Sibilance has returned. What can I conclude?

[bRnzBzh]

Question. When did you replace the cords, relative to when you did the upgrade of the crossover units? Were they both at about the same timeframe?

One other question. Are the cables that were upgraded shielded? I'm still leaning on the introduction of noise into your A/C mains. Power issues will most definitely cause sibilance, amongst other things. I would still suggest my previous suggestion (just to eliminate that aspect).

Tom

Yes; cables are shielded.

 

[bRnzBzh]

Being PAP speaker owner, I am familar with Caps and crossovers. Most definitely caps can make a speaker sound like crap. A single wrong brand cap can ruin a speaker. Selection of caps is critical to a great sounding speaker. Recapping a speaker with the wrong cap (I don't mean its value, I mean the brand) will absolutely make your speaker ulistenable.
Get better caps. Try Jupiter bees wax copper foil. Try Jenson. Go to the Humblepie website and read the cap review. I would personally avoid Mcaps. They are very good. But very neutral.

Also, your caps will take maybe 200 hours to settle.
Also look at the resistors. Those have a big influence on sound also. Try Path Audio.
The Inductors will also influence sound. The iron core can add a haze. The air core are usually better, but its all a balancing act.

Stick with the exact values as before but try other caps. Especially the ones going to the tweeter and midrange.

200 hours? OK. I'd read 50-100. . .

 

[treitz3]

The cords were replaced at least a month before caps were done. Previous suggestion was check direction of digital cable? Sorry, I'm starting to lose track as the thread grows.

Pay attention. There are people here that will help. They will not if you don't put in the effort.

Tom

 

[bRnzBzh]

Pay attention. There are people here that will help. They will not if you don't put in the effort.

Tom

I'm sorry if I gave the impression I don't appreciate the help.

 

[thedudeabides]

Pay attention? Really. I don't think he was being unappreciative versus confused and frustrated. Entirely understandable. With all due respect and not being a techy, I don't see one post that explains and / or resolves the issue at hand. Am I missing something or am I also just dumb and ignorant? And let's not forget unappreciative. And with comments like that, I think I would go elsewhere for advice.

 

[Kingrex]

I didn't read through well enough. If he hears the same simbilance on headphones, then it has nothing to do with speaker caps.

Caig Deoxit D and G series everything. Electrical panel, duplex in wall, power cords, interconnects, digital and phono cables.
D is for any connection over 3 months old. G for any connection newer, or connections that are gold plated.

 

[bRnzBzh]

Pay attention? Really. I don't think he was being unappreciative versus confused and frustrated. Entirely understandable. With all due respect and not being a techy, I don't see one post that explains and / or resolves the issue at hand. Am I missing something or am I also just dumb and ignorant? And let's not forget unappreciative. And with comments like that, I think I would go elsewhere for advice.

Thanks, dudeabides. I appreciate the vote of confidence. BTW I have a learning disability that can make reading computer screens that are packed with text difficult. It's as though my brain can't figure out what to focus on first. In this way, yes; I experience confusion. I find this effect is more pronounced here than on Audiogon.

As evidence that I am paying attention and am going to implement suggestions, I intend to get hearing checked, clean connections, try Snubway and Mainstream power treatment devices and try copper digital cable.

Of course, only time will tell whether the sibilance will subside as caps run in.

Given that I'd inadvertently become used to listening to speakers with rolled off highs, I can't help but wonder whether the newly restored upper frequencies have induced a psychoacoustic scenario in which I've become hyper-sensitized to (natural) sibilance and am thus approaching every listening situation with a laser-focus, intently watching and waiting for sibilance to make an appearance. I can definitely see how this could amplify natural sibilance and make it appear more intense.

 

[thedudeabides]

Did you just recently change speakers or are they the same you''ve had for sometime before the reappearance of the sibilance. BTW, font size is much larger on Audiogon than it is on WBF. If the answer to the question is no recent change and what you are hearing is somehow related to the crossover revision, I'd wait awhile before I did anything. The last thing you want to do crawl down that rabbit hole without knowing what the cause is and what to expect. Hit and miss can be expensive.

 

[bRnzBzh]

Did you just recently change speakers or are they the same you''ve had for sometime before the reappearance of the sibilance. BTW, font size is much larger on Audiogon than it is on WBF. If the answer to the question is no recent change and what you are hearing is somehow related to the crossover revision, I'd wait awhile before I did anything. The last thing you want to do crawl down that rabbit hole without knowing what the cause is and what to expect. Hit and miss can be expensive.

The speakers are the same ones I've had for a long time. I figure I'll get my hearing checked first. It's hard to know how long to wait on the caps because the advice I've been given ranges from 20 hours to hundreds of hours. I've never kept speakers long enough to require replacing caps until now so I have no previous experience. I agree hit and miss can be expensive and say the caps change tonally but the sibilance remains, I'd rather wait until the tonality stabilizes before trying potential fixes.

 

[thedudeabides]

Concur. Good luck on the hearing test.

 

[Holmz]

The speakers are the same ones I've had for a long time. I figure I'll get my hearing checked first. It's hard to know how long to wait on the caps because the advice I've been given ranges from 20 hours to hundreds of hours. I've never kept speakers long enough to require replacing caps until now so I have no previous experience. I agree hit and miss can be expensive and say the caps change tonally but the sibilance remains, I'd rather wait until the tonality stabilizes before trying potential fixes.

OK - but how do you explain the headphones also suddenly getting sibilance?

 

[bRnzBzh]

OK - but how do you explain the headphones also suddenly getting sibilance?

It would seem the only factors that are common to all devices are power and my hearing. "Hearing" could be either an actual structural or processing problem or a psychoacoustical distortion.

 

[thedudeabides]

OK - but how do you explain the headphones also suddenly getting sibilance?

UH. He can't. That's why the OP posted this thread and asked the question in the first place.

 

[bRnzBzh]

Concur. Good luck on the hearing test.

Thanks.

UH. He can't. That's why the OP posted this thread and asked the question in the first place.

Exactly! ;o)

 

[Holmz]

It was a rhetorical question…

 

[bRnzBzh]

It was a rhetorical question…

Sorry -- that wasn't evident to me.