[SoundGame]

The rasp on the M80s has occurred with the Marantz and another receiver (HK 3490), and the Bryston preamp. No doubt that the Bryston preamp is better than either one. I use the receivers as part of a second system. However, these days I use the Marantz because I don't have a remote on the Bryston, and the receiver is well within reach and has a remote - I'm very lazy.

There is no doubt that the M80s are high resolution speakers. That's probably why Bryston is working with Axiom in designing and building its new speakers. And I think you may be right that these cables are helping to change what has sounded like a noise into something more recognizable or even musical.

Glad to hear that it sounds like something more real.  I'll need to give that album another listen - was just listening to it today on my iPod, home from work but that's just not the same.  It's one of my favorite albums. 

[DaveNote]

Glad to hear that it sounds like something more real.  I'll need to give that album another listen - was just listening to it today on my iPod, home from work but that's just not the same.  It's one of my favorite albums.

When I first got into jazz, I was told that Kind of Blue may be the best jazz album ever. It is good, indeed, but not well recorded. The hiss of the recording is more prominent on my M80s than ever. I believe there were some recording speed problems as well. But the music is very good. I've heard others that I prefer, such as Benny Carter's Further Definitions, Ben Webster's At the Fair, Gerry Mulligan's Night Lights, and his album with Paul Desmond, Two of a Mind, as well as Brubeck's Take Five.

[Chicago]

Dave,
Not sure which version of Kind of Blue you have but those errors were corrected in the 1997 release.  I am going to give it a listen tomorrow and see if I hear the hiss you describe.

Mike

[Diamond Dog]

I've got the 1997 Legacy remaster ( played it tonight actually ) of Kind of Blue and am currently waiting on a Japanese SHM-SACD on it's way to me from the land of the rising sun - that tape hiss is there because they haven't cleaned and compressed all the juice out of the thing. The '97 remaster is decently dynamic as a result - this is a good thing. 

D.D.

[DaveNote]

Dave,
Not sure which version of Kind of Blue you have but those errors were corrected in the 1997 release.  I am going to give it a listen tomorrow and see if I hear the hiss you describe.

Mike

No doubt you're right. I think I have an older version.

[Chicago]

Dave,
If the "rasp" you hear on So What is right when the horns start and is short and repeats itself 4 or 5 times (out of the right speaker) that is part of the recording.  At least I hear it on my 1997 remastered copy.  It is not a great recording but it is a great album.  Irritating, but I still love the album.

Mike

[DaveNote]

Dave,
If the "rasp" you hear on So What is right when the horns start and is short and repeats itself 4 or 5 times (out of the right speaker) that is part of the recording.  At least I hear it on my 1997 remastered copy.  It is not a great recording but it is a great album.  Irritating, but I still love the album.

Nice to know I'm not the only one irritated by this passage.

[werd]

[Diamond Dog]

 

D.D.

[vegasdave]

The rasp on the M80s has occurred with the Marantz and another receiver (HK 3490), and the Bryston preamp. No doubt that the Bryston preamp is better than either one. I use the receivers as part of a second system. However, these days I use the Marantz because I don't have a remote on the Bryston, and the receiver is well within reach and has a remote - I'm very lazy.

There is no doubt that the M80s are high resolution speakers. That's probably why Bryston is working with Axiom in designing and building its new speakers. And I think you may be right that these cables are helping to change what has sounded like a noise into something more recognizable or even musical.

Thanks for the explanation...I thought you went cookoo for a minute there.

[SoundGame]

I wasn't looking for a cable that changes the basic qualities of my speakers, which you may have read about on a thread a started a few weeks ago - the Axiom M80s. My only problem with them, as I think I mentioned on that thread, has been a kind of raspy sound on some tracks.

i decided to drive the speakers via the pre-out connections of a new Marantz 4023 receiver into my 7BSST2 amps, single-ended. I added inexpensive Energy subwoofer cables for these connections. These cables have an kind of RF filter on them. I didn't buy them for that reason and assumed it was a gimmick. But much to my surprise, the raspy sound, while still there, was somewhat diminished. I concluded that maybe the gimmick acutally wasn't one after all, and that I might have an RF issue in my system. So I decided to try the Transparent speaker cables which have a device on them to filter RF while changing nothing, or at least that is the claim. Anyway, broken in or not, these cables have helped to diminish the raspy sound enough that it now sounds like some kind of an artifact in the recording (echo? reverb fade?) I'm not sure, but nevertheless, the thing that was irritating me is much improved. A good example of the change can be heard with the opening passages of "So What" on The Kind of Blue albumn, where Adderley and Coltrane play in unison. What was very harsh is now, as you say, more musical.

Listened to the track - latest remaster - on my portable device using my B&W C5 earphones and then on my main 2-ch rig.  On the portable, it sounds like distortion caused by either over-saturation of the master tape due to dynamics or distortion in the actual microphone diaphram - both cases, sounds like it's in the recording.  On my main system, it's clearly audible but does not come across as being so disconnected and rather sounds like almost reed noise from the sax mouth-piece - still sounds as part-in-parcel with the recording.

[DaveNote]

Listened to the track - latest remaster - on my portable device using my B&W C5 earphones and then on my main 2-ch rig.  On the portable, it sounds like distortion caused by either over-saturation of the master tape due to dynamics or distortion in the actual microphone diaphram - both cases, sounds like it's in the recording.  On my main system, it's clearly audible but does not come across as being so disconnected and rather sounds like almost reed noise from the sax mouth-piece - still sounds as part-in-parcel with the recording.

Many thanks for trying this out. Your comment has been the most helpful I've gotten on this problem. The reference to the sax explains what I'm hearing on recordings with sax. And because I get the rasp with some vocals (eg. Odetta Adams' Get Here), I suspect what your do, namely that there may be distortion in the microphone on some recordings.

[Diamond Dog]

... it's clearly audible but does not come across as being so disconnected and rather sounds like almost reed noise from the sax mouth-piece - still sounds as part-in-parcel with the recording.

DING!   

The reference to the sax explains what I'm hearing on recordings with sax.

DING DING !!   


D.D.

[Marius]

Hi Dave,

Just to be sure: do you hear the rasp both with speakers and headphones. (ruling out my eternal uncertainty about the ESL's being faulty here)

Thanks,
Marius

Many thanks for trying this out. Your comment has been the most helpful I've gotten on this problem. The reference to the sax explains what I'm hearing on recordings with sax. And because I get the rasp with some vocals (eg. Odetta Adams' Get Here), I suspect what your do, namely that there may be distortion in the microphone on some recordings.

[DaveNote]

Hi Dave,

Just to be sure: do you hear the rasp both with speakers and headphones. (ruling out my eternal uncertainty about the ELL's being faulty here)

Thanks,
Marius

The rasp is found in all sorts of equipment, including my old MB2is, headphones, TV etc. Before the M80s blasted it out so clearly, I really hadn't noticed it as a problem. The problem I've been having has more to do with how prominent the rasp is rather than anything else. This is why SoundGame's June 29th explanation is probably the right one. BTW, I know that saxophones inherently can rasp, and that some players (eg. Ben Webster) exploit that characteristic in their playing. Again, it is a matter of degree, and the recording itself, as to whether this is a pleasing or irritating sound in my system.