Brilliance level control

[Loudspeaker7]

How to you get at the pot to bypass it?

[ACHiPo]

I have no sibilance with LPs or digital through a Holo Audio May DAC to a Parasound JP2 preamp to AtmaSphere MA1s. Varying the brilliance knob from about 9:00 to 3:00 does not have a noticeable effect on sibilance.

I agree with others to say look for other culprits.

[chungjh]

Ken, would bypassing the low and high frequency Potts also increase resolution?

[yoshi]

Yes, it is smoother and sounds more extended and airy. Measure your 2:00 setting impedance and select the closest resistor to that value. I found that the replacement had even more extension, so I suggest you consider perhaps a slightly higher round up value revisit or to your measured impedance.

I used 2 way tape and hot glue to set the resistor on top of the existing pot and simply resoldered the leads. Easy to change out if you change your mind.

It is worth the effort to give it a go.

Ken

[D10]

The best sound from my experience is to bypass brilliance control. In order to do that you must have very good upstream signal. Bad signal can bring sibilance and brightness.
I used to have control on 2 o’clock and placed resistor instead before I took brilliance control out .

[chungjh]

Ken

So, you are saying that 4 ohm fixed sounds better than 1 o’clock?

[yoshi]

Hello:

I simply measured the resistance across the pot where I normally position the tweeter pot. It has been roughly in the same position over the years. So, I bypassed the tweeter pot with a 4 ohm metal cased fixed resistor, 50 watt, non-inductive. It opened up the top end and to my ears sounds just sounds better. A very nice upgrade. Easy to remove, but why would I…!

Ken

[chungjh]

No dedicated line, but using Torus rm20 power conditioner.

Yoshi, what is the advantage of fixing the tweeter at 4 ohms rather than turning the Brilliance dial to 1 o’clock?

[kingdeezie]

What is your power situation? Dedicated line? Conditioner?

[chungjh]

I am using Lumin X1 streamer/DAC and Pass x350.5 direct.

[kingdeezie]

It’s not the speakers. Lowering the brilliance is just tone-controlling another problem.

The Soundlabs are just going to play what’s before them.

What are you using to stream, and in to what Dac?

[chungjh]

DO you get sibilance with Joni on vinyl? I will try some toeing in. The ultimate sibilance test is Diana Krall on streaming, Quora or Tidal.

[yoshi]

Chungjh:

I get some sibilance on some female recordings(Joni). I have a fixed tweeter level of 4 ohms, equivalent to around 1:00 on the tweeter pot. I can mitigate sibilance with some slight re-toeing of my panels. Mine already have about a 20 degree toe in for a small room. In this scenario, toeing in a bit more, <1/8” actually cuts it down a notch. Depending on your toe in and room size, it may go the other way. Give it a go and report back…

Ken

[chungjh]

I find that there is a lot of sibilance when streaming some female vocals (e.g. Diana Krall on Qobuz) and Louis Armstrong. So I dial down the brilliance to 10 o’clock position or less, but Dr. West says 2-3 o’clock is the basal level for brilliance.

1. Do you have sibilance problem?
2. Do you find find that there is less sibilance with analog?

[Author]

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