[kip_]

is the "s" exaggerated during playback, or would you describe the upper midrange having a hard and metallic sound to it?  if it's the former you need to upgrade the avr, if it's the latters you need to soften the sound with a tubed dac or something.  it seems like you may have not had much experience with tubes...if this is the case an inexpensive tubed dac (mhdt, cal labs, scott nixon, etc) will go a long way towards fixing the stridency you describe.  there's a reason a lot of music lovers (and audiophiles!) can't live without tubes.  happy hunting .

If you had read the entire thread you would already know I've tried an integrated amp with them. It was solid state, class A.

[Christof]

is the "s" exaggerated during playback, or would you describe the upper midrange having a hard and metallic sound to it?  if it's the former you need to upgrade the avr, if it's the latters you need to soften the sound with a tubed dac or something.  it seems like you may have not had much experience with tubes...if this is the case an inexpensive tubed dac (mhdt, cal labs, scott nixon, etc) will go a long way towards fixing the stridency you describe.  there's a reason a lot of music lovers (and audiophiles!) can't live without tubes.  happy hunting .

If you had read the entire thread you would already know I've tried an integrated amp with them. It was solid state, class A.

JP78 didn't say anything about integrated solid state class A, he said try some tubes with these speakers.  I prefer the sound of my Selah speakers without my tubes and my partner prefers them with tubes, specifically a Nixon TubeDac+.  Adding tubes to your system in one form or another may very well remedy this problem.

[kip_]

is the "s" exaggerated during playback, or would you describe the upper midrange having a hard and metallic sound to it?  if it's the former you need to upgrade the avr, if it's the latters you need to soften the sound with a tubed dac or something.  it seems like you may have not had much experience with tubes...if this is the case an inexpensive tubed dac (mhdt, cal labs, scott nixon, etc) will go a long way towards fixing the stridency you describe.  there's a reason a lot of music lovers (and audiophiles!) can't live without tubes.  happy hunting .

If you had read the entire thread you would already know I've tried an integrated amp with them. It was solid state, class A.

JP78 didn't say anything about integrated solid state class A, he said try some tubes with these speakers.  I prefer the sound of my Selah speakers without my tubes and my partner prefers them with tubes, specifically a Nixon TubeDac+.  Adding tubes to your system in one form or another may very well remedy this problem.

He said I needed to upgrade the AVR. How do you suggest I do that with tubes? Furthermore, I don't think introducing coloration into the system on purpose is a good idea.

[Christof]

I guess I read these posts wrong or maybe you two were talking via PM, who knows.  We are just trying to help you out. 

klp_

Okay, I tried an integrated amp with them and cut my receiver's preamp and amp out of the loop. I still heard it to a lesser degree. I don't think what I'm hearing is sibilance per se I just think the upper end of the vocals could be a little less harsh and more natural. I definitely don't hear this in the highs. If I play with the "treble" trim on my receiver this does nothing so I think the problem is in the upper midrange.

JP78

....is the "s" exaggerated during playback, or would you describe the upper midrange having a hard and metallic sound to it?  if it's the former you need to upgrade the avr, if it's the latter you need to soften the sound with a tubed dac or something.

klp_

He said I needed to upgrade the AVR

Don't know what to tell you at this point.

[kip_]

If i ever do a dedicated 2 channel system then I may well get into tubes, until then I'm probably going to stay firmly in the solid state camp. After I move then I'm going to try some room treatments then maybe an amp.

[JP78]

christof - no pm's were exchanged. apparently i've committed a grave mistake.

kip - no hard feelings bud. fyi, a dac can be plugged into the back of an avr or integrated. i'll stay out of your way from this point out. there are people here that have the wisdom of having spent tens of thousands of dollars worth of trial and error in this hobby. it may be best to learn from their mistakes and save yourself some time and money. best of luck solving your problem.