Paino sounding so harsh

stephenjess

New Member
I have been hearing a harshness on certain frequencies - particularly noticeable on piano music in louder sections. It's most harsh on a vinyl pressing of Debussy "Jardins sous la pluie". I listened to a different recording of the same track on CD and Apple music, and it's less, but still there.

About three weeks ago I heard a huge crack and one channel of my system died. I replaced all the preamp tubes, and it came back, so I swapped the tubes back again one by one to find the bad one - and all 6 work fine now. Hmm.

Yesterday I swapped out all the tubes, pre and power, still there.

I have moved my Rega RP1 a few times in the last few weeks, while auditioning a new table, maybe I bumped it and the cartridge needs realigned?

Maybe the crack was something internal in the amp? Or in the speaker? Maybe my speakers can't handle that well and I am hitting their limits? My set up is listed below.

Anyone have any ideas? My next step is to swap out each part of the system piece by piece to see what's causing it.

Rega RP1
Project Tube box S
Oppo 105
Apple TV
MHDT Paradisea+
Primaluna Dialogue Premium
KT120 x 4 (replaced now with Mullard EL34)
CV4003 x 6 (replaced now with stock Primaluna tubes)
Rel T5
Nola Boxer
Blue Jeans interconnects, Monoprice 12AWG
 
That noise might be something arced. That could be in a tube and sometime in the amp circuit.
 
Welcome to AK.

Is the harshness that occurs during loud piano music a different phenomenon than the loud "crack" (or "pop")? Which problem is recurring?

Did the loud "crack(s)" occur during a loud music passage, or was the "crack" disassociated from the music? How many times has the "crack" occurred, vs. how often does the harshness occur during loud piano passages?

Please provide specific examples of the problematic piano recordings, and the deliverable you're using (e.g., CD, SACD, hi-res FLAC download, Blu-ray, etc). When were the recordings made? When were they mastered? Have these recordings played OK on other hi-fi systems?

How does your system handle large scale orchestral music? Again, please provide details about other recordings that play OK, or don't.

Is your Oppo BDP-105 connected directly to your Primaluna integrated amp - or is your external DAC in the loop?

Have you tried this: A known top-quality SACD or Blu-ray (or CD), Oppo BDP-105 -> Primaluna amp -> speakers. (No external DAC, no sub.)

Do you have access to another amp you can substitute temporarily to facilitate testing?
 
Last edited:
If you've changed sources and all the tubes, I'm inclined to suggest looking at the speakers.
 
Back
Top Bottom