Curing sibilance

mister_d

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Not sure if this thread is posted in the correct forum as I don't really know what's causing my problems, so if anyone with the appropriate authority thinks I'll receive a better response elsewhere then feel free to move it.

I've recently added an Arcam CD93 (replacing a Marantz CD6000OSE) to my setup, and the rest of my equipment, purchased a few years ago, is as follows:
Arcam Alpha 8R integrated amp
B&W DM601S2 on Atacama Nexus 6 stands
QED Qunex 2 interconnects and Silver Anniversary speaker cable (bi-wired)

Plus my more recent headphone setup:
Sennheiser HD580
Earmax Pro amp (using same QED interconnects as above)

The new CD player has at least slightly enhanced output quality in almost every way imaginable and made a vast difference in some areas, so I'm no longer disappointed with my system given the amount I've spent on it, as was the case when I used the Marantz.

However, the one persistent problem that remains is sibilance, varying in strength with the recording but usually present to some degree together with a general harshness in the treble. I'll avoid using any other adjectives to qualify my grievances with the overall sound as I'm not an audiophile so I'm sure I'll misuse them completely, but treble remains a definite area of weakness. Sibilance is considerably more pronounced with the headphones, though I suspect that's largely due to the relative proximity of the listening position.

Unfortunately my spending power isn't too great at the moment, so I'll preferably be looking at swapping components laterally within my price bracket or making cheap upgrades such as new cables, though I'm very sceptical about their ability to totally alter the tonal characteristics.

So if anyone has any suggestions as to how I can eliminate or at least curtail the sibilance they would be greatly appreciated, as would general comments about changes I should consider making from anyone more familiar with the attributes of my equipment than I am.
 

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