The interconnect was using between my pre-amp and power amp was a Chord Chorus (the mk 1 version), which I replaced with a pair of Atlas Titans... The change made a slight improvement in the bass, but a big improvement in the mid - effectively a warmer sound vs a leaner sound with the Chord - I prefer the sound that the Atlas is giving - I was amazed that there were some CD that sounded totally different - i.e. the singer appeared to 'more in the room'...

However what I have notices is that the Atlas cable seems to intoduce a bit of sibliance as well..

Is the reason for the increase in sibliance a result of the better mid range or is this a 'fault' of the cable? I know that in some recording the sibliance is part of the record (I check on a different system and it's there as well - if any of you have Kate Bush - Ariel you can see for yourself).

Has anyone else grappled with sibilance? If so how did you resolve it? Can it be resolved without making the sound 'leaner'?

Can you try your cds on a friend system and see if you hear the same problem? maybe it just has poor production values.

Rooney, I think ferner has tried on other gear, so possibly a problem with the recording. Is it noticeable with the Chord? or just more pronounced with the Atlas?

The sibilance is in the recording - but a lot more pronounced with the Atlas cable - but as I said the overall sound from the Atlas is (at least to my ears) a lot better than te Chords

It makes me wonder, we strive for better kit which in turn just shows up more so the imperfections in the original recordings, why might as well stick to low fi and not notice them so much, don't you find it distracting?

I can't say I suffer from it, I have some quite poor recording but I never hear much in the way of sibilance, any other CDs where you suffer from this?

I would normally point at the source, or even the tweeters used, I'll have to listen to another kate Bush CD I have to see if I hear anything, I once remember a customer bringing me in a CD he had, I forget now who it was but that suffered too from sibilance, I just think on some system show it up more so than others.

I don't know if the sibilanceis ' in the recording' Fermar ?
The achromat platter mat on my gyrodec cured it totally !.wierd ain't it ?

I have been trying various things to fix the issue - moved my speakers toe-in/toe-out, tried changing the direction of the cable, changed cable and got the situation where i didnt know if the sound was better, worse or the same- so i though I would go back to where I started from and....

...the sibilance was gone....! Now I dont know what to think....! was it that the Atlas cable needed 'burning in'.... this is something I find really hard to accept - that a cable need burning in - but on the on other hand I cant think what else could have 'fixed' the problem...

I have decided not to worry about it too much - now that the problem is fixed I willo just enjoy my music... :-)

As a matter of curiosity, what is your system made off, 'fernar' ?

DVD/CD player - Tag Mclaren DVD32r
Pre-amp/processor - Tag Mclaren AV32r
Power Amp - Bryston 4BSST2
Speakers - Wilson Bensch Curve

Connection between the DVD32r and AV32r is via Tag Mclaren coax
Connection between AV32r and Bryston is with Atlas Titan
Speaker cable Audioquest Indigo (had it for years - maybe it's time to change - dont know till I compare it with something else...)

I also have LP12 - but only use it now and again...

Quite impressive setup!

If you have a good pair of h/phones, try listening to the particular recording through them, just to see if the sibilance is present there..

If it's not on the recording itself, something else is at work there.. Have you noticed any difference between the system being cold v when left 'on' over a good while?

My Brystons like to be left 'on' for at least 30 minutes before they give their best.

No sibilance though, just a bit of hardening in the sound.

I will try the headphone idea - not so easy on my system as the Tag does not have a headphone socket.. but I will try the CDs in question on another set up with headphones to see what I can hear... although as I said the problem appears to have gone away..

Thinking abou tthe warm vs cold system - I will try to see if there is any difference when i switch the system on fomr cold..

Thanks for the suggestons..

Thinking about it, I think one problem may be over transparency. Looking at your kit, correct me if I am wrong, as I usually am, but all your kit are know for being extremely transparent, so even though when they are looked at individually they would all be excellent, but if you put a transparent amp, with a transparent source, to transparent speakers with transparent cables you end up with, guess what?, ......a revealing transparent, maybe over analytical sound, so when you can't a less well produced CD those shortcoming in the recording are highlighted more.

Hence it might be wise to use somewhere in the chain something softer sounding, or warmer sounding, to help balance it up.

The Indigo is pretty decent cable, I liked mine when I had it.