Magneplanar driven by Krell KAV-300i / Bryston 4B-ST
Old ATC SCM40 driven by Krell KAV-300i
Monitor Audio silver series driven by Krell KAV-300i
 
bernardhepworth said:
Noel Keywood has talked about manufacturers voicing speakers to be bright so that they stand out in a dem. If I remember rightly, he was lamenting that this was the case and suggesting that this wasn't a good way forward.
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Good for the manufacturers perhaps.:)
 
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