A touch of brightness

[Womaz]

Manged to do this....listening now

[Confused]

What firmware version were you running before?

[tyefighter]

Yes worth a try, but I have no idea how to get this on to the sd card. I have downloaded the zip file to my PC. That is about as far as I know what to do.

i see you have managed this now but for anyone else wondering how to update firmware there is the instructions here http://www.devialet.com/docs/manual-8-1.pdf

[Womaz]

I was running 8.13.
Tried 7.13 and it did not tame the brightness for me, but it was worth a go. I also feel that 8.13 has a fuller sound but only did about 30 mins of listening to the tracks I have been using in my brightness experiment.

I can take the symbols and percussion highs, but the sibilance in the voices is what I would like to eliminate.
Anyway I am back to work tomorrow so this little tinker will end ;-)

[tyefighter]

thats a shame ...but worth a try

[Womaz]

Definitely worth a try.
Do you know what's making a difference tonight. Moved my speakers back to very close to the wall. The 23s are front ported so the bass not booming and so far I am sure the brightness is less.
Further listening required
Also as they are now an extra foot or so away from me it sounds better too

[Hifi_swlon]

That's positive…. As was pointed out to me, firing them straight ahead or even toeing them out slightly can reduce the treble intensity, although it does also affect the stereo image (not necessarily in a bad way). I tried a lot of variations on that theme but it didn't remedy the situation for me.

I've now had my previous speakers swapped back in for a few days.  Having listened to most of the music I know best, I know this isn't a long-term solution.  The tradeoff for a less forward treble, is basically everything else being worse!  Its only when you go backwards that you really see what the better equipment did.  Everything seems more 'mushy' and 'muddy' sounding now.  Flat, and not well defined.  My wife gave me a look and a 'mmmm, they're definitely a better size, but…..'  Still, they were also a third of the price.

So now I'll have two pairs of speakers to sell, and harder still, finding a new pair that's well suited to my room.

So it's well worth persevering to make them work if you like the sound, but I feel I tried everything with mine, and since they're also too big, its time to take action!

[Confused]

Maybe the solution to Womaz's touch of brightness would be to buy Hifi_swlon's Fact 8's ! How's that for synergy! Being serious, I think the Fact's are a little more "full bodied" and might be just the job. It's a shame you two live about 300miles apart though, which is not very synergistic at all. Just a thought!

[Womaz]

Maybe the solution to Womaz's touch of brightness would be to buy Hifi_swlon's Fact 8's !  How's that for synergy!  Being serious, I think the Fact's are a little more "full bodied" and might be just the job.  It's a shame you two live about 300miles apart though, which is not very synergistic at all.  Just a thought!

Last year I asked my dealer about next speaker upgrade and whether the FACT8 would be better for me as opposed to say the PMC26 and he stated the opposite, he felt that the Fact 8 was more detailed and analytical than the 26.

i think I have come to the conclusion for me anyway that more detail and clarity also unfortunately means more brightness.
It dawned on me last night that I have had the Melco a week and I feel the brightness may have increased. It is very difficult to say for sure though. The Melco has improved my rig so much. Bass and soundstage especially. it has a very airy open sound and I love that about it. It has definitely improved the clarity of vocals too, they stand out more and I think the price I pay for this is the sibilance.

The Devialet is renowned for detail and clarity as are the speakers. The Melco has further incresased this. Add tmy room and my ears to the equation and I get the sibilance. The trick now is can i stop listening for it

[Womaz]

That's positive…. As was pointed out to me, firing them straight ahead or even toeing them out slightly can reduce the treble intensity, although it does also affect the stereo image (not necessarily in a bad way). I tried a lot of variations on that theme but it didn't remedy the situation for me.

I've now had my previous speakers swapped back in for a few days.  Having listened to most of the music I know best, I know this isn't a long-term solution.  The tradeoff for a less forward treble, is basically everything else being worse!  Its only when you go backwards that you really see what the better equipment did.  Everything seems more 'mushy' and 'muddy' sounding now.  Flat, and not well defined.  My wife gave me a look and a 'mmmm, they're definitely a better size, but…..'  Still, they were also a third of the price.

So now I'll have two pairs of speakers to sell, and harder still, finding a new pair that's well suited to my room.

So it's well worth persevering to make them work if you like the sound, but I feel I tried everything with mine, and since they're also too big, its time to take action!

Yes I tried not toeing them in and the sound was very very different. Lot the soundstage that I enjoy so much so that was a non starter for me. So far the things that have worked to tame the treble have done so at a cost. In every cas e for me that was too much of a price to pay.

The 23s are back against the wall now and last night this did appear to tame the treble and it also increased the airy room filling sound. It is early days though as only listened to them in that position for about an hour, and that was after I had been listening to music for about 4 hours too. I always find that I enjoy music more if I listen for a long time so it could also have been that.

Time will tell.