Or Hell....

This is a little off-topic, but maybe Dave will look the other way while
I cry for help.  (Please respond privately if you have input.) Has anyone
found a CD player, @$500 to @$1000, that has been unusually good about
toning down unison upper-string "graininess," found in more than a few
CD recordings?  I've been told it's most likely my amp causing the
problem, but I'm not ready to give it up just yet--but more on that
later.

For nine years I've been listening to Infinity Studio Monitor 150's
powered with a mass-produced Denon Amp @100 WPC.  The Infinitys are
monsters--15" woofers, two 4 1/2" midranges and one polycell tweeter
each.  Very efficient too.  The setup has given me many rapturous moments
over the years but the sound, grand as it is, is loose and flabby.

Then....  One of my clients sold me a pair of his Vandersteen 2C's that
were sitting in his garage for $200.  He said they were phenomenal but
his wife didn't like their looks.  I hooked them up at home, but these
guys had absolutely *no* interest in my Denon, (though I did get a feel
for what they were capable of).  While talking to a friend about my new
old speakers," he pointed to a Pioneer 1250SX Integrated amp sitting
under his TV stand and said, "just take it." (He's getting on in years
and no longer has any interest in properly reproduced cannon shots,
screaming sopranos, or Mahlerian outbursts.) Cost @ $1000 in '76.  He
predicted it would make the Vandy's stand at attention.  They did alright,
and now the Infinitys just don't do it for me anymore.

But alas, the speakers are exposing the digital dilemma--harsh upper-strings
in some recordings.  Or my amp is too bright.  Or my CD player's digital to
analog conversion is crappy.  (It's a nine year old Denon Lamba Series which
sold for @$200.)

I found a high end audio store which actually allowed me to bring the
amp and speakers in to compare with their stuff.  Nice huh.  Long story
short, I listened to a few $10,000 systems with my problem CD's, and low
and behold, harsh upper strings; and even with subwoofers, where's the
'70's 'fro-parting bass?  The Vandersteens caught and projected organ-pedal
fundamentals that $8000 B&W's only hinted at--and the Vandy's kept it
tighter than a pair of Britannia jeans.  Some of the pimply-faced
audiophilettes were stunned.  So my amp/speaker combo has promise.
And to find an amp with the "below the belt" credentials that my 27-year
old Pioneer has, I'm going to have to spend gobbs of money.  (We hooked
up the Vandy's to some of their amps, but none this side of $5000 caused
them to move air--or pressurize the room--like the Pioneer.)

So that leaves the above the belt problem: upper string harshness.  Why
am I asking people on this list?  Well, if you've heard more than "The
Planets," you've heard more CM than many salemen have heard, and some
of you may have a set-up similar to mine.  So: anyone found a player
good at calming such harshness?

John Smyth