Emjay

You've certainly piqued my interest - I'll have to keep an eye out for this CD, as I'm keen to listen to it myself, now!

Interesting. Based on the below, I would suggest that the best mastering exists on the SACD DSF files Secondly, the 2.0 from the SACD, though there has obviously been some sort of manipulation such that the peak on all tracks is exactly the same at -0.1 The worst mastering exists on your 1985 CD, with several tracks peaking at 0

Yeah, this is a big part of my question. I have had a 5.1 setup for over 20 years - though the early ones weren't much to get excited about - for movies and PC gaming. I'm a big music fan, always have been, and only recently have I begun to enjoy surround music, and that almost by accident; since I was looking for a new Bluray player that would also work well with CDs, I found a number of respected players from Oppo and Cambridge Audio also supported SACD. So, what went wrong? I am almost the exact demographic the format is targeted at, yet I'm 10 years+ late to the party

I'm not sure I understand - all the SACD on that page are in the green (which has to indicate a good score, right?)

Thanks, Chris, I didn't realise this topic has already had quite some exploration! The (in)ability to rip SACDs is markedly nullified by hybrid discs, I would have thought - if you want to listen on your i-device, surely the CD layer would suffice? I was under the impression that much of the studios' back-catalogue was already archived via DSD, making SACD releases very easy, but maybe I've misunderstood its application

Hi guys I'm very interested in your thoughts on this, as there seems to be a fairly large collection of music lovers on here. As the subject says - what went wrong with SACD? I was unsure whether to post this in the 2-channel audio section, since I absolutely love the surround-sound mixes on some of my SACDs, but I thought more music lovers would be in here. I also think that the stereo mix on SACDs is superior to CD, just to try to further justify this post being here I was aware of SACD for a long time, but I don't know anyone who adopted the format - amongst my friends, our big focus was on FLAC vs MP3, with vigorous debate on the merits of loss-less vs .MP3 @ profile V0 I recently purchased a Cambridge Audio 751BD, primarily for it's blu ray support, as I was using a PS4 for such, but, while I can't complain about the PQ, a number of annoying bugs are present during blu ray play-back on it. Since the 751BD is a universal disc player, I have purchased a number of SACDs, primarily of albums with which I am quite familiar, and, to my ears. the SACD is vastly superior, even in 2.0 Why, then, did not SACD start a new wave of music (re)releases taking advantage of the format?

OK, so having toed out the speakers actually made the single biggest difference. I tried playing CDs through my Marantz AVR with Audyssey, but I found myself largely unimpressed. I think Audyssey works fantastically well for movies, not so well for music. Maybe, one day, I will get a new AVR with XT32 to see whether I like it for music. I tried running the CDs through HDMI out from my 751BD, rather than RCA. I could not really hear any significant difference. I expected to, since the Wolfson DACs on the 751BD were part of the attraction - so I really wanted it to sound worse over HDMI. It seems that the way some CDs have been mastered is not a good fit with the sound of the 83s, overall, even if the issue is tamed somewhat through re-orienting the speakers. Thanks, one and all, for your input and advice!

I thought I'd do some of the easier tests, to start with. I placed a sheet of speaker foam along the back wall, behind my seating - no difference. Next was to reorient the pair so that they face slightly further apart, and noticed an immediate and significant improvement. Rather foolishly, I suppose, I assumed that the best imaging would come from each speaker being directed at the ears, rather like a giant pair of headphones! The sharpness is still apparent, but nowhere near as shrill. Thanks all for the helpful, thoughtful and friendly advice!

If the issue is with the sources, it's disappointing, since there's nothing that I can really do about it. But also a relief, in a way. I was leaning that way myself, since they sound really, really good in many instances. I guess I'll work out, over time, which CDs I can use as drink coasters. I have been thinking about the resurgence of vinyl, but I really don't want to start a new, expensive, hobby! One thing I will try, as well, it's running the CDs into my marantz AVR, which only has MultEQ, and see whether the audyssey makes any improvement. I found, though, with my previous set-up (F3s and denon avr) that I preferred audyssey off for music

I am using the 83s as F L/R for home theatre. The issue is prevalent when listening to music only - I have not experienced this while watching TV/movies. I am not using a sub, at this stage. That feedback destroyer looks more like it's for studio applications than home use - do you use one?

Wow, thanks for all the responses! I'm glad that there have been a few comments saying that my issue might just be with some reproductions - as I mentioned, I have been restricting myself to CDs to ensure I am not dealing with compressed MP3s. I have a limited collection of SACD, but I have not experienced the issue with any of them. Neither amp has any EQ settings - the hybrid has "timbre 1" and "timbre 2" which seem to increase the bass without changing the top end. I have been thinking about introducing an equaliser to tame the top end. Neither amp has any calibration options. I will try repositioning the speakers - I have placed them so that they point directly at the main listening position. The room is carpeted, and has a ceiling fan, is flat, and about 10' high MLP is along the opposite wall, about 15' from the 83s. I'll try putting something against this wall to ensure I am not dealing with reflections from behind The 1 window in the room is behind a curtain. Bookshelves are on both left and right walls Thanks again for the friendly greetings and advice

Hi. I recently purchased a pair of RF-83s via ebay. First up, I'm in Australia, where klipsch is much harder to come by. I started with quintets, then upgraded to Synergy F3/C3/S2, and have finally stepped up to the Reference series. To mixed feelings. Much of the time, the 83s sound truly phenomenal, and I couldn't be happier. BUT... every now and then, with some music, I feel like the horns overlap, somehow, and pierce my ears :-( I've never heard the harshness, before, which some people complain about with klipsch, but now that I've stepped up to the flagship reference speaker (arguably - or is it the 7?) and turning up the music leaves me unhappy I have to stress, this is only apparent with some music. To try to eliminate variables, I am only playing CDs at the moment. I have somewhat of a wide range of music in my collection. Jazz seems supreme - reproduction of saxophone is magical. Orchestral, in general, is splendid. However, when I listen to Guns and Roses, for example, or even some of the hihat/cymbals on the Blood Sugar Sex Magic album by the chilli peppers, it's almost unbearable. Hotel California is fantastic (as is The Eagles excellent Farewell blu ray, but I digress), but some Led Zeppelin hurts. I am using a Cambridge Audio 751BD for CD/blu ray duties, connected via RCA into my primary amp, a Chinese tube/SS hybrid (Bada purer 3.0). This delivers 30wpc in class A, and then another 100 watts are available in class AB, and has about 120 hours on it, having been purchased specifically for the 83s I have also tried using a Rotel RB976, which did nothing to address the issue, and overall sounded worse. I was using some cheap speaker wire, so I purchased some 13 gauge wire from my local electronics store which may have made a slight improvement in overall sound, but has not solved the problem (and, to be honest, this might be in my head). Is it just a matter of some music/CDs not working with the 83s? I really appreciate any advice or assistance from any of you, as I was so excited the night before they arrived that I could barely sleep (like when I was a kid the night before Christmas!), and now I'm almost regretting the purchase

Ok, great, I appreciate the quick response! I hadn't thought of using speaker wire, was thinking I'd have to get more brass plates somehow

Hi. I bought a pair of RB-81s on ebay. My previous experience is with the Synergy range, and these have a brass plate which links the 2 sets of speaker posts. However, these RB-81s do not have this. Are they missing from the previous owner, or not used on the reference series? Thanks for your assistance