I have for many years had a Marantz PM5004 connected to some second hand Dali 104 floor standing speakers. They have been connected to my tv using the line out. This was maybe not the most high end setup, but I have always enjoyed the sound. I had the bass turned up slightly, but treble was at its default setting.
This year I thought I’d streamline my HT setup a bit, and I bought a Lemus Home 1500, which I connected a brand new Samsung TV, using the HDMI ARC. The sound is great, but after a while I started noticing the sound was a bit sharp. Especially S and F sounds in dialogue. After some googling, I found that this was appearently called sibilance, and it is really starting to annoy me. It is especially tiresome to watch the news or documentaries on Netflix.
I also tried switching out my Marantz PM5004 with a Sonos Amp, using my old speakers. It also generally sounds great, but now I do notice more sibilance than with the old amplifier, and it’s starting to annoy me.
I have tried playing with the EQ settings on both setups, and I can make it a bit better by turning treble down, but I feel like this isn’t really the solution. It is as though I am just masking the problem, and turning treble too far down makes it hard to hear dialogue.
Is it just me that is more senstive to sibilance than average? Is this just how a modern amplifier sounds?
I have considered keeping the Sonos Amp for its connectivity features and changing out my floor standing speakers for some bookshelf speakers. Are there any speakers you would recommend that could remove some of the sibilance that the Amp is creating?
You could try a dedicated plug-in that does the right kind of dynamic equalization or filtering
instead of just permanently turning the treble down. I don’t think the amp is supposed to distort the sound, though; does it always occur or only with certain documentaries? Maybe it’s their fault and not with your equipment.
Where would I plug this in? I notice it for many sources. From Netflix it is especially pronounced in the series Space Force or the documentary High Score. I also notice it a lot with regular TV. Some movies and series seem to be mixed in a way so that I notice it less.
It might be just me. Maybe I am more senstive than others to sharp sound. That’s why I wonder if any of you have ever noticed this problem.
Since your latest question is whether others have noticed sibilance, I can answer that, though beyond that I’m not sure I can be of much practical help. I noticed it many years ago when I moved from my old speakers to a new set. The new speakers are really outstanding, but they seemed to emphasize some mid-range frequencies somewhat more than my old ones, which turned out to be the very range where sibilance mostly occurs. It’s the kind of problem that many people may not even notice, but when you do, it can become annoying. Of course it varies a lot with the source material. And I do believe that it’s due almost entirely, if not 100%, to the characteristics of the speakers rather than the amp – or more precisely, to the combination of speakers and the room acoustics.
My new speakers are three-way, with a horn providing the mid-range. The solution in my case – don’t laugh – was to tape a piece of moderately heavy fabric over the horn. The speaker covers are removable so this was easy to do and not visible. It perfectly mellowed out the perceived harshness, and I’ve been delighted with them ever since. They have a very wide frequency response right down to the subsonic, such that even for home theater a subwoofer would be completely redundant, in my opinion.
The only general solution I can suggest is a multi-band equalizer that would let you attenuate just the right frequencies in just the right amount. I’m not sure how practical that would be in your particular configuration.
The way it was explained to me by the guys at Pacific Microsonics (years ago) is that sibilance and other subtle discrepancies down to the sub bass region, result from stripping off the frequencies above the audio range. While these frequencies are not detectable by the ear, they mix and create beat notes that spread (sinx/x) down into the sub audio range. It is those frequencies that would dampen sibilance and restore the audio depth of a live performance. That was the basis of their HDCD format.
So, filters won’t restore what’s not there. Your mechanical damper looks like a great solution.
Any digital signal processing would be at the equalizer stage. That’s all those filters do basically, but like @wolfpup says that may or may not be practical depending on your configuration. If a piece of fabric solves your problem, there is no need for expensive hardware.